Search results for: Informal education

Students’ interactions with their campus Hillels correlate to a significant increase in the students’ positive connections with Jewish life. This is the key finding of a survey conducted by Hillel International over the past two years as part of an ongoing effort by the organization to use hard data to improve student experiences. Hillel’s 2016 survey of more than 10,000 Jewish college students from across North America and the former Soviet Union found that students’ connection to Jewish life grows with each interaction. At least six interactions with Hillel programs and staff per year had the strongest result.

This study, commissioned and funded by the Hertog Foundation, and conducted by a team of academic researchers, was undertaken to learn about Chabad on Campus International, an organization that seeks to enhance Jewish identity and practice among Jewish college students at almost 200 American college campuses. Campus centers are run by Orthodox married couples trained at rabbinical schools and seminaries run by the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. The study was designed to learn who comes to Chabad at college campuses, how Chabad works with undergraduate students, and what impact Chabad involvement during college has on the post-college lives of young Jewish adults.

Sometimes, as parents and educators we forget about the learning that takes place outside of the classroom. With all of the discussions currently going on about how to change what happens within the school building, we sometimes forget the valuable life lessons that can take place in the most unexpected locations and at the most unexpected times. This summer my oldest son attended Bnei Akiva’s Camp Amichai. His cousins had attended the camp for several summers and always seemed to have a great time. Yet, I was very apprehensive about letting my son attend. For starters, three weeks is a long time, at least here in Israel, to send your kid away. My Israeli friends could not believe that there was a camp program in Israel that was this long. Three weeks may not seem like a long time, but the longest he had been away from home “on his own” before this was three days! It was actually my wife who convinced me that our son was old enough and that it would be a good break period for all of us. For anyone who has ever raised an eleven-year-old, you know that the everyday routine is not without its ups and downs. Okay, good point about this 3-week break, but that was not my only reservation.

Shrug off the “shoulds” of your grown up life and come back to a place where what you do for a living doesn’t define who you are, or how you live. A place where you’re never on your own, where play is important and a mid-day nap might just be the best way to spend the afternoon. Come back to the curious and courageous days of childhood. When every day held the mysteries of new friends, fantastic discoveries and audacious adventures. When we played with reckless abandon that left us with skinned knees that were always worth it. Come to Camp Nai Nai Nai, Waynesboro, PA -September 2nd – 5th, 2016, and be a kid again.