Goals - Students will:
- make connections between classic Jewish texts and Jewish values applicable to their lives today.
- become familiar with leading Jewish teachers from the beginning of the Rabbinic period through the Chasidic period
- examine issues of Jewish identity and priorities in their own lives.
- reflect on Jewish values and relationships in action throughout the Bnai Mitzvah year.
- begin to develop a personal, “adult” concept of and feelings for God.
- develop a sense of key issues, people, and events in American Jewish history.
- begin to acquire skills in Modern Hebrew including vocabulary, grammar and practical conversational skills while gaining exposure to today’s Israeli culture.
- be able to say and write a few sentences of “spontaneous” Hebrew
Topics:
- Mitzvot (commandments) Bein Adam V’ Chavero (between people) and Bein Adam V’Makom (between people and God):
- Study of the teachings of Pirkei Avot
- Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah: “Laws of Being a Mensch”
- Tzedakah, G’milut Chasadim (Acts of Kindness), Tikkun olam (Repairing the World)
- Torah text and Torah portions
- American Jewish historical experience
- Modern Hebrew and Israeli Culture
