By Dr. Meredith Woocher, Director of Learning, The Covenant Foundation

We are delighted to share with you the second volume of Reports from the Field, a journal of The Covenant Foundation. Reports from the Field seeks to bridge the arenas of Jewish education research and practice by using insights gleaned from education and social science research literature to delve deeper into findings from evaluations of Covenant Foundation grants. We hope that readers will be compelled by the work being done by colleagues throughout the field, intrigued by the frameworks that illuminate how this work achieves the impact it does, and inspired to apply some of the findings to their own organizations.

The four articles in this volume explore a topic that is increasingly critical for the Jewish community today: how to foster mental, emotional, and spiritual wellness. While wellness/wellbeing can be understood in multiple ways, the definition provided by Rabbi Lisa Goldstein, Director of M²’s Jewish Pedagogies of Wellbeing Research Fellowship (one of the projects highlighted in this volume), offers a compelling encapsulation: “A state that includes high life satisfaction, a sense of meaning or purpose, a connection to something greater than ourselves, and the ability to respond with resilience to adverse circumstances.” Rabbi Goldstein notes that this definition is grounded in Jewish tradition, specifically Birkat HaChodesh, the blessing for the new month, which asks for the blessings of “life and for peace, for joy and for gladness, for salvation and for consolation, for sustenance and for support, for pardon and for forgiveness, for atonement and for a good life, and for peace.” As she explains, “This blessing names it all. It doesn’t reduce wellness to a feeling. It links it to values, to community, to the divine.”

Each of the pieces in this volume delves into how a recent Covenant Foundation grant worked to create and support wellness and wellbeing. Though the specific audiences and approaches of these projects varied, collectively they demonstrate that the mental, emotional, and spiritual health of individuals and the strength and well-being of communities are not separate pursuits but rather are deeply intertwined. Esther Friedman shares how participants in the M² Jewish Pedagogies of Wellbeing Research Fellowship developed a wide range of creative pedagogies, programs, and practices that blend Jewish tradition with contemporary approaches to wellness. As she writes, “Fellows were invited to ask deep and expansive questions: What does it mean to show up whole? What kind of Jewish space helps others do the same?” Judith Shapero writes about how SVIVAH’s groundbreaking training programs guide Jewish educators in integrating Torah learning with pastoral care in order to enhance social-emotional wellness and build supportive communities for both learners and educators And Rebecca Stark and Meredith Katz each document how a Jewish organization (Theater J in Washington DC and Hannah Senesh Day School in Brooklyn, respectively) through prioritizing diversity and belonging, succeeded in helping individuals feel valued, seen, and “whole,” while at the same time strengthening relationships and feelings of ownership within communities.    

We hope you find these discussions meaningful and stimulating, and that the findings and insights shared help illuminate potential pathways to wellness for yourself and your communities.