What is the Jewish Service Learning Project?
BJE's Jewish Service Learning Project (JSLP) works with educators and program staff from Jewish agencies all over the Bay Area, providing the necessary tools to create and enhance service programming that meets serious community needs.
Our goals:
- make service a normative part of our community,
- enhance community service, social justice, community organizing, and advocacy,
- enable the Bay Area Jewish community to be a catalyst for social change,
- make service an integral part of the Jewish learning experience.
What is Jewish Service Learning?
Jewish service learning links community service with learning, action, and reflection to engage learners of all ages and backgrounds and to connect them to their Jewish identity and deepen their commitment to service.
How do we define a service activity?
Service activities include any actions that meet a community need.
For example:
- Volunteering or direct service
- Philanthropy or fundraising
- Advocacy
- Social justice
- Community organizing
How long and intensive does a service activity need to be?
Service activities, when paired with learning and reflection, can take place over any length of time. Some organizations offer one-day volunteer programs while others offer year-long programs. Some offer immersive programs, taking participants to communities in need in both the US and overseas for weeks or months at a time.
Click here for a list of programs.
How can the JSLP help you?
The JSLP staff can help you with your service activity at any stage of program development. Whether you want to enhance a service learning curriculum or implement institutional change at your agency, the JSLP can provide you with the tools you need. Get started now! Contact Mara Kassoff, Director of Jewish Service Learning at 415.751.6983 x 126.
The Jewish Service Learning Project at the BJE is generously funded by the Richard & Rhoda Goldman Fund.
