It’s a heady mix of Torah and technology and it’s all happening at the annual International Shluchim (Chabad reps) Conference that I am attending in New York. I always enjoy this weekend where I get to spend time with 4000 of my colleagues. It’s a thrill to meet Chabad representatives from all over the world and get to hear about the unique challenges and successes of each locale.
And as with most conventions, the most important work happens in the hallways.
I learned today that the Jewish Learning Institute, the international adult education provider of which we are the local affiliate, is beginning to develop courses that are specially designed to be taught by lay people. The idea is that individuals can then share the content, in a casual setting, with a select group of their peers who wouldn’t otherwise come to a regular class.
This idea excites me greatly because I often feel that my biggest challenge is in encouraging people to take their personal Jewish development, well, personally. Judaism and Jewish learning is not the exclusive domain of rabbis and teachers, it is the personal inheritance of each Jewish individual. I’m confident that this will help Jewish people around the world to discover their personal Jewish connection.
Parents often ask me for suggestions for encouraging Jewish involvement in their children, especially after the (mostly artificial) motivation of Bar/Bat Mitzvah. The one thing that I see most effective is when parents demonstrate that Jewish participation and learning is personally relevant. Instead of being something that the rabbi encourages and occasionally relenting and participating in a class or a minyan, rather make personal Jewish goals and a general effort to grow Jewishly.
When children see that their parents take it personally, they do too.