One Book, One Jewish Community’s (OBOJC) 9th Book!
by Elana Rivel, Associate Director The OBOJC Implementation Team is pleased to announce that, after much reading and conversation, we have selected our feature book for the 2015-2016 program year: A Backpack, A Bear and Eight Crates of Vodka is a story of two intertwined journeys: a Jewish refugee family fleeing persecution and a young man seeking to reclaim a shattered past. In the twilight of the Cold War (the late 1980s), nine-year-old Lev Golinkin and his family cross the Soviet border with only ten suitcases, $600, and the vague promise of help awaiting in Vienna. Years later, Lev, now [...]
WCI B’nei Mitzvah Training Program
by Gabby Kaplan-Mayer, Director, Whole Community Inclusion This past Monday and Tuesday (August 3rd and 4th), our Whole Community Inclusion program held its first-ever training for B’nei Mitzvah tutors on how to make modifications and accommodations for students of all abilities. The inspiration for creating this training is our realization that more and more synagogues are welcoming and providing accommodations for students who have learning, physical and/or developmental disabilities in their education programs. However, when these children are ready to prepare for becoming B'nei Mitzvah, tutors and clergy do not always have the skills they need to address learning challenges and [...]
jkidphilly Community Programming
By Lori Rubin, Director, Family Engagement It was a beautiful day on Sunday, August 2nd at the Elmwood Park Zoo. Over 220 jkidphilly friends attended our 3rd annual jkidphilly Goes to the Zoo program! The sun was shining as families walked around the zoo looking for the animals featured on our Treasure Hunt, which listed 10 animals and their Hebrew names. As our jkidphilly Venturer theme this week is Bikkur Holim (visiting the sick,) we offered a variety of activities that helped our jkids understand how they could participate in this mitzvah. jkids had the chance to make "Boo-Boo Bunnies" or "Boo-Boo [...]