The Service Learning Model

In Service Learning Models the obligation to engage in tikkun olam, repairing the world, serves as the focal point for learning. This model combines study and action: learners typically engage with a variety of Jewish texts to deepen understanding of relevant mitzvot and teachings and then put what they’ve learned into action in any number of different settings. Meaning making is often done with intentional reflection and deepened learning post experience. A pattern of pre-learning, experience and post-learning is often used. Some models involve young learners and their parents while others focus on learners entering adolescence as they prepare to become bar/bat mitzvah. Core to this model is the belief that tikkun olam is not a project to be completed and celebrated but an ongoing responsibility in the life of a Jew.

Service Learning Models (click on each for full description):

• Mitzvah Corps, Congregation Emanu-El of NYC; New York, NY
• Lirdof Tzedek (To Pursue Justice), Congregation Emanu-El of NYC; New York, NY
• J-Life: Tikkun Olam, Community Synagogue of Rye; Rye, NY