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| SHOLEM HISTORY |
 The SHOLEM EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTE was founded in Los Angeles (ca. 1950) as an independent,
parent-run cooperative Jewish Sunday School. At the height of cold
war hysteria and the Hollywood witch hunt, the founders chose "Sholem,"
the Hebrew-Yiddish word for "peace," to define the school's
dissent from the prevailing atmosphere. That spirit of dissent,
free inquiry and diversity has been a hallmark of our community
since its founding. |
| During the 1980s,
it became apparent that families and individuals were seeking a
form of Jewish experience extending beyond the confines of a children's
Sunday School to provide cultural, educational, social and inspirational
activities for teens and adults of all ages. In 1986, the Sholem
Community Organization was formed to serve as an umbrella organization
for the Sholem School, for a Sunday preschool (Bagels'n'Blocks,
later re-named Kinder Klas), for the Sholem Youth teen group, and
for an adult membership made up of parents in the children's' programs,
adult and young adult alumni of those programs and others who may
not have had a previous connection with Sholem but who found its
programs and activities meaningful in their lives. |
|
Today,
Sholem is an active organization that for many
Los Angeles-area cultural Jews, serves as a meaningful alternative
to synagogue membership. |
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