Prozdor
Timeless Learning for the 21st Century
The Rebecca and Israel Ivry Prozdor teen learning program is an inspiring, innovative center for Judaic and Hebrew studies for teens across the New York metropolitan area.
About Prozdor Teen Learning at JTS
Sundays at JTS
Prozdor meets Sundays at JTS, bringing together a diverse group of teens to access classical Jewish texts, improve their Hebrew, and find contemporary meaning in the concepts and values of Jewish tradition. Guided by dedicated faculty, students are encouraged to ask the questions that matter to them and develop answers that speak authentically to them as young Jews in the 21st century.
Registration for 2024–2025 is closed. We are also happy to offer Prozdor in your neighborhood:
Prozdor Teen Learning in Brooklyn
Four nights of 21st Century Torah is a new program in partnership with Kane Street Synagogue and the Hannah Senesh Community Day School. Join us for four sessions of dinner, discussion, and vibrant text study. Led by JTS rabbinical students, our learning will focus on issues and challenges at the heart of Jewish life in New York City today. Sessions will be held September 30, December 9, February 3, and April 7.
Prozdor Teen Learning in Washington Heights
Prozdor Torah is coming to the north end of the city. In partnership with the Fort Tryon Jewish Center, JTS rabbinical students are excited to bring eternally relevant learning to Northern Manhattan. Join us for food, learning, and fun. Sessions will be held September 24, December 10, February 4, and April 8.
Who It’s For
Prozdor students are 8th to 12th graders from across the greater New York area, including all five boroughs, Westchester, Long Island, Northern and Central New Jersey, and Connecticut. Students of all Jewish backgrounds are welcome.
What Students Learn
At Prozdor, we take teens seriously. It is our highest responsibility to unlock their appetite for Jewish learning. For thousands of years, Jewish people have been in conversation about big, important ideas. Teens can fall in love with that conversation if they are invited to participate at their own level. With care and respect for each student, we seek to build a culture of intellectual vitality and love for Judaism.
Elements of the Program
Beit midrash: Beit midrash literally means “house of study,” but it also signifies a philosophy of learning: students working together, with direct access to texts, in a space of intimacy, trust, and openness. At Prozdor, the beit midrash is the heart of the program—a space filled with the sounds of small groups of students engaged in animated, self-motivated Torah learning, under the guidance of caring and inspiring teachers. Drawing on students’ interests and passions, teachers develop study units that allow students to encounter a variety of topics and methods. Instead of homework or tests, students share their knowledge with each other, developing both as students and as teachers.
Study units fall into four categories, each involving distinct methods for approaching ideas, texts, and conversations:
- In-Depth Hebrew Bible Study (e.g., feminism in Ruth and Esther; the outsiders in the Book of Genesis)
- Historical Perspectives (e.g., Jewish migrations, New York in Jewish history)
- Getting to Know the Talmud (e.g., Bava Metzia: the ethics of lost and found; Sanhedrin: a just death?)
- Themes in Jewish Thought (e.g., chosenness; science and spirituality)
Hebrew: We offer classes for all levels and backgrounds in spoken Modern Hebrew, taught by native Israeli teachers and other experienced educators.
Community time: Each day of Prozdor begins with half an hour of activities and candid conversation that brings all students and faculty together, building the culture of the school. Topics might include current events, Jewish identity, experiences of antisemitism, skills for the synagogue, and other matters relevant to our whole community.
Special programs: Our calendar is punctuated with events like field trips, guest speakers, and JTS’s annual Teen Summit.
Schedule
Our schedule varies from week to week and throughout the year according to the shape of our students’ learning projects. This is the basic structure:
9:30 a.m.–10:00 a.m.: Community Time
10:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.: Beit Midrash
11:30 a.m.–Noon: Bagel Break
Noon–1:30 p.m.: Hebrew
Why Prozdor?
- Jewish Commitment: Prozdor prepares Jewish teens to commit to leading Jewish lives in college and beyond. Prozdor graduates have gone on to join synagogues and minyanim, take leadership roles at Hillels and other Jewish organizations, and engage in ongoing Jewish learning. Adolescent psychology tells us that teens create models for their adult lives based on interactions with role models and peers. This is the most important time to give your child the gift of a stimulating Jewish education.
- Hebrew Language: At Prozdor, students maintain the Hebrew knowledge that they bring with them into the program and even expand on it, remaining comfortable and at home in the language of the Jewish people. With 90 minutes per week of modern Hebrew instruction by skilled native Israeli teachers, our students come to see Hebrew language as an essential piece of their emerging Jewish identity.
- College Admissions: Our students are on the path to great colleges. Top-tier schools love to see the passion for academics and long-term dedication to community that a Prozdor diploma demonstrates. We offer transcripts and recommendations. Recent Prozdor graduates have gone on to attend Harvard, Brown, Cornell, Tufts, University of Chicago, Washington University in St. Louis, and other excellent colleges and universities.
- Social Life: At Prozdor, students expand their social circles and connect with other engaged Jewish teens, building relationships that can last a lifetime.
What Students Are Saying
I started coming to Prozdor because my parents made me—now I come because I want to!
Prozdor has taught me how to unapologetically embrace my Jewish identity!
I have learned how to analyze Talmudic arguments and see how everything is layered on top of each other. I have also learned how to do a close reading of the Tanakh.
I’ve gotten more outspoken, principled, and more comfortable with my Judaism from participating in the program. I’ll always be grateful for my time at Prozdor.
What Parents Are Saying
I’ve been extremely impressed by both the teachers and the students at Prozdor. The beit midrash classes are a model of what high-school level Jewish education can and should be: teachers helping students to engage seriously with Jewish texts in an atmosphere that encourages inquiry and the exchange of ideas.—Lisa H.
My son has really been enjoying his Prozdor experience. It provides him with a great opportunity to continue to learn about and further explore his Jewish heritage and identity in a very open and welcoming environment. He is gaining a better understanding and improving his knowledge of various Judaic texts and the Hebrew language, and is being exposed to interesting new perspectives from his teachers and peers at Prozdor.—Gary N.
Cost
- Prozdor tuition for the 2024–25 academic year is $2,795 per student.
- No prospective student is turned away for inability to pay. Please email ivryprozdor@jtsa.edu for information about applying for financial aid.
Director of Teen Education
Dr. Phil Keisman is the director of Teen Education at JTS. He is a veteran educator and teacher of Jewish history and text and has taught at The Abraham Joshua Heschel School, Beit Rabban Day School, The New School, Lehman College, and Queens College.
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