Sex Ed Outreach at Moishe/ Kavod– Join Us!
The Sex Ed Class
From January through May 2010, Mimi Arbeit taught a Sex Ed class for young adults at the Moishe Kavod House in Brookline, funded by the Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel (BYFI) grant program. We used the young adult version of the curriculum Our Whole Lives, developed by the Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Church of Christ. We achieved a lot:
- 14 evenings together reveling in discussions on many aspects of sexuality and relationships;
- 4 community members trained in facilitating both the Adult and Young Adult versions of this curriculum;
- and 1 community-wide Sex Ed Shabbat, including prayer services themed on the four Our Whole Lives values and four break-out sessions on various sex ed topics.
To wrap up our semester, we joined Keshet in a celebration of Boston Queer Pride. Many of us were extremely moved by the passion and enthusiasm that has been expressed for this work.
An introduction to Sex Ed, Take Two: Outreach
The BYFI Alumni Venture Fund has provided us with a grant to do local outreach around issues of human sexuality. As we continue to provide sex education and community-building programming at the Moishe/Kavod House, we will also reach out to leaders at local synagogues, Hillels, and other Jewish community organizations. We will engage them in conversation about the needs of their own communities and their interest in experiencing and supporting comprehensive sex education. We will develop materials to serve as the foundation for building these relationships, particularly in the form of workshops we can offer in these other communities. The materials will cover topics such as consent, relationships and communication, gender identity, sexual orientation, family, sexual violence, body image, sexual health, and advocacy. We will explore these topics both on their own terms and as Jews, in conversation with our own Jewish experiences and with Jewish texts.
How You Can Get Involved
We need leaders, and we need doers! Whether you are part of the Moishe/Kavod community, another local Jewish community, or simply looking for somewhere to jump in, we encourage you to find a way to get involved with our Outreach project. Since this rendition of Sex Ed will combine community education with organizing and outreach, we will need many people to bring a wide variety of skills to the table. Do you want to be involved? What might you be interested in doing? Please be in touch with us to let us know if youre interested in:
- Joining us over dinner (i.e., meetings) to deepen our vision of this work and start planning
- Connecting us with people you know in other local Jewish communities
- Contacting and meeting with leaders in other local Jewish communities
- Finding and analyzing Jewish sources, commentary, and other writings on sexuality
- Helping us develop various workshops that can meet the different needs of our partner communities, including college students, adults and parents
- Researching and producing fact sheets with up-to-date information about local and national sexuality education policies and other policies related to sexual health and justice
- Attending an Our Whole Lives facilitation training (one weekend)
- Bringing any of your favorite skills to the table! Think: cooking, making posters, event planning, writing articles, event turnout, you name it!
Were totally thrilled and excited about moving on to this next stage alongside talented community organizers and passionate sex education participants. We welcome and encourage any and all feedback, questions or other thoughts and feelings that you may have as you read this news. And tell us if you want to get involved! Email SexEdatMoisheKavod@gmail.com
From your local Sex Ed Enthusiasts,
Mimi, Suzie, Adina, and many other fabulous people