Experiencing Judaism: Why Field Trips Matter for Our Youth
When we think about Jewish education, it is easy to picture a classroom: students seated around a table, opening books, or practicing Hebrew vocabulary. While foundational knowledge is essential, true Jewish identity isn’t built solely at a desk—it is lived, felt, and experienced in the real world.
As the Director of Lifelong Learning, I believe that moving our learning beyond classroom walls through immersive field trips and hands-on experiences is vital for our students and youth engagement community.
Moving from Learning About to Living
There is a profound difference between reading about a commandment (mitzvah) and actually performing one.
In the classroom, a student can study the concept of tikkun olam (repairing the world). But when that same student visits a local food pantry, packages meals, and sees the real-world impact of Jewish values in action, the concept transforms into an enduring core belief.
Field trips bridge the gap between abstract concepts and lived experience:
Tactile Tradition:
Visiting a kosher bakery, observing the craftsmanship of a scribe (sofer), going to a Holocaust Museum and meeting a Holocaust survivor, or taking a nature walk to practice birkat haIlanot (blessing the trees) makes Jewish tradition vibrant, tangible, and personal.
Community Connection:
Excursions connect our youth to broader communal institutions—museums, social justice organizations, and neighboring Jewish communities—showing them that they belong to something far larger than just their local classroom.
Empowering Everyday Choices
Our ultimate goal in Jewish education is not simply to help students pass a test or recite a prayer; it is to equip young people with an ethical and spiritual compass for their daily lives.
When youth participate in experiential learning, they begin to see how Jewish choices manifest in everyday decisions:
Moral Reasoning: Immersive experiences spark meaningful conversations about how Jewish ethics guide how we treat others, consume goods, and engage with our environment.
Ownership of Identity: By actively choosing to participate, lead, and reflect during outings, youth gain agency over their Jewish journeys. Judaism stops being something their parents or teachers hand to them; it becomes something they uniquely own and shape.
Cultivating Joy and Connection
Experiential trips build strong community bonds (kehillah). Shared travel, dynamic activities, and informal moments foster friendships that often last a lifetime. When learning is fun, interactive, and community-centered, young people build positive associations with Jewish life that stay with them well into adulthood.
By expanding our classroom to include the whole world, we ensure our youth don’t just study Judaism; they live it, cherish it, and carry it forward.
Tamara Donnenfeld