Program Highlights
✓ Community of like-minded high schoolers
✓ Excellent, award-winning, and accredited courses
✓ Live classes with master teacher facilitators
✓ Student-centered design
✓ Transcripts and Certificate of Completion
Important Information
Cohort Calendar
Spring: February 12, 2023 – June 4, 2023
Spring Registration Deadline: February 3, 2023
Independent Study Calendar
Courses are offered on a rolling basis throughout the year.
Students meet with their teacher for 10-30 minutes approximately 1x per unit.
Pricing
$625 per semester
2022-2023 Cohort Study
Study with a cohort of your peers:Spring Cohort
- Grade Levels: 9/10
- Class Time: Sundays, 10:00 AM EST
- Course: Leaving Egypt: The Birth of the Jewish Nation – Part 1
*Cohort availability dependent on minimum number of registrants.
2022-2023 Independent Study
Select from one of the courses below:Jewish Values
- Commandment to Care: A Study of Halachic Process
- Sage Advice: Selections in Pirkei Avot
- Character Under Construction
- Developing a Jewish Ethical Voice
Jewish History
- The Rabbis of the Talmud
- The Story of Exile and Return
- Letters Home: American Jewish History, 1870-1924
- Remembering the Holocaust
- The Emergence of Modern Israel
Jewish Text
- The Rise and Fall of King Shlomo’s Kingdom
- The Stories and Legends of Eliyahu Hanavi
- Leaving Egypt: The Birth of the Jewish Nation
- The Prophesies of Trei Asar
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS…
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What is Lookstein Virtual Jewish Academy?
Created in 2014, Lookstein Virtual Jewish Academy is the nonprofit online school of Jewish studies of Bar-Ilan University. We offer dozens of online courses and digital content for students in grades 6-12 in Jewish texts, Jewish history, and Jewish ideas, and we work with schools, organizations, and families of all Jewish backgrounds.
What is the High School Scholars Program?
The Lookstein Virtual High School Scholars Program is a four-year program offering excellent online courses in Jewish texts, history, and values, live classes with a master Jewish educator, and a Lookstein Virtual High School Scholar Certificate from The Lookstein Center of Bar-Ilan University for students who complete 6 semesters.
Lookstein Virtual coursework combines the best of synchronous (live) and asynchronous (on-demand) online learning. The asynchronous coursework is independent and on-demand and can be completed whenever and wherever you like. Coursework includes reading, watching, responding to prompts, and completing varied activities—all guided by the Lookstein teacher, who is in constant communication with the students.
Students will also “meet” with their teacher regularly via Zoom. These sessions allow for the teacher and student to get to know one another, to discuss course material and to dig a little deeper into the content. Students enrolled in the Cohort Study Option will participate in group classes and collaborative learning activities. Students enrolled in the One-On-One Study Option will have individualized sessions according to their own schedule.
How much time will my child need to devote to the High School Scholars Program?
Students will need to devote 2 – 3 hours per week to the scholars program. This includes the live time spent with their instructor.
Students who complete 6 semesters will be eligible to receive a Certificate of Completion from The Lookstein Center of Bar-Ilan University
Who are the instructors?
Our instructors are master Jewish teachers from North America that have dedicated their lives to educating and inspiring Jewish teens and pre-teens. Our teachers (and students) come from all Jewish backgrounds and we make sure to pair families with the teacher that can best meet their educational and Jewish learning needs.
Is the teacher available aside from the live Zoom meetings?
Yes! Student-teacher correspondence is intentionally built into our curriculum, allowing students and teachers to build strong relationships, dig deeper into ideas and texts, and provide extra support if needed.
My child is not in high school. Do you have a program for younger kids?
Yes! Visit www.looksteinvirtual.org/middle-school-scholars-program to learn about our middle school program. To learn more about our programming for younger kids please email us.
Are your courses accredited?
Lookstein Virtual Jewish Academy is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) Accrediting Commission for Schools as a supplementary Education Program.
Upon course completion, you may request an official transcript from Lookstein Virtual Jewish Academy of The Lookstein Center at Bar-Ilan University.
We want to participate in the cohort this semester, but are not sure if we’ll be able to complete all 12 credits needed to get the certificate. Can we still join?
YES! You can join for one semester at a time and decide later whether or not you will complete the program and receive your certificate. Click here to sign up!
We want to participate in the program but already took one (or more) of the courses in the curriculum. Can we take something else instead and still receive a certificate?
YES! You can select the One-On-One Study Option and select the course(s) of your choice. You are welcome to join the cohort for any future semesters.
The Stories and Legends of Eliyahu Hanavi
Recommended for 9th Grade
The Rabbis of the Talmud
Recommended for 9th Grade
The Rise and Fall of King Shlomo’s Kingdom (2 parts)
Recommended for 9th Grade
The reign of Shlomo is considered the most peaceful time in Jewish history. By virtue of his leadership, wisdom, and God’s blessing, he built the Temple and transformed Jerusalem into a vibrant and unified capital. After his death, however, poor decisions led to the splitting of the nation into two separate kingdoms. In this course, students will explore the highs and lows of this period and consider how it relates to their own lives. They will uncover the splendor of the Temple and the triumph of good leadership juxtaposed with the pitfalls and tragedy caused by failed leadership.
Leaving Egypt: The Birth of the Jewish Nation (2 parts)
Recommended for 9th-12th Grades
Students trace the common heritage, formative experiences, and leaders that transform a family of seventy individuals into a nation with shared aspirations. As the euphoria of the transition from slavery to freedom wears off, they realize that with freedom comes great responsibility. How does God set them up for success? How well do they rise to the challenges along the way? This course follows the physical and spiritual path of Bnei Israel as they endure the difficulties of life in Egypt, make a most dramatic escape to the Desert, and attempt to rise to their greatest challenge yet – forging and maintaining an everlasting covenant with God at the foot of Har Sinai. Students study a range of commentaries and employ literary tools to uncover the rich messages embedded in the Shemot narratives.
The Prophesies of Trei Asar (2 parts)
Recommended for 11th-12th Grades
Students study selections in Trei Asar including Amos, Yonah, Yoel, and Hoshea in part 1 and Nahum, Havakuk, Tzefania, Haggai, Zecharia, and Malachi in Part 2. Students examine the books’ literary structures and styles, explore central themes (sin and punishment, prophets and prophecy, teshuva, am segula, redemption, and God’s presence), and develop their textual analysis skills. They leave the course with a basic proficiency in reading and understanding prophetic texts.
Commandment to Care: A Study of Halachic Process
Recommended for 9th-10th Grades
To what extent do I have a responsibility to care about other people? How do I set priorities regarding time and resources? This thematic, Rabbinics text-based course explores mitzvot bein adam l’chavero (commandments that relate to interpersonal behavior) from Biblical through Talmudic text to modern sources. Topics include communal responsibility, tzedakah, guarding one’s speech, and social activism. Throughout the course, students examine contemporary case studies and offer creative solutions based on Biblical and Rabbinic sources.
Sage Advice: Selections in Pirkei Avot
Recommended for 9th-12th Grades
How is it that wisdom passes from generation to generation? What do Torah, avoda, and gemilut chasadim mean? In this thematic course, students discover the main themes of Pirkei Avot and ponder how the ancient lessons of Pirkei Avot can impact their lives today.
Character Under Construction
Recommended for 10th-12th Grades
What do we do when life throws us a curveball? How do we react to the bumps that we encounter on our life journey? What is true happiness, and how do we achieve it? How do we make meaning of our lives? We will explore approaches to limitations, forgiveness, meaning of life, happiness, and more by examining both ancient Jewish texts and contemporary examples from around the world. Each example will compel us to reflect on our own experiences and strengthen our character.
Developing a Jewish Ethical Voice
Recommended for 10th-12th Grades
What are the foundations of Jewish ethics? How are they applied? In this course, students build a Jewish ethical vocabulary of phrases and concepts before they delve into case studies exploring contemporary ethical dilemmas people face today in their social interactions, online activities, and everyday errands. Through the study of classical and contemporary Jewish thinkers, students learn how Judaism factors and frames ethical issues and then explore possible responses.
The Story of Exile and Return
Recommended for 9th-11th Grades
The destruction of the Second Temple in the year 70 placed the Jewish people in unprecedented turmoil. Exiled from their country and traditional Jewish practice in ruins, the future of the Jewish people was anything but certain. Over the next two millennia and across many lands, the Jews faced a series of physical, spiritual, social, and political challenges. How did the Jewish people manage not only to survive but to flourish? How and why did diaspora Jews maintain fervent hopes and dreams of returning to the land of Israel in the future? What was the relationship between the Jews in exile and the surrounding cultures? This course explores the ideas and infrastructures the Jewish people created in order to respond to their surroundings.
Letters Home: American Jewish History 1870 – 1924
Recommended for 9th-12th Grades
Between 1870 and 1924, over two million Jews left their homes, mainly in Eastern Europe, to begin new lives in the United States. Students travel alongside immigrants as they journey to the unknown and encounter the challenges presented by American work patterns, religious frameworks, and mass culture. Students learn how Jewish immigrants shaped, and reacted to, life in America by both conforming to and rebelling against its dominant culture. As they explore the immigrant experience, students investigate their local community’s past and discover their place in the present.
The Emergence of Modern Israel
Recommended for 11th-12th Grades
Students study the history of modern Israel from the rise of the Zionist movement to the present. Following an exploration of the foundations of Zionism, students will then trace the political and institutional development of the Yishuv, the establishment of the State of Israel, and the events of the decades following. Issues discussed will include the evolving Palestinian-Israeli and Arab-Israeli conflict, relationships with world powers, the political system, religion and society, the place of minorities in Israeli society, and the quest for Israeli identity. Through the study of scholarly texts, primary sources, and virtual field trips, students gain a richer understanding of modern Israeli history and its current position in international politics and the Jewish community.
Remembering the Holocaust
Recommended for 11th-12th Grades
The tragedy of the Holocaust can still be felt today. Students study the core historical narrative and grapple with difficult questions: how was the destruction normalized? What role did different people play? What can this period teach us about human behavior? As they explore the rich history of European Jewry and then its systematic destruction, students investigate their nation’s story during this devastating period and seek a way to memorialize it