Inspired students motivated to learn Torah for sheer enjoyment. It sounds like an educator’s dream, but at Torah Academy it’s a refreshing reality. Chemdas, an innovative Mishna learning program for boys in grades 3-8, fosters the skills and passion kids need to develop in order to become independent learners. Older students in grades 6-8 are paired up with those in grades 3-5. The chavrusas learn Mishna together two times a week for 20-30 minutes, usually over the phone.
There are rewards for their work along the way: a big trip for participants at the end of the year, as well as raffles based on the amount of perakim learned. Assistant Principal, Rabbi Moshe Frohlich, who founded the program three years ago, comments that the incentives help serve as a consistent check-in on the students’ learning, and creates an ongoing buzz of excitement around the program in school. Amazingly, over 75% of TA boys in grades 3-8 participate in Chemdas. Last year the boys cumulatively learned 2,500 perakim of mishnayos!
The result? Passion for Torah, as the boys constantly strive to increase their learning, and a sense of how important it is to use time productively. Powerful relationships develop between the students in each chavrusa partnership. Rabbi Shloimy Halpern, who sponsors the program in memory of his father, notes that the pairings give “the younger boys a kesher and the older boys confidence to teach. It connects the entire school.”
Rabbi Frohlich also remarks on what a self-esteem boost it is for the older boys to have the responsibility of preparing for each session and showing up for it. They realize “I can teach Torah! I’m not a little kid.”
TA parent Mrs. Sorah Kashnow says of her sons’ experience: “Ephraim is learning both on his own and with an older chavrusa. He recently made a siyum on Seder Moed at our shul. Shua learns with his father but will probably start learning with a chavrusa soon as well. It’s a tremendous program that really gets our boys excited about learning more Torah. ”
The program is also enhancing family relationships. The students’ learning is spilling over to the Shabbos table, older siblings are teaching younger ones, and fathers and sons are learning together. Rabbi Halpern notes, “It has created father-son time in a most beautiful way, continuing the legacy of Har Sinai from father to son.”
Everyone is excited, and it’s easy to see why: Chemdas at Torah Academy is creating passionate Yiddishkeit, inspiring students to learn and love Torah with fire!
Sponsored by the Halpern Family in loving memory of Rabbi Shloimy Halpern’s father, Reb Yosef ben Reb Nochum Yoel z”l. “He loved to learn and valued Torah more than anything. He learned and supported yeshivos his entire life. This is an opportunity to do both: to bring thousands of hours of learning in his memory while supporting a program for our precious yeshiva, Torah Academy.”■