The Rabbi Sacks Torah V’Chochmah Schools Program

“In Judaism, we not only learn to live; we live to learn. In study, we make Torah real in the mind so that we can make it actual in the world.”

- Rabbi Jonathan Sacks zt”l

Concept

Making Torah and Judaism compelling and relevant to every Jew was a driving motivation behind Rabbi Sacks’ work. For him, learning Torah was not merely a religious obligation, but the way we live our lives. He pointed out that “Torah is not merely learned. It cries out to be lived. Nor is the Torah merely a private code of conduct. It is about the way we construct a society. By establishing a dialogue between Torah and contemporary society, we will find ourselves enlightened by new facets of its insight into the human condition.” (Covenant & Conversation: Exodus, p. 294)

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Bringing the Wisdom of Rabbi Sacks into day school classrooms

Rabbi Sacks emphasized the need to integrate Jewish ideas contained in our tradition and apply them to the modern world and society.

This program is being piloted in North America and is designed for middle and high school educators. It has two aims, inspired by Rabbi Sacks’ vision of Torah V’Chochmah:

1. To ensure that Rabbi Sacks’ thought forms an important part of Jewish day school Judaic programs by bringing together content experts, curriculum designers, and cohorts of teachers to build and enhance Judaic Studies curricula. These curricula will include significant ideas and wisdom from the full range of Rabbi Sacks’ Torah as well as other traditional and modern Jewish thinkers.
2. To support educators as they help students build their Jewish identity, knowledge, and skills, to be able to contribute to the global spiritual, intellectual, and moral conversation.

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Meet the Faculty

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How the program works

Preparing high-quality Judaic curricula while simultaneously planning, delivering, and assessing lessons can often be a struggle for teachers. The Rabbi Sacks Legacy together with LaHaV curriculum designers and world-class content experts seek to transform this dynamic.

Torah V'Chochmah brings the wisdom and Torah of Rabbi Sacks to the classroom through a year-long curriculum design training program for middle and high school teachers focused on one of three tracks in Jewish Philosophy, Chumash, or Parshat HaShavuah. Teachers will work with world-class content experts to gain a deeper insight into these three areas.

The program also provides high-level curriculum development and pedagogical training which will enable teachers to build curricula that will be relevant and adaptable for their schools.

Throughout the academic year, teachers are supported by expert mentors. There are also be monthly cohort meetings throughout the year for teachers to learn, prepare, and share their ideas with colleagues from other participating schools.

At the end of the process, teachers will be equipped with a complete curriculum for their classrooms.

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Summary

• Fully funded, year-long curriculum development program
• Summer intensive
• Bi-weekly meetings with expert mentors
• Monthly cohort meetings to share ideas with colleagues from other schools across North America.
• Up to $10,000 grant for schools
• $2,500 stipend per teacher

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Expectations of participating schools

• Schools will guarantee that the developed curriculum will be taught in the 2024-25 academic year.
• Schools will give teachers at least two periods of release time dedicated to the project during the 2023-24 academic year.
• Teachers will commit to attend the summer intensive, bi-weekly mentor meetings, and monthly cohort sessions.
• Teachers will have completed the curriculum by the end of July 2024.

In partnership with