U.S. Government Commissions Aaje to Develop Jewish Curriculum for Armed Services Personnel

The American Association for Jewish Education (AAJE) has been commissioned by the U.S. government to develop a unified Jewish studies curriculum for Jewish military personnel and their dependents, it was announced here.

The first phase of the project, a 328 page annotated bibliography covering 15 areas of Jewish study, has been completed by the AAJE and is scheduled for publication this winter. It will be distributed by each branch of the armed forces to senior Jewish chaplains assigned to military installations and to Jewish religious and educational leaders servicing such installations.

The second phase of the project will comprise a four-level core curriculum — formulated for the foundation years (kindergarten-grade 3), intermediary grades (4-8), high school (grades 8-12) and adult education — covering the some 15 study areas.

DUE FOR COMPLETION EARLY 1982

Each section of the curriculum, projected for completion by early 1982, will be designed for use both by trained and volunteer teachers and by Jewish servicemen and women serving aboard ships, at isolated bases and other areas of their activities, It will contain background materials, content recommendations keyed to the bibliography suggested activities and appropriate methodologies applicable to disparate military settings.

Frodle Freidenreich, director of the project, said the AAJE had been contracted by the Office of the Chief of Chaplains to “revise, update and broaden materials for Jewish study into a unified religious education curriculum to meet the needs of Jewish military personnel serving in the United States and abroad.”

Mrs. Freidenriech, consultant on methods and materials to the AAJE’s National Curriculum Research Institute, said the bibliography — titled ” Jewish Curriculum for the Armed Forces: Bibliography” – listed not only texts but audiovisual materials, periodicals, special materials for teachers and, in the five designated social studies subject areas, works of fiction, non-fiction and biography.

The areas of study encompassed in the bibliography and care curriculum are the American Jewish community, Jewish history; the Holocaust; Israel; Jews around the world; Jewish family life; Jewish holidays, customs and calendar; Jewish life cycle; faith, belief, philosophy, values and identity; Hebrew; the creative arts (drama, music, dance and arts and crafts); synagogue, prayer and liturgy; biblical literature; post-biblical literature; and modern Jewish literature.