Bringing Jewish Values to Life

Values in Action was a one year program co-sponsored by CJP and Cohen Hillel Academy in Marblehead. The program engaged parents in guided conversations on Jewish values, and then got the whole family involved in hands-on community service activities.

 “Since I enrolled my son in Cohen Hillel Academy, I was looking for ways to educate myself as a Jewish parent,” said Jen Goldberg, a North Shore mom. “The CJP Values in Action program allowed me to learn about what it means to parent through a Jewish lens, teaching both me and my family about tikkun olam.”

From Classroom to Community
Elisha Gechter, a Jewish educator at Hebrew College, led the Parenting Conversations, which were a mix of text study and conversation about the children and their personalities. The class addressed the Jewish roots of the values parents wanted children to learn, and how to use the Torah and Talmud as a guide for handling real life situations that kids face today. Each conversation related to a community service project that took place just a few weeks later and involved the whole family.

Growing Good Work
When families go back to a community service site, they have an opportunity to see the impact they’ve made, and remember what they learned. “They take that experience forward with them into each new day. We’ve done more than just doing good work. We’re raising children to be conscious, deliberate and meaningful contributors to their communities,” says Laura Shulman Brochstein, who manages CJP’s programs for families with young children and North Shore programs.