Highly Popular Program That Makes Torah Learning Cool, Fun, and Accessible Has Quadrupled in Size in Three Years
With myriad extra-curricular activities to choose from, one Torah-learning program is overwhelmingly popular among middle schoolers across the U.S: The Orthodox Union’s All Mishnah Jr. (AMJ) is inspiring over 2,100 students in sixth through eighth grade to learn two Mishnayot daily during their free time.
“All Mishnah Jr. reflects the OU’s commitment to making Torah learning accessible, engaging, and meaningful for all ages,” says OU Executive Vice President Rabbi Moshe Hauer. “By cultivating a love and excitement for Torah learning among young students, this program lays the foundation for a lifelong and consistent commitment to limud Torah.”
Launched in 2021, AMJ is an offshoot of the OU’s All Mishnah, a free app featuring shiurim, learning aids, a study tracker, and other resources that facilitate the study of Mishnah. Whereas All Mishnah centers on Mishnah Yomi — a seven year cycle involving the study of two Mishnayot daily, seven days a week — AMJ’s three-year learning cycle runs for four months between Sukkot and Pesach, five days weekly, enabling students to catch up or review past material over the weekend, at their discretion.
“All Mishnah Jr. is a transformative experience,” says Elie Dahan, a seventh grader at Yeshivat He’Atid in Teaneck, New Jersey. “The program is amazing, and it makes me feel as if these laws are being taught to me directly from the chachamim.”
Now in its fourth season, AMJ is active in 32 schools in New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas, Georgia, Florida, California, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Colorado, and Illinois. Designed to make Torah-learning cool, fun, and accessible, AMJ encourages students to log their daily learning for a chance to win substantial raffle prizes like Visa and Amazon gift cards, AirPods, drones, and hoverboards. AMJ participants also receive fun swag, including slap bracelets with the AMJ logo and sweatshirts upon completing the first masechet, Megillah.
“Our objective is to make learning Mishnayot as fun, exciting, and attainable as possible,” says OU Torah Initiatives Programming Manager Rabbi Meir Avracen, who oversees AMJ. “We hope this program will foster an appreciation for the greatness of Torah in its own right, inspire participants to study Torah lishma, and turn it into a lifelong habit.”
Rabbi Binyamin Weinreich is a middle school Judaic Studies teacher at Yeshivat He’Atid, and says students’ enthusiasm around AMJ is a source of tremendous pride for the school.
“AMJ gets students into the habit of being kovea itim laTorah, setting aside time for learning Torah, which is great preparation for life beyond the school years. The students who do it are already showing that learning Torah extends far beyond classes in school. It’s something they value and do of their own choice. The prizes and sweatshirts definitely help to motivate them, but chazal tell us, ‘mitoch shelo lishma ba lishma,’ one comes to learn for its own sake.”
About 45 staff members, including administrators, rebbes, and teachers, work alongside Rabbi Avracen to implement AMJ programming in their respective middle schools. After signing up via the allmishnahjr.org website, participants receive customized AMJ Artscroll Pocket Edition Mishnayot, generously sponsored by Ralph Rieder of Monsey, New York.
“AMJ launched with just eight schools, but since then, we’ve quadrupled in size,” says Rabbi Avracen. Although 2,100 participants registered online this year, we always send 20 percent more Mishnayot to each school, because once other students see the energy and excitement around AMJ, they want to get on board as well.”
Participants have various options through which they can complete their learning — on their own, with their parents, rebbes or teachers, b’chavruta, or using the AMJ website which features videos and recorded shiurim of the day’s Mishnayot in both Ashkenaz and Sephardic havarot (pronunciations).
Following October 7, the AMJ team added a layer to the program which makes students’ learning even more meaningful: in partnership with Chayal of the Day, an Israeli-based organization, each participant is paired with a chayal, and learns in their zechut.
“Each student receives their chayal’s bio and is encouraged to send their chayal a personal message,” says Rabbi Avracen. “Knowing that they are supporting Israel and our chayalim encourages them to learn even more.”
Rabbi Matthew Faigen is the Junior High Dean of Students at Fuchs Mizrachi School in Beachwood, Ohio, where close to 60 out of about 100 students signed up this year for the program.
“I can’t praise AMJ enough,” he says. “It’s perfectly designed for kids with the ideal balance of fun, creativity, and meaning. The learning is not overwhelming, the website is straightforward, the pocket Mishnayot are wonderful, and the excitement around our weekly raffles is electric. But most importantly, the program teaches students at an early age about the value of kviut, of setting goals and times to learn daily.”
Rabbi Faigen adds that many Fuchs Mizrachi students completed their first ever masechta through the program.
“Students feel great about their accomplishments and many have been inspired to learn other Mishnayot on their own,” he says. “The program is remarkable.”
Yeshivat He’Atid students are equally enthused.
“Students remember concepts they came across in their AMJ learning, and make connections between it and what we’re learning in class,” says Rabbi Weinrech. “They’re really invested. Half of the middle school, 83 students, completed Masechet Megillah with AMJ, many of whom have probably never finished a masechta of Mishnayot before. That kind of success and harbatzat Torah is impossible to argue with. Kein yirbu, and ashrecha to the OU for implementing this program.”