BNAI MITZVAH CLASS ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS
Judaic Studies
Now is a time in the life of a Jew that the question addressed last year, “Why be Jewish”, should be raging, sometimes out of control. Why should I have to do all this study for my Bar/Bat Mitzvah? Why should I have to give up my Sundays for more school? Meeting this challenge head on involves dealing with the hardest of questions. I recommend starting the year with the hardest theological question we are faced with, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Using Kushner’s book who personally went through the hardest of times prepares the students to widen their perspective in life and gets the soul dancing.
Hevruta is especially useful at this age. Let them wrestle together with the ideas and come up with amazing arguments. I am always amazed by the creativity that two seventh graders can come up with when dealing with difficult issues. This setting is a safe way to address the pressing issues of pre-teens.
Later in the year, Mishnah will be introduced with Jacob Neusner’s Learn Mishnah and Meet Our Sages. By next year, the fifth and sixth graders will understand the place of Oral Torah in the Jewish world. Until then, it is imperative for us to introduce the Mishnah being the oral half of the whole Torah revealed by the Eternal to Moses, our rabbi, at Sinai. Mishnah being an inseparable part of the Torah is an enduring understanding that we want our BBM students to come away with. The Torah Map should be utilized.
Hebrew
Being the final year of Hebrew School, the ideal is that they will have a firm grasp of the basics of Hebrew. Developing fluency, especially with Hebrew, requires immersion and expecting that it will take place in the context of a supplementary school is not a reality. What we can work towards is the overall strengthening of the structure that has been put in place over the past seven or eight years. Ideally, the student will want to go to Israel where they will be able to fill the gaps and be that much closer to feeling comfortable speaking the language of our people.
Due to the extreme time constraints of only meeting once a week, this class should focus on the Hebrew that is needed to be effective in the different parts of the Shabbat service.
Prayer
The curriculum holds the ideal that a student who has participated in the Multi-Year Bnai Mitzvah Training Curriculum has been in front of the congregation leading prayers for four years. Until the curriculum is implemented over the next couple years, it is important to understand where each student is currently at. All students should have a copy of the CDs from SiddurAudio.com and practice those prayers that they do not know. Coming to services is essential for those students who have not had the benefit of a multi-year training for their Bnai Mitzvah.
Trope should continue to be studied in the class in coordination with the Bnai Mitzvah tutoring. If possible, the student should spend time learning their portion once a week paying attention to how knowledge of the trope makes it easier for them to be able to read Torah. As a visual learner myself, I tend to remember trope symbols by associating sound with images. Each students has to find what works for them.
Prayer texts should be utilized at this age to explore questions of Jewish identity and to consider the boundaries of what define us as Jews. An example is the problematic language of the Aleinu that seems so exclusionary.
Judaic Studies
Now is a time in the life of a Jew that the question addressed last year, “Why be Jewish”, should be raging, sometimes out of control. Why should I have to do all this study for my Bar/Bat Mitzvah? Why should I have to give up my Sundays for more school? Meeting this challenge head on involves dealing with the hardest of questions. I recommend starting the year with the hardest theological question we are faced with, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Using Kushner’s book who personally went through the hardest of times prepares the students to widen their perspective in life and gets the soul dancing.
Hevruta is especially useful at this age. Let them wrestle together with the ideas and come up with amazing arguments. I am always amazed by the creativity that two seventh graders can come up with when dealing with difficult issues. This setting is a safe way to address the pressing issues of pre-teens.
Later in the year, Mishnah will be introduced with Jacob Neusner’s Learn Mishnah and Meet Our Sages. By next year, the fifth and sixth graders will understand the place of Oral Torah in the Jewish world. Until then, it is imperative for us to introduce the Mishnah being the oral half of the whole Torah revealed by the Eternal to Moses, our rabbi, at Sinai. Mishnah being an inseparable part of the Torah is an enduring understanding that we want our BBM students to come away with. The Torah Map should be utilized.
Hebrew
Being the final year of Hebrew School, the ideal is that they will have a firm grasp of the basics of Hebrew. Developing fluency, especially with Hebrew, requires immersion and expecting that it will take place in the context of a supplementary school is not a reality. What we can work towards is the overall strengthening of the structure that has been put in place over the past seven or eight years. Ideally, the student will want to go to Israel where they will be able to fill the gaps and be that much closer to feeling comfortable speaking the language of our people.
Due to the extreme time constraints of only meeting once a week, this class should focus on the Hebrew that is needed to be effective in the different parts of the Shabbat service.
Prayer
The curriculum holds the ideal that a student who has participated in the Multi-Year Bnai Mitzvah Training Curriculum has been in front of the congregation leading prayers for four years. Until the curriculum is implemented over the next couple years, it is important to understand where each student is currently at. All students should have a copy of the CDs from SiddurAudio.com and practice those prayers that they do not know. Coming to services is essential for those students who have not had the benefit of a multi-year training for their Bnai Mitzvah.
Trope should continue to be studied in the class in coordination with the Bnai Mitzvah tutoring. If possible, the student should spend time learning their portion once a week paying attention to how knowledge of the trope makes it easier for them to be able to read Torah. As a visual learner myself, I tend to remember trope symbols by associating sound with images. Each students has to find what works for them.
Prayer texts should be utilized at this age to explore questions of Jewish identity and to consider the boundaries of what define us as Jews. An example is the problematic language of the Aleinu that seems so exclusionary.
Ethics and Morals
The focus during this year should be on the relationship between morality and taking responsibility (אחריות) over: yourself (א), your brother (אח), the other (אחר), knowing when to lead (אחרי), and knowing when to follow/listen (אחריו). By looking at the specific parts of “Jewish responsibility”, the student can build a firm understanding that being a moral and upright person entails taking responsibility over what is important in life.
Turning study into action can be accomplished by asking how each student can become a community leader for North Shore Hebrew School. Can they maybe sit with a child who is struggling with finding a prayer in the siddur? What can they do to exemplify leadership?
Understanding what is important and how to discern a big thing (כלל) from a small thing (פרט) will help our students prioritize and make the correct decisions in life.
Prophets are a great way to reinforce this understanding. Jews have been supporting social justice since the days of Moses and Amos. Looking at how the prophets reacted to stories that the students are familiar with deepens their comprehension and attachment. For an example, Moses killing the Egyptian could have been because he had a deep feeling of anger against injustice and not only because he saw one of his people getting hit. Jewish support for social justice should be supported by modern day examples such as how President Obama learned all he knew of community organizing from Saul Alinsky.
The story of Abraham Joshua Heschel walking hand in hand with Martin Luther King, Jr. is an example of how a Jew is taking responsibility over the “other” (אחר). Also important in this lesson is how Heschel recognized that difference is beautiful and that each of us has to define what Judaism means within the context of our learning. Heschel learned that injustice to any human is evil so he stood up for the African American during the time of segregation.
If NSHS students can end there time here understanding that there is a direct relationship between being a member of a community and taking responsibility, we will have succeeded in transmitting the moral imperative instilled in us by the prophets.
Their Tikkun Olam component can look into projects such as Me to We and curriculum materials from the JECC: Immediate Response Curriculum that deals with issues that should interest and captivate students at this age (i.e. 9/11, Gaza and Katrina).
My work as a Shoah (Holocaust) Educator has left me firmly believing that by teaching the ethical dilemmas faced by the Jewish partisans, we can overcome the negative image of the Jews not resisting the Nazis as they were being killed during World War 2. This builds upon the enduring understanding that learning about life and choices that we can make is more significant than learning about death and statistics. The Defiance Curriculum, based upon the hit Blockbuster movie of the same name, was created by the Jewish Partisans Organization to help our students know the heroic side of how our people survived. A copy of this curriculum and resources attached to it are in the BBM curriculum and lesson plan binder. The culmination of their study should be a visit to the Vancouver Holocaust Centre.
Israel
Now that students have been introduced to Israel they are now ready to understand why the Jewish people attribute a holiness to the land. This will allow them to then understand the importance that we attribute to Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people. Knowing that the State of Israel has preserved the rights of all religions to worship in Jerusalem is important. They will learn that there was once a Temple and the only remaining piece is the outer wall of the Second Temple. Students should hear the Hatikvah and be able to recite it. Students will also learn some of the differences between Israel and Canada in terms of geography, history and culture.
Current events in Israel needs to be mentioned daily in each class. An interesting way to show a nuanced perspective to the news unfolding in Israel is to have one group of students prepare a current event from a right wing website (www.israelnationalnews.com), a centrist website, the Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com), and a leftist website www.haaretz.com). The teacher should prepare him/herself by researching an important issue in the Israeli news that will be portrayed in a different way on the websites. Ideas that are very conducive for these discussions include: settler violence, expressions of Palestinian nationalism and religious plurality/coercion in Israel. Later in the year, it is important to integrate mainstream foreign websites such as CNN and BBC as well as Arab websites such as al-Jazerra. The over arching goal of this approach is to show how different perspectives of the same issue create truth for different sides in the conflict.
Holidays
Students will understand the agricultural connection to all of the holidays. For example, Sukkot is the harvest time for wheat. The Mishnah and Gemara of the holidays should also be introduced to the students following the format of Pardes. Understanding what a pilgrimage is and why it was so important for the Jews to celebrate together in Jerusalem is an important enduring understanding.
As the oldest students, the BBM class can take the lead during holiday celebrations on Tuesdays. They will be expected to help organize the Rosh Hodesh program on Oct. 16th by explaining what Rosh Hodesh is and how the Jewish calendar works.
The focus during this year should be on the relationship between morality and taking responsibility (אחריות) over: yourself (א), your brother (אח), the other (אחר), knowing when to lead (אחרי), and knowing when to follow/listen (אחריו). By looking at the specific parts of “Jewish responsibility”, the student can build a firm understanding that being a moral and upright person entails taking responsibility over what is important in life.
Turning study into action can be accomplished by asking how each student can become a community leader for North Shore Hebrew School. Can they maybe sit with a child who is struggling with finding a prayer in the siddur? What can they do to exemplify leadership?
Understanding what is important and how to discern a big thing (כלל) from a small thing (פרט) will help our students prioritize and make the correct decisions in life.
Prophets are a great way to reinforce this understanding. Jews have been supporting social justice since the days of Moses and Amos. Looking at how the prophets reacted to stories that the students are familiar with deepens their comprehension and attachment. For an example, Moses killing the Egyptian could have been because he had a deep feeling of anger against injustice and not only because he saw one of his people getting hit. Jewish support for social justice should be supported by modern day examples such as how President Obama learned all he knew of community organizing from Saul Alinsky.
The story of Abraham Joshua Heschel walking hand in hand with Martin Luther King, Jr. is an example of how a Jew is taking responsibility over the “other” (אחר). Also important in this lesson is how Heschel recognized that difference is beautiful and that each of us has to define what Judaism means within the context of our learning. Heschel learned that injustice to any human is evil so he stood up for the African American during the time of segregation.
If NSHS students can end there time here understanding that there is a direct relationship between being a member of a community and taking responsibility, we will have succeeded in transmitting the moral imperative instilled in us by the prophets.
Their Tikkun Olam component can look into projects such as Me to We and curriculum materials from the JECC: Immediate Response Curriculum that deals with issues that should interest and captivate students at this age (i.e. 9/11, Gaza and Katrina).
My work as a Shoah (Holocaust) Educator has left me firmly believing that by teaching the ethical dilemmas faced by the Jewish partisans, we can overcome the negative image of the Jews not resisting the Nazis as they were being killed during World War 2. This builds upon the enduring understanding that learning about life and choices that we can make is more significant than learning about death and statistics. The Defiance Curriculum, based upon the hit Blockbuster movie of the same name, was created by the Jewish Partisans Organization to help our students know the heroic side of how our people survived. A copy of this curriculum and resources attached to it are in the BBM curriculum and lesson plan binder. The culmination of their study should be a visit to the Vancouver Holocaust Centre.
Israel
Now that students have been introduced to Israel they are now ready to understand why the Jewish people attribute a holiness to the land. This will allow them to then understand the importance that we attribute to Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people. Knowing that the State of Israel has preserved the rights of all religions to worship in Jerusalem is important. They will learn that there was once a Temple and the only remaining piece is the outer wall of the Second Temple. Students should hear the Hatikvah and be able to recite it. Students will also learn some of the differences between Israel and Canada in terms of geography, history and culture.
Current events in Israel needs to be mentioned daily in each class. An interesting way to show a nuanced perspective to the news unfolding in Israel is to have one group of students prepare a current event from a right wing website (www.israelnationalnews.com), a centrist website, the Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com), and a leftist website www.haaretz.com). The teacher should prepare him/herself by researching an important issue in the Israeli news that will be portrayed in a different way on the websites. Ideas that are very conducive for these discussions include: settler violence, expressions of Palestinian nationalism and religious plurality/coercion in Israel. Later in the year, it is important to integrate mainstream foreign websites such as CNN and BBC as well as Arab websites such as al-Jazerra. The over arching goal of this approach is to show how different perspectives of the same issue create truth for different sides in the conflict.
Holidays
Students will understand the agricultural connection to all of the holidays. For example, Sukkot is the harvest time for wheat. The Mishnah and Gemara of the holidays should also be introduced to the students following the format of Pardes. Understanding what a pilgrimage is and why it was so important for the Jews to celebrate together in Jerusalem is an important enduring understanding.
As the oldest students, the BBM class can take the lead during holiday celebrations on Tuesdays. They will be expected to help organize the Rosh Hodesh program on Oct. 16th by explaining what Rosh Hodesh is and how the Jewish calendar works.