Programs

            Sometimes programs seem like the most important thing you do.  In the hustle of planning, publicizing, organizing, and doing logistics, don’t forget your goal: the students.  In this section you will find some things which orient you to some engagement programming from the past year.   First, my discussion of a few programs.  Second, 5 write-ups from the program exchange.  Lastly, a sampling of my fliering virtuosity.  All of the originals are in the red folder in the file drawer in your desk, in case you get curious.  Rhoda will tell you time and again not to reinvent the wheel, and it is excellent advice.  But you should also come up with things that are uniquely you and specially designed for the students you know and are trying to meet.  It is different every year and on every campus.  I suggest using the listserv and the program exchange, both of which are wonderful sources for ideas and inspiration.  Take them, however, with a grain of salt.  As you will learn when you first post to the exchange, people brag.  They wouldn’t have put it up there if it hadn’t turned out to be an excellent program.

 

            One thing to always consider is the Jewish content in your programming.   It is sometimes challenging to get it in there.  Part of what makes people engagement students is their unformed knowledge or their vague backgrounds.  So hitting them with a page of Talmud isn’t going to be a huge seller.  It is completely okay to do programming that doesn’t have overt Jewish content, such as dinners, basketball tournaments, trips to the beach, and the like.  Especially at SDSU, it is just great that they are making Jewish friends and seeing the Jewish community as just that—community.  These are important things for Jewish people to learn. 

            Sometimes fun programming can have a subtle Jewish twist, such as calling for a movie night, and showing a movie with a Jewish character.  Then you can start a conversation about the character’s identity and decisions that may lead to more in depth thinking by the students about their own.  Or, taking people up to Julian for apple picking right before Rosh Hashana, and having informal conversations while there about why apples on the new year, and by the way, why do we call Rosh Hashana our new year.  In other words, work it in there.  You could even start conversations over free dinners about Jewish stereotypes of eating and food, and see where it leads.  I found tikkun olam projects to be good in terms of this subtle Jewish content, since tzedakah is inherently Jewish, and it isn’t hard to start conversations about that while playing with kids or delivering meals or whatnot.

            There are some opportunities for overt Jewish content and activities.  Shabbat dinners can be made fun and exciting, and getting people there means they will be having a Jewish experience.  Many times the Greeks will go for something Jewish, since the whole rest of their lives are social and organizational (fun stuff, like Shabbat, Chanukah parties, and Lag B’omer bar-b-cues).  Marla and i taught Hebrew this past year, and got a decent response.  Many more people were interested, but the time didn’t work out for them.  Sometimes certain questions are relevant to certain groups—such as the questions about homosexuality being relevant to the LGBT group—and you could offer to bring the texts or information on these topics to your next event with these groups.  A final, vague, suggestion: if there is something you particularly want to learn, find some students to sit down and learn it with you.  Almost anything you think you could know more about, from birkat hamazon to the meaning of chametz to head coverings, will be unknown to some students, and they may be interested in discovering it with you.

 

For some examples of programs I did, please find them on Program Exchange or just click below:

Start Your Week Off Right

Talking With The Dead

LGBT Shabbat

Mitzvah Week

Move-Out Week Food and Clothing Drive (coming soon).

 

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