Jewish Informal Education and Leadership Course

Location:Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Porto Alegro, Rio de Janiero, Santiago de Chile, and Sao Paolo
Name of implementing organization:Marom Latin America (Marom AmLat)
Date of initial project approval:February 2012

Project aims and objectives

To provide intense Jewish and Zionist Studies; to strengthen Jewish and Zionist identity; and to develop the next generation of young and knowledgeable Jewish leaders in Latin America

Project Description

TARGET GROUP:

Students and young adults, ages 20-30

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM:

The project is recruiting and training 20 active and motivated young adult leaders from communities throughout Latin America. The project will strengthen Jewish and Zionist knowledge and identity; and develop knowledgeable young Jewish leaders for Latin America. The project is a complete educational program which will provide participants with a meaningful corpus of knowledge and skills. Those who begin the program will complete the full program, and new participants will not join after the program has commenced.The project will conduct a two-year course comprised of a number of different components:

The project includes 6 continental 3-day seminars.

· The first seminar explores My Jewish and Zionist Identity. It includes presentations and workshops dealing with Jewish streams, the development of Jewish Law, the history of Zionism, and participants' relationship with Israel.

· The second seminar is entitled Judaism and Zionism, Essential Elements of My Life. It introduces participants to the Jewish bookshelf, the Jewish calendar, Zionist values, major Zionist leaders, and materials for self-education and future teaching.

· The third seminar, What Makes a Jewish Leader?, presents major leaders in Jewish history, contemporary leaders, and leadership qualities. The seminar includes workshops on public speaking.

· The fourth seminar, Jewish Education and Programming Skills, focuses on leadership skills, including: team-building; meeting management; facilitation; public relations; work plans; budgets and finance.

· The fifth seminar, Creating and Building Projects, focuses on skills related to developing goals; writing proposals; budget planning; public relations; and fundraising. Participants will develop a tool kit for informal education in communities,

· The sixth seminar is entitled Showcase Skills, Finalizing Projects, and Evaluating the Program. The newly trained leaders will plan and implement all of the Shabbat activities and will present plans for individual projects.

The project also includes 20 monthly online class sessions, during the course of 2 years, taught by a variety of academic experts and educators. The sessions include textual study and development of Jewish literacy skills, with the goal of enabling participants to learn independently, and developing their leadership skills. The sessions also deal with Israel. Students are able to view each other and to participate interactively.

Each participant must commit to developing a project which s/he will implement in his home community after completing the training program. A mentor will work with each participant. The project is guided by a Steering Committee comprised of members of the Marom Board and professional educators working with Marom AmLat.

NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS:

There will be a minimum of 10 participants from Brazil, and a minimum of 10 participants altogether from Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay.

TYPE OF PARTICIPANTS:

Young adult leaders from communities throughout Latin America

NECESSARY RESOURCES:

Academic experts and educators

Mentors
Cooperation of local communities

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION?

Local academic experts and educators
Mentors

Main budget elements

Educator for seminars in Latin America

Lecturer for E-learning sessions

Travel in Latin America for 20 participants and educators

Room & board and facility rental

Educational materials: production and translation

Contact information for anyone seeking further information about the project:

Simon Tannenbaum
Marom AMLAT, Jose Hernandez 1750, Capital, C1426EOD,

Telephone/fax: 5699 837 3911

simontannenbaum@gmail.com
www.maromamlat.org