What will I learn?

You will gather weekly to learn with other Corps members, and attend weekend retreats throughout the year. During these sessions, you will meet with a wide variety of top-level activists, trainers and educators to learn more about the dynamics of urban poverty. You will also learn how to become an effective agent for social change, and the way that Jewish history, culture and religion connect to your work to combat poverty and strengthen community.

Presenters

Sessions are led by outstanding leaders, including:

• Lorie Chaiten, Director, Reproductive Rights, ACLU of Illinois 
• Rachel Durschlag, Founder and Executive Director, Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation 
• Abram Himelstein, Co-founder and Co-Director, Neighborhood Story Project
• Ruth Messinger, Executive Director of American Jewish World Service and former Manhattan Borough President 
• Lara Naughton, playwright, Voices of Innocence
• Rabbi Sid Schwartz, Founder Panim: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values (now Panim el Panim, a division of BBYO)
• Rabbi Alissa Wise, Program Director, Ma’yan

Sessions

Past session topics include:

• Justice, Forgiveness, Repentance and Reconciliation - Themes of repentance and forgiveness that emerge from High Holiday liturgy and Jewish law were applied to inter-group conflict, asking what the possibilities for justice reconciliation might be following grave injustices like slavery or massive traumas like genocide. 
• Immigrants and Poverty, Then and Now - Jewish immigrants to the United States established a vast array of social service and social change organizations to address their own needs and those of the broader communities in which they lived. This session examined the experience of today’s immigrants, comparing their challenges and opportunities with those of earlier arrivals, and looked the Jewish community's role in current immigration policy debates. 
• Social Activism Skill Building - Sessions throughout the year are dedicated to creating a strong set of skills for social change, including community organizing techniques, communication for change, and new media. 
• Site Visits - AVODAH Corps members visit each other's worksites throughout the year to extend the scope of their learning. If you work on homelessness, site-visits will help you learn about hunger, literacy, worker's rights and other issues. If your placement provides direct service to people in need, site-visits will help you explore other approaches to combating poverty, such as advocacy and community organizing.