‘JUST ONE STEP’ TO HELP KIDS IDENTIFY WITH JEWISH HERITAGE
Gaby Fridman grew up in a conservative, predominantly kosher home and went to a Jewish day school. She raised her own two children in a much more secular environment but both kids have attended Torah High, a Toronto- and- area school that offers teens the opportunity to explore their Jewish identities with both classroom and extracurricular experiences.
“I’d heard through the grapevine and t hrough friends that Torah High was being offered,” Fridman says. “A few years ago, my son was part of the Torah High program in Grade 9. My daughter, Elana, went to Hebrew Sunday School, but after her bat mitzvah we hadn’t really considered Jewish education, per se. As she approached high school, I thought that even though our family has a sense of Jewish identity, it would be a good thing to help her build a stronger sense of that identity and learn more about it. She’s completed the Grade 9 Torah High program and just asked me to sign her up for Grade 10.”
As an Ontario Ministry of Education-inspected private school, Torah High offers Jewish studies courses for credit. Students choose their own track — Jewish studies, biology, business, leadership or the modern Middle East — and then select a late- afternoon course to support that choice, along with an extracurricular activity. The cost of the program: $ 599 per year.
“The price was part of the selling point for me as a parent,” says Fridman. “You don’t have to incur financial hardship to let your kids learn more about Judaism and empower their identity.”
Elana attends Westmount Collegiate Institute by day and attends Torah High at one of its four locations in the afternoon, just before 4 p.m. At around 6 p. m. there’s a meal break as students enjoy a school- supplied snack — mac and cheese, falafel, sushi or pizza.
“They like to change it up,” says Elana, most of whose Torah High classmates are from Westmount as well. Her Grade 9 credit: Jewish belief and ethics.
“I’m really interested in the Jewish perspective on things,” she says. “I thought that I’d get the most personal value from that course. This year, I took the course with my best friend. Next year, I’m taking a course on the importance of Jewish holidays and the significance behind them.”
Rabbi Glenn Black is CEO of Jewish youth organization NCSY Canada and founder of both Torah High and its sister school, Jewish Virtual High School, the first Jewish online school offering courses for high school credit. He’s also the driving force behind “Reverse the Trend,” a movement to empower Jewish identity.
“With Reverse the Trend, we’re simply asking parents to make just one step toward strengthening their kids’ cultural identity,” he says. “That could mean participating in Jewish day school, Torah High or Jewish Virtual High School. We’re simply asking parents to do whatever is within their capacity to provide some sort of Jewish context for their kids’ existence. It’s just one vehicle out of many that they can use to renew an important conversation in their homes.”
Rabbi Black notes that the best way to help kids maintain their cultural identity is for parents and schooling to reinforce each other, providing a consistent experiential framework.
“The Jewish people have a remarkable history and a remarkable culture that makes a tremendous contribution to society,” he says. “By making these choices, parents will help their kids to continue to contribute to the world from that same unique cultural perspective.”
This past school year, 425 students chose to be part of the Torah High community. After 14 years of operation, many of the school’s graduates have chosen to return as teachers for the program, completing the circle.
Elana’s advice to prospective students: Give it a try.
“I plan to stay with the Torah High program for the full four years of high school,” she says. “My Jewish identity is part of who I am.”