Rabbi Wisnia's Be A Good Person Program

Welcome to “Rabbi Wisnia’s Be a Good Person Program,” whose mission is to teach young students essential life values inspired by the teachings of Rabbi Eric Wisnia. While rooted in his wisdom, this program is secular and designed for children of all backgrounds.
There are many books about teaching manners and empathy to children, and all of them have value. However, this program is not merely about being polite; it is about being a good person and will be drawn directly from Rabbi Wisnia's own words from the many recorded videos of his classes.
Rabbi Wisnia once asked a group of parents, "When you think about instilling kindness in your kids, what do you mean by kindness?" They had many different responses: compassion, generosity, empathy, justice, alleviating suffering. But every answer involved an underlying consideration for others, rather than acting only out of self-interest. It makes sense that this is also the definition of humane, because kindness is the most fundamental expression of what it means to be a human being.
"Kindness is good, and being a good person is seeing with your heart," said Rabbi Wisnia.
Wisnia also maintained that “...instead of being obsessed with achieving, having, and winning, wouldn’t it be great if the key to success was making yourself and others feel like they matter?” To that end, he regularly made it a practice to share a meal with a complete stranger -- since he felt that at one time, we were all strangers.
The son of a Holocaust survivor, Eric Wisnia spent his life in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and Princeton, New Jersey, and was a rabbi for over fifty years. His unexpected passing in September of 2023 brought a letter to us through the MyGlobalClassroom portal, extolling the virtues of this fine man and suggesting that our volunteer faculty create a program based upon his core teachings and beliefs.
Although Rabbi Wisnia was Jewish, he believed firmly in the acceptance and respect of all faiths and denominations, and their inclusion in the community. Wisnia spent decades making a point to regularly visit and speak at churches and mosques, in addition to synagogues, to share with congregants and the general public his philosophy that went well beyond organized religion.
Wisnia was a strong voice for religious liberty who said, “We are all brothers and sisters, and when any of our rights are diminished, all of our rights are diminished.” His staunch support for the building of The Muslim Center in Greater Princeton led the mosque to honor him with a Community Service Award in 2014. In his more than 40 years as a senior rabbi, Wisnia presided over more than 4,000 lifecycle events.
Beginning in mid-2024, MyGlobalClassroom will publish and distribute Rabbi Wisnia’s "Be A Good Person" workbook to schools across the United States. This program will augment the K-12 curriculum provided by our ten distance learning affiliates and be made available, free of charge and in 22 languages, to students worldwide. Large-print and audio editions will also be available in late 2024.
At MyGlobalClassroom, we are fortunate to have a volunteer staff of dedicated education and business professionals, as well as top-notch advisors from all professions and social classes. We also have corporate partners who provide much-needed equipment, supplies, and services that have kept us going since 2002. However, each project we launch comes with costs that are not covered and, while minimal, are vital to the implementation of that project. Any and all donations, of any size, are welcome and necessary to ensure this program's success. All contributions are tax-deductible.
The core principles of Rabbi Wisnia may be simple, but their implementation by students at an early age will prove significant in later years. We began development of this exciting new program on November 6, 2023, on what would have been Rabbi Eric Wisnia’s 74th birthday.
Thank you for joining us in this meaningful endeavor to nurture the goodness in our future generations, regardless of their backgrounds or beliefs.