For Educators
Welcome to TELEM!
On behalf of TELEM, a program of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), with support from Combined Jewish Philanthropies, and all of our partners, thank you for your important role as a TELEM educator in this new community-wide program!
What is TELEM?
TELEM is a major initiative to promote social justice among Jewish youth in Boston. TELEM integrates community service with learning, reflection, and opportunities to effect real change. The goal of this service initiative is to make participation in meaningful community service and Jewish service learning a transformational rite of passage for Jewish youth in Boston. Ultimately, we hope that this experience fosters a lifelong understanding of the importance of volunteerism and activism that will be integrally connected with each participant's Jewish identity.
Along with doing community service, participants will learn about Jewish values and social justice issues connected to their volunteer work.
An outline of the introductory curriculum follows. There are also specific curricula that map to the different service tracks:
- Tutoring / literacy
- Eldercare
- Homelessness and hunger
- Disabilities / special needs
- Organizing
Introductory curriculum overview
The introductory TELEM curriculum is designed for all educators to use and it tells a story—a Jewish story of a broken world filled with injustice and suffering yet moving towards a state of redemption and wholeness. The main actors in this story are us—the inhabitants of this world, and particularly the Jewish people.
The first lesson tells the story of the current reality. Suffering and injustice abound all around us. Yet the Jewish people, and many other peoples of faith, hold out hope that what we see is not what is meant to be. This session explores the meaning of Mitzvah—the implications of being obligated to act when faced with the reality of injustice. Judaism equips us with many tools for this long journey towards social justice.
Lessons two and three, titled Walking the Path of Social Justice, explore some of these tools. Lesson two examines the mitzvoth of Hesed, Tzedakah and Mishpat and is designed to help students understand the relative strengths and weaknesses of these different approaches to making change. Lesson three focuses on the role of relationship building in the work of social justice. Students will explore the challenges and opportunities involved in going outside of their own comfort zone to build relationships with people different from themselves.
The final lesson confronts the reality of despair and offers strategies for maintaining hope and determination. This lesson helps the student to set realistic expectations; it's hard to make social change by oneself!
This four-session curriculum is designed to serve as an introduction to a year of service-learning. We hope that these themes will resonate and resurface throughout the year. More specific lessons map to each track.
Chazak V'Amatz—may you have strength and courage on this journey.
For additional information, please contact:
Hila Lipnick
Jewish Community Relations Council
TELEM Program Director
(617) 457-8679
hlipnick@jcrcboston.org
