Summer 2019
Jacksonville Torah High School learning through involvement
By Jacksonville Torah High School
At Jacksonville Torah High School, experiential learning is a strong focus in growing teenage minds, hearts, values, and most especially in creating future Jewish leaders. As a school, we make every effort to engage our students in discussions that cater to their curiosity, and we take great pride in having selected teachers that can make the Judaic subjects relatable. In classes like Hashkafa (the Hebrew term for worldview and guiding philosophy) taught by the engaging “Tell me and I and dynamic Rabbi Avi forget, teach me and I may remember, involve Feigenbaum, students are me and I learn.” afforded the opportunity to ask questions that are Benjamin Franklin important to them, either verbally or anonymously via a question box. When our Chumash (Bible) teacher went on maternity leave, we were extremely fortunate that Rabbi Yaakov Fisch stepped in to teach. Rumor has it that on his first day, Rabbi Fisch apologized for possibly going off topic on occasion. It was explained by the students that “going off topic” really meant that in addition to the skills that they were mastering in reading, translating, and learning about the rabbinical commentaries on the Torah, like Maimonides, Rabbi Fisch applies biblical stories to modern-day, relatable topics of practical purpose. We then take the lessons learned and apply them to our everyday lives. Following Passover, the students returned to school
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with questions about the acts of anti-Semitism that took place locally, nationally and globally. The choice to learn experientially by leaving the classroom is one that we are fortunate to have available to us in a city like Jacksonville, with a Jewish community that we are privileged to learn from. We visited the Frisch Family Holocaust Gallery at Jewish Family & Community Services, where we learned about the “Rescuers” exhibit. It was a reminder that in times of tragedy, in the words of Mr. Fred Rogers, to “look for the helpers.” It was also a reminder that we each have a choice – are we Bystanders who stand by meekly, or Upstanders that stand up for what is right and against what is wrong? We went to River Garden to hear visiting scholar Rabbi Dr. Akiva Tatz share his profound thoughts on “Finding Happiness in This Sad World.” How apropos that we were given tools to help us cope when we needed it most. On Thursday, JTHS assisted Etz Chaim synagogue with the preparations for the community-wide Yom Hashoah program. We were all in attendance to hear Irene Jaffa, our personal artist in residence, and Rabbi Jacob Schachter speak about the atrocities that took place during the Holocaust. We learned by seeing, hearing, and mostly by being involved. Each field trip, volunteer opportunity, Shabbaton, leadership role, and responsibility that the Jewish teens at JTHS undertake helps to shape them as much as the subjects that they are studying. We are creating bright, engaging, caring and involved young adults. If you see one, feel free to involve them so they can continue to learn. For more information about Jacksonville Torah High School, please contact Suzie Becker at sbecker@ jaxtorahhigh.com.