For many families, formal Jewish education ends after the bar or bat mitzvah party’s festivities are over. But that doesn’t mean that seventh and eighth grade students aren’t itching to make a difference and make their voices heard. Or that their parents aren’t interested in instilling Jewish identity in their child.
Dan Senor, a bestselling author (Start-up Nation, The Genius of Israel), and Tikvah faculty member, notes that alumni of Jewish Day schools are twice as likely to have a proud Jewish identity and four times as likely to support the state of Israel. In a world where children are constantly bombarded with a barrage of antisemitic rhetoric by social media influencers and even peers, it’s more urgent than ever to give them a safe environment to express Jewish pride, connect to Jewish heritage, and freely speak their minds.
While Jewish Tidewater is an active community offering elementary school students various Hebrew school and day school options, as well as extracurricular opportunities for high school-aged students, an unmet need exists for a Jewish program for middle school aged students.
Enter Tikvah’s Millstone Scholars program, an international Jewish educational and intellectual organization that brings together Jews to explore big ideas about Jewish identity, Israel, liberty, and the future of Jewish life. The program offers classes and social opportunities for seventh and eighth graders to connect with each other and their Jewish heritage, while learning about the heroic story of modern Israel and the Jewish experience in America.
The Tidewater cohort is organized in partnership with the Konikoff Center for Learning of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and is nondenominational and nonpartisan. Jewish students of every background are welcome. All that is required is a thirst for Jewish knowledge and a desire to grow Jewish pride.
The cohort will be taught by Rabbi Pinchas Zimmer, a member of UJFT’s Jewish Innovation Steering Committee, and community engagement director at B’nai Israel. Classes begin in October, after the High Holidays. The day and time will be set to best suit the students and their families. Space is limited.
Parents interested in additional information can contact Sierra Lautman, director of Jewish Innovation at UJFT, at slautman@ujft.org or 757-965-6107, or call/text Rabbi Pinchas Zimmer at 757-614-3155. Learn more about Tikvah at tikvah.org/millstone.