Ammud: The Jews of Color Torah Academy – To launch a national program for JOC nonprofit professionals to further develop as Jewish educators through in-depth Torah study and collaborative learning in a constructive and reflective learning cohort.

What inspired you to create the JOC Torah Cohort Program?

Jews of Color (JOCs) who work in Jewish communal organizations are uniquely positioned to renew the ways Torah and Jewish practice are understood today and into the future. We have both lived experience and inherited wisdom that inform how we build community, as well as how we interpret and use core Jewish texts. Our cohort program makes time in the participants’ schedules so they can prioritize learning. Ultimately, they’ll gain Jewish content they’re excited to use, and feel spiritually nourished as Jewish leaders. 

How does the program uniquely serve the needs of JOCs and what impact do you hope it has in the long term?

Ammud’s culturally-sustaining Torah methodology brings culturally responsive teaching and ethnic and racial identity development models into Jewish text study. For this program, our approach builds Jewish learning spaces where Jews of Color use our cultural wisdom and experience as assets for understanding Torah and for bringing it into contemporary Jewish life. This benefits JOCs directly, since it is holy and healing to bring our full selves to Torah. Beyond the cohort experience, this kind of knowledge creation is essential for Judaism’s long-term flourishing. There’s Torah to learn and share that will benefit the whole Jewish community!

What is your favorite piece of Jewish wisdom related to your work?

Rav Yosef Chayyim of Baghdad taught that “new interpretations born from Torah are just like Torah itself, in that they cannot be made impure.” He’s practicing what he’s teaching – reinterpreting the Torah’s texts on purity, which did not originally apply to learning or ideas. He is playing with Torah to encourage new Torah interpretation! I hold onto his example when I’m encouraging our learners and educators to trust their knowledge and wisdom as they interpret Torah. The chiddushim we uncover when we bring our full selves to Torah are as pure as the Torah itself.