Ma’yan Tikvah to Launch Y’ladim BaTeva – A Children’s Outdoor Jewish Education Program This Fall

Y’ladim BaTeva – Children’s Outdoor Jewish Education Program to Launch This Fall

Wayland, Mass (June 1, 2018) This September, Ma’yan Tikvah – A Wellspring of Hope is launching an alternative Jewish education program called Y’ladim BaTeva. It will be targeted at elementary school-aged children and will include a significant outdoor component. The ten-month program will be open to all families seeking a Jewish education program for their children, and will be comprised of weekend outdoor classes, weekday online classes, and family Shabbat programs. Children will learn Jewish values and selected prayers, study the Bible, sing songs, and learn basic Hebrew words and letters. An optional, more traditional Hebrew decoding and prayer program will also be made available.

Rabbi Katy Z. Allen has been a dedicated educator of Jewish studies for almost 25 years. She is the founder Ma’yan Tikvah – A Wellspring of Hope, where she leads outdoor Shabbat and High Holiday services for individuals and families throughout MetroWest’s conservation areas and outdoor reservations, hosts interfaith holiday celebrations, and runs a summer camp for children in grades 2 – 5 through another organization she founded, One Earth Collaborative. Rabbi Allen has found that connecting the natural world with prayer and Jewish teachings can be both calming and quite powerful. It has long been her dream to establish a formal Jewish education program for children that incorporates her love of nature.

Rabbi Allen enjoys working with children and believes that imparting Jewish values into their lives can be accomplished in an informal setting. She shares, “In the outdoors, children can be nurtured and awakened by the natural world at the same time that they are experiencing and internalizing Jewish values and concepts.” Rabbi Allen adds, “The Jewish texts and prayers enrich their experience of nature and their experience of nature gives their understanding of Jewish tradition a new twist.”

Rabbi Allen looks to impart an appreciation of nature with Jewish values and concepts into her students, while simultaneously creating a strong, but informal community for the families and students who participate. She believes that she can achieve this through the outdoor classes, online instruction and family Shabbat programs. She adds, “The outdoor component is a big key to our success. It provides opportunities for exploring and experiencing a sense of wonder and spirituality, for both the children and their families that is simply not possible sitting indoors.”

About Ma’yan Tikvah – A Wellspring of Hope
Ma’yan Tikvah – A Wellspring of Hope is an independent congregation literally without walls, which provides a home for those seeking an alternative way of exploring Judaism through outdoor services and intimate learning opportunities. It strives to provide a place of hope and trust for those seeking a meaningful connection to Judaism through sacred ritual, study, prayer and a connection to the natural world and environment around us. Ma’yan Tikvah holds weekly informal outdoor Shabbat services, observance all high holidays, interfaith gatherings, and offers more intensive study in its Talmud learning group. Learn more at www.mayantikvah.org.

About Rabbi Katy Z. Allen
Rabbi Katy Z. Allen is the founder and spiritual leader of Ma’yan Tikvah – A Wellspring of Hope. She received her M.A. in Jewish Studies from Hebrew College in Newton, Mass, her rabbinic ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion in Yonkers, NY, and became a board certified chaplain through Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains. She is passionate about providing a unique connection to Judaism through appreciation of nature and the world around us.
Rabbi Allen is also the facilitator of One Earth Collaborative, a project of Open Spirit in Framingham, Mass.

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