Thousands of students from Community, Conservative, Orthodox and Reform Jewish Day Schools, congregations and JCCs throughout the country have been transformed by their Teva experiences. We take pride in the diversity of our participants and in our flexibility to meet the unique needs of each group. Teva offers an immersive 4-day residential program for 4th-6th grade students and a 3-day backpacking and leadership program for 7th-8th grade students from Jewish Day Schools. For congregations, Hebrew schools, Jewish community groups and JCC, Teva offers powerful on-site Educator-in-Residence programs and Shabbat Retreats for all ages. All of our programs engage participants in experiential learning that connects Jewish identity, practice and tradition with the natural world and local ecology, inspiring participants to take concrete action for a sustainable and just world.
In 1994 the Teva Learning Center was founded to offer Jewish day school students a high-quality, experiential, outdoor-educational program. Today Teva works with 45 different day schools – over 1200 students and teachers each year. These day school programs have also allowed Teva to grow a cohort of young adults, living in community, into experiential Jewish educators. To date, these Teva educators, have gone on to start 14 new initiatives in the Jewish community.
Since 2005, Teva has been developing creative program models that share the value of its day school program with a broader audience - congregations and community groups of all affiliations as well as to summer camps. These programs integrate into the current system (religious school, youth groups, etc.) and provide an alternative (e.g. wilderness Shabbat). In 2008 Teva established an organic farm and nature center at the Henry Kaufmann Campgrounds in Long Island and launched its first Topsy Turvy Bus tour - a bright double-decker school bus that serves as a mobile, hands-on classroom. Increasingly, Teva has been writing custom-made curriculum for specific communities and serving as a consultant to Jewish institutions. A revision of its brand and mission in 2011 birthed the new Teva Learning Alliance.
Teva’s mission is to fundamentally transform Jewish education through experiential learning that fosters Jewish and ecological sustainability. Teva Learning Alliance acts on this mission in four critical ways:?1. Programs - Experiential Jewish education for an ecological age; Powerful and fun for kids, adults, and families.?2. Training Teachers and Certification - Professional development that delivers cutting edge methodologies and content to educators. ?3. Consultancy and Thought-Leadership – Support and curriculum writing for Jewish institutions, schools and communities to implement innovative Jewish education, inspire students and families, and build lasting, environmentally sustainable communities. ?4. Alliance Building – A network of collaboration between organizations, institutions and individuals working at the nexus of Jewish education, environmental action and healthy, just communities.
Teva’s program needs funding to continue to respond to the need for meaningful, innovative, Jewish-environmental education, especially in synagogues, Hebrew schools and community centers. There is often a lack of connection to the meaning and relevance of Jewish values and identity today. For many people, Judaism does not speak to their lives and their Jewish experience and learning is not filled with joy. Funding allows Teva to offer transformational and affordable Jewish learning that is joyous, meaningful and relevant. We believe that most people are genuinely concerned about the environmental crisis, but they are at a standstill about how to take action in their own lives. We need financial support to develop curricula that speak to our most pressing environmental issues and to train Jewish environmental leaders who can guide people of all ages to action.
Name of Organization:Teva Learning Alliance
Number of Paid Staff:3
Number of Volunteers:8
Total Organizational Expenses:$3,615,882
% of Organizational Overhead Expenses:20%
Teva uses experiential education as a vehicle for transformation. It is the only Jewish environmental organization to focus on experiential education as its primary tool. It sees works broadly across the spectrum of Jewish environmental education, rather than in a focused area, such as Jewish farming. Because of Teva’s length of time in the field, it is seen as an experienced leader in the movement and a “Mecca” that young adults travel to in order to get the skills they will need as Jewish educators, environmental advocates, rabbis, scientists, scholars and organizers.
Teva is the leader in providing inspirational and experiential Jewish environmental education. Our programs stand in sharp contrast to the classroom based, often bland, Jewish education many young people experience. In the words of Teva educator Casey Baruch Yurow, “Teva provides a joyful, Jewishly rooted, and curiosity-based exploration of what is essentially one of the most relevant questions that we, as humans, can ask ourselves today, ‘How do we live harmoniously with the only home we really have?”
Further, Teva goes beyond programming and continually leads and innovates in the field of Jewish education. Teva does this through alliances with existing centers of Jewish education, working in the infrastructure that exists, to consult, create curriculum, and train long-term educators. Teva also is growing the next generation of Jewish educators and will continue doing so through our educator certification curriculum currently under development. Further, Teva staff are supported in bringing new program ideas and re-defining existing program curriculum to meet participants where they are and also to give then an opportunity to explore a cutting edge Jewish experience that address the latest environmental issues. In addition, Teva educators are well known for taking their experiences at Teva and pioneering new projects and organizations.
“I have realized something of the impact an individual can have through his/her own choices, and no matter the greater impact, ethically it’s up to you to be the person you wish to be in the world you wish to be a part of… Teva inspires me to see the world through a Jewish lens that says Connect! Be inspired! Give thanks!”?
– Mati Cooper, Teva educator
“There was no single moment that stands out in my memory as being the turning point for the group. But I am confident that the group that sat around the campfire our last night together was not the same group that had sat around that same fire pit the first night we arrived. We were more in touch with each other, more accepting of each other, and yet, also more sure of ourselves. We understood our Judaism a little bit better, and had learned a thing or two about nature. Our instructors from Teva were talented and helpful, and [our school’s teachers] and I helped a little bit, but that transformation was the work of our kids. They did the hard work of coming together as a group, and now they can reap the fruits of their labor. A community is not just a group of people who have shared experiences. It is a group of people who have a shared present and who wish to help each other reach a better future. Our kids learned that together on our Teva trip.”
– Rabbi Joel Pitkowsky
Children
Education
Environment
Spirituality
There are many ways for youth to get involved with Teva:
1) Get your hands dirty by volunteering for a day or regularly at Teva’s Tzedakah Garden, Orchard and Nature Center, located in central Long Island at Henry Kaufman Campgrounds.
2) For youth in high school, apply to be a Teva Summer Intern at our beautiful Tzedakah Garden, Orchard and Nature Center program for day camp children. Work with the many campers on-site to plant, grow and harvest fresh produce to donate to those in need and teach alongside Teva’s educators about Judaism, food, sustainability, ecology, animals and environmental responsibility.
3) Join us in our Manhattan office as a volunteer or intern. We are always looking for great volunteers who enjoy helping out with the day-to-day excitement of the office, marketing, design, data work, etc.
4) Bring a Teva program to your synagogue, youth group or day school and contact us for project and synagogue “greening” ideas in your region!
Name:Nili Simhai
Title:Director
Address:307 Seventh Avenue, Suite 900 NY, NY 10001
Telephone:212-807-6376 ext. 113
Email:nili@tevalearningalliance.org
Website:www.tevalearningalliance.org