Pilot Year One: 2007-2008

In 2007, the YJCC leadership reached out to the leadership of 21 Bergen County synagogues that have been involved in cooperative programming with the YJCC, and chose four synagogues, two Conservative and two Reform, for a first Kehillah Partnership pilot. Under the leadership of two outstanding Jewish communal professionals, Rabbi Noam Marans and Dr. Evie Rotstein, the pilot facilitated the creation of a collaborative effort among rabbis, educators and lay leaders, and created a unique educational program with exciting appeal for young students. Eight cultural arts specialists – mostly young and hip innovative programmers who are uniquely appealing to sixth graders (the target group) - were hired to direct the program’s cultural arts offerings (e.g. music, videography, cartooning, culinary arts, dance), all focused on the theme of Israel at 60.  More than 120 sixth graders came together at the Bergen County YJCC for four Sunday morning sessions and one overnight camp retreat. Students were given the choice of eight cultural arts offerings in which to specialize and several others as electives. Attendance throughout the program and even to its end was over 90%, and parents of the children participated in the opening and closing sessions of the Partnership pilot with Jewish text study and discussion.  The pilot concluded in early March 2008 with a community showcase of the children’s creative work.

By all accounts, one of the great successes and a highly unique element of the pilot program was that it was the culmination of a community-wide strategic effort, with clear short-term goals offering added program value to the synagogue schools at a level they could not attain individually, while providing them with content and access to professionals who could enrich their school programs. It also set the stage for an ongoing collaborative planning process at every level – educational, administrative, programmatic, and fiscal – and engaged many levels of synagogue and Federation leadership.

Working in this cooperative spirit, the leadership of the community institutions has successfully challenged – and changed – former methods of working in a more individualized manner, in order to develop and implement the pilot program as a collaborative effort, and to begin an in-depth strategic planning process that will guide the future development of the Partnership and its programs. As part of this process, national experts from the Jewish communal world and the field of Jewish education have been engaged to facilitate discussions and mentor the Partnership participants in their work.

Furthermore, bringing together children from four different synagogues who would not otherwise have an opportunity to meet or experience Jewish community together is a powerful strategy for strengthening Jewish identity and heightening sensitivities to issues of religious pluralism as well as a more thoughtful understanding of the importance of being part of the broader community. Through the Kehillah Partnership pilot program, the children – and their parents – have already benefited from engaging in an exciting opportunity to meet and learn with other Jews, and taking part in educational activities that can have a lasting impact on their future connections to community.
Click here to view the pilot showcase brochure.

Pilot Year Two: 2008-2009

With the successful conclusion of Pilot Year One, the Kehillah Partnership launched an expanded pilot in the fall of 2008, to include families from eight synagogues. Community-wide programming was developed collaboratively for sixth graders, similar to the previous year’s program, and for seventh graders, to build on the program they participated in last year. New educational components in the areas of culture, recreation and technology were developed and curriculum was shared among all of the synagogue schools. Moving forward, it is hoped that an empty-nester program and a family-based program will invite additional cohorts into the Kehillah Partnership.

Grade Six: 175 sixth-grade students from eight different synagogue schools came together on a Sunday morning in October to experience 12 different activities in Israeli cultural arts and make choices of two “majors” for future sessions. At the same time, their parents participated in a lively text-based discussion with Rabbi Noam Marans on points related to raising Jewish children. The curriculum and entire program was developed and carried out by a collaborative team of educators from the eight synagogue schools, with the facilitation of Rabbi Marans and Dr. Evie Rotstein. The children met for four additional sessions, including an overnight. Their program culminated in a community showcase of their work and activities in March 2009; while the children put the finishing touches on their presentation, their parents engaged in study with Dr. Rotstein.

Grade Seven: 80 seventh-grade students from four different synagogues – alumni of last year’s sixth-grade pilot – participated in a captivating session of “Storahtelling,” an innovative project in Jewish education that uses the arts and new media to transmit Jewish stories and traditions. In parallel, their parents participated in text-based study, continuing discussions they began as part of last year’s Kehillah program. The seventh graders are meeting again for another central activity.

Early Childhood: Under the aegis of the Kehillah Partnership, five key local Jewish organizations have successfully partnered to plan and fund the introduction of the PJ Library® into the northern New Jersey community. Thanks to support by the Russell Berrie Foundation and a collaborative effort among the Bergen County YJCC, the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades, the YM-YWHA of North Jersery, the UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey, and the Synagogue Leadership Initiative, the PJ Library®, a program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, will send monthly mailings of Jewish children’s books to young families in the Federation catchment area. This initiative will also be a launching point for community-wide programming for young families under the Kehillah Partnership umbrella later next year - programs that will be planned and carried out by collaborative teams of educators from throughout the community.
Click here to read more about the pilot program.

Pilot Year Three: 2009-2010

The current pilot year includes ten synagogues – seven Conservative and three Reform – whose sixth and seventh graders will be involved in Kehillah Partnership programming. See the full list of synagogues in the project under “About Us.” All of the teachers and educators of the ten synagogue schools involved, together with the project’s cultural artists, are taking part in an ongoing program of teacher training, funded by a special Signature Grant from the Covenant Foundation, whose purpose is to continue the process of collaborative program development, and provide training in Jewish text, pedagogy, and the use of new media.