One of Ramaz’s unique features is that it has many Mishmar (extra learning outside of school hours) opportunities – however, the program wasn’t always this expansive. Today, Ramaz’s Mishmar system is impressive and allows for so much learning because teachers are offering various classes all throughout the day beyond what they teach in the classroom. This allows teachers and students alike to explore Jewish subjects of interest, and not be bound by a curriculum.
The Mishmar program has existed for a very long time at Ramaz but in recent years has been dramatically improved. Rabbi Schiowitz, Associate Principal and JLT and Talmud Department Chair, explained that under the old Mishmar system, “It took place only once a week after school and was taught by an Assistant Rabbi at CKJ [Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun]. It was less integrated into the school and had relatively low attendance.” Rabbi Schoiwitz further explained that the old Mishmar program ended about 10 years ago and was only reinstituted seven years ago when a student requested it. “We decided to give it another try,” said Rabbi Schiowitz. But this time, Ramaz wanted to try a different approach with Mishmar as Rabbi Schiowitz highlighted, “We experimented with incentives and added additional offerings at night, in the morning, and later in the evening on Zoom.” Today, Ramaz offers at least one morning Mishmar and one night Mishmar every single day and in the past semester there were over 1,700 Mishmar attendances.
Each Mishmar teacher offers something completely different. If one connects to Judaism through song and the Tanakh then Ms. Yaday’s Mishmar would be best. Ms. Yaday described her Mishmar class as follows, “We learn ideas from the weekly Parasha together with Israeli songs. This helps with Hebrew but also helps students connect to Israeli culture and see how the Parasha and the Torah are part of everyday Israeli language culture and life.” Ms. Yaday believes that learning Torah in this way allows students to be able to relate to the Torah more easily and how the Torah affects them in their daily lives. If a student prefers to learn Talmud straight from the text, then Rabbi Teichman’s Morning Mishmar would be the best place to go. Rabbi Teichman explained that his class is focused on, “Gemara Sanhedrin, learning the laws about the death sentences in Judaism and laws pertaining to the different sins that are punished with the death sentence.” Rabbi Schwartz, Head of the Mishmar Program, focuses his class on a main idea and then learns all different sources talking about that topic. Right now Rabbi Schwartz is focused on the laws of Kashrut. He explained why learning Kashrut is so important, “It is also philosophical and practical”.
Mishmar is a program which encourages learning topics outside of the regular curriculum which many Ramaz students enjoy. Even though there are incentives like cookies, pizza, and points on tests, people still go to connect with Judaism and learning in a unique new way. As Rabbi Schwartz explained, “They [the students] stay because they enjoy it, because it’s not stressful, and they have fun.” Mishmar is something that transforms Jewish life at Ramaz and something which students will take with them into the next chapter of their lives.
