Neveh Shalom gets Covenant grant to expand local Hebrew

By JEWISH REVIEW

article created on: 2011-02-01T00:00:00

Congregation Neveh Shalom is the recipient of a 2010 grant from The Covenant Foundation, which supports creative approaches to educational initiatives that perpetuate the identity and continuity of the Jewish people, foundation officials announced Jan. 17.

The grant, in the amount of $19,200, will allow Neveh Shalom to expand its Hebrew language programs for the Portland community.

The congregation will grow its well-known Hebrew immersion programs for children and families, Kochavim and Notz’tzim, to reach the Jewish community on Portland’s Eastside and will partner with Congregation Shir Tikvah there to do so.

“Shir Tikvah is running Notz’tzim programming on Sunday mornings at their Nashira religious school, and the plan is that they will expand their Hebrew immersion offerings at an eastside location in the fall,” said Mel Berwin, creator of Kochavim and Notz’tzim. 

Congregation Neveh Shalom will also create a new program, Machon Ivrit, an intense Hebrew learning program for adults community-wide, which Berwin will also coordinate.

The initiative by the congregation, and the Foundation’s support of it, underscores the recognition by both that Hebrew-language education is critical to Jewish community engagement, growth, and identity with Israel.

“Hebrew knowledge is a pivotal ingredient for children as well as adults to feel at home in Judaism, no matter to which stream of Judaism they belong,” said Berwin.

“This is an especially significant time to receive this grant, because both Hebrew and supplementary education have been in the spotlight locally and nationally in Jewish education circles,” she added. “Families want Jewish education programs that are every bit as dynamic and professional as the secular programs they are familiar with. They want to be inspired, not merely obligated, to participate in them.”

Kochavim is a Hebrew immersion track now offered for children up to age 8 at Neveh Shalom, with the language integrated into the entire curriculum, from teaching about holidays to prayer study.

Congregation Neveh Shalom is the recipient of a 2010 grant from The Covenant Foundation, which supports creative approaches to educational initiatives that perpetuate the identity and continuity of the Jewish people, foundation officials announced Jan. 17.

The grant, in the amount of $19,200, will allow Neveh Shalom to expand its Hebrew language programs for the Portland community.

The congregation will grow its well-known Hebrew immersion programs for children and families, Kochavim and Notz’tzim, to reach the Jewish community on Portland’s Eastside and will partner with Congregation Shir Tikvah there to do so.

“Shir Tikvah is running Notz’tzim programming on Sunday mornings at their Nashira religious school, and the plan is that they will expand their Hebrew immersion offerings at an eastside location in the fall,” said Mel Berwin, creator of Kochavim and Notz’tzim. 

Congregation Neveh Shalom will also create a new program, Machon Ivrit, an intense Hebrew learning program for adults community-wide, which Berwin will also coordinate.

The initiative by the congregation, and the Foundation’s support of it, underscores the recognition by both that Hebrew-language education is critical to Jewish community engagement, growth, and identity with Israel.

“Hebrew knowledge is a pivotal ingredient for children as well as adults to feel at home in Judaism, no matter to which stream of Judaism they belong,” said Berwin.

“This is an especially significant time to receive this grant, because both Hebrew and supplementary education have been in the spotlight locally and nationally in Jewish education circles,” she added. “Families want Jewish education programs that are every bit as dynamic and professional as the secular programs they are familiar with. They want to be inspired, not merely obligated, to participate in them.”

Kochavim is a Hebrew immersion track now offered for children up to age 8 at Neveh Shalom, with the language integrated into the entire curriculum, from teaching about holidays to prayer study.

Notz’tzim is a weekly program for children up to 3 years of age and their families, and Hebrew is used to conduct all activities.

Both programs are open to the larger community, attracting participants from across the religious spectrum and from across Portland.

Machon Ivrit will offer two adult-level classes using the respected Brandeis Modern Hebrew curriculum, and Jewish educators with little Hebrew proficiency will be encouraged to participate.

The adult initiative will be a collaborative project of Congregation Neveh Shalom; the Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies at Portland State University; Morasha, the Jewish Community Education Alliance; Portland Kollel; and the Institute for Judaic Studies.

“Kochavim and Notz’tzim programs have offered a very fun, effective and inspirational new model of Hebrew education to our youngest children for the past five years, and we are excited to offer this new model to a larger swath of the community,” Berwin said. “We are absolutely thrilled to have support from the Covenant Foundation to expand our Hebrew immersion programs in Portland.”

The grant is one of new set totaling nearly $800,000 announced by the New York-based Covenant Foundation as part of its mission to support, advance and recognize excellence and impact in Jewish educational settings.

“The Covenant Foundation is injecting vitality into Jewish educational realms, promoting and encouraging new ways of thinking, supporting unique ways of interacting within and beyond the community, and growing Jewish community into the new century,” said Eli N. Evans, chairman of the Foundation’s board of directors. “The potential of this new set of grant recipients is future-oriented and significant in all respects.”

“We are particularly interested in acknowledging creativity in Jewish education and going where risk and innovation co-mingle,” said Harlene Winnick Appelman, executive director of the Foundation. “These new grantees have ideas and approaches of great promise for success, effect and replication elsewhere. They are changing the face and nature of Jewish education. This initiative by Congregation Neveh Shalom is a solid example of that.”

The Covenant Foundation (www.covenantfn.org) is a program of the Crown Family Foundation and the Jewish Education Service of North America.