Every school talks about values. Not every school has a 3,000-year-old framework for teaching them.
In Jewish tradition, middot (מידות) — literally “measures,” broadly translated as character traits or virtues — are not add-ons to a curriculum. They are the curriculum, running alongside Torah study, Hebrew, and general learning as equally serious intellectual and moral work. At Schechter, teaching middot in the primary grades means giving children a coherent set of values they can name, discuss, and practice — not just absorb passively.
What “Teaching Values” Actually Means
Children can be told to be kind. They can also be asked: What does kindness look like when your friend is upset? When someone in your class makes a mistake? When two people want the same thing? The second approach builds something the first cannot — moral reasoning.
Jewish primary education has always been more interested in the second approach. Chevruta learning, discussion of Torah stories, and conversations about how to act in the world are not soft extras. They are rigorous practice in thinking carefully about what the right thing to do is, and why.
The Seven Schechter Core Values
At Schechter, character formation is grounded in seven core values that appear across every grade level. Rather than vague aspirations, each value has a name in Hebrew, a tradition behind it, and practical expression in daily school life.
In the Image of God / Btzelem Elohim / בצלם אלהים
The Torah teaches that every person is created btzelem Elohim — in the image of God. For children, this translates simply: every person has worth and deserves dignity, regardless of ability, background, or how they act on a given day. In practice, Schechter applies this to how students treat each other, how teachers speak to students, and how the community handles conflict.
Responsibility / Achrayut / אחריות
The Talmud teaches that all of Israel is responsible for one another. Achrayut extends that responsibility from the classroom to the broader community. Students learn that their actions have consequences for the people around them, and that stepping up — whether to help a peer, contribute to tzedakah, or take care of shared spaces — is a Jewish obligation, not just good manners.
Celebration / Simcha / שמחה
Simcha is not a reward for when everything goes right. Jewish tradition holds that joy is a mitzvah — an obligation — and that a joyful approach to learning, relationships, and life is worth cultivating deliberately. In the primary grades, this means school feels like a place where things are genuinely celebrated: birthdays, academic milestones, holidays, new learning. Children internalize that engagement with Jewish life is something to look forward to.
Journey / Masa / מסע
Learning is not a destination. Masa captures the idea that education, faith, and personal growth are lifelong processes. For primary-age students, this means effort and progress matter more than final results. Mistakes are part of the journey, not evidence that the journey has failed. At Schechter, families are partners in this masa — the school’s relationship with parents is designed to last well beyond any single grade.
Israel / Yisrael / ישראל
Yisrael encompasses both the Jewish people and the modern State of Israel. In the primary grades, children learn Hebrew as a living language, encounter Israeli music and culture, and begin to understand that their Jewish identity connects them to a people and a land across time and geography. The goal is a passionate, personal connection — not just historical knowledge.
Exemplary / Dugma / דוגמא
Dugma means being an example — in how Schechter integrates rigorous general and Judaic learning, and in how students carry themselves. In the primary grades, dugma shows up as high academic expectations paired with high expectations for how students treat each other. Neither is optional. The program is designed to be a benchmark for what Jewish day school education can be.
Community / Kehillah / קהילה
Kehillah is the lived experience of belonging to something larger than yourself. At Schechter, children don’t just attend school together — they daven together, celebrate holidays together, mark the loss of a community member, welcome new families. The kehillah is what makes the school feel like a home. For primary students, the bonds formed in these years can last a lifetime.
How Middot Are Taught
Middot are not taught through posters on a wall. They are taught through:
- Torah study and discussion — wrestling with stories that raise genuine moral questions
- Classroom culture — structures and language that consistently reinforce the values
- Whole-school community — assemblies, rituals, and shared experiences that give the values form
- Modeling — teachers and staff who name what they are doing and why
Why It Matters
Children who grow up with a coherent values framework are better equipped to handle difficulty, make ethical decisions, and understand themselves in relation to others. Jewish primary education doesn’t promise to produce perfect people. It promises to take character seriously — as seriously as math and reading — and to give children a tradition they can draw on for life.
The Bottom Line
- Middot teaching in Jewish education is not decorative — it is intellectually rigorous and developmentally serious.
- Schechter’s seven core values (Btzelem Elohim, Achrayut, Simcha, Masa, Yisrael, Dugma, Kehillah) give children a named, consistent framework for character.
- Each value has Hebrew language, Jewish tradition, and practical daily application.
- Middot are taught through story, discussion, modeling, and community — not lectures.
- Children who can name and practice their values build moral reasoning, not just moral compliance.
- The primary grades are the right time to begin this formation — before the habits are fully set.
