USCJ Seaboard Region and Baltimore Hebrew University Collaborate on New Program for High School Students

The Seaboard Region of The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) and Baltimore Hebrew University (BHU) announce an innovative academic program for 11th and 12th graders that will allow them to earn up to 12 college credits while continuing their formal Jewish education. The program is entitled “LaDa’at: Learn, Do and Achieve Together.”

According to Mark Waldman, Executive Director of the USCJ Seaboard Region, “This new venture will enhance the United Synagogue’s Framework for Excellence, a set of guidelines and standards that expands the reach of Jewish education in a Conservative synagogue school program. One of the major components of the Framework is a post bnai mitzvah high school program.”

Although this program was designed to help USCJ congregations achieve the Framework of Excellence, LaDa’at will be a community program under the auspices of Baltimore Hebrew University and open to teens from any synagogue. The courses will include such subjects as Hebrew Language, Jewish Ethics for the 21st Century, and Celebrate 350: Jewish Life in America and are being designed to attract students from all spectrums of Jewish life and identification.

Judy Yudof, International President of the USCJ, states, “By creating a community program, the United Synagogue is enabling our congregations to offer additional educational opportunities for their upper level high school students.”

"According to the 2000-01 National Jewish Population Survey, American Jews have the highest level of general education of any ethnic or religious group in the United States. Through this partnership, BHU and the Seaboard Region of USCJ aim to ensure that the education of teens in the Judaic humanities is comparable to the level of their future academic studies," notes Dr. Rela Mintz Geffen, President of BHU.

Rabbi Jerome Epstein, USCJ Executive Vice-President, adds, “By working with Baltimore Hebrew University, we are offering a terrific opportunity for high school students to learn from college professors and earn college credit."

Mr. Herschel Langenthal, Board Chair of BHU, states, “The Board of Trustees of Baltimore Hebrew University is proud and pleased to partner with the USCJ in this important educational endeavor."

Classes will begin in Fall 2004 and will be held in Baltimore and Bethesda, MD.

For more information, contact Jo-Anne Tucker-Zemlak, USCJ Seaboard Region, 301-230-0801, ext. 2, or e-mail zemlak@uscj.org or askdaat@bhu.edu.