Jewish Life + Learning - Jewish Day School Skip to content program Jewish studies—inclusive and inspiring, thoughtful and joyful The JDS Jewish Studies program, Jewish Life and Learning, is much more than a curriculum. Like Judaism itself, it’s a way of viewing and being in the world, deeply informed by tradition with space for creating personal meaning and connection. Our developmentally calibrated, inquiry-based approach characterizes every aspect of Jewish Life and Learning classes. We also interweave Jewish history, culture, and values throughout the general academic curriculum. Our goal is to ensure that your child develops their own carefully considered relationship to Judaism—and with that, their own identity, Jewish or otherwise. Equipped with an empowering system of personal ethics and an authentic sense of self, your child graduates as a joyful and proactive upstander, ready and eager for the challenges ahead. Read our complete guide to Jewish Life and Learning at every division level. Visit a Jewish Life and Learning class, and you might observe: Preschoolers making challah for Shabbat Kindergartners planting parsley to use at their Passover Seder 1st and 2nd graders interviewing local Jewish leaders 3rd and 4th graders teaching the 1st and 2nd graders how to play dreidel at Hannukah 5th graders writing and producing an original Purim shpiel Middle Schoolers discussing Pikuach Nefesh , the Jewish principle of preserving life, and the ethical questions it raises 8th graders preparing for their class trip to Israel Students across grades supporting their communities through the Jewish practice of tikkun olam (repairing the world) Visit a Jewish Life and Learning class and you might observe: Preschoolers making challah for Shabbat. Kindergartners planting parsley to use at their Passover seder. 1st and 2nd graders interviewing local Jewish leaders. 3rd and 4th graders teaching the 1st and 2nd graders how to play dreidel at Hanukkah. 5th graders writing and producing an original Purim shpiel. Middle schoolers discussing פיקוח נפש pikuach nefesh, the Jewish principle of preserving life, and the ethical questions it raises. 8th graders preparing for their capstone trip to Israel. Students across grades supporting their communities through the Jewish practice of ִּתיקון עולם tikkun olam (repairing the world). Our 8th graders reflect on their 2025 capstone trip to Spain and Portugal to study Sephardic culture and heritage.