The past fifteen years have transformed our understanding of children and what they need to thrive. Our post-Covid and post-October 7 realities only make best practices in education even more important to adopt, and this means thinking holistically about our students’ needs. Our schools’ curricula should be fulfilling intellectually and spiritually, as well as socially and emotionally, and classrooms should be places where teachers assess cognitive development, to be sure, but also facilitate students’ discovery and growth of all parts of themselves.
This kind of Jewish education means students continue to build a solid foundation in Jewish texts and history and receive a robust Israel education, but their learning must also have immediate resonance and relevance. It should help them forge thick emotional ties to the Jewish past and a deep sense of responsibility for the global Jewish community. It should help them make sense of the current confusing and sometimes painful reality, giving them the skills they need to confront it and the confidence to positively shape it. Our children need us to help them find hope and opportunities in this moment.
The Yerushalayim Project exemplifies this kind of education by connecting students to Yerushalayim intellectually, spiritually, socially, and emotionally. It shows them the ancient, medieval and modern connections Jews have to the land and how they fit into that history, old and new. Students then share all aspects of their learning in a student-made Yom Yerushalayim program. This video demonstrates how the students integrated all their learning in deeply meaningful ways, as does this visual representation of a student interview with a contemporary resident of Jerusalem.
The cornerstone of this vision of Jewish educational excellence is exceptional teaching. We must prioritize attracting and supporting top-tier educators, providing them with the kind of high-quality professional development and community support they deserve in order to succeed. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks notes that Moses, the Jewish people’s greatest leader, is described not as a king or prophet, but as a teacher. The future of the Jewish people has always depended on our recognition that we create the next strong generation of Jews by educating them. These complex times require no less than our full commitment to that awareness and to celebrating and elevating our educators as they meet their lofty goals.