More on Cohort א

Cohort א (Aleph) launched on June 11, 2025 with 22 members. This is The Shalom Center’s inaugural cohort, the first prototype of our new model.

Phase I - Learning

Cohort א members are meeting online monthly, with members diving into theories of post-activism through a Jewish lens. This first phase of the cohort is torah lishmah (learning for its own sake) and prioritizes relationships, practice, and connection. Members also engage in interstitial learning as individuals and chevrutah (pairs) between meetings.

Members can join a Monthly Meeting Working Group to co-plan and facilitate these monthly meetings.

Phase II - Convening

The cohort is gathering for an in-person convening in August, graciously hosted at Fetzer Institute. This convening will serve as a concentrated and immersive space to practice and apply insights from our learnings while fostering camaraderie and deepening relationships. A second working group will plan and run the convening.

Phase III - Experimentation

Towards the latter part of the cohort arc, members will shift their focus towards cultural creation and experimentation. Members are expected to produce some kind of original expression of Jewish post-activism, whether individually or with others in the group. These “expressions of Jewish post-activism” will span a variety of mediums (ritual pop-up actifests, art installations, digital and print, film, music, etc) and will focus on a variety of topics. What’s key is that they are organic outgrowths of members’ unique passions and learnings applied to Jewish post-activism concepts. A third working group will help plan and facilitate this experimentation phase.

Outcomes

By the end of this cohort arc, we expect there to be a proliferation of original and transformative expressions of Jewish post-activism created by cohort members. We expect that cohort members will have connected more deeply to themselves, Judaism, each other, and the world. And from this cohort, we expect the world to be - perhaps even just a tiny bit - more whole and filled with love.

Future

In future years, we aim to grow, scale, and adapt this work. We’d like to experiment with different cohort models (based on identity, location, holiday, etc), and alternative cohort pacing (ie. 10-week accelerator). Simultaneously, we hope to invest in cohort alumni by launching Facilitator Communities of Practice, as well as making resources available for cohort alumni who wish to continue ongoing collaborations or initiate new expressions of Jewish post-activism.

In our organizing around this inquiry over the past three years, we have connected with many excellent and diverse people who are excited by this approach. Recruitment for Cohort א was based entirely off these relationships. We anticipate that future cohort recruitment will be open to the public.

If you are intrigued in this model and would like to learn more or be put on an interest list for future cohorts, please email Nate at ndegroot@theshalomcenter.org.

Gratitude & Investment

We are grateful to Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah for investing in us and providing generous funding for this initial cohort launch. We are also thankful to Fetzer Institute for hosting our convening. If this project seems aligned with your own funding interests or vision for the world and you would like to discuss future investment or collaboration, please email The Shalom Center’s Director, Nate DeGroot, at ndegroot@theshalomcenter.org.