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FAQs About Our New Principles Governing our Educational Programming |
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Here are some Frequently Asked Questions regarding the use of writing and other creative activities in our educational programming on Shabbat. To read the complete Shabbat Statement of Principles, passed by the board in July, click here. Q: Who was involved in the creation of these principles? A: Our Adult Education committee led a series of continuing events from September 2004 through May 2005 examining the values-based decision process, determining Kol HaLev’s values, and then using these values, in addition to a set of traditional Judaic values about Shabbat, to help guide a discussion about writing and other creative activities within our educational program. The last three months of the discussion focused on applying the values-based decision process to the specific topic of “writing and other activities on Shabbat with regard to our educational programming.” Approximately 40 people participated in the activities throughout the year with a core group of about 15. These individuals spanned the diversity of Kol HaLev’s membership. The core group of 15 created and came to alignment on the principles, which were then shown to a broader group of Kol HaLev members, including the family and youth education committee, who also came to alignment. The principles were delivered to the board in May and discussed and approved by the board in July. Q: Will writing and other activities traditionally prohibited on Shabbat be prohibited from our educational programming? A: One of the main points of the principles is to force thoughtfulness and mindfulness with respect to writing and other educational activities traditionally prohibited on Shabbat both into the design of our educational program and into the ways we participate in it. The principles recognize the diversity of our membership — that each individual and family is on a unique Jewish journey, that these journeys take varied pathways and that these pathways embody different practices and explorations. Additionally, the principles also recognize the fact that, given we as a community have chosen to hold our educational programming on Shabbat, extra care has to be taken in the design of the program to ensure that it represents the joy, celebration and sacredness of community that is so evident within Kol HaLev. Lastly, the principles also recognize that from an educational viewpoint, people learn in different ways and that under ideal circumstances an educator should be able to leverage different styles and methods (referred to in the principles as “modalities”) to reach different students and create a substantive educational experience. Q: Does this mean that teachers or students in our educational program are now going to be writing or drawing in class? A: Not necessarily. It means that the administrators and volunteers designing the program and the teachers implementing the program, all individuals on their own Jewish journeys with their own sense of practices, processes and priorities, will bring these sensibilities to the design and implementation of the programming. The principles recognize that whatever activity is taking place and its structure, the kavanah of the activity is paramount. It would be easy to default to a set of rules that say, “No writing on Shabbat.” It would be just as easy to default to a set of rules that say, “Yes, writing is allowed on Shabbat.” The principles endorse neither of these positions and instead ask teachers and administrators to ask themselves, “What is the kavanah that I want to shine through this activity and what is the best way to have this happen?” The principles recognize that it is possible that in some instances the best way for the kavanah to come through may be by using a form of expression traditionally prohibited on Shabbat. However, it is equally true that in certain activities, the best way for the kavanah to shine through may be by adhering to traditional prohibitions. The principles also recognize that by structuring our educational activities to recognize the diversity of our membership, our individual Jewish journeys and our commitment to experience the sacredness and communal aspects of Shabbat, the creativity of our administrators and teachers will be called forth. Q: Why don’t the principles come out and say exactly what can be done and can not be done? A: Part of each of our ongoing Jewish journeys is grappling with the tension between tradition and modernity, between halacha and convenience and between individual and community. The principles recognize these tensions and, in fact, set forth the intention that our educational program incorporate them. We felt this could best happen by bringing teachers, administrators and the program itself into the struggle. We believe that it is within these tensions that growth, development and learning can happen, and that teaching about these struggles and incorporating them into our educational program can be a point for growth and learning. This ongoing struggle and evolution for each of us is critical to our understanding and definition of what it means to be a Reconstructionist Jew and a member of Kol HaLev.
Q: How will Rabbi Estelle, Rabbi
Steve, Rabbi Jeff and the teachers of our various programs know what
to do or not to do in the classrooms? Q: Who will be determining the effectiveness of this approach? A: Several evaluation methods will be used. Students, parents, teachers and administrators will all evaluate the hits and misses of the program. There will also be a committee paying particular attention to the implementation of the principles, evaluating our effectiveness as a community in grappling with them and studying the degree to which the principles assist or impede the delivery of our educational programming. Posted August 1, 2005 |