150+ pages of lesson plans, resources, and discussion guides to help educators explore the themes presented in the film Hineini with youth and young adults.
While the primary focus of the film Hineini is the experience of gay, lesbian, and bisexual Jews in Jewish schools, the film lends itself to addressing broader issues about Jewish identity in a contemporary context.
The Hineini Curriculum Resource Guide provides materials that facilitate the use of the documentary in diverse Jewish educational settings. It gives Jewish educators and program staff resources to integrate the study of GLBT issues into programs and curricula and to explore timely issues including:
Sexual orientation and gender identity in a Jewish context
- Jewish pluralism
- Identity and difference
- Youth activism
- Social change and community building
Who Should Use this Film?
Hineini: Coming Out in a Jewish High School and the Curriculum Guide are useful resources for sparking dialogue in a wide range of settings, both formal and informal, including:
Congregations
- Family and teen programs
- Middle and high school education programs
- Youth groups
- Educator, lay leader, and clergy continuing education programs
Jewish Day Schools (Middle and High School)
- Professional development for educators and administrators
- As part of curricula for Contemporary Jewish Studies, Jewish text study, or Social Studies
- Anti-bullying or diversity programs for students
- Gay-Straight Alliance programs
- Community Hebrew High Schools
- Faculty and staff development programs
- Middle and high school curricula
- Parent-teen programs
Other Jewish Institutions
- Summer camps – for staff, campers, and families
- Jewish Community Centers for community dialogue
- Jewish Family & Children's Service and other social service organizations, for staff training
Universities and Colleges
GLBT and Jewish student centers
Campus-wide diversity programs
- GLBT Studies
- Jewish Studies
- Religion Studies
- Gender Studies
Other Educational and Community Organizations
- Public and private school GSA's and student groups
- Other religious community groups
- Interfaith community groups
Just know you've already made a difference. A 10th grader came out to me yesterday (she didn't know about the film yet), and I said, ‘Mazel Tov,' since I had seen that in your film. She said she was really happy about the conversation. So thanks for counseling me – through your movie – about how to handle it. I have a feeling she's going to help us move forward on this – she's a very strong kid.
- Rabbi at a Solomon Schechter Day School, NY
I found the curriculum amazing – including topics and connections to Judaism that would never have occurred to me!
- Rabbi Carol Stein, High School of Jewish Studies, Agency for Jewish Education, San Diego, CA
I love the Curriculum Guide because I think that the best way for kids to learn is to make them a little uncomfortable. The materials were student-centered, and I really feel that my students gained a certain maturity through doing this unit. They began to understand that these halakhic questions and perspectives on gender and on sexual orientation had real implications for gay and lesbian and transgender Jews.
- Jill Weinberg, Judaic Studies Department Head, Maimonides Upper School San Diego Jewish Academy, San Diego, CA
