Storytelling Israel: Personal Narratives and Community Engagement

M²: The Institute for Experiential Jewish Education
December 7, 2023

Facilitated by Mollie Andron and Dr. Yakir Englander

In this workshop, we will acquire storytelling tools on how to talk about Israel, whether with Jewish community members or others. The workshop utilizes stories to explore various, personal, and intimate characteristics of Israel, while emphasizing unique tools that allow the story to transition from a private space to become a means of explaining the storyteller's relationship with Israel. This includes focusing on the role of the storyteller as well as that of the active listener.

Mollie Andron
Mollie Andron

Mollie is the Senior Program Director of Fellowships at M²: The Institute for Jewish Experiential Education. She has over 10 years of experience teaching in a variety of Jewish educational settings – from formal classroom teaching to nature education, from theatre education to collaborative philanthropy education. Mollie enjoys being in the field as well as building programs and trainings to support others. She holds a double Master's in Midrash and Jewish Experiential Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary, a BA in Religion from Bard College and is a graduate of M²’s Senior Educators Cohort. Mollie lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and children.

Dr. Yakir Englander
Dr. Yakir Englander

Dr. Yakir Englander is the Senior National Director of Leadership programs at the Israeli-American Council. He also teaches at the AJR. Originally from the Ultra-Orthodox community of Israel, Englander obtained his Ph.D. from the Hebrew University in Jewish philosophy and gender studies. He is a Fulbright scholar and was a visiting professor of Religion at Northwestern Universities, the Shalom Hartman Institute and Harvard Divinity School. Englander’s books about body, gender and sexuality in the Ultra-Orthodox and Zionist-Orthodox communities have changed the discourse on sexuality and gender inside the Jewish religious societies in Israel. After leaving Orthodoxy, Yakir was drafted to the Israeli military, spending of his service in an elite unit tasked with the identification of human remains. As a result of his service, he joined as a director at Kids4Peace, an interfaith youth movement in Jerusalem and in North America.

Details

Setting

  • Educator Training