Etzion News An English E-Newsletter for Yeshivat Har Etzion
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Gemara Survey among American HS Seniors | |
Aaron
Ross '92 recently completed his doctorate at Yeshiva University's
Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration on the
topic of "Motivational Issues in the Study of Gemara among American High
School Senior Boys." The
study surveyed 112 high school seniors from four New York area high
schools in an effort to gauge their motivation to learn Gemara, their
affinity for their Rebbeim, possible influences on both of those
sentiments, and to see the relationship between love of learning and
closeness to the Rebbe.
"The
results were somewhat heartening," he says, "as nearly 45% of the boys
ranked Gemara in the top 1/3 of their classes, with almost 1/3 ranking it
as their favorite subject. At
the same time, 1/3 of the students listed Gemara in the bottom 1/3 of
their classes, a statistic that will hopefully spark conversation as to
what we are trying to accomplish with such
students." Interestingly,
even students who did not have a strong motivation to learn Gemara still
felt a certain closeness with their Rebbeim, a finding that may indicate
that there is more to Gemara shiur than simply learning the text. He is currently working to expand
the research to more schools as well as to girls, in an effort to further
clarify some of his initial findings. Professionally,
Aaron is entering his 11th year at Yavneh Academy in Paramus, NJ, where he
serves as both a Gemara and Chumash teacher as well as the Director of
Limudei Kodesh curriculum in the Middle School. In addition, he gives a weekly
shiur to high school-aged alumni and has been blessed to maintain a strong
and meaningful kesher with many of his students as they have progressed to
higher levels of their education (many of whom have studied at Har Etzion
over the past five years). He is now living in Bergenfield, NJ with his wife Tzippy, who teaches Gemara and Jewish History at Ramaz. They have five wonderful children - Shmuel Yehuda, Chaya Tova, Ahuva Bracha, Shimon Chizkiyahu, and Tiferet Chana. | |
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