“Roots of Israel” Jewish Studies Project Hopes to Expand Beyond ORT Network

by Tali Minsberg

A recent Jerusalem Post article highlighted ORT’s highly successful “Roots of Israel” Jewish heritage program in which students are involved in putting together courses in Jewish studies.

“ORT, the nation’s largest private educational network, is trying to change what and how Israelis learn about their Jewish heritage. In 2000, with the support of the UJA-Federation of New York and the Legacy Heritage Fund, ORT established the ‘Roots of Israel’ program to create Jewish studies courses with a unique methodology. To date, more than 25,000 students have participated in the project.”

“Roots of Israel” allows Jews of all backgrounds to find themselves in the curriculum. Instead of starting with a homogeneous syllabus, the process was interactive from the start. It “evolved with students, teachers and parents,” explained Alonit Hassom, head of the ORT Jewish Identity and Cultural Heritage Unit in Israel. “They write their own curriculum and they learn together in a beit midrash. I believe the educational approach is what makes us unique.” Each school in the program has a team consisting of four-six teachers, 10-12 pupils, and two parents, which develops a syllabus that is appropriate for their community and then implements the program.

“Since students are involved in putting together the courses, they are able to make them interesting, exciting, and relevant to their own lives,” Hassom said.

The “Roots of Israel” web site (shorshey.ort.org.il) displays information, activities, and links to classroom material, and allows users to discuss issues with one another. The program also includes community batei midrash in which youngsters and adults study topics such as Jewish society and Jewish holidays four to seven times a year. The batei midrash program has become extraordinarily popular in the last three years, not only because of its educational value, but also because of the community bonding it engenders.

The Ministry of Education has shown interest in the program, and Hassom expects to see it expanded to encompass non-ORT schools around the country.  

For the entire article

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1258027305776&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

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