OUR PHILOSOPHY
Start with the why. Build around the learner.
WE DID OUR HOMEWORK.
“Participants asked for school, but not like school.”
Congregational school students, about what they want from Jewish learning (Friedman, 2026, p. 154)1
In less than 15 years, part-time Jewish education lost more than one third of its students. In 2006–07, the United States had approximately 230,000 students. In 2019–20, the United States and Canada together had approximately 141,000.2 Even after October 7th, when some schools saw more students because families wanted a stronger connection to Jewish community, the substantial decline has not been reversed.3
Jewish learning has two big aims: Jewish identity and Jewish literacy.
Each is compelling, especially when used broadly to win buy-in and maximize reach. A congregational school, a day school, and a summer camp can each apply their own lens and priorities to Jewish identity and literacy while appealing to the diversity of their own community.
Yet breadth also comes with limitations. When Jewish identity and Jewish literacy mean something different in every room, the terms are understood and manifest differently for each person using them, and one basic question becomes hard to answer consistently, even for educators on the same staff, let alone across a denomination or movement: to what end?
We're building Jewish identity and Jewish literacy. To what end?
The answer to this question gives educators a concrete "why" beyond abstract ideas of Jewish identity and Jewish literacy. Research shows that the answer is consistently missing. Schools do not agree on what Jewish learning is for:4 Which texts? Which skills? Which values, holidays, and conversations about Israel?
In most part-time schools, learners and educators spend less than four hours together each week. Some directors set educational goals to fit those hours and do not try to do everything. These directors report a much better match between the results they want and the results they believe students achieve.5 Europe has the same problem. An ethnographic study of two congregational schools in Luxembourg found the same tension at play with very few hours each week and students attending with very different backgrounds and levels of observance forcing each program to decide what is worth the time.6 Even when educational goals are established, many directors are not aware of what curricular resources and training already exist, resulting in repetition and curricular stagnation. Schools are also unable to be selective about the teachers they hire. A U.S. national survey of 519 part-time school directors (focused on Hebrew instruction specifically), shows a significant reliance on volunteers with little Hebrew knowledge or teaching background.4 A dearth of excellent teachers and ad hoc approaches to content directly impacts enrollment, and thereby the formation of Jewish identity and Jewish literacy.
L’vaker has been designed to address these gaps.
Fewer students, a broad why, fewer hours
230,000 → 141,000
A broad why, an unclear how
Less than 4 hours
A 2025 study asked 68 students, ages 9 to 17, in Reform congregations across the United States what and how they want to learn. Their answers match L’vaker’s foundations:
- Friendship and social connection are a key reason to stay.7
- Choice in what is learned, and how it is learned.7
- Relevant content that connects to a learner’s real life. The skill to read prayers is worth learning and internalizing when it complemented and contextualized with an understanding of antisemitism, Israel, historic and current events held through a Jewish lens.8
Research on students who are enrolled now in the United States found that children, not parents, increasingly make the decision to stay or leave, and some leave before their B.Mitzvah.10 50% of eligible students in the United States and Canada remain enrolled for their B.Mitzvah year, and less than one in five continue after eighth grade.9 Similar patterns occur in Canada. Schools in the United States, Canada, and Europe are short on qualified educators, short on hours, and often unaware of the resources that already exist.
The research confirms the opportunity for L’vaker:
a strong launchpad for lifelong engagement with Judaism.
THIS IS OUR PHILOSOPHY
L’vaker’s flexible curriculum centers friendship, choice, relevance and exploration.
It balances and blends ancient and contemporary Judaism in resonant and meaningful ways
for today’s learners and provides enough agency and resources to empower and energize teachers.
L’vaker works across settings and communities to give provide Jewish enrichment in a format that fits.
What keeps learners engaged.
67
named friendship and social connection as a key reason to stay7
53
times, students asked for choice in what and how they learn7
1 in 5
students continue after eighth grade9
The same evidence applies beyond part-time Jewish education
Summer camps
Camp is where this research started. A 2002 study showed how Jewish summer camps shape Jewish identity.11 An overnight camp built and tested an outcomes-based design model, with youth-development tools made for camp. Part-time schools adopted the model later.12 The Hebrew-education survey found that part-time schools often lack the experiential methods that have been proven at summer camps to work best: chants, wordplay, and incentive systems.13 L’vaker puts engagement first, making L’vaker a natural fit for camp educational frameworks.
Day schools
The Hebrew-education survey found that day schools, like part-time schools, have no shared agreement about what Jewish learning is for.14 L’vaker can be used as a tool for educational leaders to set strategy with goals and outcomes, and also measure progress.
Family engagement
Some congregations already teach outside the weekly classroom model. A field-wide review of alternative Jewish education models found parents who learn with their children, and family groups that mix ages can achieve similar outcomes in place of conventional Hebrew school.15 The same findings apply to JCCs and to other organizations for Jewish and Israel education and engagement. L’vaker’s units and lessons are designed to offer multigenerational learning opportunities, and can be led/facilitated/taught by anyone.
Youth and teen engagement
The student-voice research studied congregational school students and teen-program participants side by side, as one population.16 Its strongest recommendation was to give students real leadership roles like tutor, teaching assistant, Madrich/a and mentor.17 L’vaker supports teen leaders and guides them to lead younger grades and their peers.
You’ve seen the research.
Now let’s put it to work.
Students told us what keeps them engaged: friends, choice, and learning that connects to their real lives. L’vaker has all three. Whether you lead a congregational school, a day school, a camp, or an engagement program, we’ll help you find the best fit for your community and setting.
Notes
Friedman, E. S. (2026). Listening to those who stay: Student perspectives on congregational school engagement. Journal of Jewish Education, 92(2), 141–165.
Bryfman, D., Klein, D., & Winer, A. (2024). The significant possibilities of “From Census” in transforming the landscape of part-time Jewish education. Journal of Jewish Education, 90(4), 347–353. The 2006–07 figure comes from the AVI CHAI census of the United States only; the 2019–20 figure comes from the Jewish Education Project census, which for the first time included Canada.
Aron, I., & Schwartz, K. (2024). Educating 141,000 learners: A focus on part-time Jewish education. Journal of Jewish Education, 90(4), 279–282.
Benor, S. B., Avineri, N., & Greninger, N. (2020). Let’s stop calling it “Hebrew school”: Rationales, goals, and practices of Hebrew education in part-time Jewish schools. CASJE.
Benor, Avineri, & Greninger (2020).
Badder, A. (2024). Knowing which way to turn: Orienting congregational Jewish education in Europe. Journal of Jewish Education, 90(4), 283–304.
Friedman (2026); Friedman, E. S. (2025). Student voice: What and how Jewish students want to learn in congregational learning programs. CASJE. Participants were drawn from Reform congregations across the East Coast, Midwest, and West Coast of the United States.
Friedman (2025).
Bryfman, Klein, & Winer (2024).
Friedman (2026).
Bryfman, Klein, & Winer (2024), discussing the AVI CHAI Foundation’s 2002 report Limud by the Lake: Fulfilling the Educational Potential of Jewish Summer Camps, which the authors describe as the direct precursor to the census work behind the current field’s evidence base.
Rigler, S. (2024). My Aspirations Playbook (MAP) and reimagined design principles: Resources rooted in a Jewish educational framework, ready to meet the needs of this moment. Journal of Jewish Education, 90(4), 376–385. Describes building the Tikkun Middot program at URJ Camp Harlam using the American Camping Association’s Youth Outcomes Battery tools and the Foundation for Jewish Camp’s Making Menches resource.
Benor, Avineri, & Greninger (2020).
Benor, Avineri, & Greninger (2020).
Winer, L. N. (2024). The census in context: Expanding our view of the field of part-time Jewish education. Journal of Jewish Education, 90(4), 354–365, citing Winer et al. (2017) on nine alternative structural models used in Reform congregations, including camp-style and family-learning formats.
Friedman (2026); Friedman (2025).
Friedman (2025).