Service Projects & Courses

JAMers have had their first visits to the service sites for their first course. The students are already exploring the Judaic content of each topic and eagerly learning about historic and current legislation.

Ohev Tzedakah u'Mishpat – Economic Justice

Every time we buy a coffee, a new shirt, or groceries, we are engaging with the economic system. But we don’t often stop to think about the people who make the products we use or sell them to us. When we enter our schools or use public transportation systems, we rarely take the time to get to know the people who clean them or build them. In this course, we will be exploring what Judaism has to say about how we treat each other in economic relationships. We’ll be studying texts from our tradition, meeting with workers, talking to activists working for fair labor and affordable housing, and learning about the hot topics in the fight for economic fairness. We’ll be asking: What does it mean to be a responsible employer? What are the justice issues involved in how our communities are organized and who can live in them? And what are our own obligations in all this? In our service project, we learn first hand the results of economic inequality and its link to the lack of affordable housing, as we volunteer with homeless children at the Bright Beginnings Child Development Center in DC’s Sursum Corda neighborhood.

In the first class, students explored their own families history of immigration to America and related this to stories of recent immigrants. Through these borrowed eyes, they recognized the systemic nature of poverty.

Oseh Ma’aseh Bereishit: Global Climate Crisis

We have a responsibility to take action both as human beings, and as Jews, inhabiting the earth. If we continue on our current path, using too many of the earth's resources, and using them in a way that pollutes the atmosphere and contributes to climate change, the earth will become uninhabitable. The US has yet to set the necessary standards for automobiles, find alternative energy sources, or encourage the development of new technology to reverse the damage. In this course, we will explore some of the major environmental issues, such as pollution, global warming, and sustainable agriculture. We'll try to understand the importance of protecting the earth and its resources for future generations through the lens of Jewish texts. Most importantly, we will use our learning as a springboard for action! Reversing the damage that we have caused to the earth requires both large-scale and small-scale changes. On the one hand, we need to work toward changing government policies, which we will do by lobbying about environmental issues such as fuel efficiency standards. On the other hand, we can make a difference through changes in our daily habits and through small-scale efforts. At our service site at the Student Conservation Association, we will get hands-on experience with conservation work, such as removing invasive plant species, to create a more balanced environment in the Anacostia watershed in Washington DC.

The Environment class has been focusing their service on the river clean-up. During class, in order to better understand the interests of various parties, they held a mock trial over development of the Anacostia region.

Oseh Ha-Shalom—Ethics of War and Peace

"Was the US invasion of Iraq just?"
"Is there ever a place for torture?"
"Can there be peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians?"
"Should the US step in to stop genocide in Sudan?"

In our course, we will seek out Jewish wisdom—ancient and modern—that will help us to think about these, and other, challenging questions of war and peace. In pursuit of answers, we will be joined by experts and national leaders and take part in many debates and simulations.

Beyond the classroom, we will create and run a day camp for refugee youths from around the world at Arlington Refugee Services. By doing this work, we will learn first-hand what it means to live in a conflict zone and we will provide real, meaningful assistance to the survivors.

JAMers are interacting directly with refugee children from African countries. During their first class period, they debated the issues of news coverage and Tzelem Elohim (everyone is created in the image of God). The students were left wondering why African conflict is 20 times less likely to be covered than American conflict.

Honen Hada’at – Crisis in the American Classroom

When asked which was greater, study or action, Rabbi Tarfon’s answer was action and Rabbi Akiva’s was study. The talmidei chachamim ( the learned yeshiva students) agreed with Rabbi Akiva because studying Torah leads to action.

In this class we will pair our study with action as we uncover the deep connection between poverty and education. The American education system is plagued by large classes, low teacher pay, dangerous hallways, and a lack of funding. What are the solutions currently in practice attempting to fix this situation? And why is this important? Throughout our class we will look at different proposed educational reforms, probing beyond statistics to see how successful schools directly impact the lives of their students. This will be informed by our service project at the Washington Middle School for girls, where we will provide one-on-one tutoring for students from low income neighborhoods. Throughout our conversation we will have one lens on the American educational system and the other on Jewish texts, jumping back and forth between the Jewish tradition and the American tradition, drawing forth values that inform our views as Jews in America.

While studying education policy, the students are gaining experience in an inner-city classroom. At the Washington Middle School for Girls, JAMers are tutoring and reading to classes of summer school.