By Sharon Tash, Director of Education
Things have changed for Jewish education in 2025 yet they remain recognizable. Once upon a time, students came multiple times a week to religious school (yes, even schools affiliated with the Reform movement). Classes were dull and teachers drilled Hebrew so that students could learn to recite liturgy. Most of the kids I knew did not like going to “Hebrew School” at all, and I do not know if many of them chose to affiliate with a synagogue or raise Jewish families as adults. I once observed a student refusing to go to her classroom because “it is so boring” and the retort from her parent was “if I had to do it, so do you”. Clearly that’s not good enough and certainly not compelling enough to make the case for Machon Micah!
Temple Micah introduced the idea of Machon Micah in 2009. The Machon aims to provide Jewish learning experiences for both kids and adults and it combines experiential education with conventional learning settings. Taken together, we hope that Temple Micah families feel prepared to live Jewishly in a meaningful way and that students have a positive, enriching experience in classes and E-vrit tutoring sessions.
In 1838, Rebecca Gratz instituted the first Jewish Sunday school in America. The curriculum of Bible, prayers in English, holidays, Jewish home rituals and values devised by Gratz is familiar to us even today. Gratz prioritized inculcating a strong sense of tzedakah and community rather than the Talmudic instruction that was found in European Jewish institutions. Her goal was in part to inoculate Jewish children against the 19th century missionary tide in America. Rebecca Gratz was also extremely pragmatic: she realized that instructional time was short, and that teaching subjects that would bolster what we think of today as modern Jewish identity was key to raising confident and thoughtful Jewish students.
That the model that we currently reference for Jewish religious education is not so different from the one created by Rebecca Gratz is perhaps surprising, but it’s also very Jewish. Gratz created a roadmap for the most broadly accessed form of Jewish education in America. Drawing from the Christian concept of Sunday school, she envisioned a way for Jewish families to teach their children who they were while they participated as fully as possible in American life.
What makes a supplementary educational program successful today? Finding the balance between modeling Jewish living, learning the “basics” about Jewish life and tradition (Torah narratives, holiday observances, Shabbat, Israeli culture and history, and mitzvot) and understanding our Jewish past are key building blocks for a curriculum. Jewish culture and tradition are so very rich that it is necessary to carefully decide and “edit in” content to the instructional time that we have with our students.
At Machon Micah we endeavor to find gateways to our stories, traditions and culture so that families will engage with them. This year our youngest students have begun learning the Hebrew letters using the Hebrew Through Movement curriculum. Thanks to Assistant Director of Education Alison Litvin, all of our E-vrit students have access to wonderful digital games that enhance their Hebrew decoding and mastery of liturgy. I am thrilled to note that our teen offerings have tripled in numbers, and with soon-to-be Director of Education Mckinley Edelman’s hard work and enthusiasm we are able to provide topical and exciting opportunities for our Micah teens.
In some forty years of working at synagogue educational settings I have seen instructional time shrink while extracurricular demands on our students have grown. This challenges us to continue to find ways to bring a lived Jewish experience to them, so that students will engage and also love their time at Machon Micah.
At the end of June I will step away from the helm of Machon Micah. Capping my career here at Temple Micah has been an enormous privilege and a joy. Working at a congregation is not a “normal” job because the rhythms of congregational life include simchas, loss and everything in between. We become acquainted in ways that most office jobs would never afford, and I do not take that lightly. I value the many wonderful Micah people whom I have come to know, and I will miss seeing you regularly!
Prior to my arrival at Temple Micah I met Rabbi Zemel several times through my friend and colleague, Shira Zemel. I was excited for the challenge to work with the entire Micah leadership team in a place that holds Jewish intellectual life and culture in the highest esteem, and in this I have been rewarded many times over. I love that Temple Micah is always thinking about the Jewish future. Our education program could not have expanded without the many talents of our post-Covid Machon Education team of Mckinley Edelman and Alison Litvin. I am so grateful to be able to work alongside them and with all our Temple Micah staff.
As we begin this spring to transition our Machon Micah leadership, I know that the new team will begin their tenure from a position of strength and stability. I am excited to see what the future holds for Machon Micah students and for the greater Micah community, and I am so very glad that Temple Micah has played such an important role in my Jewish education adventure. I look forward to coming back often to share in the next iteration of Temple Micah. Until then, l’hitra’ot.
This article originally appeared in the March/April/May 2025 issue of the Vine.