1. Shira Hammerman
Areyvut
November 2, 2010
CONNECTING TO THE LAND OF
ISRAEL THROUGH CHESED

2. Goals
 To introduce service learning as an approach
for teaching about Israel.
 To explore the process of service learning.
 To provide examples and resources that will
aid in the implementation of service learning
as a tool for teaching about Israel.

3. Session Outline
I Introductions
II Answering the “Whys”
III What is Service Learning?
IV Using Service Learning to Enhance Israel
Education
V Examples and Resources
V I What is Areyvut?

4. Why Chesed?: A Torah Value
Deuteronomy 16:20
Righteousness, righteousness you shall pursue.
Micah 6:8
He told you what is good and what Hashem demands of you - nothing
more than to act justly, love kindness and walk modestly with your
God.
Talmud Yoma 38:B
The righteous are the foundations of the world.
Rambam, Hilchot Shabbat 2:3
We have learned that the purpose of the Torah is not for revenge, but,
rather to bring mercy, kindness and peace to the world.

5. Why Chesed?: Positive Effects
of Community Service
 Increases civic-mindedness
 Increases sense of social responsibility
volunteerism
 Decreased stress
 Increased interpersonal skills
 Exposure to others empathy, open-
mindedness
Source: University of Michigan, Benefits of Student Participation in Community Service
http://sitemaker.umich.edu/356.black/benefits_of_participation_in_service

6. Why Teach About Israel?
 Israel education is central to the missions of
many day schools.
 Building a relationship to Israel can start from
the day children enter school.
 Teaching about Israel is becoming more and
more important as more and more American
Jews become detached from Israel.

7. Why Use Chesed to Teach About
Israel?
 Israel education should “focus on Israel as a
presence rather than a problem” (Chazan,
2000).
 Israel education should focus on real issues
regarding life in Israel rather than just
advocacy or politics.
 Israel education needs to be age-appropriate;
harnessing young children’s desire to help
others can help them connect in a
developmentally appropriate way.

8. How Do You Teach About Chesed and
About Israel?

9. Why Use Service Learning to
Teach About Israel?
 We are looking to build connections to Israel
AND increase knowledge about Israel.
 We are in need of a systematic approach to
Israel education that incorporates
enculturation as well as instruction.
Service learning is an approach that adds
meaning and knowledge.

10. Service Learning:
A Useful Teaching Tool
“Service-learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates
meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich
the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen
communities. An exciting, hands-on approach to education, service-
learning is taking place in a wide variety of settings: schools,
universities, and community-based and faith-based organizations
throughout the country. The core concept driving this educational
strategy is that by combining service objectives and learning objectives,
along with the intent to show measurable change in both the recipient
and the provider of the service, the result is a radically-effective
transformative method of teaching students.”
Source: (2010), ‘What is Service-Learning?' In Learn and Serve Americas ’s National Service-Learning Clearinghouse.
http://www.servicelearning.org/what-service-learning

11. Service Learning Benefits:
The Students The Teacher
The Community

12. Components of Service-Learning
 Investigation
 Preparation and Planning
 Action
 Reflection
 Demonstration/Celebration
Source: Kaye, Cathryn Berger. The Complete Guide to Service Learning: Proven Practical Ways to
Engage Students in Civic Responsibility, Academic Curriculum, & Social Action. Minneapolis, Free Spirit Publishing,
Inc., 2010.

13. Investigation
• Teachers help students
identify need
• Investigate/analyze through
research
• Contact community
partners

14. Preparation and Planning
• Make authentic plan of
action to respond to
community need
• Create timeline
• Delegate assignments

15. Action
• Put plan into action
• Continue to raise questions
to enhance project
• Experience results of actions
in relation to other
community members

16. Reflection
• Students assess project to
understand their impact on others
• Students relate experience to
personal lives by considering its
effects on their thoughts and
future actions
• Class holds follow-up discussions
and investigations

17. Demonstration/Celebration
• Students exhibit what they
learned in a public presentation
• Students teach others the
knowledge they have gained
• Allows them to celebrate their
achievement with others

18. What Makes a Service Learning Project
Meaningful and Effective?
1. Meets a recognized community need
2. Accomplishes curricular goals
3. Carefully planned by teachers, students and community
organizations
4. Encourages greater student responsibility
5. Students form community partnerships
6. Includes reflection to enhance the learning experience
7. Teaches students the skills needed for service
(Maryland Student Service Alliance www.mssa.sailorsite.net/define.html)

19. Standards for Service Learning
 Service-learning actively engages participants in
meaningful and personally relevant service activities.
 Service-learning is intentionally used as an instructional
strategy to meet learning /content goals.
 Service-learning incorporates multiple ongoing reflection
activities that prompt deep thinking and analysis about
oneself and one’s relationship to society.
 Service-learning promotes mutual respect among all
participants.
 Service-learning provides youth with a strong voice in
planning, implementing, and evaluating service-learning
experiences with guidance from adults.

20. Standards for Service Learning
 Service-learning partnerships are collaborative,
mutually beneficial, and address community
needs.
 Service-learning engages participants in an
ongoing process to assess the quality of
implementation and progress toward meeting
specified goals, and uses results for
improvement and sustainability.
 Service-learning has sufficient duration and
intensity to address community needs and meet
specified outcomes.
RMC Research Corporation. (2008). Standards and Indicators for Effective Service-Learning Practice. Scotts
Valley, CA: National Service-Learning Clearinghouse. Retrieved from
http://www.servicelearning.org/instant_info/fact_sheets/k-12_facts/standards

21. Service Learning Plan
Nutrition
Possible Themes: Related Curricular Goals:
Respecting your body Scientific method
Healthy living Chemistry
Appreciating nature Biology
Balance Home economics
Making good choices Problem solving
Appreciating healthy food Kashrut
Acting as if you are created in G-d’s image Brachot
Community Needs:
People may not have sufficient food
Nutritious food is more expensive than junk food
People may not know which foods are nutritious
People who are sick and elderly may need help obtaining food
Texts:
Food labels, FDA food pyramid, Chumash , newspapers
Partnering Agencies: (Name/Contact/Phone/Email)
Shelters, food pantry/soup kitchen, restaurants, super markets, synagogues, schools
Resources for Further Research:
Books, internet, videos, organizations
Projects Ideas:
Food drives, organize a soup kitchen, teach younger students about healthy eating, take people who are
elderly to the supermarket, deliver food to those who are sick, create and distribute a nutritious cookbook
Timeframe:
Begin the first week of school by choosing a theme and allow 2 weeks to research potential ideas and 2 weeks
to contact potential partnering agencies before beginning project.
Budget:
$100 for classroom supplies, transportation costs, food, publishing, etc.
Additional Considerations:
Are volunteers needed to help?
Do parents have related skills that will be helpful?
Does school have permission to take students on trips?
Can other classes be involved?

22. Service Learning and Israel
Education: How?
 Investigation
 Preparation and Planning
 Action
 Reflection
 Demonstration/Celebration
Source: Kaye, Cathryn Berger. The Complete Guide to Service Learning: Proven Practical Ways to
Engage Students in Civic Responsibility, Academic Curriculum, & Social Action. Minneapolis, Free Spirit Publishing,
Inc., 2010.

23. Investigation
• Select a community need in
Israel
• If needed, begin with
investigation of needs in
local community and link to
needs in Israel
• Incorporate Israeli/Hebrew
sources as part of research
• Contact community
partners in Israel and in
America

24. Preparation and Planning
• Incorporate as much
authentic service as possible
• If need be, parallel project in
Israel with local project.

25. Action
• If at all possible, go to Israel
for at least part of service
project.
• Encourage any students who
will be in Israel to engage in a
related service project during
their trip.

26. Reflection
In addition to reflection ideas
mentioned before, reflections can
focus on students’ relationships to
Israel, preconceived notions about
Israel, how community needs in
Israel are similar/different from
our own, and alternative
responses to these community
needs.

27. Demonstration/Celebration
• A perfect Yom Ha’atzmaut
program, especially if service
learning projects have been
implemented throughout the
school.

28. Service Learning & Israel:
What Are They Learning?
 Israeli needs
 Israeli culture
 Israeli community
 Israeli history
 Arab-Israeli conflict
 Israeli organizations
 How different is life in Israel?
 Hebrew

29. Service Learning & Israel:
Challenges
 More difficult to do authentic service from a
distance
 More difficult for students to take the lead
when they do not know the context
 More difficult to connect with community
partners at a distance
 More difficult to sustain over distance
 Potential for language barrier in research

30. Service Learning & Israel:
Possible Solutions
 Start with local: Combine study of local needs
with study of needs in Israel.
 Provide more directed lessons; take the lead
 Make use of technology whenever possible:
e-mail, video-conferencing, internet,
conference call.
 Make use of Israeli faculty members and
community members as sources of
information.

31. Service Learning & Israel: And
Politics
 Intentional connections to the “matzav”:
Opportunity to touch on the politics without
devoting entire unit to the situation
 Be prepared for unintentional connections:
Who is served by the organizations you work
with? Do they serve populations across the
green line? Do they serve non-Jewish or non-
Israeli populations? Why or why not?

32. Service Learning & Israel:
Brainstorming Examples
With a partner, brainstorm:
 Community Needs in Israel
 Project Ideas to Meet These Needs
 Curricular Connections (What will they learn
about Israel?)
 Potential Community Partners (Here and in
Israel)

33. Resources:Chesed/Service Learning
Cathryn Berger Kaye’s Website: www.abcdbooks.org
Corporation for National & Community Service: www.cns.gov
Do Something: www.dosomething.org
Free Spirit Publishing: www.freespirit.com
Giraffe Heroes Project: www.giraffe.org
Good Character: www.goodcharacter.com
Kids Consortium: www.kidsconsortium.org
www.KindnessADay.com
Learn and Serve: www.learnandserve.org
Learning in Deed: www.learningindeed.org
Learning to Give: www.learningtogive.org
Live Wire Media: www.livewiremedia.com
National Service-Learning Clearinghouse: www.servicelearning.org
National Service-Learning Exchange: www.nslexchange.org
National Youth Leadership Council: www.nylc.org
New Jewish Values finder: www.ajljewishvalues.org
Service Learning Listserv: www.servicelearning.org
SOLV (Susan Abravanel): www.solv.org

34. Resources: Teaching Israel
 Pomson, A. and Deitcher, H. (2010). Day
School Israel Education in the Age of
Birthright. Journal of Jewish Education. 76:1.
52 - 73
 Sinclair, A. (2009). A New Heuristic Device for
the Analysis of Israel Education: Observations
from a Jewish Summer Camp. Journal of
Jewish Education. 75:1. 79 - 106
 HaYidion, Spring 2009 (Available at
www.ravsak.org)

35. Resources: Databases of
Organizations in Israel
Areyvut Database: www.areyvut.org/project_ideas/
Jgooders.com: www.jgooders.com/volunteer.asp
Jchoice.org: www.jchoice.org/ViewCauses.aspx

36. Information
Shira Hammerman
(201) 244-6702
shirahammerman@hotmail.com
Check it out!
www.areyvut.org