Religious education is predicated, at least partially, on belief, a concept which was once basic to American life writ large. In this generation, however, our children are increasingly exposed to a powerful secular culture that, to a great extent, eschews belief in anything that cannot be empirically measured. As a result, even students in the more sheltered Orthodox Jewish day schools are often not confident in their religious identities, with ever increasing numbers disassociating from Judaism altogether.
To complicate matters, most Jewish educators possess expert teaching knowledge, yet they lack the ability to effectively reach their students spiritually and infuse them with the desire to build strong and everlasting relationships with the Almighty.
We at Amatz strongly maintain that there needs to be a radical reboot of traditional Orthodox schools with a culture change that stresses not only knowledge and practice, but most importantly, connection to Judaism and to G-d. This challenge cannot be left to a wistful hope and an unrealistic dream of a world where all Jewish teenagers are filled with the pride and purpose that comes with the knowledge that they are each unique creations with infinite potential. It needs to be baked daily into the core of their beings. To that end, we desperately need new tools to overcome the unprecedented challenges posed by the flashy distractions and negative influences that pervade every facet of life as we know it, fueled primarily, but not solely, by social media.
We are therefore—in partnership with JEIC—developing a curriculum that is currently being piloted in four girls’ schools across the United States. The content is based on the Six Constant Mitzvos first enumerated in the Sefer HaChinuch, an anonymous work from 13th century Spain that outlines all of the mitzvos in the order they appear in the Torah. These Six Constant Mitzvos, as described in Rabbi Y. Coopersmith’s book, are the conduits needed to build spiritual skills and instill fundamental beliefs and values that shape everything we do. In addition, our program utilizes the pedagogy of project-based learning which researchers have found to be one of the most effective ways to ensure a student’s personal connection, relevance, and sustainability to the lessons learned.
We believe that a program aimed at students in traditional Orthodox Jewish day schools which teaches the Six Constant Mitzvos in a personalized fashion will develop a generation of children who will carry a love for their heritage that will permeate multiple aspects of their lives and influence their decisions throughout their lifetimes. Grounded in an authentic relationship with their Creator, their religious practice will be infused with meaning, pride, and true joy.
In turn, they will uplift their future homes, families, and communities, ushering in a new generation of engaged Jews equipped to thrive Jewishly in an ever-evolving world.