OUR STORY
From one problem, to many solutions
Our Mission
L'vaker provides Jewish organizations with a customizable framework of engaging, experiential modules — equipping them with the tools to create memorable encounters that develop Jewish identity, pride, and confidence.
Our Vision
We envision a Jewish world where sophisticated Jewish knowledge, spanning the breadth of Jewish civilization, is approachable, relevant, and applicable to present-day life. The people creating and defining Jewish experiences deserve the tools and resources to inspire Jewish growth and connection — and the adaptability to meet whatever their community needs.
THE PROBLEM WE KEPT ENCOUNTERING
L'vaker came from decades teaching in different Jewish educational settings and observing educators
attempt to navigate what was and wasn't working. We noticed two key trends:
The content was working
against the clock.
Programs tried to cover far more than the hours allowed, leaving educators sprinting through material.
Learners weren't building confidence.
Programs offered a thin approach to content leaving little for a curious learner to explore, much less own.
THE RESULT: only some learners built lasting confidence in their Jewish knowledge. Many worked towards a performance-based end goal for a milestone such as a B. Mitzvah.
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES: quiet tolerance or appeasement by learners and their families, Jewish education regarded as a means to an end or an obligatory rite of passage, attrition and shrinking cohorts. Some stopped showing up entirely - and before a lifecycle / milestone.
WHAT WE SET OUT TO BUILD
L'vaker began as a curriculum for one synagogue in upstate New York that was rethinking the Jewish learning experience for its community. Starting with four commitments, we found that this approach strongly resonated with many other congregational schools and part-time Jewish education and engagement programs, as well as day schools and summer camps across different denominations and streams of Judaism. Five years later, these commitments haven't changed.
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Entrust learners with a thorough foundation in Jewish civilization and give them opportunities to form personal opinions. Once they have a stance, they are motivated to build and grow.
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Whatever a teacher’s experience or Jewish background, as little as 15-20 minutes of preparation can ensure a thoughtful and well-led lesson, eliminating pressure to become a content expert or improvise at the last minute.
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Lesson outlines are responsive to the learning environment, schedule, and needs of the community while being goal-oriented with a menu of resources that provide mission-alignment and a learner-centered approach.
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Learning about Judaism must be worth a learner’s attention. Developing personal connections through experiential and differentiated modalities makes learning interesting and memorable while creating intentional connections between the ancient and the present. This brings traditions and history to life in a way that offers insight into navigating and embracing today’s realities. That is worth a learner’s time - they’ve told us!
L'VAKER · לבקר
to visit · to investigate · to confront
Every Jewish idea can spark curiosity.
L'vaker creates the moments to return, reconsider, and figure out why it matters.
L’vaker • לבקר doesn’t translate cleanly from Hebrew into English. This is why we chose it.
Visiting makes room for curiosity, wonder, contemplation. This kind of learning starts with what is this, why is this interesting and do I want to know more?
Investigating introduces context, meaning, relevance. Ideas become more robust and we do not assume they says one thing for everyone.
Confronting allows learners to grapple, internalize and personalize the ideas while considering their place among the Jewish people.
Visits can be temporary and inspiring. Each visit through L’vaker builds critical thinking, Jewish confidence, and the comfort to ask a hard question in a Jewish space. Meaningful visits open hearts and minds to repeat visits and deeper explorations. The result is a strong accumulation of Jewish knowledge, personal interest in building one’s Jewish identity, and a commitment to belonging to the Jewish people.
A visit can be brief. What a learner takes from it can last.
WHERE WE ARE NOW
Over the past five years, the L’vaker curriculum has been tested by learners and educators in nearly 15 congregational schools across Canada and the United States, in Conservative, Reconstructionist and Reform-affiliated congregations, as well as in nondenominational communities. Based on the feedback received over this time, L'vaker has evolved and can also be used at summer camps (day and overnight), youth group and teen engagement programs, family engagement programs, and full-time educational settings, because the needs it addresses resonate.
Our content keeps evolving.
So does our story.
START THE CONVERSATION
Rethinking how your school, camp, or congregation teaches? Looking for a fresh approach to Jewish learning for your community? See how L’vaker will work for you.