Simchat Diaspora In Community

is for grassroots communities who want to start or grow their intergenerational & children’s offerings.

“With Simchat Diaspora In Community we are laying the foundation for communal Jewish expression and practice, where I can envision a Judaism that includes my children.”

-Akiva, parent in Atlanta, GA

The 5787 In Community Cohort is forming now!

APPLY HERE!

About the In Community Program:

The In Community program is a year-long cohort for Jewish communities who want to start or grow their local, intergenerational and children’s programming. The program also supports teachers and leaders from existing programs who are interested in exploring and implementing a pro-liberation, Diaspora-centered curriculum for people of all ages. Members of the 5787 In Community Cohort receive detailed lesson plans for teaching Jewish holidays and traditions in multi-age learning communities, as well as individualized coaching on topics such as program design, recruitment, budgeting, teacher and volunteer training, and other logistics. Cohort members will also have opportunities to meet leaders and participants from other cohort communities to build supportive relationships and share resources.

“When we were first starting out, I was apprehensive. Would it be too much for a group of overworked parents? Would kids be engaged? A year later, I am so grateful we took the leap, so thankful for Simchat Diaspora and the amazing, creative, and user-friendly ways the curriculum has inspired our kiddos and our families. We’re so excited to head into year two and can see something beautiful building.”

– Shira, parent & program organizer

In Community 5787 FAQ

  • The In Community program is for anyone ready to turn their idea for a Jewish learning program into reality. It is also for people who have an existing program, and are looking for support in any of the following areas: Judaics, program logistics (such as developing community values, transforming leadership structures, shifting to a more equitable pricing model, etc.) or exploring what a pro-liberation, Diaspora-centered Jewish education looks like.

  • Our primary focus is on equipping grassroots teams in underserved Jewish communities with the tools they need to launch local Jewish learning programs. Current participants live in Austin, TX; Denver, CO; St. Louis, MO; Atlanta, GA; Durham, NC, and more. While our primary audience is US-based, participants outside of the US are welcome.

  • Yes! We work with individuals, groups of families, havurot, homeschool pods, summer camps, forest schools, and more. Anyone can get a learning community off the ground, whether you’re an experienced teacher, or a motivated parent with no educational background.

  • Yes! Often, all it takes to get a program off the ground is enthusiasm and commitment. The curriculum includes background information on the holidays, a suggested script for introducing Jewish concepts, and resources for adults to learn more. Additionally, we find that once programs get going, opportunities for collaboration arise.

  • Definitely! A program that meets for 5 events a year is just as successful as one that meets every week. We can offer tools to help you identify your community’s needs and desires, and develop a program that is the right shape for your community.

  • We’re here to help you get your concept off the ground. As part of the cohort, you are encouraged to do 4 one-on-one coaching calls (1 per season), after which we will provide you with materials that support your work. The rest is up to you: your local team will decide how often you’ll host classes, how frequently your local planning team will meet, etc.

  • We offer tiered pricing based on your organizational budget. Remember that you (the organizers) do not need to bear this cost alone: we encourage you to factor this expense into your program budget, and develop your own pricing scale that is equitable and shares this cost among the members of your learning program.

    Grassroots/small-budget communities (with annual budgets of about $0-$10,000): $1,100

    Establishing communities (with annual budgets of about $10,000 - $50,000): $2,200

    Formalized communities (with annual budgets over $50,000): $3,300

    Subsidized tuition is available for grassroots/small-budget communities that meet at least one of the following criteria:
    - Programs located in rural areas and/or in areas with a Jewish population below ~2,000 people
    - Programs led by Jews of Color, Black and Indigenous Jews, Sefardi and Arab Jews

    Communities may pay up front, or in installments on August 1st, October 1st, December 1st, and February 1st

  • Coaching calls are your opportunity for support that’s tailored to your local program. Topics might include:

    • Teaching support (planning, differentiation, understanding a lesson flow)

    • Logistical support (budgeting, pricing, safety, etc)

    • Collaborations (connections to other communities, strengthening local intersectional partnerships)

    • Program evaluation (surveying, decision making, next steps)

  • The 5787 curriculum covers Shabbat and nine Jewish holidays. Holiday blessings, songs, and traditions are taught along with each holiday. Every lesson offers hands-on, play-based, creative activities, book suggestions, and expansion activities for independent readers. Our lesson plans follow Universal Design for Learning and are ideal for groups with mixed abilities, neurotypes, interests, and prior experience with Judaism. As an explicitly Diaspora-focused curriculum, we center local connections to land, to our neighbors, and to how we relate Jewishly to the justice work our families are committed to.

  • Our children overhear our conversations, catch snippets of news, look over our shoulders as we scroll social media, and hear political opinions from their teachers, friends, and relatives. For nonwhite and multiracial Jewish families “tough talks” about racialized experiences within and outside of Jewish community aren’t optional. We believe that all Jews should have tools with which to interrogate the ways that racism and white supremacy operate in Jewish communities and the world and learn to stand up to racism as part of Jewish learning. It is our goal that our resources provide you with ideas for how to open conversation about challenging parts of life, how to validate kids’ feelings about them, and to offer glimpses of hope about how we might respond together when life is hard. While the focus of the 5787 curriculum is Jewish holidays, we often include explicit connections to current events that invite children and families into deeper conversations.

  • The Simchat Diaspora experience is more than simply a fee-for-service program. This is true at every level of our work: re-imagining Jewish education with a Diasporist framework is relational work – work we commit to doing with you, work you are doing with your communities already, and work that will come to life in new ways alongside the children in your community. If you’re interested in activity ideas, but not interested in building a community program, check out our Simchat Diaspora At Home guides.