by Ruby K [➚] · Sunday, November 6th, 2011
Attention all artists! Looking for an opportunity to share your art, teach, and learn? There’s one week left to apply to be a Poretsky Artist in Residence at the 2012 National Havurah Committee Summer Institute.
Of the applications, two artists will be selected to participate in the Institute and share their work, teach a class of about 20 and share their work in communitywide program with people that come together from all across the country for the Institute.
Last year’s fantastic Artists in Residence were Joey Weisenberg and Jordan Herskowitz. Previous artists include Rabbi Greg Wall, Tracey Erin-Smith, Aviva Chernick, Ramon Tasat, Heather Stoltz, Bear Bergman, among many great others. Feel free to send any questions to poretskyair@havurah.org
by zt [➚] · Thursday, April 21st, 2011
Imagine late-night singing and philosophical discussions under the stars; engrossing Jewish learning; opportunities to participate in a variety of services, arts experiences, Shabbat celebrations, and outdoor activities; meeting a group of dynamic, thoughtful, energetic Jewish young adults as well as community members of all ages at a
weeklong institute. Sounds fantastic, right?
The NHC Summer Institute is now accepting applications for its Everett Fellows Program! Fellows participate in the full Summer Institute programming and in four workshops designed specifically for them. As a Fellow, you receive a scholarship for tuition, room, and board, and are expected to pay only for registration and dues ($120) for the full
week (August 1-7).
To apply for an Everett Fellowship, you must be 22 through 32 years of age, interested in exploring Havurah Judaism, and willing to participate fully in the Summer Institute. Preference is given to first time Institute attendees. The application can be found here
— it’s just four questions. Please see our website for more information or call the NHC office at
215-248-1335. The application deadline is May 2.
This program has been generously underwritten by the Edith and
Henry Everett Philanthropic Fund.
by zt [➚] · Wednesday, February 16th, 2011
Hollander Social Justice Fellowship
Do you have a social justice cause you are passionate about and want to pursue with the NHC Summer Institute community? Apply for the Hollander Social Justice Fellowship. You will receive a full scholarship towards Institute fees and up to $100 for materials or preparation, in exchange for planning social justice oriented programming for the NHC Summer Institute community. Your proposal needs to include programing comparable to the amount in an NHC-course on a relevant and nonpartisan social justice issue. This programming could consist of a daytime workshop (or series of workshops), an evening community-wide program, Kids Camp or Everett programs, and/or a Shabbat program. We expect that the strongest applications will come from people with at least three to five years of professional or volunteer experience in their area. Preference will be given to people involved in an ongoing social justice campaign (or launching a campaign) who wish to bring it to the NHC Summer Institute community.
Application
Submit a completed NHC Summer Institute registration form and deposit online. (Deposit is refundable if your application is not selected.) In addition, submit to hollanderfellow@havurah.org by March 7th, 2011 brief answers to the following questions in 2-3 pages:
*What are your project’s goals?
*How will the project be carried out (programming, methods, resources you will need)? *Note that your plan needs to include at least three hours of programming.
*How can the issue be brought back to participants’ home communities? How is your project relevant to the NHC Summer Institute community?
*What resources/knowledge/skills do you bring to this project that will make it effective?
*What is your experience or background (professional or volunteer) with the social justice issue your project will address?
*Give an example of a successful social justice project you have worked on and describe your role was in helping make it successful.
Past fellows have included, Brent Spodek (then of AJWS) in combination with Jill Jacobs (JFSJ), Joelle Novey (GWIPL–the other acronym we don’t pronounce!), and Gabriella Russek.
All this to say, we’d love to have your application. Any questions? Drop them in the comments.
by BZ [➚] · Thursday, October 7th, 2010
Do you have something to teach?
The National Havurah Committee is now accepting course proposals for the 2011 NHC Summer Institute! The Institute will be August 1-7, 2011, at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, New Hampshire. It is a week of Jewish learning and living in a pluralistic and multigenerational community comprised of people from grassroots Jewish communities across the continent.
We’re looking for proposals for four-session courses, whether connected to this year’s Institute theme “Y’hi shalom b’cheileich – May there be peace within your walls”, or on any other topic of interest. Teachers whose courses are accepted receive free registration, room, and board for the week, and get to participate fully in the Institute when they’re not teaching.
At the Institute, every teacher is a student and every student is a teacher. As someone who is a teacher in real life and has taught Institute courses, I have found teaching at Institute to be one of my most rewarding teaching experiences, thanks to the productive contributions of everyone in the class. Teachers at Institute include people who work professionally in the field they’re teaching about, as well as people pursuing an “extracurricular” interest who are excited to study something in depth and share it with others.
The deadline for course proposals is November 17. Learn more, and download a course proposal form. See you in August!
by TheWanderingJew [➚] · Monday, April 12th, 2010
The National Havurah Committee Summer Institute 2010 is now accepting application for the Everett Fellows Program. Fellows participate in the full Summer Institute programming and in four workshops designed specifically for them. As a Fellow, you receive a scholarship for tuition, room, and board, and are expected to pay only for registration and dues ($120) for the full week.
Fellows also join the ranks of some of (y)our favourite Jewschool bloggers who were Everett Fellows in past years.
Summer Institute is a week (August 2-8) of learning and teaching with 350+ of your closest friends from across North America (and a few other places too). To quote BZ, “if a multigenerational Jewish community were inclusive of educated laypeople, respectful of individuals with or without families, and open to experimentation, would it be a place for 20-and-30-something Jews like [me/you/us]? Yes.” You can also see what we’ve had to say about the Summer Institute in the past on Jewschool.
To apply for an Everett Fellowship, you must be 22 through 32 years of age, interested in exploring havurah Judaism, and willing to participate fully in the Summer Institute. Preference is given to first time Institute attendees. Please click here for more information or call the NHC office at 215-248-1335. The application deadline is May 1.
Questions? Ask your NHC Summer Institute experts in the comments below!
by Ruby K [➚] · Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
Attention all artists! Today is the day- the deadline for applications to be one of two Poretsky Artists in Residence at the National Havurah Committee Summer Institute 2010. The two artists selected will be teaching a course and presenting their work to a diverse, open, eager community of 350 people from all across North America.
If you stopped halfway through your course description, time to finish it up, as the application is due in less than 11 hours! You can download the application by clicking here. Applications due 11:59pm tonight, East Coast time. Good luck!
[Edited by TWJ to add: today is also the last day to submit course proposals. More details here.]
by Ruby K [➚] · Friday, October 30th, 2009
With the National Havurah Committee Summer Institute 2010 a scant 9 months away, the call is out for artists to apply to be this year’s Poretsky Artists in Residence at the Summer Institute. For artists, this week chock full of learning, singing, hiking, playing, hanging and great people from all across the continent, and an amazing opportunity. A week with a community eager to learn from you and share with you, a supportive environment to explore new projects, a week on Franklin Pierce University’s relaxed campus in New Hampshire, a chance to build relationships with people from all over North America, a $1000 stipend for the week on top of the free ride to Institute. You have the opportunity to teach a class and take a class from amazing teachers. Also, there are games, singing, jams, hiking, lots of fun stuff happening all week.
Full text of the letter and the application after the jump. Know an amazing artist who would love an opportunity to work with a community of 300-400 Jews of all types from across North America? Tell them to apply to be a Poretsky Artist in Residence. More »
by dlevy [➚] · Monday, September 7th, 2009
This summer, I attended my first National Havurah Committee Summer Institute. Part of each day at the Institute is devoted to workshops, one-hour sessions created by anyone attending who wants to share something they care about with the other attendees. I was strongly encouraged to offer a workshop or two… the workshop coordinator happened to be sleeping on my couch while putting together the schedule. I flippantly offered to offer a workshop on the subject about which I know the most: showtunes. And because I’m a wise-ass, I said, “Let’s call it ‘Social Justice Showtunes.’” I imagined the Institute crowd would eat that shit up.
Turns out, I was right. Not only did people flock to the workshop, my Facebook friends were also interested in hearing more. So, over the next several weeks, I will be presenting here a series on Social Justice Showtunes, featuring songs from the musical stage, written by Jews, about social justice issues.
Sing Me A Song With Social Significance
from Pins and Needles
Music & Lyrics by Harold Rome
Premiere: November 27, 1937
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Buy the CD! | Buy the mp3!
(Performed here by Rose Marie Jun, from the 25th Anniversary Recording.)
Today is Labor Day in the United States of America. Apparently, in Canada, Bermuda. and elsewhere, today is Labour Day. While Labor Day may be no more a Jewish holiday than, say, Yom Yerushalayim, both holidays are alike in their origins, growing out of political movements spearheaded by secular Jews.
(Yes, it’s an oversimplification to call the Labor Movement a political movement spearheaded by secular Jews. However, the Jewish Labor Committee has an extensive bibliography about the history of Jews in the Labor Movement if you’d like to learn more.)
At any rate, I certainly learned about the Jewish involvement in the labor movement and union organizing way back when in my synagogue’s afternoon Hebrew School. By the time of my Bar Mitzvah, I knew more about the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire than I did about anything that happened in the Tanakh between Sampson and King David.
But as with many other subjects in the world, I’ve learned even more about the Labor Movement through showtunes than I ever did in Hebrew School. Much of that knowledge comes from my familiarity with a musical called Pins and Needles .
In the mid-1930s, the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union had grown so large that the union invested in forming a Cultural Division charged with spreading the union’s values to its members through the arts. Pins and Needles was a revue, a collection of songs and scenes, that grew from this effort. It was so popular that it moved to Broadway and ran for years, even getting updated as headlines changed. This show was particularly special because all the performers in the original production were members of the ILGWU. Dressmakers, cutters, embroiderers, et al took a break from the factories to sing and dance on the Broadway stage. Harold Rome, the composer & lyricist, later reflected, “I didn’t realize that the big attraction was that the garment workers themselves were doing the show and singing to the audience, creating a rapport which is very rare in the theater.”
The song “Sing Me A Song With Social Significance,” which you can hear if you click on the icon above, was the opening number of the show. Although there had been topical revues prior to this one, this song announced a new kind of topicality. Pins and Needles wouldn’t just take pot-shots at the news and events of the day. This was a show with purpose.
In 1937, the original cast album hadn’t been invented yet. (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first musical film to issue a soundtrack album, in 1937. Oklahoma was the first original cast album in the contemporary sense, although there were earlier albums that captured songs from musicals sung by the performers who introduced them. But I digress…) A few singles from the score were recorded, but only one got any significant airplay. In the words of Rome, “‘Social Significance’ in those days was not for our airwaves.” (He wrote that in the early 1960s, when Social Significance was definitely on the airwaves. How sad that we’ve since regressed.)
Fifteen songs from the show were eventually recorded in 1962 for a twenty-fifth anniversary recording. Two singles recorded by members of the original cast were released on CD as part of a boxed set a dozen years ago (that now appears to be out of print). And Rome himself some of the songs in the 1950s. It is from one of those collections, A Touch of Rome that I draw the song I want to leave you all with for Labor Day:
It’s Better With A Union Man
From the album A Touch of Rome
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Buy the CD!
(Performed here by the songwriter.)
It’s interesting to me the difference between songs like this and the more straightforward and earnest protest songs of the 1960s. However, RubyK tells me that this song in particular fits in with the tradition of union organizing songs from the turn of the century, which makes sense given the circumstances of the creation of this show. It’s also interesting to me how racy the song is. We tend to imagine the ’30s as a more innocent time, but this song doesn’t really mince words in describing the sex life of the sweet little sewing machine girl. It’s interesting that the version recorded for the twenty-fifth anniversary recording whitewashed some of the lyrics. Who would have thought the version from the 60s would be cleaned up, while the version from the 30s was more explicit? History and memory are funny things.
As we look at other Social Justice Showtunes in the coming weeks, it will be interesting to consider the techniques the songwriters use to get their messages across in the context of the times they were writing. Stay tuned.
More »
by renaissanceboy [➚] · Friday, August 7th, 2009
Hi everyone. My name is Harpo Jaeger. I’m a new poster on Jewschool. I’ve been blogging for a little over a year now at my personal website, harpojaeger.com. I’m really excited to start blogging here! Some of the other Jewschoolers I know from the NHC Summer Institute, some I don’t know at all.
At some point in the future I’ll be updating my biographical information, but right now I am here with the intention of posting about something very specific.
Being a pluralistic community, the Summer Institute (which I’m currently at) has some interesting halakhic quirks. For the members who don’t carry items on Shabbes, we create an eruv
, a quasi-physical boundary around the campus that halakically turns the campus into one building, thus allowing those people to carry siddurim, a talit, and so on, between buildings. For several years, I’ve been a coordinator of this construction process, and I’ve learned a lot from it. BZ suggested I write a post about this, as a sort of “DIY eruv”, which is a very good way of putting it, so here it is.
The essential idea of an eruv is a series of simulated doors. To do this, we use a series of lecha’in (singular lechi, which translates as “doorpost”), with string run over the tops, representing the header of the door frame. There are various other components of the eruv in addition to sticks and string. For instance, a hill can act as a natural boundary around an area if it is steep enough. Part of the campus here is on a steep hill, so we can place a lechi at either end and use the hill as a go-between. Additionally, an existing cable such as a telephone wire can be used if a lechi is placed below it and the cable sags less than about eleven inches (inaccuracy due to conversion from biblical units of measure).
What’s interesting about the process we’ve gone through is that neither myself or my friend with whom I coordinate have a great deal of experience with this halakha. We’ve learned it from those who do, we’ve internalized it, and at this point it’s become a DIY ritual more than anything else. 
Without having a pre-existing complete grasp of the spiritual and traditional elements of the eruv, we are able to create one that is completely in line with all of the requirements. Also, it’s pretty fun. We stay up late drinking tons of caffeinated beverages, drive around in a golf cart with lumber and power tools, drive around the perimeter with one of the halakhic experts to verify the whole thing, and then sanctify it by saying a blessing (al mitzvat eruv) over a “communal meal” (in today’s case, half a bagel left over from yesterday’s sunrise hike up Mt. Monadnock). That meal is then eaten after the eruv no longer needs to be sanctified (although I anticipate the bagel being rather stale by then).
So, starting from a mere interest in construction, and with the counseling of some persons with more halakhic knowledge, we’ve learned a lot about the practice, had a bunch of fun, and helped some of our co-Institute-goers observe Shabbes more easily.
If you have the opportunity, I’d highly recommend getting involved in the construction of a local eruv. It’s a fabulous way to learn about some very interesting halakha and its modern implementations, as well as explore a host of pluralistic issues. Great all around.
That’s all for now. It is time to light candles here, and I must away. I hope this first post is food for thought, and I’m really looking forward to writing here. Shabbat shalom!
by guestpost [➚] · Thursday, August 6th, 2009
Guest post by Anne Mintz, who blogged about the NHC Summer Institute for Jewschool last year.
I threshed wheat this morning for the first time. Along with about 15 others in Jonathan Rubenstein’s challah-baking class at the NHC Summer Institute, I went outside, took the bizarre-looking tool that looked like a prop from a Ben Hur movie, and swung with all my might to smash those sheaves of wheat wrapped in the sheet on the ground in front of me. 
I was mildly successful in separating liberating the seeds from the stalks – others were really good their first try. We stopped TheWanderingJew as he walked by and insisted that he partake in this experience. We then literally separated the wheat from the chaff by dropping the separated seeds in front of a blowing fan and letting the seeds drop into a bucket while the chaff blew away. We had to finish this by hand, picking the chaff out of the remaining seeds.
Fortunately, Jonathan brought an electric grinder for the rest of the process, and we ground the seeds into flour. Two sheaves of wheat from his home field yielded over two cups of whole wheat flour that we will be using tomorrow morning as we set out on our class task to bake challah for the entire institute – over 300 people. He tells us that his front yard is a wheat field, although these particular sheaves were from another field that he planted. One can only imagine what his neighbors think!
In addition to the process of grinding our own flour today, we also indulged in babka-making, which was a break from straight bread. (I can’t wait to taste the finished goodies at dinner tonight.) Because we didn’t have enough rolling pins for all the dough, we needed to use a bottle of wine to roll out one of the recipes – improvisation at its best. Tuesday we baked oatmeal-maple bread, and Wednesday it was his newly created “seven species bread” (Deut. 8:7-8) with barley, wheat, dates (honey), figs, raisins (vines), pomegranates, and olives (oil). I’m taking the time to focus and breathe as we knead and cajole the dough into fabulous creations.
The most interesting part of this class turns out not to be the baking, or even the threshing – it’s Jonathan himself. He and his wife Linda Motzkin, who met at the beginning of their rabbinical school years, have shared a pulpit at Temple Sinai since 1986 in Saratoga Springs, NY, where they raised their family. He is a long-time baker who founded Slice of Heaven Breads, a non-profit, volunteer, charitable bakery operated out of the synagogue. It produces a variety of baked goods for the daily table and special occasions, and supports hunger relief among other charitable causes. It gives the bikkurim – the first fruits of their labors – to these causes. Today we had the pleasure of celebrating his 60th birthday with him as we learned more of the Torah of bread and challah. He’s a wonderful role model for following one’s heart and creating a parnasa (earning a living) at the same time.
Onward to preparing the challot for Shabbat, and all the Torah/learning that accompanies it.
by TheWanderingJew [➚] · Friday, April 24th, 2009
No, really: what are you waiting for?
The deadline to apply to be an Everett Fellow is next week! May 1!
Check it out. Apply.
Being an Everett was an amazing experience: I made fantastic friends, had great learning opportunities, got into great conversations with people of all ages and varied backgrounds, was able to explore different davening options… And I’ve gone back each year since.
If you are 22-32 years old, you can apply to be an Everett Fellow, to come to the National Havurah Committee Summer Insitute for $120 (instead of $800) and have an AMAZING week in New Hampshire this August.
Deadline is May 1, next week! Apply!
by TheWanderingJew [➚] · Tuesday, April 14th, 2009
The National Havurah Committee Summer Institute 2009 is now accepting application for the Everett Fellows Program. Fellows participate in the full Summer Institute programming and in four workshops designed specifically for them. As a Fellow, you receive a scholarship for tuition, room, and board, and are expected to pay only for registration and dues ($120) for the full week.
Fellows also join the ranks of some of (y)our favourite Jewschol bloggers who were Everett Fellows in past years.
Summer Institute is a week of learning and teaching with 350+ of your closest friends from across North America (and a few other places too). To quote BZ, “if a multigenerational Jewish community were inclusive of educated laypeople, respectful of individuals with or without families, and open to experimentation, would it be a place for 20-and-30-something Jews like [me/you/us]? Yes.” You can also see what we’ve had to say about the Summer Institute in the past on Jewschool.
To apply for an Everett Fellowship, you must be 22 through 32 years of age, interested in exploring havurah Judaism, and willing to participate fully in the Summer Institute. Preference is given to first time Institute attendees. Please click here for more information or call the NHC office at 215-248-1335. The application deadline is May 1.
Questions? Ask your NHC Summer Institute experts in the comments below!
by BZ [➚] · Sunday, March 8th, 2009
Online registration is now open for the 2009 National Havurah Committee Summer Institute! You can also apply for the Hollander Social Justice Fellowship (due March 30), the Everett Fellows Program (for ages 22-32, due May 1), and other scholarships and travel grants (first-round deadline May 1).
The list of courses looks great this year, and I hear some of them are already starting to fill up, so register soon!
Morning:
- Aviva Chernick – Finding Your Voice: Singing the Divine
- Simona Aronow – Dancing With the Tree of Life
- Ellen Frankel – What’s So Jewish about Jewish Folktales?
- Richard Friedman – Sefer HaBloggadah: An Introduction to Sefer HaAggada
- Harold Gorvine – A Jewish View of Jesus
- Hillel Gray – Deviant Judges, Foul Factories, and Bio-medical Marvels: Turning Points in Jewish Law
- David Greenstein – The Walking Stories of the Zohar
- Aaron Kachuck – Almost Famous: Books that Didn’t Make the Biblical Cut
- Stuart Mangel – Walking and Resting With God After the Seven Days of Creation: Sustaining the Order of the World with Jewish Ritual Practices
- Ethan Merlin – What Would Mordecai Kaplan Do? Study William James!
- Jonathan Rubenstein – The Mitzvah of Challah: Bread Making and Sacred Eating
- Devorah Schoenfeld – The Ever-Renewing Literal Sense: Alternatives in the Literal Interpretation of Scripture
- Jonah Steinberg – Become Divine
Afternoon:
- Adele Wayman – Creating Altars and Rituals for your Journey
- Julie Aronowitz and Emily Fishman – Jewish Tithing in the 21st Century
- Ben Dreyfus – Shabbat for the Land: Shemitah in the 21st Century
- Bob Freedman – Walking in God’s Ways
- Susan Gulack – Kol Atzmotai Tomarnah / Let My Bones Praise God: Sign Language Prayer
- Benj Kamm – Piyyutim: A Musical Journey Through Jewish Liturgical Poetry
- Emma Kippley-Ogman – Hebron: Burial Ground to Ghost Town
- Diane Klein – Jews, Blacks, and the Idea of Race
- Vanessa L. Ochs – Objects of Our Affection: How Holy Objects, Old and New, Give Our Lives Spiritual Shape
- Louis Rieser – Rain in its Season: Coping with Exile
- Brent Chaim Spodek – Jewish Theories of Justice
- David Weiss – Maimonides: Cure of Souls
- Aryeh Wineman – How the Hasidic Masters Read the Torah
by zt [➚] · Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009
Hollander Social Justice Fellowship
Do you have a social justice cause you are passionate about and want to pursue with the NHC Summer Institute community? Apply for the Hollander Social Justice Fellowship. You will receive a $400 scholarship towards Institute fees and up to $100 for materials or preparation, in exchange for planning social justice oriented programming for the NHC Summer Institute community. Your proposal needs to include at least three hours of programming on a relevant and nonpartisan social justice issue. This programming could consist of a daytime workshop (or series of workshops), an evening community-wide program, Kids Camp or Everett programs, and/or a Shabbat program. We expect that the strongest applications will come from people with at least three to five years of professional or volunteer experience in their area. Preference will be given to people involved in an ongoing social justice campaign (or launching a campaign) who wish to bring it to the NHC Summer Institute community.
Application
Submit a completed NHC Summer Institute registration form and deposit online. (Deposit is refundable if your application is not selected.) In addition, submit to hollanderfellow@havurah.org by March 30th, 2009 brief answers to the following questions in 2-3 pages:
* What are your project’s goals?
* How will the project be carried out (programming, methods, resources you will need)? Note that your plan needs to include at least three hours of programming.
* How can the issue be brought back to participants’ home communities? How is your project relevant to the NHC Summer Institute community?
* What resources/knowledge/skills do you bring to this project that will make it effective?
* What is your experience or background (professional or volunteer) with the social justice issue your project will address?
* Give an example of a successful social justice project you have worked on and describe your role was in helping make it successful.
by TheWanderingJew [➚] · Thursday, April 17th, 2008
We’ve already mentioned the National Havurah Committee‘s Summer Institute on Jewschool once or twice this year, but let’s make it a hat trick.
The Summer Institute is a week of learning and teaching with 300+ of your closest friends from across North America (and a few other places too). To quote BZ, “if a multigenerational Jewish community were inclusive of educated laypeople, respectful of individuals with or without families, and open to experimentation, would it be a place for 20-and-30-something Jews like [me/you/us]? Yes.”
And financial aid is available!
This year the National Havurah Committee‘s Summer Institute has a significant amount of financial aidavailable! We are committed to making the Institute affordable for people of all ages and backgrounds, and encourage people to apply regardless of need level, through reduced fees and travel grants.
But please apply soon – the deadline for the first round of scholarships and travel grants is May 1. After May 1, less aid will be available and assistance will be based on available funds. Click here for more information about financial aid.
In addition, our amazing Everett Fellowship program has a May 12 deadline for applications. Anyone ages 22-32 can apply for Everett Fellowships, which are for “young adults who have demonstrated their potential to be advocates for Jewish causes and who are actively engaged in defining their post-college participation in the Jewish community.” It includes free tuition and room and board. More information can be found here.
As always, you can find the full Institute brochure available for download on the website.
We encourage people to register as soon as possible to ensure a place in the courses of their choosing.
Can’t wait to see you in August!
[Photos are of the 2005, 2006, and 2007 Everett Fellows.]
by TheWanderingJew [➚] · Tuesday, March 18th, 2008
Many of the writers here at Jewschool share something amazing in common: we were Everett Fellows. And you could be too!
Imagine late-night singing and philosophical discussions under the stars… engrossing Jewish learning … opportunities to participate in a variety of services, arts experiences, shabbat celebrations, and outdoor activities… the chance to meet a group of dynamic,
thoughtful, energetic Jewish young adults as well as community members of all ages at a weeklong institute. Sounds fantastic, right?
Apply to be an Everett Fellow at this year’s National Havurah Summer Institute. As an Everett Fellow, you can enjoy the institute for a fraction of the actual cost and benefit from a built-in community of other 20-something Jews.
The National Havurah Summer Institute 2008 will take place August 11th-17th at Franklin Pierce College in rural New Hampshire. Each participant selects two week-long courses on topics ranging from text study to ethics and social justice to arts and culture. In addition to the week-long classes, there are daily workshops and activities; participants (even first-timers) are encouraged to design and teach a workshop, lead services, or otherwise take leadership roles. The community is egalitarian, diverse, and pluralistic.
Everett Fellows participate fully in the classes, workshops, and other activities at the Institute, plus they enjoy their own peer-led programming designed to help them form a community and support each other’s exploration of various Jewish issues. Fellows receive a scholarship for tuition, room, and board and only have to pay for registration and dues.
For more information, you can check out the National Havurah Committee’s website at havurah.org (click on “summer institute brochure available”). The application is due May 15th. If you have any questions, you can leave a comment, or email institute@havurah.org
Looking forward to seeing you at the Institute!
by YehuditBrachah [➚] · Sunday, November 25th, 2007
Starting to think about your summer plans? Here are two suggestions:
National Havurah Committee Summer Institute
If you were thinking about submitting a course proposal to teach during this summer’s Institute, they are due tomorrow (11/26). You get to attend the Institute for free as a teacher, minus your NHC membership dues ($40). If you are an artist, applications to be one of two Poretsky Artists in Residence are due December 4. Stay tuned for Everett Fellowship information once it becomes available later in the winter, allowing 20s and 30s Jewish leaders to attend for majorly discounted cost. August 11-17, 2008 at Franklin Pierce College, Rindge NH.
Yeshivat Hadar
If you want to spend some time in serious text and spiritual study this summer, there’s no place better in my opinion than Yeshivat Hadar. They’ve just opened application for this coming summer. Now entering its second year, the program is from June 1 – July 26, 2008 and boasts some of the greatest young minds of the traditional egalitarian world — Shoshana Cohen, Rabbi Shai Held, Rabbi Amy Kalmanofsky, Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, Sara Labaton, and Rabbi Ethan Tucker. Courses ranges from Talmud to Rashi to Halachah to Midrash, liturgy skills to Chassidut. Participants are subsidized, so you could actually afford to do it. This is the perfect program if you’re looking to finally make some headway in your text skills, to skip a preparatory year of rabbinical school or prepare for PhD work that involves Jewish texts, or simply to spend eight weeks for their own sake immersed in study. They are having an intro evening of learning in New York City on January 16, 7-9 pm, at West End Synagogue, 190 Amsterdam Ave, which will be the site of the program.
by YehuditBrachah [➚] · Monday, September 17th, 2007
But I got the goods right here!
The National Havurah Committee just began soliciting submissions for courses for next year’s Summer Institute. Because the info isn’t yet on their website, I’ll give you the abbreviated sneak peak version here. Institute 2008 will be August 11-17 at Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, NH. Proposals are due Nobember 26, 2007, and you get to go to Institute for free (excluding $36 membership dues) as appreciation for your teaching dedication. Quoting the course committee’s materials:
The theme for the 2008 Institute is *Baruch she-amar v’hayah ha-olam* Blessed is the One who spoke the world into being (or, as ArtScroll translates it: Blessed is the one who spoke, and the world came into being). The Institute planning committee notes that this phrase resonates with our overall interest in turning speech into action and learning into doing, connecting torah with social and environmental justice. It resonates with creation themes, both ecologically and metaphorically, and opens the door to courses about worlds we create with our words. While we invite proposals for courses that speak to or draw upon the theme, we welcome proposals in all topics relevant to our community. Every proposal receives full consideration.
Include course title and 75-100 word blurb, lesson plan, bio/CV. For more info and details on submissions, write to courses at Havurah.org or call the NHC office at 215-248-1335.
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