IKAR deepened and expanded the burgeoning work of the IKAR House Party model, a program through which unaffiliated Jews in the Los Angeles area participated in Jewish learning in peers’ homes. IKAR subsequently received a Covenant Foundation Signature grant in 2009 to continue this work.Ignition Grantee Reflections: Impacts and Learnings:
“Where are we now, what did we accomplish, and what have we learned?”

“When we applied for the Ignition Grant, house parties were effective ways to learn for those intimidated or distant from Jewish education for other reasons. You expected to a little learning and a little outreach. When we found that they were open to the idea of going for wine and cheese and high level learning, we embraced them, brought them into community and the Jewish world… IKAR is now on the radar. People want to implement what we are doing, especially Minyan Tzedek which has been generating interest because people have been struggling for so many years with the issue of how to activate a whole community to go out and work in pursuit of justice.”

—Melissa Balaban, IKAR Executive Director