When students return to the religious school classroom in the fall, they will be taking part in the deeply rooted Jewish tradition of kehillah, or community. It all began at Mt. Sinai when three million former slaves from 12 separate tribes united in their commitment to each other and to God. The descendants of that kehillah at Mt. Sinai have created Jewish communities all over the world to provide for the spiritual and social needs of Jews everywhere. By introducing students to the value of kehillah and helping them recognize their part in their community, you’ll give them the key to a global Jewish community rich with traditions, history, values, language, and support.
What is kehillah? The definition of kehillah is community, but the term doesn’t only apply to Jewish communities. Students can be involved in all sorts of communities including their family, school, a hobby club, summer camp, a sports team, a community service group, or a social network. Any group of people united around a common goal or belief is a kehillah. By attending religious school, a child becomes a member of many kehillot—their group of friends, class, grade, youth group, and/or b’nai mitzvah group—within the larger synagogue community.
How do differences within the Jewish community enrich the community as a whole? Community thrives on diversity. The Jewish community celebrates geographic diversity, diversity of opinion, economic diversity, diversity of Jewish practice, social diversity, diversity of profession, diversity of abilities, and more. All of these differences made the community stronger, more exciting, and more creative. Kehillah teaches us to recognize ourselves in other Jews rather than dividing on differences.
How do I teach my students about kehillah? Your students are already members of various communities, but they might not know that belonging to a community is a core Jewish value. Try some of these activities from Living Jewish Values Volume 4: Our Shared World and the Living Jewish Values Lesson Plan Manual to get your students thinking about kehillah:
- Have your students list all the communities to which they belong and diagram which of those communities are related
- Start a discussion with your students about what makes them feel like part of a community; encourage them to continue the discussion with family at home
- Host a diverse group of synagogue members for a panel discussion in class
- Ask students to draw a map of their community and label the places that are most important to them
- Debate whether or not an online social network is a community
Kehillah is one of sixteen Jewish values that students explore in the Living Jewish Values series. Using stories from our tradition, journaling, personality quizzes, and personal action plans, students will read and pronounce the Hebrew value terms, understand the value concepts, identify core sacred texts associated with each value, recognize the relevance of these values to society, and develop a plan to adopt each value in their personal lives.
The series is designed to be used in four units over two years. Appropriate for grades 4, 5, or 6, each four-value unit is available separately to allow flexibility to fit into your program.
An optional digital companion for each four-value unit adds a multidimensional component to class through music videos by contemporary Jewish artists. Each video comes with its own lesson plan, lyrics, and student activity instruction sheet. Try two free lessons now!
