Makom Community NEWS

Top 10 Moments of 2023-24

10. Journey out of Egypt Obstacle Course To dive into our unit on Matan Torah, our Garinim (K and 1st grade) learners had their classroom transformed into an obstacle course that took them on a journey through the desert and acted out the story of Bnei Yisrael leaving Egypt. Bringing learners into the text allowed them to fully embody the…

0 comments

Student Led Tikkuns Celebrate Learning

To celebrate Shavuot and the end of the school year, the Shorashim (1st and 2nd grade)  and Nitzanim (3rd and 4th grade) Kvutzot each put together their version of a Tikkun Leil Shavuot for the other learners to participate. If those words have you confused, you are not alone– Shavuot, since is falls after the school year, is not as…

0 comments

Embodied Routines Through Exploration of the 10 Commandments

In April, all the learners in Jewish enrichment at Makom embarked upon a detailed study of the 10 commandments, taking a day or two to deep dive into each one. Since I started working at Makom in mid-March, my first two weeks were full of Purim celebrations and spring break camp, so this was my first chance to build and…

0 comments

A Letter from our Executive Director & Founder

Beverly Socher-Lerner

Beverly Socher-Lerner

Dear Families and Jewish Educators,

Thank you for visiting Makom Community online! We are a makom (place) where kiddos and their families experience a joyful community that embraces them and their whole family for exactly who they are! We envision a future where Jewish Education is joyful and accessible for all who want to partake. In Jewish tradition, a makom is the kind of place where someone grows into who they CAN be. We hope our makom will be that kind of place, too.

You can expect warm, personal, and playful experiences for your child or grandchild at Makom Community. Makom Community is a living laboratory for a new model of Jewish Education. We strive to create a high-quality experiences for urban families who are on a shared adventure that prioritizes empathy and connection in a durable way and brings Jewish learning into our lives.

At Makom Community, our educators are guided by our unique pedagogy, Jewish Placemaking. Jewish Placemaking encourages learners to ask mind-boggling questions, invites kiddos to co-create an environment with their educators and friends that invites questions and meaning-making from Jewish wisdom, and welcomes families as interpreters of Jewish wisdom, regardless of the way they came to be a part of the Jewish community. Our learning is focused on the social-emotional skills our tradition teaches, which we live each day in our community.

Our work is not limited within the space of our Lab School and family-centered community. We are constantly researching, enhancing, and expanding tools to support our pedagogy. We then take these lessons and provide professional development and support to educators across the country who are also doing the holy work of adding children and their families voices to generations of Torah. We call this Makom Making.

We warmly invite you to explore all that Makom has to offer and we look forward to forming relationships with you that will help shape Makom Community for years to come!

Warmly,
Beverly