December 16th, 2010
An open-source online database of Jewish texts on social justice run by American Jewish World Service.
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December 16th, 2010
A trans-denominational website of Jewish information and education geared toward learners of all ages and educational backgrounds.
December 16th, 2010
Links to Jewish texts in English, including Tanakh, Talmud, Midrashic Texts, Kabbalistic Texts and key modern texts.
December 16th, 2010
The central repository of social scientific studies of North American Jewry.
December 16th, 2010
An overview of the organized Jewish community, including non-profit organizations, governing bodies, religious movements and political parties.
Download: The ABCs of Jewish Communal Life
Prepared by Jeremy Burton and by Rabbi Jill Jacobs. Revised for the Jewish FundS for Justice.
December 14th, 2010
Summary: Repair the World commissioned The Worth of What They Do: The Impact of Short-Term Jewish Service-Learning on Host Communities to examine the positive, long-term effects of short-term service projects—often called alternative breaks—on communities-in-need both in the United States and overseas. To date, a number of studies have been conducted on the impact of service projects on individual participants, such as a sense of accomplishment and first-hand experience of global problems such as poverty and food insecurity. However, relatively little research has been done on the impact of service projects—Jewish or secular—on the communities they serve beyond the concrete gains of the service project itself.
Among its findings, the study notes that short-term volunteerism jumpstarts local volunteerism, provides host communities the opportunity to develop local leaders and engage in cultural exchanges with the volunteers, contributes to a shift in community self-identity, and offers additional tangible resources they gained from even short-term projects that they would otherwise not have.
Author: BTW: Informing Change (BTW)
Download: The Worth of What They Do: The Impact of Short-Term Jewish Service-Learning on Host Communities
November 18th, 2010
Summary: The REALITY (Renewal, Education, Action, Leadership, and Inspiration) Israel Experience is a unique leadership development opportunity for selected Teach For America corps members. Corps members with interests in and affiliations with the Jewish community are selected for a 10-day, all-expense-paid trip to Israel, involving tourism, exploration of the Israeli education system, self-reflection and learning. To date, two sets of corps members participated in the REALITY program – one in July 2009 and the other in July 2010.
The impact study finds that REALITY is a strong program with realistic activities and expectations for participants. The data gathered demonstrate this strength as well as REALITY’s success in achieving many of its intended outcomes.
Author: SuccessLinks, LLC
Download: The REALITY Israel Experience: An Impact Study
Download: The REALITY Israel Experience: An Impact Study Executive Summary
November 9th, 2010
The Sosland Online Resource Center offers resources for Jewish educational leaders at the community and national levels. These resources include published works, programs and conferences, organizations and communities and web-based sources on topics including Jewish education, bullying, technology, special needs and much more.
November 4th, 2010
Summary: Social entrepreneurs change the world. Joshua Venture Group was founded on this premise, and our program is as much about cultivating social entrepreneurial talent as it is about growing sustainable ventures. But the question is: what makes someone a social entrepreneur? Picking a Needle out of a Haystack: Selecting for social entrepreneurs takes a look at frameworks from the corporate human capital arena to shed light on the inherent qualities that define social entrepreneurs.
Author: Joshua Venture Group
Download: Picking a Needle out of a Haystack: Selecting for social entrepreneurs
November 2nd, 2010
Summary: Engaging Jewish Teenage Boys: A Call to Action is a comprehensive report offering Seven Lessons and Seven Principles to help Jewish educators more effectively and meaningfully inspire teenage boys to stay connected to Jewish life. Distilled from three years of research, 40 focus groups with Jewish boys, multiple pilot tests and program development, the findings suggest that putting boys’ developing masculinity—their journey to manhood—at the center of male-focused Jewish programming will keep more boys engaged in Jewish life beyond bar mitzvah.
Informed by this research, Moving Traditions has crafted a comprehensive initiative to help both formal and informal Jewish educators better serve Jewish teenage boys: Seven Lessons and Seven Principles for more effective Jewish education; a Marketing Toolkit outlining best practices for more successfully reaching Jewish teenage boys; a Program Curriculum suitable for standalone use or for incorporation into any number of settings and programs; and a Path to Implementation comprised of professional development opportunities for Jewish educators
Author: Moving Traditions
Download: Engaging Jewish Teenage Boys: A Call to Action
Press Release: “Journey to Manhood” Key to Engaging Teenage Boys in Jewish Life