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By Steve Israel

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CHAPTER FIVE:Those Who don’t Fit the Model: Family Situations and Status in Judaism and the Jewish World

C: EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES

18. Notes to the Educator
19. Thinking Jewish Families
20. Single-Minded
21. Merry Widows
22. Difficult Divorces and Agonised Agunot
23. Marrying In and Out – Part One
24. Marrying In and Out – Part Two
25. On Gay Jews
26. Evaluating the Equation

18. Notes to the Educator

Below, please find a number of short suggestions for educational activities on some of the issues raised in this chapter. Rather than using all of the activities together, it is recommended that the educator chooses those most relevant or suitable for the setting, group or class. Alongside each title is the number of the relevant section in the background part of this chapter, where the issue explored in the activity is addressed in detail.

Firstly, however, there are some important points to bear in mind:

1. The whole question of families and personal status of parents can be an absolute minefield of emotional sensitivities for the participants at any age. Almost certainly, some of them are unhappy, confused – and perhaps even angry or in denial: this may be an outcome of a loss, or change - through death, separation, divorce - or because of unhappy marriages, of one kind or another.
The same is true for issues of sexual identity, especially among adolescents.

• The utmost sensitivity and discretion should therefore be exercised by the educational facilitators, in selecting the issues to be addressed, in choosing the speakers, and in running any of these activities.
• It is important that the moderator should know the individuals in the group well enough to be able to spot, at least, many of the potential trouble spots.
• Avoid activities that are likely to raise more problems in the group than you think that you can handle. Be careful and be alert with any activity.

2. In general, and as mentioned at the beginning of the background discussion, these programmes are suitable for an older age group and a mature group; in particular, it is important to assure that they are suitable for your setting and for your group of participants.

3. Be aware of the aims of educating around this subject, the issues involved, and your own role in facilitating these topics as a serious discussion.

• One of the major goals should be to enhance and deepen reflection about the lesser-known, often ignored or marginalised groups in Jewish life, and address the underlying values. The moderator should be prepared to enable participants to explore the challenges of any issues selected seriously, in a non-threatening manner, with sensitivity and appropriate knowledge. There may be issues that it is not "politic" to address in some circles, but the majority of them are relevant in any mature setting.
• It is recommended not to enter subjects if they will be beyond your depth - if a particular issue is important, find someone with the right experience and skills to address it.

4. Another aim is to reach true depth (rather than opinion) in these issues, by incorporating dimensions from reality and experience, beyond and outside the group. Many of the activities will therefore be discussion-based, but with a different texture, allowing the facilitator to incorporate both these elements of extension together, as distinct from the methodology in other chapters of the Life Cycle project.:

• Bringing in outside speakers (professionals or lay people) who can give insights from the inside. Some of these speakers might speak very personally: the group should be prepared for this and be made aware of the need to respect and support the speaker.
• Several activities off the element of preparating an outreach project, campaign, or an educational programme, for the purpose of attracting a particular group of Jews to the community. This formula is offered in the belief that it is an excellent catalyst to achieve the overall goal - focussing participants on the specific issue/population and their subjective and objective questions. The process and method are dual: to encourage the participants to think through whether or not there should be outreach to the group, and to consider what issues need to be taken into account.