Jewish Text

The High School Jewish Text curriculum is designed to challenge and enrich the minds and neshamot (spirits) of students as they grow in their development as Jews. The wide variety of courses seek to connect Jewish texts - from the Tanakh to the Talmud to medieval commentators to modern Jewish thinkers - to the lives of students by engaging their intellects, their experiences, and their passions. Combining academic rigor and personal exploration, teachers work with students from diverse Jewish backgrounds and with a range of familiarity and textual expertise to build their ability to analyze Jewish texts. Encouraged by teachers to do increasingly independent analysis as they progress through the curriculum, students expand and deepen their tools of textual analysis to draw out ancient and contemporary meaning from our rich treasury of tradition.

After completing required courses during 9th grade in both Tanakh and Toshba (Rabbinics), students can choose from an array of diverse courses for their Judaics distribution requirements. Some courses focus on building textual skills in Hebrew, while others work with texts in both Hebrew and English translation and focus on thematic elements in the tradition. Students can select classes that allow them to pursue their interests while developing an enhanced skill set to navigate, reflect on, and share forward their Jewish education as they find their way in the Jewish community in the future.