Jewish Placemaking
A Third Path for Jewish Education
Jewish Placemaking empowers educators to create joyful, rigorous, and accessible Jewish learning for today’s families.
< BackFIVE PILLARS: Self-Confidence | Empathy | Jewish Wisdom | Rigor | Access
Rigor
Brachot 28b
רַבִּי נְחוּנְיָא בֶּן הַקָּנָה… אָמַר לָהֶם: בִּכְנִיסָתִי אֲנִי מִתְפַּלֵּל שֶׁלֹּא
.יֶאֱרַע דְּבַר תַּקָּלָה עַל יָדִי. וּבִיצִיאָתִי אֲנִי נוֹתֵן הוֹדָאָה עַל חֶלְקִיR. Nehunya ben Hakkanah would say: On entering [the beit midrash to teach] I pray that no offense should occur through me, and when I leave I offer thanksgiving for the privilege of teaching and learning here.
Makom can sometimes resemble a summer camp: students scattered on the floor playing games, fidget toys scattered across tables, and massive art projects unfolding. Students have the space and opportunity to be themselves, particularly released from the decorum of their daytime school experiences. But Makom brings rigor: in its demand for students’ respect for each other and for their learning environment, and in the thoroughness of its investigation of the text.
