PDX Kehilla High in Jewish Review

 While Jewish Portland has a plethora of options for children’s education, the missing piece has long been formal coursework for high schoolers seeking to further their Jewish education. That’s changing this fall. PDX Kehillah High, an umbrella program for Jewish educational opportunities for Greater Portland-area high school students, is launching with a college-level course on the history and culture of modern Israel through American Jewish University, led locally by Rabbi Gary Oren of Congregation Shaarie Torah. Rabbi Oren explained that AJU’s Jewish Learning Experience program for high school students began in Los Angeles, using the university’s undergraduate accreditation to offer college credit for high school Jewish education programs as a way to keep high school students who weren’t attending Jewish high schools interested in Jewish learning among the many competing demands on students’ time as they prepare for life after high school. “A local rabbi in L.A. said, ‘Listen, the only way I’m going to get my kids to learn Jewish things after b’nai mitzvah is if there’s some big carrots hanging out there,’” Rabbi Oren said. “Something that they see is good for them.” The program launched through six synagogues in Los Angeles, with a catalogue of courses for congregations to choose from to fit their particular students’ needs and interests. The programs is expanding outward this year to a number of other states – Portland will be unique in that its courses will be offered to the entire community rather than just through the educational program of a single synagogue. “That was really important to me because if we want to have impact, then we need to try to help each other, get as many kids as possible involved,” Rabbi Oren said. “That spirit of collaboration and cooperation is needed, and Portland’s a place where that can happen.” The course he’s teaching, titled “Introduction to the People, History, and Culture of Israel,” looks at the leadup to Israeli independence in 1948, the different strains of Zionist movements before, during and since, as well as the lived experiences of Israelis and their Palestinian neighbors. The choice of topic was an important consideration for Rabbi Oren, given what Jewish high school students have experienced in the wake of the Oct. 7 terror attacks in Israel. “We live in this time where everything’s kind of upside down, and our kids are facing really hard challenges,” Rabbi Oren said. “The number one antidote to that is education. Do they know who they are? Do they know their own story? Even if they don’t want to talk back to someone else, internally, are they confident in their identity and story? Because you’re not going to stop the outside worldfrom doing crazy things or antisemitic things, but you can build up the Jewish people to be really confident in who they are.” The course is developed by the iCenter in Chicago, North America’s largest foundation for education about Israel, and will meet twice a month from 6:30-8:30 pm on Monday evenings beginning in late October and extending through a closing ceremony on the f irst day of Shavout in June. Upon successful completion, students will receive three transferrable college credits through AJU. Class sessions, which will include dinner, will meet at Portland Jewish Academy in SW Portland. The program is supported by PJA, the Mittleman Jewish Community Center, the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation, the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, the Eastside Jewish Commons and Congregation Shaarie Torah. Rabbi Oren was previously Vice President for Non-Degree-Granting Programming at AJU and credits Jewish educational experiences he took on in his 20s as what truly ignited his love for Judaism and set him on the course he’s on now. “There’s a lot of ways to do this, but my spark came through Jewish learning,” he said. “It’s the stuff that I really love to do. That’s why I’m volunteering to do this.” The hope is that others will join him under the PDX Kehillah High umbrella, developing programs tailored to their interests and expertise and the needs of Portland’s Jewish high school students to create a broad, diverse range of opportunities for those students. “The idea is that kids can go to one central location and find out what’s available to them,” Rabbi Oren explained, “especially non-synagogue kids.” Tuition for “Introduction to the People, History, and Culture of Israel” is $1,300, with generous scholarships available through AJU and PDX Kehillah High, supported by OJCF and the Federation. For more information, email Rabbi Oren at pdxkehillahigh@gmail.com or visit pdxkehillahigh.org.