"Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself"
The purpose of this activity is to conduct an in-depth study of this important ethical commandment, which is the basic source for Jewish kindness and love of one's fellow man. Beyond a basic understanding of the necessity to love and respect others, this activity strives to get students to understand that self-love is also included in this commandment, and that it is a prerequisite and primary condition for being able to love others.
Read the lesson outline (PDF file)"Honor thy Father and thy Mother" – Respect for Parents
The activity's goal is to gain greater familiarity with one of the Jewish culture's most important values. The activity examines the complexities and difficulties inherent in the parent-child relationship and strives to impart the value of respect for parents as a prerequisite condition for healthy family relationships.
Read the lesson outline (PDF file)"Open Your Hand" – Charity
"The cow wants to nurse more than the calf wants to suckle" – Giving is one of man's most existential needs. This activity presents the students with a deeper view of the value of charity, including different ways and methods of kindness and giving. Participants will understand that a poor person is not only monetarily destitute, and will even practically experience giving and providing for society.
Read the lesson outline (PDF file)"Justice, and only justice you shall pursue"
This activity allows students to experience and internalize the value of laws for social justice and necessity. They will learn several of the Torah's laws of justice and become familiar with the various groups within Israeli society that are supported and protected by such laws. They will be asked how such laws are relevant to their own lives and understand how they can help apply these values.
Read the lesson outline (PDF file)"Judge your friend fairly"
In this activity students will recognize the unique point of view with which every person perceives reality and the objective limitations of this attitude. The students will experience creating a new and positive viewpoint from which they can observe reality and understand the deep value of the saying: "Always judge every person favorably."
Read the lesson outline (PDF file)The Treasures of the Talmud
The goal of this activity is to present students with the literary corpus of the Talmud, one of Jewish culture's basic and formative creations. The students will gain a basic familiarity with the structure of the Talmud and then delve deeper in studying several ethical issues using the ancient and unique "hevruta" [study partner] method. Ultimately, the students will understand how the Talmudic discourse teaches us to see in a difference of opinion and disagreement a possibility of growth and inspiration rather than a social or societal barrier or obstacle.
Read the lesson outline (PDF file)A White Night – Tikun Leil HaShavuot
Shavuot is a holiday known by numerous names and traditions, some of which will be illustrated in this workshop. We have chosen to concentrate on the tradition of “Tikkun Leil HaShavuot” which has become, over the past decade, the highlight of the Israeli celebration of the holiday. In the center of this workshop there will be an interactive Beit Midrash where children will learn about the Ten Commandments and acquire the main skills vital to the encounter with the Jewish traditional literature.
Read the lesson outline (PDF file)Heart-work – about the essence of the pray in human life
"A man can live without hope, and maybe even without truth – but not without a prayer, which is the search for both of them." (Elie Wiesel, Prayer and the Modern Man) In this workshop students will learn about various aspects prays play in human life and get to know various sides of the prays in tarbut Israel – from biblical times to our age.
Read the lesson outline (PDF file)Receiving Shabbat – about Kabbalat Shabbat
Jewish sources compare the Shabbat to a bride. As brides are received and accompanied with joy and splendor, so does the Shabbat. Traditions in which the Shabbat is received had evolved over the years. In this activity, students will get to know these traditions.
Read the lesson outline (PDF file)