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The Center |
What Is Jewish Service Learning? |
Why we exist |
What is "SuLam"? SuLam: The Center for Jewish Service Learning is made up of many different aspects. First and foremost we are the one resource for all of your service and service learning needs. Through SuLam, our website, our professional staff and our library, you will have access to all the different places a teen (as well as adults) could want to volunteer their time for community service. Additionally, you will have access to the relevant information regarding each service opportunity (hours, location, contact person and number, etc.) to ensure that whether you are planning a volunteer program for yourself or a group, you are able to do so as smoothly and as easily as possible. We also have an exhaustive resource library of books, articles, videos, lesson plans, and program ideas to further facilitate the Jewish service learning process. These resources cover both topics of Jewish learning and reflection that further the Jewish experience of community service and service learning education in general. Additionally our resource library and professional consultation has a heavy emphasis on the reflection process that follows every act of service learning and is essential in allowing teens to make the connection between the service and the learning and build their own personal identities and passions. Educators will useful our curriculum and program bank, which will dramatically enhance your ability and ease in programming and leading meaningful Jewish service learning opportunities. Our work with Jewish educators and Jewish educational institutions remains a high priority through our role as the resource and consultant for local Jewish service learning. In addition to the web-site, valuable resources, and direct professional consultation, we oversee a Jewish Service Learning Council, which meets three times per year. The Council is comprised of both formal and informal Jewish educators who collaborate, attend trainings, and run sessions to improve Jewish service learning for all Jewish teens. SuLam is also a co-sponsor, along with SPARK- A Partnership For Service in Baltimore, for the National Jewish Service Learning Conference to be held annually in April. SuLam was created by- and remains a department of- the Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Los Angeles. SuLam is partially funded by a generous grant from the Covenant Foundation and is able to serve all the day schools, youth groups, religious schools, synagogues, bar or bat mitzvah projects and individual Jewish teens and their families throughout all of L.A. County. What is Jewish Service Learning? Jewish Service Learning is specifically the formal integration of community service into instruction and Jewish learning and/or instruction and Jewish learning integrated into community service. Jewish Service Learning, or Jewish values and curriculum-based service, connects Jewish teens with the community in partnerships that provide effective assistance to those in need, as well as creates valuable learning environments stressing Jewish values and identity. It is a method of teaching that enriches Jewish understanding by engaging young people in meaningful service to their schools, synagogues and communities through careful integration with established curricula and/or Jewish learning objectives. As a philosophy, Jewish Service Learning embraces young people as a community resource and asset. It views all people within the Jewish community as citizens with the capacity to contribute- no matter their age. Jewish Service Learning is a form of active learning that values critical thinking and strengthening the teen’s understanding and connection to Judaism and its teachings. It involves taking the content from the Torah, our classrooms and modern thinking and putting it all to work in the community. Research shows that when Jewish Service Learning is effectively implemented, teens gain in self-confidence and self-worth, academic achievement, Jewish identity, Jewish and community citizenship, and character. To see what the research says about service learning click here. All Service Learning is marked by three aspects: The act of service, the piece of learning connected to that act, and reflection. Service Learning cannot be successful without these three things. The Los Angeles Unified School District, local Jewish day schools, local secular private schools, synagogues, and youth groups all oblige our teens to engage in community service. Often these institutions entail an hourly requirement. However, in many circumstances teens, their educators, or parents spend so much time looking for a quality service opportunity that the whole purpose of teen volunteering- to enhance community involvement and individual character building- is lost. The Center has the goal of easing the process of finding a quality service opportunity for volunteers. We have screened each organization listed and you can be sure each will provide a meaningful opportunity with professional supervision and will not force you to participate in any religious (non- Jewish or Jewish) observance you are not comfortable with. The secondary aspect of SuLam: The Center for Jewish Service Learning is to introduce a culture shift toward an alternative way to educate our children. Service Learning has been proven (by means of Stanford University and Princeton University research) to enhance a teenager's educational experience by many avenues. Jewish Service Learning allows teens to better connect everything they have learned to society and real world opportunities. This is most effective with teens as it strengthens their passions, drive, and future professional goals. There is no better time for teens to engage in a meaningful Jewish Service Learning program than through their bar or bat mitzvah project, and this is something we specialize in helping teens through as well. SuLam is dedicated to each individual and is here to work with every Jewish teen’s individual passions and convert them into meaningful service opportunities and professional aspirations. Our work with Jewish educators enhances our endeavors because they are the ones who work with teens and have the power of curriculum and lesson planning and program coordination. SuLam enables educators to plan more effective Service Learning opportunities and build and implement Jewish values and teachings. Lastly, we help educators facilitate significant reflection for teens. SuLam is the Hebrew word for "ladder," and more specifically comes from the Torah (Genesis 28.12) through the story of Jacob’s dream. In that portion of the Torah, Jacob has been sent off by his father, Isaac, after Jacob deceived him to receive the gift of the birthright. Jacob is all alone and as dusk sets in he decides to sleep. In his sleep, Jacob dreams that a ladder (Sulam) is put next to him connecting earth to heaven, and angels of G-d are ascending and descending the ladder, whereupon G-d speaks to him. SuLam, therefore, is the name of the Center for Jewish Service Learning, to best connect the work and the deeds we do on earth with the Jewish teachings and morals we have been given. Further connections that The Center for Jewish Service Learning makes are between the Jewish people and all those in need of help; teens to their Jewish identity, and teens to their own personal identity. Additionally, SuLam has its own ladder of service which follows the same model brought forth in Maimonides’ ladder of tzedakah. This ladder provides the ideal goals we all should have in terms of Jewish Service Learning. SuLam is there for all your needs as you all climb the ladder. The Covenant Foundation Bureau of Jewish Education Jewish Federation SPARK Panim- The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values J-Vibe Online Jewish Magazine for teens Babaga-Newz- A great Mitzvah site for youth United Synagogue Youth – Far West (USY) B’nai Brith Youth Organization – Pacific Coast (BBYO) North American Federation of Temple Youth- (NFTY) National Conference on Synagogue Youth- West Coast (NCSY) Young Judea- Out West Pam can be reached at 323-761-8611 or by email at pganz@bjela.org. Sulam: The Center for Jewish Service Learning Office: 323-761-8611
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© Copyright
2006, Sulam . Sulam is a project of the Bureau
of Jewish Education,
a beneficiary agency of the Jewish
Federation of Greater Los Angeles. This program is sponsored in part
by a grant from the Covenant
Foundation.