Zayin (Seventh Grade) - Curriculum

Components of Zayin include the following:

Prayer Tefillah

Students will lead the congregation’s Sunday morning minyan on a weekly basis. In the Afternoon Tefillah Lab, students will continue mastering the prayers that they will recite at their Bar / Bat Mitzvah, respond to the meaning of those prayers, and reflect upon them in their electronic journals.

Hebrew Bible TaNaCH

Students will evaluate key concepts and questions related to weekly Torah portions as a class, and individually for their Bar / Bat Mitzvah portions. In the intensive Torah Portion Lab, students will learn the art of interpreting the Torah and will reflect in their electronic journals.

After each student completes his/her Bar / Bat Mitzvah, he/she will assist classmates during the individualized time. Rabbi Newman Kamin and Cantor Simon will meet with students individually to prepare their D’var Torah and work on their Torah and Haftarah chanting.

Israel

Students will focus on current events in and concerning Israel, learning how to filter and properly navigate the media. Students will take leadership roles in commemorating Yitzhak Rabin and Yom HaZikaron, and in celebrating Yom Ha’atzma’ut.

Classroom-to-Classroom

Under the auspices of Chicago-based organization Shorashim, studentrs will participate in a partnership with the Shalon School in Kiryat Gat, Israel. This password-protected Internet-based interaction will give Zayin students the opportunity to blog, share videos and pictures, and learn about peer students in that Israeli community.

Hebrew Ivrit

Students will apply the skills they have learned in the Tefillah and TaNaCH components into their overall lexicon of Hebrew abilities.

Holidays

Students will reflect upon each holiday in their electronic journals, and will lead some holiday celebrations and commemorations. Students will blog and share videos about those celebrations with students from the Shalon School under the Classroom-to-Classroom program.

Comparative Religion

Students will learn the difference and relationship between beliefs and practices; and will compare and contrast Jewish beliefs and practices with those of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism, including those concerning detities, holy texts, prayers, denominations, celebrations, and life cycle events. Students will recognize and respond to six fundamental Jewish beliefs: God, the Torah, mitzvot, the Convenants, Ahavat Yisrael, and the Messiah.

Tikkun Olam

Students will reflect upon causes with the guidance of the JUF and JChoice websites, and incorporate skills and concepts from their classroom learning as they attend field trips to the Ark and the Robineau Home.

Current Events

Students will reflect on current events in and concerning Israel, as well as news with implications for the Jewish community in Chicago and around the world.

The Holocaust and Genocide

Students will develop an understanding of the Holocaust, culminating in a field trip to the Illinois Holocaust Museum.