By Rabbi Avrohom Meir Gluck

 WHEN YOU ARE A HAMMER, EVERYTHING LOOKS LIKE A NAIL

A Rebbe who examines the famed Yahadus Series will notice at first glance that it encompasses an entire five-year curriculum for what is commonly referred to as yedios klaliyos. A Rosh Yeshiva who views it will immediately perceive that it features all fourteen books of the Rambam’s masterful sefer Yad Hachazakah. ATalmud Chacham will identify the myriad classical sources. A graphic artist will see the brilliant design. A child will be drawn to the inviting language and eye-catching layout. What will the children in your classroom see?

A GENERATION OF TORAH

The Yahadus series is much more than all of the above. It is a timely solution to a stark communal issue. Too many students ‘graduate’ our wonderful Torah-true educational systems with glaring gaps in some of the most basic fundamentals of Judaism and Torah. This is unfortunately sometimes true, even among the crème de la crème of our Yeshiva students. Who is at fault for allowing these teachings to fall through the cracks? I will assign this question to others, those who are wiser and far more experienced than myself. Suffice it to say, I believe that our Yeshiva Menahalim and Rebbeim are doing a yeoman’s job with the children, resulting in a generation engaged in far more limud haTorah that our nation has seen in hundreds, perhaps thousands of years!

THE SOLUTION

• The broad scope of this work ensures that there will not be a single sugya in Shas that is totally foreign to the child who completes this curriculum.
• Ordered on the topic-based seder of the Rambam, it presents a logical sequence to many disparate topics.
• Hundreds of biographies of gedolim throughout the generations spanning the entire spectrum of Klal Yisrael are included to provide background to the teachings quoted from these gedolim in each section of the book.
• The ‘Story’ portion included for each mitzvah ensures comprehension for ideas and concepts which are sometimes esoteric or removed from present-day experience.
•        The varied tidbits include Chazals, stories, historical facts and a large assortment of other facts and figures to appeal to all kinds of learners.
•        The ‘Selected Halochos’ section guarantees a far greater than superficial exposure to the mitzvah being discussed.
• Every single mitzvah in the Torah is used to demonstrate applicable, real-life lessons. This includes ir hanidachas, eglah arufa, and all others that might seem irrelevant to today’s youth.

MAKING IT HAPPEN

A group of dedicated educators joined together to create this curriculum.  This team of gifted Talmidei Chachamim, educators, graphic artists, writers and editors  worked tirelessly to make it happen. It is first and foremost designed to impart important knowledge to our children, although many adults are enjoying these books as much as the children.

To make it easier for a teacher to use, the textbooks are supplemented with a teacher’s guide, so that the combination of books along with devoted teachers will spark broad discussions and useful dialogue over relevant Torah topics.

LEARNING-STYLES

Throughout the writing and preparation of the curriculum, the team remained mindful that each person, as a child or eventually as an adult, has different learning-style strengths and preferences. Using multiple learning styles and multiple intelligences for learning is a relatively new approach, one that educators have only recently started to recognize.

I recently had the great honor of interviewing Rabbi Ginsberg, the Educational Leader of the Yahadus Curriculum, in preparation for this review.

What was the main catalyst for embarking on a project of this magnitude?

“We saw an opportunity where many others saw problems. Rebbeim were working harder and harder, students seemed less and less interested, and many important Torah topics such as korbanos and taharos were seen as irrelevant by the children. Irrelevance is an immense problem, because to a child’s immature mind, it makes all of yiddishkeit seem arcane and unimportant! This was a chillul Hashem of the greatest magnitude!”

These sure sounds like problems to me! Where did you see an opportunity?

“I learned from my Rabbeim that the Torah was complete, relevant and accessible and I believe that b’emunah shleima. It follows then, that all these problems were simply opportunities to overcome and that there were certainly methodologies available to expose the beauty of the Torah to our children.”

Why was the Yahadus Curriculum based upon the Rambam’s Sefer Hamitzvos?

“The Rambam uses topic-based categories and subcategories in a tree-like structure rather than other systems in which the topics learned have no flow or sequence. The Rambam’s order is very user-friendly, especially for children. This also ensured that the children will receive a complete ‘introduction’ to the entirety of Torah.”

Are these Seforim well received to date?

“The response to the first three volumes has been overwhelmingly positive. Schools crisscrossing the globe have implemented our curriculum. The fourth volume is newly released and we plan to release the fifth and final volume next year.”

AS A ZEIDY

I shared with Rabbi Ginsberg that my grandson, Shimon Tzvi, attends a special education program which is not under Jewish auspices. His parents, zeidis and bobbies have undertaken to educate him in Torah until the time comes when he will return to the yeshiva system. I recently bought him volume two of Yahadus (volume one was completely sold out at the time in Monsey, although it is now back in stock). He reads it intently cover to cover, and we already see the huge impact it has had on his life.

MOSIF V’HOLECH

Rabbi Ginsberg reiterated the importance of how the knowledge contained in the Yahadus Series was so important, not only for later learning but for living life as an informed, observant Jew. “We cannot take a rest,” he said. “There is so much to do for the most precious commodity that Hashem entrusted to us – the children of the next generation. We are already in the planning stages of a number of new exciting and critical projects. We must rise up and confront any challenge.”