In July of 2007, I began my first day of work at Yavneh Day School - it was three days after the release of the first iPhone. As we find ourselves in this season of serious personal reflection, I find myself also reflecting professionally and noticing how much this one invention - whose 6th iteration was released this week - has impacted our classrooms. The goal of our Jewish Studies program is to develop young adults who understand their obligation to help create the personal Jewish future and the global Jewish future. But how do we get there when Jewish education is no longer about memorizing the 10 commandments, the customs of the holidays or the order of the Torah portions, because the handheld device in your pocket has made that obsolete?
Jewish education today must be about empowering a child to develop the skills necessary to define who they are, who they want to be and how they are going to get there. In order to do that, we need to give them a strong foundational Jewish identity, teach them skills to be independent learners and nurture in them a strong desire to be reflective, question and imagine.
A strong foundational identity: At Yavneh we give students a strong foundational identity by immersing them in a vibrant living Jewish community. This allows them to not only learn but live the foundational values of Jewish life. We celebrate the cycle of holidays of the Jewish year, we discuss Jewish values on the playground and classroom, and students study biblical stories with an emphasis on character analysis allowing them to empathize with the characters.
Second, we teach them skills to be independent and life-long learners. It is not enough for the students to learn the stories of the Tanakh, but they also learn how to become part of the interpretive chain of tradition that is central to Judaism's existence. One way students feel empowered to do this is through Hebrew instruction. Not only does studying Hebrew allow the students a certain level of access to Jewish tradition, but as many studies show, learning a second language as a child has life-long benefits such as increasing a child's creativity and their ability to perform complex problem solving, and helping them develop their capacity for memory and perception.
Finally, nurture in the students a desire to question, be reflective and imagine. As a Jewish school we are lucky to have biblical archetypes and sacred texts that model this way of being in the world. The entire rabbinic endeavor of the Talmudic period was created by a group of people who dared to imagine a future that they didn't know would exist. Never satisfied with the answer in front of them, the rabbis of the Talmud tried to see every possible side of a situation. In Eighth Grade, the students engage in a year-long exploration of some of life's ultimate questions: topics such as the existence and nature of God, the purpose of the Torah, the existence of good and evil. Through rigorous academic research, the students question and debate writings and interpretations that range the entire spectrum of Jewish thought and belief. Through this process, they know that these questions do not have one right answer, but rather they are encouraged to find the answer that is right for them at this moment and be able to articulate, support and defend it. They know that creating their Jewish identity and future isn't always about finding the best answer, but about being able to ask the better question.
The next ten days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, known as the Aseret Yamei Teshuvah are an opportunity to make sure we are each asking the right questions too. Are we as adults and the grown ups in our children's lives not only hoping our children are reflecting, questioning and imagining their Jewish future, but embodying these ways of being ourselves? Now is a great time to start.
Check out this website for some questions to get you started
http://www.doyou10q.com/
May you find the questions you're seeking and may they lead you to better questions.
Laurie