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 * //BaDerech//** **– Fostering Connections within the Congregation**

//BaDerech// has provided many opportunities for Beth El to work toward breaking down silos within the congregation and linking various constituencies. These linkages have taken place on three levels: interpersonal connections between congregants, collaboration between committees, and partnering between lay leaders and professionals.

The most unique linkage that //BaDerech// has engendered has been the interpersonal connections between differing generations of congregants. Preschool //BaDerech// is based on the pairing of guide families with families who have preschool-aged children. There are 13 guide families and 13 participant families in our first cohort of Preschool //BaDerech//.

The guide families are primarily empty-nesters or have at least one child of college age or older. Among the guide families there are four past-presidents, multiple individuals who have served on the Beth El Board, and others for whom serving as a guide is one of their first leadership roles at Beth El. The Jewish background of the guides is also mixed, ranging from one individual who is a retired Jewish professional, to many who are Jews-by-choice, to one spouse who is not Jewish but is committed to raising his children as Jews.

The participant families are similarly diverse. Of the 13 participating families, 8 are members and 5 are not members. Six families have children in Beth El’s Preschool, seven families have older siblings enrolled in Beth El’s Religious School, and two families do not have their children formally enrolled in either the Preschool or the Religious School. Three families have adopted children, two of whom adopted children from foreign countries. Two families are bilingual. Seven families have one parent who is not Jewish, and two additional families have a parent who is a Jew-by-choice.

This description of the diversity within the groups of guides and participants is critical to understanding the uniqueness of linking the cohorts of guides and participants. Both guides and participant families have expressed joy in getting to know another family at a different life stage. Participants have also expressed that these pairings have made them feel closer to Beth El.

Many of the guides have noted that they have forged connections with other guides through the guide trainings. To date, we have had only one gathering in which participant families have had a chance to meet. Another is scheduled for June 10. The participant families are really looking forward to getting to know each other better since they, themselves, represent varied cohorts within Beth El, namely those who have children enrolled in the Preschool and those who do not. All of these linkages between generational, social, and programmatic silos within Beth El strengthens the sense of community at Beth El and will continue to do so in the years to come.


 * //BaDerech//** **– Impacting the Learner as a Whole**

It is difficult to explore the concept of “linking the silos” within the individual learner when one is not certain that such a thing as an individual learner exists. The //BaDerech// framework, and Preschool //BaDerech// in particular, recognizes that learning takes place within a context of family and community. Without taking this context into account, the needs of the learner cannot be met. By addressing the crossroad of parents becoming their children’s Jewish teacher for the first time, Preschool //BaDerech// acknowledges the family context of learning and that Jewish learning is enriched and reinforced by the parent-child dynamic. Keeping this in mind, Preschool //BaDerech// attempts to “link the silos” within learners on two levels: participant families and guide families.

The challenge of impacting the individual learner within the context of the participant families is tremendously challenging since each family is different and the individuals within the families are unique. One area of feedback we have been given is that although the home visit curriculum is designed for families with preschool-aged children, it does not take into account older or younger siblings as well as the Judaic knowledge base of the parents. As guides get to know participants more, this is one area in which guides can be better supported since they can be assisted in adjusting the home visit curriculum to better meet the needs of their particular participant family.

Preschool //BaDerech// has been fairly successful in terms of holistically meeting the needs of guides through the guide training sessions that precede each home visit. The guide training sessions have been taught by clergy and have contained two core pieces: personal learning and reflection about a Jewish holiday as well as preparation for the home visit. The model for these training sessions innately reflects Beth El’s core value that “everyone at Beth El is a learner and everyone at Beth El is a teacher”. The training sessions are meeting the guides’ needs as both learners and teachers. They are also giving long-time members opportunities to meet congregants outside of their social cohort. All of the guides have been long-time members, but not all of them were friends. Many of the guides have commented that they have appreciated getting to better know people whose faces they have seen for years but with whom they have not had conversations in the past. These comments reflect that the guide training sessions are also meeting the social and communal needs of the guides in addition to addressing their Jewish growth.

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