Family Experiential Learning
Our Program
Family Experiential Learning at Nitzanim is a rich and exciting offering. It is a kind of pop-up Jewish village that offers an opportunity for families to deepen in Jewish experience and learning through song, prayer, nature, art, story, mysticism, movement, text and discussion. Through the Nitzanim program, we nourish our families so they can blossom and draw sustenance from Judaism’s deep, deep roots.
Our nature-inspired program will take place monthly during the school year on Sundays (with the exception of the month of October when we will instead celebrate Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur). Our gatherings will unfold, weather permitting, in nature, to better explore how Judaism’s holy days and spiritual practices grow out of the cycle of the seasons themselves.
Together we will learn Jewish texts (Torah) by grounding them in our bodies and lofting them into our imaginations. Our invitation is for the learning to continue after each event, as families bring the information and the excitement home with them. Nitzanim Family Experiential Learning also allows our kids to be held inter-generationally – in community with parents, professionals, senior volunteers from Ner Shalom, and a wide range of child ages.
WHAT WE DO
Activate our imaginations through nature connection and story.
Celebrate Jewish holidays in unorthodox ways that expand well beyond synagogue walls.
Jewish Education that renews and supersedes the Sunday school experience.
Year round cohort experience that provides the whole family with Jewish community.
Gain knowledge and intimacy with the land around us, while awakening ancient Jewish wisdom and memory.
Connect to earth as we connect to Jewish experience, and learn to read the land as if we were reading Torah.
WHO WE ARE
Nitzanim Families gather to learn about havdalah while our B.Mitzvah Academy students tend the fire. Thank you to our hosts, Preston Winery in Healdsburg.
The Nitzanim community comprises a group of families interested in finding new ways of holding the wisdom and practices of Judaism in the context of their diverse and varied lives. Many of our families are interfaith, many are queer, some come from strongly rooted Jewish backgrounds, some are exploring their Judaism for the first time. Our families share a love of nature, ancient wisdom, creative expression, and meaningful practice. Many Nitzanim families are members of Congregation Ner Shalom, but membership is not required for participation in Nitzanim Family Experiential Learning. It is important to us that Nitzanim be accessible to you, regardless of where you are in your Jewish and Jewish community journey, and that Jewish community be available to your children from the time they are born.
Click here for 2024 - 2025 tuition information.