Fabulously Answered Questions - Whiteness Havruta Organizational Cohort
Thank you for your interest in Whiteness Havruta!
Please review our our Program Overview & the FAQs below in their entirety before contacting us. As we receive questions, we will update this FAQ page, so check back later if another question arises. You might find just the answer you are seeking!
Who should participate? You should invite individuals from your organization who are at least 18 years old, and who identify as white and Jewish. Participants should be committed to spending time investing in their own learning around whiteness and racial justice. This includes but is not limited to: community members, program alumni, board members, and staff members.
What is the time commitment? Whiteness Havruta is a multi-faceted course with multiple opportunities to engage with each other and the larger community. Webinars and open space Q&As are offered alternating weeks; enhanced with time to gather with your havruta and engage with the texts. There is an average of 3.5 hrs of engagement a week, particularly during the core 4 month period of the course.
Is Whiteness Havruta for individuals just starting out their anti-racism journey or those more experience? Whiteness Havruta is designed for individuals who have had at least some introductory exposure to the concepts of race and racism. That being said, there are no formal prerequisites to participate and we welcome anyone who is actively committed to being on this journey.
We believe Whiteness Havruta will be challenging and meaningful for people who have extensive experience with anti-racism teachings. The shared learning will allow individuals to revisit what may be familiar concepts with the perspectives only gained through hearing someone else’s experience.
Can I participate as an individual? Joyous Justice is growing the types of offerings we have available while recognizing our human capacity! At this time, Whiteness Havruta is only available for individuals associated with a participating organization, but stay tuned for news about future cohorts open to individual participants by filling out this form!
Do you have to be Jewish AND White to participate? Whiteness Havruta is designed for people who identify as both white and Jewish and the materials are presented with these baseline sociological trends around shared identities. We work to be very accessible to folks from all Jewish backgrounds in terms of translating acronyms, Hebrew, or anything else that could feel like insider jargon.
We understand Whiteness to encompass many Jewish diasporic identities and we welcome anyone who identifies as white to join Whiteness Havruta. We will be operating under the premise that white Jews are white and benefit from white privilege, while also being the targets of antisemitism.
If there are white people who don’t identify as Jewish who want to participate and they understand that it’s a program designed for Jewish people examining whiteness in the context of Jewish identity and still want to fully commit to the experience, please contact us here and an illustrious member of our team will get back to you!
We are a large organization/network and would love to include more than 20 people in our cohort, maybe 40, 60 or more! Fantastic! You can indicate that in your application form. We are excited to explore this possibility with you! We will also need to have a sense of how many organizations are interested in participating to get a sense of how the organizational cohort is shaping up and will circle back to you with information regarding our decision re: your application and how many people we have space for in the cohort. We’d like to accommodate as many as are a good fit, pending demand!
Our community/organization is deeply committed to anti-racism and racial justice, but we’re small and cannot afford to pay the total organizational fee. First of all, thank you for your commitment! Please fill out the application and include the last comment area what your organization can pay and any other factors it would be helpful for our team to know. We will consider your application along with everyone else!
What accessibility measures will be in place? Joyous Justice is continuously striving to be an organization which models the liberatory and joyful world we want to create. We are building out our capacity in a number of ways, including our accessibility options. We recognize that this is an area of growth for us. If you have questions about the accessibility of Whiteness Havruta or recommendations for us, please let us know and a dedicated member of our team will respond.
Does our organization need to know all of our participants before applying? No, you can submit an application for your organization and then fill out your participant roster. We are asking that individual participants are registered by the start of the orientation period for the cohort for which they’re registered (for the Winter cohort, that date is December 7, 2020).
Do we need to have a full roster of 20 participants? We hope that all participating organizations are able to bring together a committed group of 10-20 individuals from all across their larger organization and community. If you are anticipating a larger group, that’s great! Just give us a heads up when filling out the application.
What if we can't do all of the sessions? We know that we will find the most meaning and wisdom during our time sharing space and learning together, so we hope participants can attend all webinars when possible, helping enrich our community. Of course, situations arise when that is not possible, so recordings will be available as needed.
How are the havruta pairs matched? Joyous Justice will match havruta partners, who will be from the same organization.
What happens when it is over? By participating in Whiteness Havruta, participants will be joining an online community, where we encourage everyone to share highlights and challenges they are facing in their ongoing anti-racism journey. Our goal is that throughout the program, you will build a community of like-minded peers who can support each other in the context of your organizations, communities, as well as independently. Your access to all the program materials in the learning portal and Facebook community will be available to you for all of 2021. We will likely offer an affordable fee to maintain access and involvement after the year has concluded, as we track how our program and recruitment is evolving.
What if I still have questions? Please be in touch with us with your questions by contacting us here. Thank you so much for your interest!
We are very interested in this outstanding program and we have demanding programmatic calendar. Could we please have more specific information about when the cohort gatherings will take place so we know which elements our staff or members to invite?
Absolutely! Here you go!
WH Updated Timeline - Winter/Spring 2021 Cohort
Program dates: Dec 7 to May 14 (Hanukkah starts Dec 10, Shavuot is May 17)
Final partner organizations application deadline: Nov 13
Recruitment/registration of individual participants: Nov 13-Dec 4 2020*
*if your organization is seriously committed, we have a little wiggle room to work with
Individual participant registration deadline: Dec 4 2020
Dec 7 - Jan 3: Orientation (Asynchronous)
Week 1 (Dec 7-11): Join the Whiteness Havruta online community and introduce themselves. Complete assessments, including the Intercultural Development Inventory (https://idiinventory.com/generalinformation/), to begin reflection and to establish a baseline.
Week 2 (Dec 14-18): Watch an introduction video(s) and read relevant materials to orient themselves to the Whiteness Havruta community culture, methodology, and logistics of connecting with a havruta partner
Weeks 3 & 4 (Dec 21-Jan 1): Connect to a havruta partner for one or more initial meetings to begin to build a relationship.
Jan 4 - April 19: Regular Learning, Connection, and Reflection
Webinars (90-120 min):
1st and 3rd Monday of the month 3-5pm Eastern, starting with Mon Jan 4 (Exceptions: There will be no webinar on Monday, Jan 18, MLK Day; instead, the webinar will be on Tuesday, Jan 19).
Total of 8 webinars: Jan 4 & 19, Feb 1 & 15, Mar 1, 15 & 29, Apr 12
Live Open Space/Q&A (60 min): 2nd and 4th Monday of the month 3-4pm. Total of 8 sessions: Jan 11 & 25, Feb 8 & 22, Mar 8 & 22, Apr 5 & 19.
Engaging with assigned materials and meeting with a havruta partner: every week.
Every participant is required to write a short note each week in the private community FB group to confirm that they met with their havruta and to note one or two highlights of their conversation or internal reflection.
April 26-May 10: Application and Action
Live Open Space/Q&A: Mondays, 3-4pm - 2 sessions: Apr 26, May 3
Engagement prompts in online community: Weekly
Closing Gathering: Monday May 10, 3-5pm - pre Shavuot theme of covenant/commitment. Could be an event open to the public...