Seger Weisberg, 18, of Birmingham, Samantha Chyette, 16, of Birmingham and Spencer Wayne, 16, of Bloomfield Hills pose as indifferent students "messaging" in class.
true life: hebrew school blues
Jewish education for teens doesn't have to be boring, does it?
by Hadas Corey
fter the b'nai mitzvah years, whether teens
continue with Hebrew school seems to be a
toss-up. Some go because their parents make
them or they want to see friends; others feel they have
done what is required and further study is unnecessary
— and boring.
Still others say they can't spare the time between
homework, after-school activities, work or socializing.
"I wanted to join Temple Israel's program because I've
always heard how much fun it was," says Samantha
Chyette, 16, of Birmingham. "I was so upset when I
learned it was only offered on Monday nights because
that conflicts with my dance schedule."
As teens are forced to prioritize their time, Hebrew high
is not making the cut. The classroom setting is considered
restrictive and as unappealing as the dinner that is served.
"Hebrew school? It's boring," says Scott Jurewicz,
16, of West Bloomfield. "For me, it's more of a social
event instead of a learning experience, and the social
part is only during dinner because the teachers don't
let you talk in class. If they made the classes fun and
taught us something about Hebrew that we could relate
to, then I would want to come."
Detroit Jewish educators are concerned with the
downward decline of teen participation in Hebrew high
school programs.
"Though the Frankel Jewish Academy is growing,
with an addition of 220 kids next year, it is still not
enough to offset the decrease of students from after-
school temple programs," said Rabbi Judah Isaacs,
head of Federation's Affiance for Jewish Education in
programs in the country. Located in Boston, Prozdor
offers students a chance to socialize with Jewish teens on
Sunday mornings. With their numbers exploding from
177 teens in 1997 to 700 teens this fall, Prozdor uses
methods such as freedom and choice.
"Our primary responsibility is to transmit and deep-
en Jewish identity. Identity means individuality," Pro-
zdor's director Marjorie Tammy Berkowitz said in an
online story. "One way to deepen identity is to
reach a kid's soul — to provide opportunities for
any child to access Judaism by connecting our
program with his or her special interests."
Hebrew educators continue
to compete against after school
activities for teens' time.
Bloomfield Township.
"The big drop is between eighth grade and ninth
grade. Back in 2002, there were 432 kids in the eighth-
grade class and then the next year, when that same class
of kids became ninth-graders, the number dropped to
259 kids. That's a 40 percent drop!"
His solution: strengthen teacher and teen relation-
ships. Then teens will be excited about Jewish learning.
Prozdor, a community high school that meets out-
side of public school hours, is one of the most successful
Samantha Fine, 15, of West Bloomfield has
that connection with her teacher, Rabbi Eric
Grossman. She will return to Congregation B'nai
Moshe's high school program in West Bloomfield next
year primarily because of Grossman. "It was clear that
my teacher had his own opinions on different issues we
discussed, but he would never force them on any of us; he
always let us form them ourselves," she said.
"He actually made me look forward to going to He-
brew school."
At the end of the year, Grossman took that connec-
tion one step further by inviting his class to his home for
Havdalah services.
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