WHAT’S NEW IN ADULT ED

CJE is bringing two new adult education initiatives to Baltimore during 2007-08, a program for parents of young Jewish children and a Jewish book project open to the whole community.

The first program, Ikkarim, is a 19-week adult learning program for parents of Jewish children, newborn to age 5. By focusing on parents of young children, Ikkarim targets a population whose needs have not been met in traditional adult education formats.

By engaging parents of young children in a structured adult Jewish learning program with their peers, Ikkarim helps parents answer the question of what it means to raise Jewish children, encouraging them to make Jewish choices in educating their youngsters. Other goals of Ikkarim include building community and adult Jewish literacy and deepening engagement in Jewish life for the adult participants. We will pilot Ikkarim with Baltimore Hebrew Congregation as our inaugural site in October 2007.

The essence of the second initiative, On the Same Page, is for adults to read the same book at the same time and participate in local events designed around the theme of the book chosen. On the Same Page builds on the popularity of Jewish book clubs and offers an opportunity for adults who wish to enter discussions about Jewish culture, history, family relationships, politics and modern Jewish life. We expect to pilot On The Same Page in the spring of 2008.

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