Venture of the Month: Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El
Jewish Learning Venture's Whole Community Inclusion's initiative serves and supports the Jewish special needs community in many ways, providing workshops, conferences and resources for people with different abilities, for parents, rabbis, teachers and professionals who work with people who have special needs. This month, we are featuring the incredible work in disability inclusion that one congregation, Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El in Wynnewood has done. We asked Sara Crimm, Inclusion Committee Chairperson and Rabbi Marc Israel, Associate Rabbi to share about their process. JLV: Please describe the change, innovation, or transformation your organization has achieved. TBHBE: In February, 2015 Temple Beth [...]
Volunteer Engagement in the 21st Century
By Dr. Amy Alfred, Jewish Learning Venture Organizational Consultant On March 14th, Jewish Learning Venture hosted a workshop on creative ways to engage volunteers in the 21st century. Rabbi Phil Warmflash and Dr. Amy Alfred worked with both professional and lay leaders who came from synagogues both near and far. There was a lot of excitement in the room as a different way of approaching volunteerism was discussed. The central theme was "matterness," and how making volunteers feel that they matter is a central piece to recruiting and retaining volunteers. This concept comes from the book, Matterness: Fearless Leadership for a Social [...]
With Appreciation – and then some.
A few years ago, we were introduced to the popular 'Six Word Memoirs' from Smith Magazine (http://sixwordmemoirs.com). The concept is that we can truly make our words count, and tell a whole story, in just six words. As an agency we used this technique for launching conversations around Jewish leadership, systemic change and even about our agency impact. As I considered how I might say what I truly wanted to say as I leave the doors of Jewish Learning Venture today, it occurred to me that perhaps I would be able to say it best in a six-word memoir. So, here [...]