|
Preface: The following principles were
developed as a result of the Values-Based Decision process engaged
in by members of Kol HaLev from September 2004 through May 2005.
This process focused initially on distinguishing a set of Kol HaLev
values, and then in using these values, in addition to a set of
Shabbat-derived values representative of Jewish thought over
hundreds of years, to guide a discussion and decision process on an
identified issue within our community with respect to our communal
Shabbat practices. The issue ultimately chosen for this process was
“Writing and Other Creative Activities.” This issue was
intentionally chosen with the belief that a set of principles with
respect to this specific area would influence and guide our planned
educational programming given the immediacy of its launch and the
importance of this program for our community.
It is important to note that the group
of people who participated in these ongoing discussions focused
themselves specifically on this issue and this issue only. This is
not to imply that this group believes the issue of Writing and Other
Creative Activities is the most important issue to consider in our
educational programming. We understand there are other important
areas of commitment and accompanying principles representing these
commitments which are being used to guide and inform our educational
programming, e.g. commitments to: Jewish Learning, Israel, Jewish
Family, Tikkun Olam, etc. We also understand that our educational
programming will focus on spanning Jewish education and Judaism and
not focus exclusively on Shabbat-related topics. However, given that
our educational programming is going to take place on Shabbat, we
believed a set of principles was needed to help guide the
programming with respect to the issue of “Writing and other Creative
Activities.”
-
Many of our members are committed to having an experience of
Shabbat that is special, holy, sacred, joyous and is
differentiated from the rest of the week. Others wish to have an
experience of Shabbat which while differentiating it from the rest
of the week, is focused on establishing a connection of community
with other members of Kol HaLev and more broadly with the Jewish
people. As an overall congregation, we're committed to these
experiences, and to creating a space and structure which makes it
easy for other people to share these experiences of Shabbat.
-
Offering a rich, expressive and
expansive educational experience is critically important for us.
It’s also essential, given that we've chosen Shabbat as the day in
which we're going to offer this educational experience, that the
educational program is planned with the kavannah of promoting and
creating access to these experiences of Shabbat to which we're
personally and communally committed. This holds regardless of the
form and structure the educational program and activities take.
-
We know and understand each one
of our members is on an ever evolving pathway in his or her
personal Jewish journey, and that a good part of this pathway is
the personalization of what being a Jew is for each individual. In
this sense, each one of us is simultaneously a creator,
interpreter and transmitter of Judaism. We also understand there
is a natural tension and balance point constantly being discovered
for each individual on this evolving pathway between our
collective past, present and future as individuals, a community
and a people. It is our heartfelt belief the struggle with this
tension, and the natural actions which occur as a result of this
struggle, represent an opportunity for the ordinary to reveal the
extraordinary, the extraordinary to reveal the ordinary and thus
for the individual and community to experience growth, learning
and development. Our commitment is that whatever structure and
format the educational programming takes, it incorporates this
struggle and as a result, encompasses this inherent opportunity
for growth, development and learning.
-
Because our members are on
different and evolving pathways on their own Jewish journeys, it
is critical that each of us brings to our relationship with the
other a profound respect for the unique Jewish journey of each
individual. This then can lead to an understanding of the range of
ways in which each person chooses to create and have a meaningful
experience of Shabbat. Our intention is that the educational
programming incorporates our community commitments to experience
the power, sacredness and holiness of Shabbat, the experience of
Shabbat as being distinct from the rest of the week, and the
experience of Shabbat as a vehicle to create community within Kol
HaLev and more broadly the Jewish people. And just as each member
of Kol HaLev is on a different and evolving pathway on their own
Jewish journey, the form and structure of our educational
programming should acknowledge the reality of these different
pathways and the different “routes in” which create these
experiences.
-
We also understand the
educational process itself is one that leverages different
modalities of teaching and of learning, and that by choosing to
have our educational programming on Shabbat, we potentially could
place ourselves inside a structure which would limit certain
modalities of learning and teaching to be explored. While we are
not committed to throwing caution to the wind and opening up the
total exploration of these different modalities of teaching and
learning, we equally are not committed to the total restriction of
these modalities. Therefore, we’re committed that our educational
programming embark on a mindful exploration of these varied
modalities, and that there are processes put in place which both
evaluate and adjust the effectiveness of the tools and
methodologies deployed in this intentional, mindful and careful
exploration.
-
We understand that in order for
these principles to tangibly exist in the structure and format of
our educational programming, it will require creativity,
out-of-the-box thinking, and for both the planning of the
programming and the programming itself to be undertaken and
implemented with both tremendous kavannah and ruach.
It is our intention these principles are used as both a source and
influence for our educational programming, sparking individual and
collective ruach and sharpening individual and collective kavanah.
Approved by the
Board in June 2005 Posted July 29, 2003
For some questions and answers
about these principles, click here. |
|