Map of JOI in 2009
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In 2009, JOI reached further and deeper than ever before into communities across the United States. Click the map above to see just how strong our presence is throughout North America
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www.JOI.org has raised awareness about Jewish inclusion for nearly 900,000 unique visitors during the past year. Help us reach our goal of 1,000,000 website visitors in 2010! Visit us online daily and forward blogs to your friends!
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Greetings!
If you’re like us, 2009 began under the shadows of economic uncertainty. JOI lost its largest funder to the Bernie Madoff scandal. We persevered, and, in fact, surpassed milestones and grew our programmatic offerings. As we look forward to an even better year ahead, we are thrilled to be able to share some highlights from 2009. We invite you to be in touch and become more involved in any of the programs listed below that meet your interests or needs.
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Transforming Lives:
JOI Direct Service Programs
Through a growing number of educational programs, JOI provided meaningful, accessible Jewish activities that demonstrated to participants the benefits of connecting to Jewish life and community.
In 2009, JOI’s direct-service programming successes included:
- Operating nearly 30 circles in our Grandparents Circle program, a 5-session program for Jewish grandparents whose grandchildren are being raised in an interfaith home.
- Working with over 20 communities to implement our Public Space Judaism SM programs, such as Passover in the Matzah Aisle and Eight Days of Oil, which takes the Jewish community out to where the people are;
- Implementing three groups of Empowering Ruth, our 14 session course that teaches Women Jews-by-Choice the “how-to’s” of Judaism, while expanding to over 200 the number of listserve participants engaging in a stimulating online conversation;
- Launching two new programs for men in Jewish interfaith relationships, How Should I Know, for Jewish men who want to create Jewish homes with their partners/spouses from other religious backgrounds, and Answering Your Jewish Children, for fathers of other religious backgrounds who are raising Jewish children;
- Expanding the participants in our numerous online discussion boards, including the launch of Shofar, for Men Jews-by-Choice.
Spotlight on The Mothers Circle
By Pippi Kessler, JOI Program Officer and Mothers Circle National Coordinator
The Mothers Circle, JOI’s program for women of other religious backgrounds raising Jewish children, reached a number of important milestones in 2009, including growing to over 140 circles in nearly 100 locations across North America since its inception and enrolling our 1,000th woman in The Mothers Circle Course.
We’ve learned that The Mothers Circle Course, a free eight-month 16-sesssion educational program, is highly effective in helping women of other religious background find value and meaning in Jewish traditions. Of the course graduates:
- 97% have chosen or plan to choose a Jewish education for their children;
- 88% have affiliated or are in the process of affiliating with a Jewish institution;
- 84% hope to join Mothers Circle alumni groups to continue their learning.
The Mothers Circle course is facilitated locally by individuals—primarily Jewish educators—and sponsored by synagogues, Jewish Community Centers, and other Jewish institutions. By guiding Mothers Circle coordinators and facilitators, I’m able to impart JOI’s innovative outreach methodology, which can then be used in other aspects of their work within their organization.
In working closely with the moms themselves by moderating the Mothers Circle National Listserve—an email conversation with nearly 700 current participants—I have had the opportunity to learn firsthand about the impressive commitment and insights that so many of these women bring raising Jewish children. They are the unsung heroes of the Jewish community, and I’m honored to serve them in whatever ways I can.
Here are just two of the many testimonials we’ve received about The Mothers Circle Program:
“The experience has been truly life changing. I feel as though it has been a gift to participate in the sessions. It has brought me closer to my family, building a cohesion and togetherness that may not have existed prior to the Mothers Circle.” Mother in Providence, RI
“Excellent! I came in with what I thought were very ambitious hopes of gaining the tools needed to celebrate Jewish culture and faith on a daily basis as well as holidays, but I did! I learned all those tools and I feel very confident. The Mothers Circle has helped us embrace Jewish culture in our lives.” Mother in San Francisco, CA
For more information about the Mothers Circle, please contact me at PKessler@JOI.org or 212-760-1440. I look forward to hearing from you!
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Transforming Communities:.jpg)
JOI Professional Training
For JOI, outreach is more than a verb—it’s a methodology. Outreach means going to where the people are, both physically and metaphysically, rather than waiting for them to come to us. It means getting to know people individually, one-on-one, to learn what’s relevant and meaningful to them, and then matching them to programs that will meet their needs and interests.
Through training, education and networking, we have shared our innovative outreach techniques with an ever expanding list of Jewish communal professionals, volunteers and lay leaders. In 2009, JOI traveled approximately 110,000 miles and trained Jewish communal professionals and volunteer leaders in over 300 organizations across the United States and Canada. Our work included:
- The Jewish Outreach Institute North American Conference (see “Spotlight” below);
- Convening “The Women’s Summit for a more Welcoming Jewish Community,”
a one day conference primarily funded by the Jewish Women’s Foundation of New York, which reached over 100 women—Jewish-communal professionals—with our vision for a more inclusive community;
- Growing JOPLIN: The Jewish Outreach Professional Log-In Network, an online network of nearly ten thousand leaders at JCCs, synagogues, Hillels, Jewish camps, federations, and more;
- Partnering with the Foundation for Jewish Camp to help in their efforts to recruit a more diverse campership, including children of intermarriage, and make sure that the environment at individual camps was inclusive for this population;
- Working with Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life to train and guide professionals at campuses across North America to reach out and welcome in unengaged students and apply outreach best practices;
- Marketing consultations with the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation to help make sure their marketing materials—both printed and web based—are inclusive and user friendly.
Spotlight on theJewish Outreach Institute North American Conference
Philadelphia, PA June 7-9, 2009
By Eva Stern, JOI Director of Training
JOI brought together the leading thinkers and practitioners of Jewish outreach for our annual North American conference, titled “All Are Welcome: Transforming the Jewish Community through Outreach.” We welcomed over 100 Jewish communal professionals and volunteer leaders from across the continent, representing various denominations and institutions. They learned how to better engage newcomers and traditionally-underserved populations, including intermarried and unaffiliated families.
This hands-on conference provided both the strategies and tactics of effective outreach necessary to demonstrate to those on the periphery the values and meaning in greater communal participation. Highlights included:
- A presentation and town hall meeting with Rabbi Irwin Kula of CLAL, who challenged us to think mor deeply about ourselves as a community and how we can continue to lower barriers to participation;
- Dr. Peter Pitzele, who brought to life the Book of Ruth with an inspired and lively interactive reading;
- Panel discussions and workshops on such topics as: community collaboration; fundraising in a down economy; and ethnic, racial and sexual identities in the Jewish community;
- An interactive demonstration of our Public Space Judaism program model “Gourmet Honey Tasting for the Jewish New Year ” which is designed to help people of all ages initiate their celebration of Rosh Hashanah by giving them a taste of various kinds of honey while also engaging them in a discussion about the holiday.
Since the conference, many participants brought home the methodology and skills to create a more welcoming and inclusive Jewish community. An evaluation of participants yielded these results: Over 90% shared new skills, techniques, and programs with their colleagues in their home organizations and communities. One-hundred percent of respondents either have or are working toward implementing elements of outreach methods learned at the conference. We have also been invited to individual communities to expand on the training at the conference, demonstrating that our methods of outreach are not only being heard, but enthusiastically supported.
Feedback for the conference was tremendous. Here’s a sample of what participants had to say:
“I have found JOI staff to be helpful, energetic, encouraging, and thoroughly dedicated to Big Tent Judaism. It is inspiring to be in contact with them. I only wish that more of my colleagues would understand and actively engage with BTJ principles.” Communal Professional in Western MA
“You did an outstanding job with programming, timing welcoming and feeding. You treat us as welcome guests! ” Rabbi in NJ
I invite you to contact me at EStern@JOI.org or 212-760-1440 to learn more about bringing JOI’s innovative outreach Public Space Judaism programs and training seminars to your community.
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Transforming Communities:
JOI Advocacy and Research
JOI’s advocacy and research promoted our mission of creating an open and welcoming Jewish community by bringing our message to a wide variety of our stakeholders, including Jewish communal professionals and volunteer leaders, and the traditionally-underserved Jewish households they hope to reach and engage.
In 2009, such activities included:
- Growing our Big Tent Judaism Coalition to include over 300 organizations committed to engaging, advocating and supporting all those who seek a welcoming and inclusive Jewish community (see “Spotlight” below);
- Providing our unique view on current events related to the way the Jewish community welcomes newcomers for nearly 900,000 unique visitors to our website and daily blog (JOI.org) during the year;
- Publishing opinion pieces, editorials and letters to the editor in New York Magazine, Metro (a daily commuter paper in New York, Boston and Philadelphia), the Forward, Contact, the (New York) Jewish Week, the (New Jersey) Jewish Standard, the New Jersey Jewish News, and the (Philadelphia) Jewish Exponent;
- Speaking, for the first time, about outreach toward intermarried families at the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism Biennial Convention.
- Leading a discussion at the Limmud Philly Learning Fest on intermarriage and the ancient Jewish tradition of Welcoming the Stranger
- Joining various scholars, rabbis and Jewish communal professional for a panel discussion in New York City on creating a welcoming Jewish community for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Jews and their families
- Serving as Scholar-in-Residence of Congregation Ahavas Chesed in Mobile, AL.
- Spending a week in Winnipeg, Canada consulting with lay leaders and Jewish communal professionals throughout the area on how to best welcome interfaith families into their organizations.
- Speaking to outreach professionals and volunteer leaders from nearly 30 organizations in the Denver and Boulder, CO communities on how best to engage unaffiliated and intermarried Jewish families with young children.
Spotlight on Big Tent Judaism
By Paul Golin, JOI Associate Executive Director
The Big Tent Judaism Coalition is our primary advocacy initiative. Modeled after our biblical forbearers Abraham and Sarah, whose tent was open on four sides to welcome all who approach, the Coalition strives to personify their actions through Ten Principles, such as Celebrating Diversity and Lowering Barriers to Participation.
In 2009, BTJ developed several advocacy pieces to help advocate for a more welcoming Jewish community, such as:
- The Fifth Cup of Wine bookmark to use during the Passover Seder. The bookmark, shaped like a glass of wine, contains a blessing for the newcomer and those who work to actively welcome diverse groups to the organized Jewish community;
- A database of Think-Pieces and Sermons from Jewish leaders across North America who have written or spoken about the principles of welcoming and inclusiveness;
- The Voices of Big Tent Judaism, a newsletter highlighting all those who are putting the principles of Big Tent Judaism into practice;
In addition to the individual advocacy pieces, the Big Tent Judaism Coalition’s greatest success has been in expanding its Directory of Welcoming Organizations, which strives to connect individuals and households not currently engaging with the organized Jewish community to local institutions that will be welcoming toward them through inclusive and meaningful programs. The 300 plus organizations that have joined Big Tent Judaism since it launched in 2007 represent not only the growing recognition that our community can do more to embrace the unaffiliated, but that we must.
Above all, the Big Tent Judaism Coalition works across denominational lines to bring together in one strong voice a message of respect, unity and inclusion. These, we believe, are the keys to securing a vibrant Jewish future. As Abraham and Sara’s tent gets bigger, as more seek to stand under its cover, the Big Tent Judaism Coalition will be there with open hearts and open doors to emphatically welcome them in.
If you have additional questions about Big Tent Judaism, please contact me at PGolin@JOI.org or 212-760-1440. Thank you!
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Looking Ahead to 2010
2010 holds innumerable opportunities for sharing the meaning and value of Judaism with all who approach, and we at JOI anticipate the growing chorus of inclusion to grow only louder. With the help of an expanding network of partners and supporters, JOI will continue to offer more programs for those who are looking to engage more deeply with their own Jewish identity or that of their Jewish family members.
There are numerous ways you can get involved in our work, including:
- Signing up for one of our many Listserves and joining thousands of others as we discuss the future of the Jewish community;
- Advocating for inclusion by joining JOI’s Ambassadors Program and bringing JOI’s outreach programming to your community;
- Encouraging any Jewish organizations you’re involved with to join our FREE Big Tent Judaism Coalition and make a commitment to creating a more inclusive and welcoming Jewish community;
- Becoming a “Fan” on Facebook and following us on Twitter.
To learn more about how you can get involved, we invite you to contact JOI Project Manager Harriet Lewis at HLewis@JOI.org or 212-760-1440.
We at JOI wish you and yours a Happy and Healthy Secular New Year! |
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