Why Chai Mitzvah is Not an Educational Program

Everything is not what it appears. It is a human trait to lump things into groups and categories we are familiar with. We all understand educational programs, so anything that involves text study gets thrown into that bucket. There are great educational programs out there – Limmud, Melton, Machon Hadar, Chabbad – as well as  learning materials from every denomination, and independent publishing houses.  The web is full of opportunities to get information and listen to engaging and inspirational lectures. 

The web is full of opportunities to get information and listen to engaging and inspirational lectures.
That is not Chai Mitzvah.

That is not Chai Mitzvah. As we have canvased the many organizations that utilize our program, two stand out as exemplars of educators that understood our mission of  community engagement, Rabbi Rubinstein of Congregation Beth Am in West Bloomfield Michigan, and Rabbi Ilana Garber (of then) Beth El Temple In West Hartford CT. Both of these Rabbis understood that Chai Mitzvah engages congregants in small groups with the  dual purpose of increasing Jewish knowledge and of building community. The  part of Chai Mitzvah, which was traditionally called  “the bucket list” is designed to awaken individuals to their own interests and opportunities and  to engage in their communities to fulfill these interests. Both these Rabbis took the time to interview participants to get to know them better and encourage them to pursue their passion through making a commitment  to learning, social action and ritual/spiritual growth. The outcome in both cases  were more engaged congregants and more vibrant congregations. 

This is why we are rebranding Chai Mitzvah. instead of calling this commitment to learning, social action and ritual spiritual growth  your “bucket list” we are now calling it POP… the Power of Passion.

We ask each Chai Mitzvah participant, “What are you passionate about? And how can you channel this passion into your congregation or community?” We believe that there are great resources at your fingertips that can both meet your needs and that can empower you to contribute to others.

We hope this adjustment in our branding steers people away from looking at us solely  as an educational program with interesting curriculum,  but as the engagement tool we are designed to be. We have always said that success for us is not a life long Chai Mitzvah participant, but a more engaged Beth El member, Federation member or any other community that starts a Chai Mitzvah program. Our mission is increasing community  engagement using small group encounters with meaningful Jewish  text and the fulfillment of personal passion around learning, social action and ritual/spiritual growth . We are unique in the field and if that’s a mouthful, we hope we have clarified a bit!