On Informal Jewish Education - Professor Barry Chazan

An Education that Engages

Informal Jewish education intensely engages and even co-opts participants and makes them feel positive about being involved. Because of its focus on the individual and on issues that are real to him/her, informal Jewish education is often described as "fun," "joyful," or "enjoyable." This should not be taken as a sign of frivolity or lack of seriousness. As Erikson and others have taught us, identity is in part a sense of positive feelings about a group or a frame of reference; and positive feelings about a Jewish experience play an important role in the development of Jewish identity. Indeed, there are those who say that we need such experiences because Jewish identity development is so often complicated by a plethora of negative associations. Research on informal Jewish education points to the high degree of participant satisfaction as compared with other spheres of Jewish life.

In this context, informal Jewish education may be compared to play and sports. The literature on play and sports emphasizes the involvement and engagement of the learner; the joy in the moment; the immediacy of it all; the positive memory, and the warm associations. What seems mundane may be sublime: Bart Giamatti, the Renaissance scholar and commissioner of North American baseball, describes an end-of-season baseball game as a life event reminiscent of Erev Rosh Hashanah - the beginning of the new year for Jews ("In the seventh, the Yankees lead off with two singles from Chambliss and White…I am going to board a plane in a mere five minutes and my heroes and I, after a long spring and supper and hectic fall are going home…I now remember it is Rosh Hashanah, and I recall that renewal has rhythms as old as decline"). One small game is an echo of eternity and paradise.

Informal Jewish Education's Holistic Educator

The informal Jewish educator is a total educational personality who educates by words, deeds and by shaping a culture of Jewish values and experiences. He/she is a person-centered educator whose focus is on learners and whose goal is their personal growth.

The informal Jewish educator is a shaper of Jewish experiences. His/her role in this context is to create opportunities for those experiences and to facilitate the learner's entry into the moments. The informal Jewish educator promotes interaction and interchange. One of his/her major tasks is to create an environment that enables this interactivity to flourish. This requires proficiency in the skills of asking questions, listening and activating the engagement of others.

The informal Jewish educator is a creator of community and kehilla: he/she shapes the aggregate into a group and utilizes the group setting to teach such core Jewish values as klal Yisrael (Jewish peoplehood), kvod ha'adam (the dignity of all people), shutfut goral (shared destiny), and shivyon (equality). Informal Jewish educators are creators of culture; they are sensitive to all the elements specific to the educational setting so that these will reflect values and experiences they wish to convey. The task in this instance is to make every decision - big or little - an educational decision. Informal Jewish educators must be able to engage those with whom they work and make their learning experience enjoyable. The stimulation of positive associations is part of the informal Jewish educator's work.

Finally, the informal Jewish educator needs to be an educated and committed Jew. This educator must be knowledgeable since one of the values he/she comes to teach is Talmud torah - Jewish knowledge. He/she must be committed to these values since teaching commitment to the Jewish people, to Jewish life, and Jewish values is at the heart of the enterprise. Commitment can only be learned if one sees examples of it up close.

Informal Jewish Education Defined

Informal Jewish education is aimed at the personal growth of Jews of all ages. It happens through the individual's actively experiencing a diversity of Jewish moments and values that are regarded as worthwhile. It works by creating venues, by developing a total educational culture, and by co-opting the social context. It is based on a curriculum of Jewish values and experiences that is presented in a dynamic and flexible manner. As an activity, it does not call for any one venue but may happen in a variety of settings. It evokes pleasurable feelings and memories. It requires Jewish literate educators with a "teaching" style that is highly interactive and participatory, who are willing to make maximal use of self and personal lifestyle in their educational work.

The author, of the Hebrew University, was a member of the Melitz Board of Directors for many years. The following is excerpted from his article, "The Philosophy of Informal Jewish Education", available in full at http://infed.org/informaljewisheducation/informal_jewish_education.htm