JEM: The Story Behind the 12 Pesukim Campaign

Exactly 50 years ago, the Rebbe launched a bold new initiative in Jewish education. Twelve passages — drawn from the Torah, the Sages, and Chassidus — covering the fundamental tenets of Jewish life, were collected for children to recite, memorize, and pass on to others.

These children weren’t just students. They became teachers.

When the Entebbe hostage crisis unfolded later that year, the urgency behind the Rebbe’s push became clear — a spiritual response to a world that needed it.