CONGREGATION B NAI JEHOSHUA BETH ELOHIM Affiliated with The Union for Reform Judaism

Transcription

1 CONGREGATION B NAI JEHOSHUA BETH ELOHIM Affiliated with The Union for Reform Judaism 1201 Lake Cook Road Deerfield, Illinois Tel Fax bjbe@bjbe.org BJBE Director of Education Job Duties It is the job of the Director of Education to seek out innovative and creative educational systems that support new ways of learning and teaching. The Director of Education will also be responsible for bringing to the synagogue the most current and exciting ideas in the secular and Jewish markets, and reflect these ideas in curriculum planning. The BJBE professional staff and clergy work as a collaborative team to achieve our congregational goals. We apply a creative problem solving orientation to carry out both the operational and strategic objectives of the organization. In addition, we believe in sacred partnership with our lay leadership and have a motivated and strong multigenerational volunteer force that delights in synagogue life and understands its mission and purpose. The Director of Education is an essential partner as we strive to attain our goals. The Director of Education will be responsible for: School planning and administration, including setting the school calendar and managing school registration Planning periodic grade level educational programs Curriculum planning, implementation, and evaluation Overseeing and facilitating B nai Mitzvah date setting Communicating with teachers, parents, and students Supervising the ECC Director, the Jewish Learning Center (JLC) teachers, and coordinating the Mahonik Program (Teen Teacher Assistants) Representing BJBE in the Jewish educational community: sitting on boards and councils locally, regionally and nationally, offering professional development opportunities for the educational team, and seeking personal and professional development in the areas of administration and education. We invite our Director of Education to be an active member in ARJE (Association of Reform Jewish Educators), CHARJE (Chicago Association of Reform Jewish Educators), CAJE (Coalition of the Advancement of Jewish Education), CFJE (Community Foundation for Jewish Education), and BJE (Board of Jewish Education). Creating and monitoring the school budget and looking for opportunities for grant proposals

2 MISSION Our mission is to provide portals and platforms where people can discover the meaning and purpose of their lives. Through our commitment to Judaism and each other we have established five core values that define who we are: FIVE CORE VALUES TORAH (Jewish Learning) is a lifelong learning that informs us of tradition, transforms us by touching our minds and souls and connects us to our community. AVODAH (Worship and Spiritual Practice) is the sacred obligation to foster a sense of meaning, intention and spirituality. We understand the importance of integrating and applying a spiritual practice into our everyday lives. G MILUT CHASDIM (Acts of Loving Kindness) is the obligation to give away three things: time to make the world a better place, money to ease someone s pain and kindness to heal a world that is broken. K HILAH (Community) is our central value. We aspire to build a center for Jewish life, a place for laughter and joy, for meaningful conversation and friendship. ISRAEL is not simply a committee at BJBE. We are privileged to recognize the modern miracle of the establishment of the State of Israel. After centuries of dispersion and the Holocaust, we have a state which is a vibrant Jewish center and must be a core component of Jewish identity.

3 The Five Foundations of Jewish Learning by Rabbi Karyn Kedar Transactional Learning Transactional learning avoids cotton candy education. It provides substance that has staying power. You can t become a part of the legacy of the Jewish people without basic literacy. The Torah is the Five Books of Moses. The bible is Torah, Prophets and Writings. The Jewish calendar sets the rhythm of our souls. Abraham and Sarah began a progeny of characters which form the hero s story of the Jewish people. The stages of our lives are marked with ritual to imbue a sense of belonging, continuity and sacredness to our lives. The Hebrew language is the abracadabra that unlocks sacred text. Blessings and prayers taste good and feel natural, when they are memorized. Israel is both modern and ancient and has geography, culture and sacred story. Transformational Learning Transformational learning is the why behind the what; it takes shared knowledge and makes it personal. I take the knowledge that has been passed on to me, and I morph the facts into meaning. How does this knowledge anchor me? How do I tether myself to something grand and eternal? Why am I alive? What is the purpose of my life? Who am I? Touch my soul. Ignite my imagination. Sustain in me a sense of wonder and curiosity. Community If our children finish years of school and know who Moses is but do not know who Molly is, we will have failed. To grow up privileged is to grow up in a community dedicated to safety and love. We care about what the people in our community think, feel, enjoy, celebrate, and what makes them cry. We show up for each. We say Kaddish together. We dance with bride and groom. Visit the sick. And we notice when one is missing. We feel compelled to care for the well-being of the other. We ask how are you? and to wait for the answer. Ethical Living When we are in the center of our universe we are small and lonely. But when we are a mere speck in a magnificent continuum that spans centuries we are a part of something big. When our lives are in service to something greater than ourselves our lives have purpose. When we are obligated beyond self-interest, convenience and rote behaviors, then life expands. We belong to a tradition that demands we heal a broken world. That we practice compassion. That we act ethically. That we love our neighbor as ourselves. Joy and Delight And how would we be different if we created a generation of people whose experience of Jewish learning was joyful? Could we transform the world if we taught that Judaism implores us to be delighted with our place in the world? That beauty abounds? That creation is a continuous miracle? That laughter and joy are the manifestation of spiritual practice, of a sense of belonging and a commitment to others? What if we knew, even expected to go to synagogue to have fun, rejuvenate, reduce stress and connect to something that matters?

4 Q & A ABOUT BJBE What are the three primary goals of your congregation/institution? 1. To focus on new approaches in the areas of membership, finance (dues) and education. Synagogues are living institutions which need to keep current with new models to best serve their congregants and the larger Jewish community. 2. To develop strong Jewish leaders who will keep pace with the ever changing world in our synagogue community, local community, and the world at large. 3. To provide an engaging educational experience that inspires and develops a strong Jewish identity in our children through the implementation of the new vision for the school. What are the congregation s/institution s strengths? BJBE is strongly committed to our mission to provide portals where people can discover the meaning and purpose of their lives and is guided by our five core values. We are a congregant-focused community that strives to be kind, accessible, and inclusive for all. With roots dating back over 100 years, BJBE is well established and known for its innovation, presence, and leadership. BJBE s campus is a modern facility located in a thriving community. What are the strengths of your educational program? We are emerging from a three-year process in which we have reimagined Religious School and Hebrew School, which we now call the Jewish Learning Center (JLC). We have just finished building an educational space to reflect this vision (please read the Five Foundations of Jewish Learning that follows this application) and we are nationally known participants in the B nai Mitzvah Revolution (BMR) and locally, the Chicagoland Early Engagement Leadership Initiative (CEELI). What three qualities in your Educator are most important to the congregation/institution? 1. The Director of Education must be a team player and people-focused, working in sacred partnership with staff, clergy and lay leaders, and fostering meaningful relationships with the families we serve. 2. BJBE operates within an innovative environment; the Director of Education must be current in educational systems and theory, temple membership best practices, and technology developments and trends. 3. The Jewish Learning Center and the Chava Center (ECC) are large and vibrant schools, therefore the Director of Education must be comfortable managing and executing in a complex environment. This includes being well organized and detail oriented.

5 The three most important priorities of the congregation/institution s Educator should be: 1. To work with clergy, staff and lay leadership to imagine, develop, and implement a state of the art school, while inspiring their educational team, parents, and students. 2. To support and advance BJBE s mission and values through strong and compassionate leadership. 3. To understand and analyze non-affiliation trends that impact the JLC enrollment. The single most important thing an Educator needs to know about the congregation/institution is: Congregation BJBE is mission-centered and value-based with community at the center. The three most important issues facing the congregation/institution in the next five years will be: 1. To address a changing demographic trend in which the current young adult population does not join traditional institutions, seeking instead customized solutions. 2. To build a dynamic new senior leadership team as our Director of Education retires and our Associate Rabbi pursues a senior position. 3. To continue to develop strong inter-generational lay leaders to support the sacred partnership among clergy, staff, and lay leadership. Please send resume with cover letter to Elaine Wexler at ewexler@bjbe.org. (Resumes without a cover letter will not be considered.)