Creative Partnership Continues With NYC Congregational Schools

For three years running, Avoda Arts continues its productive partnership with The Jewish Education Project on the “LOMED” initiative. LOMED supports New York-area congregations in creating contemporary models of Jewish learning that include families, maximize powerful learning, and build community. Avoda Arts is proud to support these innovating congregations with broad-based programs and services, including staff development, curriculum resources and arts integration consulting.

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Teen Production Workshop

Avoda Arts Launches Teen

Film Production Workshop


Avoda Arts and Central Hebrew High School in MetroWest, NY, have partnered to create a film production workshop for high school students.

The workshop's first class was held on February 10th and will continue through June, taking place Sunday mornings at the Joseph Kushner Academy in Livingston, NJ. Jesse Ash, an independent filmmaker and a graduate of New York University's film program, will facilitate the workshop, which will introduce the students to basic cinematographic techniques as well as film editing using industry professional software, and all this within a Jewish learning context.

"For us, the issue was a no brainer. As a communal institution, we are interested in bringing to high schoolers educational opportunities that they probably can't get anywhere else. Few if any of our local congregations have the resources or students to support this type of program," Rabbi Prince said.

Over the 12-week workshop students will meet on Sundays to engage not only film theory and language, but to participate in the many layers of film production firsthand. By the end of the course, the students, together in groups, will have conceived, storyboarded, filmed and edited their own short films. A screening will be held in the academy's auditorium in June.

"This course is tailor-made for teen audiences," says Debbie Krivoy, Director of Avoda Arts. "It bridges the worlds of film, Jewish studies, media literacy and camera craft. And, throughout the semester, teens will have real opportunities to combine hands-on film production with substantive Jewish learning."

CHHS is the community school for post-b'nai mitzvah age students in MetroWest New Jersey. The school runs weekly programs in Livingston, Whippany and Montclair. Rabbi Prince, who became CHHS' director in June 2007, conceived of the film workshop after he saw Avoda Arts' director, Debbie Krivoy, screen some short films and speak at the Partnership for Jewish Learning and Life.

"Moreover, we recognize that there is great truth in the expression that ‘there are 70 paths to the Torah' and feel we are providing an avenue of Jewish learning which most of our students would never be exposed to. Finally, we are tasked with infusing our program with informal learning so that our students can experience hands-on learning in new and exciting ways," Rabbi Prince said.

Currently, there are 16 high school students enrolled in the co-educational workshop, throughout which they will view and discuss short films, study related Jewish texts, learn the basics of camera operation, and become more familiar with the principles of film criticism. One of the primary goals of the course is to transform the students from passive viewers into active viewers so that they are capable of critically analyzing a film on a deeper, more meaningful level. For example, how might a particular camera angle affect a viewer's understanding of a scene, or how the use of sound can influence the viewer's connection with a character's action? These are just two of the myriad of entry points into gaining a greater understanding of film and of visual media in general.

With the implementation of this unique 12-week onsite workshop, Avoda Arts is continuing its commitment to integrate arts-based educational programs into the Jewish studies curriculum for middle schools and high schools. Already behind the creation of a number of visual arts based education programs, which range from an educational film series to a comprehensive photography course, Avoda Arts believes the film production workshop truly represents its ultimate goal of bridging the gap between text-based Jewish learning and hands-on, thought-provoking arts-based programming.