Walk around the Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School building after morning tefillah, during lunch or pretty much any free moment of the day and you will find students learning Torah with Judaic-studies faculty in small study groups called Vaadim.
The new Vaad program at RKYHS encourages students to participate in close-knit communities of learning that dedicate regular time weekly, or daily, for informal Torah study. The Vaad communities provide students with additional avenues to grow in their learning, form closer bonds with faculty and each other, and explore areas of their particular interest. At RKYHS we are proud to watch our students embrace the many opportunities available for them to engage in Torah learning out of the classroom, independent of formal studies.
Through the Vaad program, we continue a long tradition of Torah education anchored in personal relationships between students and teachers. RKYHS’ dedicated and devoted Judaic studies teachers, who lead Vaadim for the majority of our student body, emulate these authentic methods of Torah transmission. They transform instruction into dialogue, lessons into discussion.
Students often reach out to a teacher for Vaad learning or, in many cases, teachers invite students to join a Vaad based on their questions or comments, suggesting that they might benefit from further exploration of the issue. The dozens of RKYHS Vaad groups cover a wide range of topics from musar to Halacha, parsha to tefillah, learning the works of Torah masters like the Chafetz Chaim and modern thinkers like Professor Nathan Aviezer.
Vaadim meet in many forums. Some groups gather right after tefillah while some enjoy a shared lunch-and-learn format. There are Vaad leaders and students who prefer the inspiration and sanctity of the beit midrash, while others are energized by an informal session in our newly created study center.
Students are encouraged to join a Vaad of their choice and choose the teacher who will most likely open a window of interest for them. Although the groups are non-compulsory, students tend to remain committed to their Vaad. The consistency of each Vaad’s enrollment reflects the authenticity of the relationships developed through meaningful transmission of Torah.
In the comfort of small, informal groups, students studying together in the same Vaad forge enduring relationships burnished through dialogue and idea sharing. Peer-to-peer learning facilitated by the teacher are regular experiences for the RKYHS Vaad community.
Using our rich history of Torah transmission, validated over centuries, RKYHS’ innovative Vaad program provides students the valuable opportunity to both learn “for the sake of learning,” Torah lishma, and to be kovea itim laTorah, committing regular portions of the day for learning.
We are eager to help RKYHS students take their places in the links of our great chain of Torah-study tradition.
By Rabbi Eliezer Rubin
Rabbi Eliezer Rubin is JKHA/RKYHS Head of School.
