Kulam Curricular Outline

Circle 1: Me/The Self (Shleimut)

1. Standing Together

Objectives: By the end of the session, participants will …

  • Establish guidelines for themselves to make the space a place for honest conversation
  • Feel more connected and comfortable with the rest of the group
  • Describe what to expect from these curricular sessions
  • Describe more than one aspect of their identities

Jewish Text: Torah

2. A Listening Heart

Objectives: By the end of the session, participants will …

  • Identify the difference between empathy and sympathy
  • Identify where empathy is reflected in Jewish values
  • Practice reframing sympathetic situations they might encounter with an empathetic response
  • Articulate where and why it is important to practice empathy

Jewish Text: Kings

3. Stressed Out? Tune In!

Objectives: By the end of the session, participants will …

  • Learn more about the body’s physical response to stress and brainstorm some de-stressing techniques.
  • Discuss how their physical response to stress and stress relief techniques might be informed by gender and gender stereotypes.
  • Use Jewish wisdom to help remind them that they can take action to reduce their stress levels.
  • Reflect on how they responded to the prolonged stress and uncertainty of the pandemic.

Jewish Text: Jewish Folklore

4. Jewish Identity

Objectives: By the end of the session, participants will…  

  • Explore the personal experiences and emotions that are connected to Jewish identity.
  • Reflect on the relationship between their Jewish identity and their other identities.
  • Support their peers in connecting to Jewish identity.

5. Self-Care Does a Body Good

Objectives: By the end of this session, participants will… 

  • Deepen their understanding about the many dimensions of self-care
  • Read and reflect on Jewish texts/wisdom to explore the meaning of self-care and its relationship with their body and their community
  • Nurture empathy and self-awareness by identifying obstacles to practicing self-care, by sharing self-care strategies they use, and by learning new strategies from their peers

Jewish Text: Pirke Avot & Rav Kook

6. Happy Self, Happy Brain

Objectives: By the end of this session, participants will… 

  • Create their own definition of happiness and consider why happiness matters
  • Explore what Jewish wisdom has to say about happiness and the self
  • Develop an understanding of the neuroscience behind leading fulfilling and joyful lives

Jewish Text: Rabbinic Thought

7. The Limits of Ability

Objectives: By the end of this session, participants will… 

  • Better understand people with different abilities than their own
  • Consider what it takes to be a good friend, sibling, family member or community member to a person with disabilities
  • Examine how communities have changed to be more accessible and inclusive of people with disabilities as well as what work still needs to be done

Jewish Text: Torah, Talmud

8. Saving the World Without Losing Your Mind – coming soon

Circle 2: Relationships/Family (Hesed)

1. Risk Taking & Courage

Objectives: By the end of the session, participants will…

  • Explore the messages that teenagers receive about risks and courage from media, society, and Judaism, including messages about gender norms and risk/courage
  • Reflect on their personal relationship with risks
  • Reflect on their personal “fallback setting” and how to check in with themselves in a new or stressful social situation in order to make thoughtful, healthy, and safe decisions

Jewish Text: Talmud

2. FOMO & Filters & Facetime, Oh My!

Objectives:  By the end of the session, participants will … 

  1. Inquire into the role that social media plays in students’ own lives
  2. Understand the pressures that they and their peers feel related to using social media.
  3. Reflect on ancient Jewish wisdom, and consider how it may speak to the adolescent challenges and experiences related to social media use.
  4. Create a resource of Jewish wisdom, for self and/or fellow-students, to draw on when considering social media use

Jewish Text: Proverbs

3. Friendship: “I’ll be there for you!”

Objectives:By the end of the session, participants will …

  • Identify the characteristics of healthy and supportive friendships
  • Describe what they value most in friends
  • Apply Jewish wisdom to the participants’ understanding of their own friendships

Jewish Text: Torah

4. Conflict Resolution

Objectives :By the end of the session, participants will …

  • Reflect on the ways they feel about conflict.
  • Identify their personal style when addressing moments of conflict.
  • Practice ways to work through conflict in order to create positive relationships.

Jewish Text: Talmud

5. Boundaries

Objectives: By the end of the session, participants will …

  • Practice how to set boundaries and communicate their needs.
  • Understand why setting physical, emotional, material, and time boundaries -is important to their well-being.
  • Identify the importance of boundaries in Judaism.

Jewish Text: Talmud

6. Disagreement For the Sake of Heaven

Objectives: By the end of the session, participants will …

  • Develop familiarity and fluency in the skills of “disagreement for the sake of Heaven” 
  • Practice engaging in dialogue with others whose beliefs differ from their own 
  • Develop a plan for talking with members of their community about a topic of personal importance

Jewish Text: Torah, Hillel & Shammai

7. Reinventing Family

Objectives: By the end of the session, participants will …

  • Reflect on the traditions, values, and cultures that are core to their family experience
  • Contemplate where their family fits within the spectrum of Jewish families? 
  • Dream about their future family

Jewish Text: Torah

8. When Friendship Isn’t Forever – coming soon

Circle 3: Community/World (Tzedek)

1. Jewish Peoplehood

Objectives:By the end of the session, participants will …

  • Reflect on their own sense of belonging and connection to the Jewish people. 
  • Explore the plurality of ways that Jews around the world connect to Jewish identity. 
  • Feel inspired to connect to Jewish peoplehood/Judaism in at least one new way. 

2. Understanding Racial Bias

Objectives: By the end of the session, participants will …

  • Be able to define “learned implicit bias”
  • Make connections between historical and current systems of oppression that impact their learned implicit biases
  • Begin to explore ways they can address racial bias and think about their responsibility

Jewish Text: Pirke Avot

3. Antisemitism

Objectives: By the end of the session, participants will …

  • Explore the personal experiences and emotions connected to antisemitism.
  • Describe what antisemitism is and how it manifests in the wider world along with the Jewish world.
  • Reflect about their role in responding to anti-Jewish hatred.

4. Home/Land: Exploring Israel Through the Theme of Home

Objectives: By the end of the session, participants will …

  • Explore the idea of home: Where is home for you? What or who connects you to home? .
  • Reflect on what it means to call America home, and like other Jews from all over the world, what it means to have a “home” in Israel.
  • Describe the concepts of am, eretz and medinat Israel.

5. Gender Inclusivity and Transphobia

Objectives: By the end of the session, participants will …

  • Reflect on the Jewish value of Kavod Ha-Briyot, honoring the inherent worth and dignity of every living being, including trans, non-binary, and gender expansive folks.
  • Begin to form an understanding of the differences between sex, gender, and sexual orientation.
  •  Reflect on the fact that a multitude of genders and sexes have existed throughout history, including during the time of the Mishnah.
  • Experience a heightened awareness of some of the everyday issues trans and gender non-binary people may encounter.
  • Become aware of how they can show up as allies.

Jewish Text: Torah

6. Media Bias – coming soon

7. How to Change the World: A Jewish Activist’s Guide – coming soon

8. Tools For Designing the Future  – coming soon

9. Closing Session: The In-Between

Objectives: By the end of the session, participants will …

  • Reflect on the past year including what they’ve learned and how they’ve changed
  • Consider the challenges they have faced over the past year individually and as a group
  • Explore the concept of liminal spaces using the Israelites as an example

Jewish Text: Torah

 

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