Allentown Jewish Community Center

Jewish Family Program Goals are to: (1)To enhance and enrich the Jewish and family life of every Jewish family, whatever its shape or current membership, (2) To empower families to be more Jewish (in any of many possible ways) and to feel more competent to take charge of their own Jewish life as a family and (3) to offer materials about Judaism and Jewish enhancing family life for people of all religions and backgrounds.

Goals:

Jewish family education programming seeks to-

Empower the family as an essential agency for Jewish learning
Strengthen the ability of family members to enhance the "Jewishness" of their homes
Support the family as a unit, no matter what the family composition
Connect Jewish families one to another

Strategies for reaching these goals includes Jewish family education aiming to-

Provide parents with the skills, information, props, and repertories for Jewish living
Emphasize doing rather than talking about Jewish behaviors
Offer access to a variety of paths leading to Jewish choices and commitments
Center activities around Jewish content and text
Take into account the complexities of family life
Stress the transference of the practice of Judaism from the institution to the home