What we’re up to
Atiq: Jewish Maker Institute is a pluralistic applied arts yeshiva with an Artist in Residence fellowship - the Maker Kollel - at its center. The Atiq studio is located in Berkeley, CA, and we run workshops across the country through collaborations and partnerships with organizations such as Moishe House, PJ Library, Maker Faire, and many more. Our focus is on interweaving Jewish learning and craft in order to give people of all ages a deeply personal and textured way into their own unique Jewish path. Rather than the institution-based, outsourced Judaism that we've become accustomed to (and increasingly disaffected by), Atiq seeks resonance and realignment with the spiritual heritage of Judaism rooted in living experience that belongs to each and every Jewish person. Our work is inspired by the Hasidic appreciation of the sacred dimensions of the physical world—of sacred objects and sacred practices, and embodied spirituality—and by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik's understanding of Torat Imecha (mother Torah), which he describes, in part, as the flavor, scent and warmth of Jewish rituals. By crafting sacred material culture and ritual rooted in individual or home-oriented practice (which can then be a foundation for connecting in community), we re-claim a sense of belonging and creative confidence in our spiritual inheritance and in our own lives.
Our Mission
Atiq: Jewish Maker Institute is an applied arts yeshiva which nourishes an embodied spirit of belonging and creative confidence in Jewish tradition for individuals, families and communities.
Our Vision
Atiq is a catalyst for Jews across the religious and cultural spectrum to confidently carve out personal paths of meaning and spiritual connection within Jewish practice and tradition.
We have four core or guiding values
Roots and Branches
Gaining access to the depths of Jewish knowledge and tradition, while also developing personally relevant expressions
Home Oriented Judaism
Having the learning and frameworks to bring creative confidence and a sense of belonging to home practice of Judaism for individuals and families
Learning Through Making
With permission to tinker, experiment, inquire, wonder, and fail along the way
Heirloom Culture
Creating beautiful useful things, so that the stuff you surround yourself with holds deep meaning as well as hand-crafted beauty
We Have a dedication to innovation and inquiry-based learning
We seek a new vocabulary of tactile, embodied spirituality.
We are investigating existential questions of meaning through project-based collaborative creation
We facilitate delving into foundational, yet often lesser known, Jewish sources as the basis for making
We are revitalizing a sacred material culture that provides access for all to the depths of Jewish tradition
We provide a third-space of inter-generational, post-denominational Jewish connection