Our Programs
The Jewish Lens offers a full menu of programs and services. Contact us with any questions or to implement our program in your classroom or community.
FOR THE CLASSROOM
For supplementary schools, day schools & informal educational settings, grades 5-12
Enliven learning with this dynamic, experiential curriculum that uses photography as a springboard for students to discover Jewish values, texts and traditions.
The curriculum is divided into three units. The first section both introduces the essential tools, methods, and skills students need to interpret photographs as well as engages students in taking their own pictures. The second section guides students through an in-depth exploration of Jewish images and traditional texts, connecting them to Jewish values and traditions. The final section encourages students to create their own visual statements of what being Jewish means to them, helping them to integrate their photographs with traditional texts and personalized midrash (commentary). The program builds towards an in-person or on-line student photography exhibition, bringing together students, teachers, parents and the community to share the students’ work, revealing their collective “lens” and perspective on Jewish life.
This latest edition of the main curriculum is flexible and modular, giving educators the opportunity to implement it in 6 -20 lessons, depending on their setting and timing. Additionally, it works equally well as a self-contained curriculum or as a framework to advance other curricular goals.
TJL staff provides implementation support throughout the year, helping educators with particular lessons and/or larger ideas.
For photography “chugs” or Judaic programs, grades 5-9
Empower campers to use photography to reflect on and document this impactful, Jewish experience. The program provides unique implementation and exhibition ideas for staff working in a camp setting.
For supplementary schools, day schools & informal educational settings, grades 5-12
Explore New York City with a camera as a tool for understanding one’s identity and the journey of the Jewish people, learning the language of photography along the way. Participants then share and discuss photographs, reflecting on and synthesizing the experience back in the classroom.
For educators in supplementary schools, day schools, institutions of higher learning and other communal organizations
Partner with us to develop a meaningful professional development opportunity for your educators. Short or long-term partnerships are designed to both help educators hone inquiry-based teaching and learning skills, and to empower them to use digital media in the classroom. These new skills will help them make the learning more relevant and meaningful to their students and can be applied in a creative approach to global curricular topics such as Israel, T’fillah, Jewish values and history.
Living Bridge
Enrich your Global Jewish Connections or Partnerhip2Gether relationships between educators and their students in the USA and Israel by using TJL’s Main Curriculum as the programmatic bridge. Teachers plan together, implementing a similar theme in their classrooms. Students correspond throughout the year, sharing their learning and ideas in an on-going dialogue.
Community-Wide Initiatives (CWIs)
Bring together educational institutions across the spectrum to participate in a community-wide edition of TJL’s Main Curriculum. The program is implemented throughout the academic year and revolves around a unifying theme. The year culminates with a vibrant photography exhibition of the students’ work, celebrating the participants’ experiences behind the camera and self-expression of Jewish values, identity and Peoplehood.