Teacher-Director of Program for young people ages 4-8
About Nehar Shalom and The Yuvalim Program
Nehar Shalom Community Synagogue is a small, intimate non-denominational Jewish community based in Jamaica Plain. Nehar Shalom was founded to be a participatory, non-judgmental community where all are welcome, where anyone seeking to learn about Judaism, whatever their previous experience or knowledge, can ask questions and wrestle with our tradition. Our davenning (prayer) is traditional in form and filled with spirit and song. We are committed to making our ritual life accessible to all. Our members have a wide range of observance and practice.
Nehar Shalom is committed to social, racial, and economic justice. Our community includes queer and trans Jews; Jews of color, mixed-race, and white Jews; Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Mizrahi Jews; people from all different class backgrounds and access to money; and folks who are disabled and chronically ill. Our community includes interfaith families and households. We work to build a community that reflects our anti-oppression values, a place where all know and feel that they belong.
Yuvalim is Nehar Shalom’s Jewish learning program for young people ages 4-8. The goal of the program is to empower attendees to participate in community with a sense of ownership and engagement with their tradition. All kinds of Jewish families are warmly welcomed. We acknowledge and celebrate the diversity of all participants in a safe and joyful environment. Yuvalim meets 16 times throughout the year, on Sunday afternoons from 2:30-4pm, at Nehar Shalom, 6 Eliot St.
Sessions include opening circles, songs, experiential play based activities, communal snack time, and closing circles. Our curriculum focuses on engagement with Jewish time and Jewish values, and teaches basic Hebrew decoding.
Position Summary:
The Teacher-Director serves as the leader, facilitator, guide and co-creator of this unique and collaborative Jewish learning program in concert with the NS Rabbi and Education Committee.
Our Teacher-Director seeks to create learning experiences for all participants to enjoy and explore Jewish learning within a caring community of young people and their adults. In addition, the Teacher-Director will support parents to play a key role in appreciating and empowering their child(ren) to acquire a jubilant Jewish education.
Duties and Responsibilities:
- With support from the Nehar Shalom administrator, execute the administrative aspects of the Yuvalim program, from enrollment through siyyum.
- Execute all pedagogical and practical aspects of the Yuvalim Program, including lesson planning for two cohorts of students, teaching one cohort, setting up the classroom space and materials, and appropriately supervising the Education Assistant (2nd Yuvalim Teacher)
- Cultivate, develop and maintain relationships with each student and their family
- Establish realistic goals for the year and outline an implementation plan.
- Provide ongoing communication amongst the participants, the Rabbi, and colleagues
- Meet monthly with the Education Committee and NS Rabbi to review upcoming programming, create a plan for volunteer engagement, and continue ongoing planning of our Education work.
- Other duties as assigned
Possible Additional Duties
- Prepare and lead family programming for Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Purim, in collaboration with the rabbi, lay-leadership, and volunteers; the exact plan to be determined in coordination with the education committee (Would involve additional compensation beyond range listed below)
Qualifications/Requirements:
- Minimum 2 years teaching and supervision experience in a Jewish education setting where parents and students participate at least part of the time.
- Experience writing lesson plans and mapping curriculum in a religious school setting.
- Ability to engage children with diverse learning needs and varied backgrounds and identities
- Command of Hebrew and English
This is a part-time role, expected to be the equivalent of ~12/hrs a month for 10 months.
Hiring will be on a rolling basis.