Jewish Education

Today, we share letters to the editor by Ephraim Chamiel, Steven Gotlib, and Moshe Kurtz.

The Poland trip has become de rigueur for Modern Orthodox gap-year students. But seismic changes in contemporary Poland and shifting trends in Modern Orthodoxy mean that the content and meaning of these trips are different than they used to be. David I. Bernstein, who has been leading Poland trips since 1992, tells the story of the student Poland experience, then and now.

Simon Goldhill provides an entertaining and thought-provoking exploration of how Jewish scholars' religious identities impact their work in the field of classics.

Can we learn Torah from Star Wars, superheroes, or the hit Netflix show ‘The Crown’? Olivia Friedman, a teacher at Ida Crown Jewish Academy in Chicago, says yes, arguing that bringing pop culture into the Judaic studies classroom in a meaningful way not only makes learning more fun, but models the type of integration that Modern Orthodoxy stands for.

In this timely essay, Noam Weissman of OpenDor Media argues for a form of Israel education that tackles challenging topics in Israel’s history.

As we commemorate Yom HaShoah, Shay Pilnik urges us to add a Modern Orthodox voice to a discourse increasingly dominated by secular perspectives.

As we approach the Seder, Joe Wolfson invites us to consider how children’s questions help adults appreciate the true meaning of Pesach.

In this latest piece addressing Modern Orthodox education, Anthony Knopf lays out the case for formal moral education in our schools that is rooted in Jewish thought and guided by the latest research in the field.

The creative responses of Jewish Day Schools to the pandemic demonstrate that the time has come to think out of the box and reimagine high school education. Hillel Rapp, Director of Education at Bnei Akiva Schools of Toronto, outlines a provocative, comprehensive vision for reimagining high schools in the 21st century.

There was a time when many day schools featured home ec classes, but those days are behind us. Lindsey Bodner makes the case for reintroducing an updated version of this course in our curricula.