Foundation for Jewish Camp Receives Grant for Pilot Jewish Educator Program

The Foundation for Jewish Camp has received a $3.3 million grant from the Jim Joseph Foundation and AVI CHAI Foundation for a pilot initiative that will create senior experiential Jewish educator positions to be shared by nonprofit Jewish overnight camps and Jewish day or synagogue schools. This groundbreaking program, Nadiv, has several goals. The first is to experiment with a new model that could enhance the quality of education at Jewish camps in a sustainable way. The second objective is to create a new model for year-round positions for trained and talented Jewish educators and the third is to model a new way to foster deeper collaboration between different kinds of institutions in the Jewish educational world.

Developed in partnership with the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), Nadiv will create three new permanent positions for senior-level experiential Jewish educators who will toggle their responsibilities between Reform nonprofit Jewish summer camps and day or synagogue schools. The program will additionally create three more senior educator positions in community camps that will be shared by three synagogue or day schools.

This initiative aspires to build synergy and collaboration in Jewish education and strategically bring fresh and relevant content to future generations. It is designed to create a model for year-round camp educators who will work both in camp and in another educational setting. The selection process is currently closed and details will be announced in the coming months.

The word “Nadiv” means both generous and noble in Hebrew. Moses collects donations for the construction of the Tabernacle from the nediv lev, the generous of heart (Exodus 35:22). In Rashi’s commentary on Numbers (21:18), when the people encamped, the nobility (nadiv) had the unique role of creating a conduit between the nation’s well and the tribal location. The senior educators in the Nadiv program will play a similar role creating the connection between their camp and school.