Jewish Experience

Ensuring Jewish continuity by enriching Jewish education, identity and appreciation of Jewish tradition, values and culture.

ORT schools are the primary source of Jewish affiliation for many students and their families – providing a direct connection to our religion, history and culture.

The Challenges Facing Global Jewry

Three million Jews – a fifth of the world’s total Jewish population – live outside Israel and North America. Often, they face economic challenges and growing antisemitism.

Combined with generations of assimilation, the result is that many Jewish communities are in decline – either in numbers, vibrancy, resources or connection to Jewish life.

ORT provides these communities with educational programs that lead to greater Jewish engagement and help Jewish life thrive. Our schools are a centerpiece of their Jewish communities, especially in more remote regions and where assimilation is high. Children learn the cornerstones of Judaism, gain an understanding of Jewish peoplehood, and lay foundations for their life-long Jewish identity.

The ORT Experience

ORT’s breadth of experience has informed our understanding of the needs of diverse Jewish communities. Many factors affect the quantity and quality of Jewish education available in a particular community, including whether the school’s curriculum is independent or state-controlled, the relationship of the school to the local Jewish community, the availability of trained local Jewish educators versus reliance on short-term Israeli Shlichim (emissaries from Israel) to deliver Jewish education, and the availability of teaching resources in minority languages.

Most ORT schools serve a diverse Jewish population covering a wide spectrum of religious identities and approaches. Many are also open to non-Jewish families who are attracted by the strong general education and enjoy the Jewish culture and values at our schools. We seek to provide contemporary, engaging and inclusive Jewish content through varied formal and non-formal experiences that appeal to young people from all backgrounds.

In the majority of our schools, Jewish education is provided by Jewish Studies teachers to all students, whether they identify as Jewish or non-Jewish, and with an emphasis on the cultural rather than religious perspectives.

In response to demand from our schools for a fresh approach to coordinating innovative Jewish education, we have made a strategic decision to take a more prominent role in strengthening Jewish education in schools. For many Diaspora families, the ORT school is their main or only source of Jewish connection and experience.

Goals of the Program

Our target is to give every ORT student enriching Jewish experiences, fostering an appreciation and connection to Jewish tradition, values and culture. Through innovative, new curricula that are skills-focused and provide opportunities for global connectivity, we can set students on a course to be lifelong Jewish learners. The model we aim to provide will enable diverse exploration of Jewish expression.

Students will be positioned to become more involved in Jewish life and motivated to become leaders of their communities. Our diverse student body also gives us the opportunity to strengthen interfaith relations, promoting a wider understanding of Jewish values, culture and connection to Israel. Our global network provides a platform for further connection between Jewish communities and their future leaders. We will begin to train teachers in our two new curricula during 2023.

These curricula will give students a deeper connection to their Jewish heritage and the importance of Jewish continuity through personal relationships with peers; engage them in subjects that relate to their daily lives and education; provide an appreciation for multiple Jewish perspectives on key issues; and build skills that will be valuable beyond the classroom.

Embedding Jewish connectivity and concepts in these ways will lead to wider-ranging Jewish engagement among young Jews, helping them relate to the world while connecting to their Jewish identity.

New Curricula

The two new curricula use an innovative, experiential approach for the delivery and content of Jewish education for the ORT global audience.

Developing Thinking Skills Through Study of Jewish Texts is intended for ninth and tenth grade high school students.

Rethinking the B’nei Mitzvah Experience is intended for pre-B’nei Mitzvah middle school-age students.