About Us
K’ilu partners with educators and organizations to bring Jewish tradition to life through imaginative, theatrical experience.
Rooted in play, movement, and imagination, K’ilu invites children and families to step inside Jewish stories and encounter tradition as something lived and felt. Our work spans classrooms, family programs, and communities—offering experiences and educator tools that support joyful, participatory Jewish learning. Based in Chicago and working across North America, we collaborate with educators and organizations to build local creative capacity while advancing a distinctive pedagogy of theatrical wonder that is reshaping the landscape of Jewish education.
Our Story
Founded in 2021, The K’ilu Company brings a theatrical and imaginative approach to early Jewish learning, rooted in play, embodiment, and wonder. Drawing on founder Jonathan Shmidt Chapman’s internationally recognized background in sensory theater for young audiences, the company developed a distinctive pedagogy that invites children and families to step inside Jewish stories—k’ilu, as if they were there.
This work first took shape through K’ilu Kits, launched during the COVID-19 pandemic to reach families and educators across North America with hands-on, immersive storytelling experiences designed for use at home and in classrooms. Building on this foundation, K’ilu developed Ark Adventures, a sensory theatrical Shabbat experience based in Chicagoland, with trained satellite troupes in Toronto and Boston.
Alongside the growth of these flagship projects, K’ilu has continued to articulate and share its approach through immersive experiences, professional learning, keynotes, and partnerships with local and national organizations. This work is further reflected in Chapman’s book, Let There Be Play, which explores the role of imagination and play in early Jewish learning of Torah.
Together, K’ilu’s programs, trainings, and partnerships have reached thousands of children, families, and educators across North America—shaping how early Jewish learning is imagined and practiced, and contributing to a broader shift in the field toward more embodied, participatory, and joyful approaches to Jewish tradition.
Our Vision
Passover tradition teaches us to experience the story of Exodus k’ilu hu yatza mimitzrayim—as if we ourselves went out from Egypt. This idea of not only telling Jewish stories, but truly experiencing them, is at the heart of K’ilu’s work. We believe Jewish tradition comes alive when children and their grownups are invited to step inside story, ritual, and imagination—engaging with Jewish learning as something lived, embodied, and shared.
This vision shapes our work across classrooms, communities, and partnerships, and is grounded in three core principles:
Play and theatrical practice open powerful pathways to learning
Through movement, music, and imaginative play, children explore Jewish stories in ways that nurture curiosity, empathy, memory-making, and self-expression. These practices support both developmental growth and emotional connection, allowing learning to unfold through experience rather than instruction alone.
Early Jewish experiences matter deeply
The earliest encounters with Jewish story and ritual shape how children—and their families—understand connection, identity, and belonging. When Jewish learning is joyful, imaginative, and relational, it creates a foundation that can support lifelong engagement.
Immersive experience makes tradition personal and memorable
When children imagine themselves inside Jewish stories—engaging with them through the senses—tradition becomes something they carry with them. These shared experiences deepen connection between children and the grownups who love them, cultivating enduring memory, intergenerational belonging, and a lasting relationship to Jewish life.