Jul 26, 2011

The Jewish Lens Program, Introduced by Federation and CAJE, Coming to Eight Miami and Two Israeli Schools

Students in Miami’s Jewish day schools and synagogue religious schools spend hours each school year reading countless books, viewing numerous films and listening to various lectures from their teachers about Jewish life and values. With today’s new technology leading to more options for teachers, why not also implement the use of a digital camera – something almost all teens now have – to add a different component to learning?

This is the thinking behind The Jewish Lens, an innovative educational program created by world-renowned photographer Zion Ozeri and being introduced to Miami by the Greater Miami Jewish Federation and local partner agency, the Center for the Advancement of Jewish Education. The Jewish Lens program enables Jewish youth to see with their own eyes the wonder of Jewish life in its extraordinary diversity as well as its unity, and encourages them to craft their own narrative that links them to it. The Jewish Lens uses photography as a starting point for tech-savvy teens to observe themselves in their own culture, to discover how they relate to Jewish peoplehood and to engage students in learning about the values that are important in their Jewish communities. Teachers and students will have access to JewishLens.org where they can view assignments and share information. The program will culminate in an end-of-year, community-wide exhibition of students' work.

To date, over 200 schools in the U.S. and 50 schools in Israel have implemented The Jewish Lens program. Through the generosity of local Federation donors, this fully subsidized, year-long program will be available starting in the fall to seven Miami-Dade County Jewish institutions, including day schools, congregational schools, programs and youth groups, all of which work with middle-school- and high-school-age teens. Recently, an eighth institution received funding and plans to join the program. Completing the group will be two schools from Miami's partner city of Yerucham, Israel, which will enhance the program by advancing the value of Klal Yisrael, or Jewish unity.

Participating in The Jewish Lens program this coming year are: seniors at Ben Lipson Hillel Community High School, middle school students of Hochberg Preparatory School and Temple Beth Sholom Youth Program, sixth-grade religious school students of Temple Judea and Temple Beth Am, eighth- and ninth-grade religious school students at Bet Breira Samu-El Or Olom, students in grades 6-8 of Chabad Chayil Hebrew After-School Program and ninth-grade students of the Michael-Ann Russell JCC’s Hebraica Maccabi Tzair Youth Program.

For more information about The Jewish Lens, visit JewishLens.org or contact Ellen Goldberg at 786.866.8497 or [email protected]