Makom Community NEWS
Omer: Counting Up at Makom
On any given day, our kids do a lot of counting! Kids count down until they have to transition from one activity to the next or until it is time to clean up from a day of learning. When do you notice you or your family counting down time? Starting on the second night of Passover, we’re presented with a…
Noticing the Superheroes in Our Community
At spring break camp, learners spent the week learning about heroes in the Torah from Mordechai to Moshe and harnessing their inner superheroes. Activities included designing their own superhero outfits, making play dough from scratch to build golems, and creating cards that show heroic acts of kindness. As we learned about the hero’s journey and prominent heroes in Jewish stories…
Professional Development that Nurtures Educators
The Mishnah tells a story about Rabbi Nehunyah ben HaKanah. It shares that he offered a brief prayer when he entered the Beit Midrash (House of Study) and again when he left. When he entered, he prayed that no mishap would happen because of him, and when he left, he offered thanksgiving (Mishnah Berakhot 4:2). Two years ago, I started…
A Letter from our Executive Director & Founder
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