Schechter Introduces Jewish Elective Classes

by Rebecca Bazini, SSLI '26

As students settle into their schedules, an apparent change in Jewish teaching is observable. Students are taking new exploratory programs in order to experience and learn about their Jewish identities in novel ways. Offered classes are History of Antisemitism, Jewish Crafting, and Jewish Holidays Intensive. Later in the spring, classes such as Beit Midrash, Science and Jewish Studies, and Catastrophic Conflicts will be offered.

Jewish Studies teacher Becky Freidman-Charry said, “It's super exciting to get to work with students who had some say in what they're studying.” Along with Ms. Esther Dubow, the department chair of the Jewish Studies department, Ms. Freidman-Charry created the curriculum over the summer. “I read a lot of educational research articles, and one of the common themes of a lot of the recent research has been on the importance of student choice.” She continued, “I have, of course, in my own classroom, experimented with giving choice on assignments like the Genius Hour projects. But we've evolved from that to see that we can give even more student choice, and we hope that students are enjoying the new courses.”

Freshman Gideon Levenson appreciates the activities assigned in his exploratory program History of Antisemitism. “On day one, we did an activity where we received a prompt and we had to argue a side of whether or not it was antisemitism. For example, a sports team named ‘The Crusaders.’ Is that antisemitic?” This course, taught by Sigal Cohen, explores the history of antisemitism and teaches students to be able to define and fight against it. Levenson continued, “As this is a modern topic, it provides a lot of context to what’s going on in the world around me. It motivates me to keep fighting antisemitism.”

Another currently offered class is Jewish Crafting, taught by Friedman-Charry, which explores Jewish identity and tradition through the exploration of Jewish sources and several artistic mediums. Junior Shayna Barak said, “So far, we’ve studied a text about the craftsmen while making the Beit Hamikdash. We made a drawing of our interpretation of the verse [from the text], incorporating calligraphy of the verse into the drawing.” Students continue to work on text study skills developed in the legacy curriculum, but they also get to explore their creative sides. 

“The students who chose it are artistic in a variety of ways,” said Friedman-Charry. “I'm really excited to explore with them how Jewish text cares about the aesthetic appearance of things and the relationship between those aesthetic spiritual experiences.”

The diversity of the courses also appeals to students. Barak stated, “I’d consider myself a creative person. And I’m absolutely a primarily visual learner. Drawing things out and figuring out a creative application helps me think about and visualize anything–including Jewish texts–way better than if I were reading words on a text.” She continued, “Jewish art is a whole section of Jewish expression, which is often overshadowed by more traditional prayer or group Torah studies, so I think it’s great that Schechter is expanding its means of studying and analyzing Jewish texts with a more humanitarian, emotional, and creative approach.” Next up in the class, students will be creating their own Aron Kodesh, or a Torah ark, with a design informed by different biblical and Jewish sources.

The last current exploratory program is Jewish Holidays Intensive, taught by Ms. Fruithandler. Recently in the class, students got to have their own mini Rosh Hashana dinner where they studied Torah together in the spirit of the holidays. During the upcoming high holiday season, these students will be leading Yom Kippur workshops.

Junior Sam L. blows the shofar during a mini-Rosh Hashana dinner in Jewish Holidays Intensive class. (SSLI/Smug Mug)

PPN wishes everyone a wonderful break and a very sweet new year. Shanah Tovah!

Rebecca Bazini is a writer for Paw Print Now and has been published on the site since January 2023. Rebecca is currently a senior at the Schechter School of Long Island and can be reached at the following email address: rbazini26@schechterli.org.