Hold a Social Justice Text Study
Studying Jewish texts can deepen your understanding of contemporary social justice issues, and vice versa. Here’s how to organize and host a text study – even if you’ve never done it before.
STEP 1 Pick a great topic.
Whether you’re into environmental advocacy, workers’ rights or education reform, choose a topic for your text study that gets you all fired up. Once you have a basic topic in mind, decide how you want to focus it. If you plan to study “sustainable food,” for example, pick one particular aspect (e.g. farming, food waste, childhood obesity, or food packaging) that will keep the discussion focused.
STEP 2 Nail down the details.
The definition of a text study fail is a sprawling, aimless discussion that leaves your group feeling listless and uninspired. But with a little planning, this situation is easy to avoid. The most important thing after picking a topic, is deciding on a learning style to structure the evening around. For example:
- Will one person lead everyone else through the texts?
- Will there be a chevruta component? (Read up on chevruta learning.)
- Will you break into small groups and then come back together for a larger discussion?
Any of these styles works just fine, but solidifying this detail in advance eliminates the awkward silence that ensues when you just put a text in front of people and say, “go.”
Meanwhile, confirm the time, date and place. Your living room is nice. So is a synagogue classroom (though maybe less cozy), or a restaurant or cafe that has quiet tables good for conversation. Think about the type of conversation you want to have and the type of crowd you hope to draw, and pick the space accordingly. And remember to book in advance!
STEP 3 Invite people.
Just like a good dinner party, your text study should include a diverse mix of people with different interests and backgrounds. A little tension and disagreement in the room is a good thing — or certainly more interesting than a room of people who all agree with one another. Similarly, try to invite people who have varying levels of experience with Jewish tradition and text study — it’s great to have experts in the room, but equally important to have fresh eyes seeing the texts for the first time.
Invite people in advance — via Facebook, Evite, e-mail lists, personal e-mails or phone — and follow up! If you are holding the event at a synagogue or other institution, get the event put on their calendar and extend the invitation to their broader membership.
And remember, size matters when it comes to text studies. A successful text study can have as few as 2 people or as many as 50 – but if you want everyone to be able to converse together, aim for 20 or fewer. With larger study groups, break the conversation down into manageable sub-groups. Otherwise, people are bound to get lost in the crowd.
STEP 4 Text prep.
Compile a source sheet or packet of the texts you plan to study, and bring copies to the event. The social justice textual resource website, On1Foot, is a great place to start searching for texts (or pre-compiled source sheets). So is Hazon’s Food for Thought sourcebook. Remember, your text study does not have to focus only on traditional Jewish texts. Try weaving modern Jewish commentators, or completely non-Jewish texts into your source sheet.
On the sheet, copy texts in both Hebrew — including transliteration if you can find it — and English. And make sure to include a few questions to lead off the discussion. (Here’s a great example of what a source sheet can look like.)
Additionally, track down a few copies of relevant books — e.g. The Tanakh, Talmud, or books related to the subject you’re studying — for people to reference as they learn.
STEP 5 Party prep.
Pay attention to details, just like if you were hosting a party. There should be enough chairs for everyone you anticipate coming, good lighting (think bright enough for reading, but not fluorescent), and snacks that strike a balance between treats (brownies, popcorn) and healthier options that will keep people energized (hummus and salsa with carrots or crackers).
Before people arrive, set up the chairs and lay out food, drinks and extra pens and paper. If your guests feel welcomed into the space, they are more likely to feel comfortable learning together.
