INTRODUCTORY UNIT - FOREWORD
EDUCATIONAL GUIDELINES TO THE PROGRAM
INDEX
- Content & Suitability - From the Editors
- Structure
- Rationale
1. Content & Suitability
We are pleased to present a unique, new and comprehensive educational
series on the Jewish Life Cycle, complete with background, sources and
programming.
We invite you to explore with us the search for and interpretation of
meaning and significance of all these moments and settings, using Jewish
sources, learning traditions and addressing contemporary challenges. Discover
for yourselves how this continuity of values and messages comes together
in a truly Jewish picture.
At the outset, we asked ourselves as editors what landmarks in Jewish
life should be featured, where the Cycle really begins (from birth, with
the parents, or from the founding of the Jewish home?) and how to address
it in a unified framework. These questions led us to an earlier starting
point, while we chose to preserve the traditional path in the spiral of
Jewish continuity.
The outcome has been a developmental approach, some of which is most
appropriate for student or adult education groups, while the primary focus
of the series remains the adolescent and emerging adult.
We have strived to create a resource which collects a body of Jewish
knowledge into one location, offering creative and structured discussion
that will be of added value to all the streams of modern Judaism, as they
seek to attach their membership to Jewish life and the wealth of our heritage.
With both these points in mind, issues are raised which reflect new needs
and, at times, highly controversial differences that cannot be
ignored, whether they are peripheral or not. We make no judgment,
but bring the weight of Jewish sources and tradition as a backdrop
to contemporary problems. Ideally, educators should be familiar
with all the sources and aware of all these issues, rather than
solely seek the familiar: the way we present the sources today
is going to mold the adults and leadership of tomorrow as a knowledgeable
community; at the other end of the scale, recognizing the problems
that the Jewish community faces today does not mean that one endorses
all the positions on them.
It is, however, up to the educator to be selective when preparing
for a class, group, or community activity on the basis of these
resources: to include, or exclude topics and references in line
with their age-appropriateness, or suitability for a particular
audience and setting.
Finally, as work progressed on the first sections, the scope of this
project broadened, with the addition of intermediate chapters to bridge,
or extend, the discussion. As we bring this to process to a close, we
are planning yet another such chapter, in order to embed more about Jewish
family relationships into the framework of the Jewish Life Cycle!
The Editors
2. Structure
This educational series is constructed so that, with the exception of
the first introductory unit, all units consist of four parts.
The largest section deals with the subject under discussion. It addresses
both the rituals and traditions themselves and the meanings behind them.
At the same time, it examines the value structure that the traditions
and rituals reflect and elaborates potentially problematic aspects of
that tradition for many modern Jews.
The second section collects all the textual sources brought or referred
to in the previous section, with additional texts having a direct bearing
on the subject in question.
The third section offers educational activities that explore the subject
under review. These activities are an integral part of the unit and are
based on ideas that are developed in the first section of the unit. Many
integrate texts that have been examined in that first unit.
The fourth section is the bibliography, which brings together books that
proved helpful in the preparation of the material, or which are mentioned
in the text, including excerpts within the educational activities but
which are not brought as source texts for the unit.
3. Rationale
It is important to understand the educational rationale of the activities
brought in each unit (apart from the first). We also wish to suggest guidelines
for their use by the educator.
The general approach is a process of values clarification, in which the
students/group participants are confronted with all kinds of issues and
ideas and are asked to respond to them. There is no attempt whatsoever
to push a particular line, but to have the participants develop their
own point of view in response to a series of challenging questions. The
message of the program is that these are issues to be taken seriously.
As long as they do so, the program will have succeeded irrespective the
particular conclusions that each participant reaches. The language is
one of “suggestion” of a range of ideas for consideration.
We are aware that the participants might come from a variety of ideological
backgrounds and the form chosen is deliberately elastic, in order to enable
participants from all backgrounds to find relevance.
Each unit will present between six and ten activities. The activities
are varied and employ a number of different techniques. However, they
are restricted to practical techniques that should be accessible to the
general population of Jewish teachers, youth workers and other educators.
We attempt to provide all the ideas necessary for the running of the activities
in the body of the text. That is not to say, of course, that educators
are not invited to go deeper into the subject before presenting it! The
deeper the better. To that end, we have added the Bibliography.
Not all the activities need to be used. Every educator should examine
the activities and see which are most suitable for use with the particular
group in the specific setting. Each educator who uses the program is,
needless to say, invited to adapt the activities to his or her own needs.
Certain elements may have to be taken out of, or added, to certain activities
when being used in certain educational settings with specific groups.
There is also the possibility of “collapsing” two activities
into one, selecting the relevant parts from each activity according to
the group and educational setting. The activities are targeted and developed
for a broad age-range, from mid-to-late-teens to adult groups. Of course,
there are certain features that will be more relevant for one age group
than another, but the ideas should be challenging for all. The average
length of most activities is an hour and a half, but they can be reduced
or inflated according to need.
In conclusion, it remains to be said only that we hope that the program
will be useful and fulfill a genuine need for a thoughtful and informative
life-cycle program in the Jewish educational world. We will welcome feedback
and, of course, additional suggestions for activities that fit in with
the spirit of the program. Go forth and educate!
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