F R O M GOOD TO G R E A T : HOW TO C R E A T E J E W I S H
L E A R N I N G C O M M U N I T I E S OF E X C E L L E N C E
STEVEN HUBERMAN,
Director
of Regions,
Tlie United
Synagogue
PH.D.
of Conservative
Judaism,
New Yoric
Tills review essay focuses on Professor Bernard Reisman's book. The New Jewish
Experiential Book (Jersey City: KTAV Publishing, 2002). Joel Reisman is the co-author. I
dedicate this essay to our rebbe, Professor Reisman, who served as Chair of the JCSA
Publications Committee for two decades.
is a potent tool, engaging young people,
communal leadership, and adults on a Jewish
quest. Reisman's updated book provides a
treasure chest of strategies to build Jewish
identity. The strategies in the text substan
tially further our understanding in nine areas:
(1) anti-semitism/Holocaust, (2) Israel and
Israel-Diaspora relations, (3) family and life
cycle, (4) community, (5) leadership, (6) per
sonal and professional values, (7) religion
and culture, (8) pluralism, and (9) Jewish
identity.
"Alone a Jew is nothing. But when he is
with other Jews, he is a force. Because
then automatically he inherits all the
strengths and all the tears, all the despairs
and all the joys of his ancestors. A Jew
alone cannot be Jewish. A Jew can be
Jewish only if he is part of a community. "
Elie Wiesel
T
he UJA-Federation of New York and a
range of other organizations recently
funded the first-ever Israel Education Month.
The aim was to celebrate our intimate con
nection to the land and people of Israel. As
part of this effort, I served as a Scholar-inResidence in a Long Island synagogue on the
theme, "After September 11: Being Jewish
and Loving Israel." We could not have pre
dicted the response—hundreds of young
people, parents, and mature adults joined us.
At each event, the attendance grew.
Over Shabbat we had a remarkable expe
rience. My goal was to positively transform
how people felt about being Jewish and
make them Israel activists. The successful
techniques 1 used were from Bernard Reis
man's book The New Jewish Experiential
Book. They enabled me to impart Jewish
values and build a sense of Chevrah—group
cohesion. This article explains the rationale
for Reisman's methodology and suggests
how to create Jewish learning communities.
A founding father of informal Jewish ed
ucation, Reisman wrote his first book on
experiential education in 1978; it revolution
ized Jewish learning. Experiential education
JEWISH EDUCATION PRINCIPLES
"Learning is great, because learning leads
to action."
Talmud Kiddushim 40b
"Imagination is more important than
intelligence."
Albert Einstein
In 1916, John Dewey noted the relation
ship between experience and learning: "To
learn from experience is to make a backward-and-forward connection between what
we do to things and what we enjoy or suffer
from things in consequence. Under such con
ditions, doing becomes trying: an experiment
with the world to find out what it is like; the
undergoing becomes instruction—discovery
of the connection of things" (1964, p. 140).
This is the underpinning of experiential ed
ucation—education based on the experience
of the learner.
The social psychologist, Kurt Lewin, con-
175
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TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
ducted experiments during the 1930s and
1940s on w a y s to change attitudes and b e
havior. L e w i n demonstrated that the main
ingredient in change w a s directly involving
Experiential activities are varied. They in
clude the following:
people themselves in the change process:
"This result (change) occurs when the facts
•
Rankings and priorities: forms or sched
ules that ask individual participants to de
termine preferences from an array of
value or behavioral options
•
Role playing: activities in which partici
pants act out a structured or self-designed
vignette
Questionnaires and quizzes: instraments
designed to explore and extend substan
tive knowledge
b e c o m e really their facts (as against other
people's facts). A n individual will believe
facts h e himself has discovered, in the same
way he believes in h i m s e l f (quoted in Mor
row, 1967). This is best accomplished in a
small group.
Jewish experiendal education should ud-
•
lize creative activities that relate the subject
matter to the experiences and interests of the
group participants. Increasingly, Jews are on
•
Expressive activities using one o f the ar
tistic media (music, art, dance, drama) to
create a mood or an experience
•
Fantasy activities that encourage u s e o f
the imagination to provide n e w perspec
tives and insights
•
External stimuli: use of objects, materials,
or symbols to stimulate participant reac
tions
a quest for a personal Jewish lifestyle. T h e
right techniques nourish and expand people's
interests. Through direct participation, they
clarify and articulate how Jewish tradition is
relevant for them. W e thus create a Jewish
leaming community, a small group that e n
courages peer learning and emotional sup
port.
Ideally, the small group should number
about ten people. This is not always feasible.
In m y recent Long
Island experience, 1
sought to use the techniques with 2 0 0 people
at a time.
A m o n g the keys to success are encourag
ing open and forthright participadon, letting
participants feel comfortable to risk saying
what they traly feel, and getting to k n o w
people and referring to each other by name.
Rabbi B e n Z o m a observes in Sayings
of the
Fathers. "Who is w i s e ? H e w h o leams from
every man" (4:1). In short, T R U S T T H E
PROCESS.
The group leader is an expert facilitator,
s o m e o n e w h o is extremely knowledgeable in
the subject area and is sensitive to those in
the group. In the Harvard University Busi
ness School, they teach that successful busi
ness
leaders
must
combine
the t w o
" c ' s " — b e competent and care deeply about
others. T h e maxim applies even more s o to
creating Jewish learning communities. It is
not enough to k n o w your area of responsi
bility; you have to be a mentsch as well.
There are c o m m o n threads in all o f these
activities. The participants generate data, dis
cuss their reactions to the data, and consider
their implications. A facilitator might, for
example, stimulate discussion by asking per
sons to note their level of agreement or dis
agreement with several statements, as shown
in Table 1.
Since most people derive greater satisfac
tion from being active rather than passive,
they are eager to react to such trigger ques
tions. T h e function of the leader is crucial.
H e or she needs to display enthusiasm and
flexibility.
Although the leader k n o w s the
desired outcome of the activity, mid-course
corrections—changing content, activities, or
the format—may need to be made.
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel once
commented, "The teacher is the creator o f
the future of our people." Operationalizing
Heschel's insight requires ground rules for
useful Jewish content discussions. Reisman
emphasizes that there are no short cuts to
active listening. T o maximize Jewish expe-
SVMMER/FALL
2004
From
Good
to Great:
How to Create
Jewish
Learning
Table L Sample Experiential Activity One:
Questionnaire on Israel-Diaspora Relations
A = agree; U =
SD =
strongly
of Excellence
I 177
spond to them, especially w h e n their ideas
differ from your o w n . Try to avoid build
ing your o w n
P l e a s e n o t e y o u r level of a g r e e m e n t on e a c h
item.
Key: SA = strongly
agree;
uncertain;
D = disagree;
disagree
Communities
arguments in your
head
while others are talking.
•
Think together about what y o u want to
get out of your conversations.
•
Respect the confidential
nature of per
sonal stories.
1.
I d e n t i f i c a t i o n w i t h I s r a e l is t h e s i n g l e
m o s t i m p o r t a n t p a r t of my J e w i s h n e s s .
2.
T h e S t a t e of I s r a e l m a k e s m e p r o u d t o
be J e w i s h .
3.
Every Jew has a moral obligation to
support Israel.
Explore the disagreement. Search for the
4.
O n e c a n n o t r e a l l y be a J e w in t h e full
s e n s e in t h e D i a s p o r a .
A b o v e all, be civil.
5.
All Diaspora Jews should be
e n c o u r a g e d to m a k e a l i y a h .
6.
All J e w s s h o u l d c o n s i d e r t h e m s e l v e s
Zionists.
7.
I a m a J e w first a n d an A m e r i c a n
second.
8.
Without Israel the American Jewish
c o m m u n i t y would be much weaker; Israel
is t h e k e y t o m e a n i n g a n d c o h e s i o n in t h e
American Jewish community.
9.
T h e first p r i o r i t y of A m e r i c a n J e w i s h
c o m m u n a l f u n d s is t o h e l p I s r a e l .
10.
Israel should receive undivided
s u p p o r t from A m e r i c a n J e w s so t h a t we
a p p e a r u n i t e d in the e y e s of o u r e n e m i e s .
11.
W e m u s t s t r i v e to i n f l u e n c e U . S .
f o r e i g n p o l i c y to s u p p o r t I s r a e l — e v e n if
we a r e c r i t i c i z e d for it by n o n - J e w s , t h e
press, Arab countries, etc.
12.
Israel should receive undivided
s u p p o r t from A m e r i c a n J e w s s i n c e we c a n
a s s u m e t h a t t h e p o l i c i e s of a J e w i s h s t a t e
will be sound.
13.
After we s e n d m o n e y to I s r a e l , we
h a v e no r i g h t t o c o n t r o l t h e a l l o c a t i o n of
those monies.
14.
W e h a v e n o r i g h t t o d i c t a t e p o l i c y to
t h e I s r a e l i g o v e r n m e n t ; for e x a m p l e ,
regarding administered territories.
15.
I s r a e l is t h e c e n t e r of w o r l d J e w r y .
.
B e open to changing your mind; this will
help y o u really listen to others' v i e w s .
•
W h e n disagreement occurs, keep talking.
common
.
Value
concerns beneath the
one
another's
surface.
experiences
and
think about h o w they have contributed to
group m e m b e r s ' thinking.
•
Help d e v e l o p one another's ideas. Listen
carefully and ask clarifying questions.
In addition to eliciting personal reacdons
to your Jewishness,
experiential
activities
can help clarify a Jewish organization's fu
ture direction. I have used the "Leadership
Ranking Sheet" (Table 2) to help a group of
Table 2. Sample Experiential Activity Two:
Jewish Organization Leadership Ranking Sheet
B e l o w is a list of 10 a t t r i b u t e s t h a t a r e
p e r t i n e n t to t h e e x e r c i s e of J e w i s h
c o m m u n a l l e a d e r s h i p . You are asked to
d e t e r m i n e t h e i r r e l a t i v e p r i o r i t y so as t o
p r o d u c e a set of g u i d e l i n e s t h a t m i g h t b e
u s e d by t h e J e w i s h o r g a n i z a t i o n s in y o u r
c o m m u n i t y in c h o o s i n g lay l e a d e r s for t h e
c o m m u n i t y ' s social, civic, and religious
o r g a n i z a t i o n s . R a n k t h e s e i t e m s from 1 to
10, w i t h 1 b e i n g t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t
a t t r i b u t e , 2 next i m p o r t a n t , a n d so o n .
Maturity
Jewish knowledge and commitment
P r e s t i g e in t h e n o n - J e w i s h
Organizational
Personal
community
know-how
assertiveness
Wealth
riential learning w e are reminded to adhere
to these key notions:
•
Youth
Political connections
Listen carefully to others. Try to really
understand what they are saying and re
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top officers determine their recruitment pri-
process is c o n d u c i v e to this desired ambi-
orities. It is yet another illustration of h o w to
ence.
create a spirited discussion leading toward
consensus.
W h e n e v e r I am working with a Jewish
c o m m u n a l group that i n c l u d e s n e w c o m e r s ,
Before doing the more specialized activ-
" t w o c i r c l e s " ( T a b l e 3 ) is an ideal a c t i v i t y ,
ities as s h o w n in Tables 1 and 2 , it is impor-
It s h o u l d b e introduced b e f o r e any o f the
tant to create a sense of chevrah—a caring,
more
more intimate group. T o build safe space
ties,
threatening,
self-disclosing
activi-
members must feel comfortable and not in
timidated.
At the outset y o u want to establish
J E W I S H LEARNING COMMUNITIES
a "heimish" setting. The environment should
be a climate where persons are accepted.
Every Jewish professional and every lay
supported, and embraced. The educational
leader is a Jewish educator. H o w they c o n -
Table 3.
Sample Experiential Activity Three: Two Circles
P u r p o s e : T o a l l o w group m e m b e r s to g e t to k n o w e a c h other q u i c k l y and to instill a
participatory m i n d s e t . T h i s a c t i v i t y a l s o s e r v e s to d i v i d e a large group into s m a l l g r o u p s
ready to work on a s u b s e q u e n t e x p e r i e n t i a l a c t i v i t y . " T w o C i r c l e s " is the a c t i v i t y that w e
use m o s t f r e q u e n t l y in b e g i n n i n g e x p e r i e n t i a l p r o g r a m s .
S e t t i n g : A r o o m with sufficient s p a c e to a c c o m m o d a t e all the small g r o u p s . Straight-back
chairs are s e t up in t w o c o n c e n t r i c c i r c l e s c o n t a i n i n g the same number of c h a i r s . Chairs in
the inner c i r c l e face out, and t h o s e in the outer c i r c l e face in.
Time: 3 5 - 4 0 minutes.
Instructions:
1.
2.
Participants sit on the pre-arranged c h a i r s . If there is a large g r o u p , o n e s h o u l d separate
s p o u s e s and p e o p l e w h o k n o w e a c h other into different small g r o u p s .
T h e leader e x p l a i n s that the a c t i v i t y w i l l i n v o l v e a s e r i e s of brief c o n v e r s a t i o n s ( o f about
3 to 4 m i n u t e s duration) on s u b j e c t s to be a s s i g n e d by the leader b e t w e e n the t w o p e o p l e
sitting f a c i n g e a c h other. B e f o r e b e g i n n i n g the c o n v e r s a t i o n , the t w o p e r s o n s are asked to
introduce t h e m s e l v e s . T h e leader then a n n o u n c e s the q u e s t i o n and asks both p e r s o n s to
speak to the q u e s t i o n w i t h i n the a s s i g n e d t i m e . Participants are a s k e d to stay on the
subject and, if n e e d e d , to prod their partner to obtain a full r e s p o n s e .
3.
After d i s c u s s i o n on the first q u e s t i o n , the leader asks the p e o p l e in the outer c i r c l e to
m o v e o n e chair to their right. (For v a r i e t y , p e o p l e from the inner c i r c l e can be asked to
m o v e o n e chair to the left.) T h e n e w pair i n t r o d u c e s t h e m s e l v e s , the leader a s s i g n s a n e w
q u e s t i o n , and the pair c o n v e r s e . T h i s c o n t i n u e s until e v e r y pair has c o n v e r s e d on an
assigned question.
4.
S i n c e m e m b e r s of the same c i r c l e h a v e not had a c h a n c e to talk with o n e another, the
leader s u g g e s t s that m e m b e r s of the inner and outer c i r c l e s m o v e around and i n t r o d u c e
t h e m s e l v e s to the others in the c i r c l e .
5.
At this j u n c t u r e the participants are aware of a dramatic contrast b e t w e e n their initial
a n x i e t y and the warm afterglow g e n e r a t e d by the s e r i e s of personal c o n v e r s a t i o n s . T h i s
l e a v e s them with a s e n s e of trust for their n e w c o l l e a g u e s and r e c e p t i v i t y to c o n t i n u e the
p r o c e s s o f personal sharing.
S a m p l e Q u e s t i o n s for Discussion In the C i r c l e s
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
D e s c r i b e a person w h o m y o u feel e x e m p l i f i e s a g o o d J e w .
What is there about the work of this o r g a n i z a t i o n that y o u like m o s t ?
W h i c h p e r s o n w h o m y o u have k n o w n has had the m o s t impact on your l i f e as a Jew?
What d o y o u v a l u e m o s t about b e i n g J e w i s h ?
What d o y o u recall as b e i n g an e s p e c i a l l y p o s i t i v e e x p e r i e n c e s i n c e y o u h a v e b e e n at this
organization?
What kind o f Jew m a k e s y o u feel m o s t proud?
SUMMER/FALL
2004
From
Good
to Great:
How to Create
Jewish
duct themselves, the kinds of statements they
make, h o w they relate to others—all of these
behaviors transmit Jewish value state
m e n t s — s o m e positive and some negative.
The contributors to the Reisman volume
emphasize that w e are each teaching role
models. A s a "virtual Jewish school," w e
have multiple characteristics. Jews today are
autonomous so that Judaism must b e c o m e a
more attractive and compelling lifestyle. W e
advance their exploration by doing experi
ence-centered learning. Jews should have
Jewish experiences, rather than simply talk
ing about them. It is one thing to study Shab
bat; it is more transformative to g o to a shul
and absorb it.
W e are encouraged to be interactive;
quality relationships with our colleagues, lay
leaders, and clients are as critical as the ac
tual work in which w e are engaged. In this
person-centered milieu w e reach out to oth
ers to d o Jewish. Our curriculum of Jewish
values encompasses behaviors and beliefs
w e want others to internalize. A n d w e seek
to make the method of Jewish learning en
joyable. Talking heads are out; caring Jewish
role models are in. W e teach Jewish by dem
onstrating and acting on our beliefs, not sim
ply by telling or lecturing. It is on this e x
panded campus where w e d o God's work of
Kedushah.
Jews today are strongly affected by early
life experiences, including the home, Jewish
schooling, and synagogue
involvement
(Horowitz, 2000). Later voluntary experi
e n c e s — e s p e c i a l l y Jewish youth groups, Hil
lel activities, and quality trips to Israel—
have an impact during adolescence and early
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I 179
adulthood. Even if people miss out on these
early and often choices they can still have
high-impact Jewish experiences. For any
given person w e do not know when the de
sire for Jewish identity will be activated. The
best strategy to create Jewish learning c o m
munities of excellence is to construct an e x
citing array of experiential options for all
life-cycle stages. Reisman's book articu
lately catalogues this vast array of growth
opportunities.
Reisman has trained an entire generation
of Jewish communal lay and professional
leaders. M y wife, Frieda, and 1 have seen
Bernie as our mentor for almost thirty years.
In considering his influence, w e are re
minded of Ralph Waldo Emerson's state
ment, "To leave the world a bit better, to
k n o w even one life has breathed easier be
cause you have hved. This is to have suc
ceeded." B y this measure, Reisman has suc
ceeded. Or as Piriic Avot 4:1 observes: "Who
is wise? Those w h o learn from everyone...Who is honored? Those w h o honor all peo
ple."
REFERENCES
Dewey, John. (1964). Democracy
New York: MacMillan.
and
education.
Horowitz, Bethamie. (2000). Connections
journeys:
enhancing
Assessing
Jewish
critical
identity.
opportunities
New
and
for
York:
UJA—Federation.
Morrow, Alfred. (1967). Events leading to the
establishment of the National Training Lab
oratories. Joumal
ence, 3, 114-150.
2004
of Applied
Behavioral
Sci