May 15, 2024 – ShalomLearning and Moving Traditions are now working together to enable synagogues to offer deeper support of Jewish pre-teens, teens, and their families. ShalomLearning provides innovative, engaging, Jewish values curriculum as well as Hebrew programs for K-7th grade. Their flexible programs enable congregations to reach more families with accessible, pluralistic Jewish education available for in-person, online, or hybrid religious school programs. In a new partnership, Shalom Learning will now offer Moving Traditions B-Mitzvah Family Education Program to their synagogue partners as an additional curricular offering.
Moving Traditions B-Mitzvah Family Education Program supports families while they are most engaged in Jewish life leading up to the B-Mitzvah. The program frames the B-Mitzvah experience around the process of becoming a teen or the parent of a teen, rather than on the ceremony itself. The curriculum provides both classroom sessions for preteens in grades 6 and 7 that help address the joys and challenges of adolescence, as well as family sessions for 5th, 6th and 7th graders and their parents that draw on Jewish teachings and rituals to address issues families are dealing with and foster dialogue between parents and preteens.
The addition of family education focused specifically in the years preceding the B-Mitzvah provides a welcome complement to ShalomLearning’s content.
“ShalomLearning and Moving Traditions share a similar mission. As both organizations work with synagogues across North America, we are excited to work together to offer the most comprehensive programming to enhance the experience of our families during this exciting and stressful time,” said Heidi Lovitz, Senior Managing Director at Shalom Learning. “This partnership makes good sense.”
Shuli Karkowsky, CEO of Moving Traditions could not agree more. “Becoming a teen is hard for youth and parents alike – and it also happens to be the moment at which families are most engaged in synagogue life. This partnership is helping us capitalize on that unique opportunity to support more Jewish communities and more Jewish youth. We are so excited to work together with Shalom Learning to maximize this opportunity.”
Moving Traditions’ suite of programs emboldens Jewish youth in 5th to 12th grades to thrive through the pursuit of wellbeing, creating caring communities, and empowering teens to build a better world. The B-Mitzvah Family Education program has had a proven track since Moving Traditions first launched it in 2018. Hundreds of families have experienced the program, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive:
- 91% of parents agree that sessions helped them feel like part of a Jewish community that supports them as a parent
- 83% of preteens agree that the sessions helped them feel they are a part of a Jewish community that supports who they are
- 91% of clergy say the B-Mitzvah program aided them in helping preteens connect Jewish wisdom to their social-emotional development
Moving Traditions will hold an informational webinar for Shalom Learning partners to learn about the B-Mitzvah program and how this easy-to-use, interactive curriculum can make a huge difference in bringing families together.
Interested parties are encouraged to learn more about:
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ABOUT MOVING TRADITIONS
Moving Traditions is a national nonprofit that emboldens Jewish youth to thrive through the pursuit of personal wellbeing (shleimut), caring relationships (hesed), and a Jewish and feminist vision of equity and justice (tzedek). Our suite of programs includes Moving Traditions B-Mitzvah Family Education Program for preteens and parents; Teen Groups including Rosh Hodesh, Shevet, and Tzelem; a new Kulam curriculum for Hebrew High Schools; and teen leadership opportunities including the Meyer-Gottesman Kol Koleinu Teen Feminist Fellowship and Kumi. Through CultureShift, Moving Traditions trains professionals who work with Jewish teens at camp and elsewhere about how to navigate gender, healthy boundaries, and more. Since it was established in 2005, Moving Traditions has emboldened more than 31,500 preteens and teens by partnering with more than 560 Jewish institutions across North America. Learn more at http://www.movingtraditions.org.
ABOUT SHALOMLEARNING
ShalomLearning is a non-profit organization that meets the evolving educational needs of today’s Jewish community in an engaging, relevant, affordable, and accessible way. We instill a love of lifelong learning where students, teachers, parents, and the community embrace Jewish values and Jewish identity in the modern world. ShalomLearning provides the technology, content, and professional development that synagogues, families, and Jewish communities need to teach Jewish values and Hebrew to children in a relatable and engaging way. Learn more at www.shalomlearning.org.