Jewish Text

Toshba

The Middle School Toshba/Oral Torah, Rabbinics program introduces students to the world of Rabbinic literature. We focus on themes, language, and the unique approach and structure of Rabbinic literature. Students learn how the Oral Torah is related to, and derives from, the Written Torah, and teaches modern day Jews ways of observance based on laws of the Torah. In each year, students learn selections from different Masechtot/Tractates of Mishna and Talmud and over time, build capacity for parsing, decoding and interpreting the legal language of the Talmud and later Rabbinic texts. In tandem with the technical skills they build, students delve into the contemporary applications and implications of the texts they study, mining them for personal meaning and relevance.

Core Skills
  • Decode, interpret and apply the teachings of the Talmud to their developing and evolving Jewish identities and practices
  • Understand, navigate and cite key Rabbinic texts
  • Articulate and demonstrate the relationship between the Written and Oral Torahs
  • Build a lexicon of Rabbinic terminology and vocabulary
  • Appreciate and model the values and practices of Machloket/constructive conflict
  • Grow confidence in engaging with, interpreting and applying Rabbinic discourse
  • Engage with text in collaboration with a hevrutah/study partner
Themes of the Curriculum

6th Grade: Toshba 6 - From Torah to Toshba
Who I am in my various communities
Clarifying my personal values and how I express them
How the physical and other spaces I inhabit reflect values and functions  .

7th Grade: Toshba 7 - The Rabbis and Their Teachings
How our relationship with the Divine reflects our relationships with each other
How our words impact others
How the structure of Shas communicates our system of Jewish values.
 
8th Grade: Jewish Identities
Understanding my place within the greater Jewish world
Creating space to address the “big” Jewish questions that are engaged in the contemporary world
Building skills to analyze and extrapolate meaning from Jewish texts.

Talmud 8 
Introduces in-depth Talmud study to students
Explores the development of Jewish law from the Tanakh through the modern world
Develops translation, decoding, and comprehension skills based on original Hebrew and Aramaic texts.

Tanakh

The Middle School Tanakh curriculum is designed to enhance and solidify student learning about the Torah, and introduce them to the second section of Tanakh, called Prophets, or Neviim. Our focus is on building the skills of both Bekiut, understanding of the breadth and broad themes and organization of Torah, as well as Be-iyyun, the in-depth decoding, translation and analysis of the text. We begin in 6th grade, at “the beginning” with the Creation narrative and complete a survey of Torah in the first semester. In the second semester, students study the first two book of Neviim: Joshua (Yehoshua) and Judges (Shoftim). In 7th & 8th grades, students study the narratives of I and II Samuel; they learn about and engage in a critical study of the transition of the nation of Israel from individual charismatic leaders to a centralized monarchy through the lens of the dynamic, compelling personalities of the first Kings of Israel. In addition to students developing their own voice and perspective with regard to the text, in 7th 8th grades students are increasingly challenged to refine and sharpen their ideas through the engagement with classical and modern commentaries on the text. Throughout all three years of Middle School, heavy emphasis is placed on growing student confidence and ownership in navigating through, finding, and citing chapter and verse throughout the corpus of the Tanakh. 

Core Skills
  • Value the Tanakh as the living, breathing, central narrative of the Jewish people
  • Identify and contextualize “big ideas” within the text and relate them to contemporary life
  • Recognize names of sections within Tanakh, names of texts, key characters, themes and places in the narrative
  • Ability to put key events of narrative in chronological order
  • Decode and translate Hebrew text
  • Navigate entire text of Tanakh: identify, find and cite key verses
  • Ability to recognize patterns within specific narratives and analyze the connections between related parts of text.
  • Engage with text in collaboration with a hevrutah/study partners
Themes  of the Curriculum

6th Grade: Tanakh 6: Genesis to Judges
Starting and Starting Over
Building a People, Building a Nation
Models of Leadership

7th Grade: Tanakh 7: I Samuel
Defying Norms
What makes an Effective Leader?
Finding Success in Failure and Failure in Success

8th Grade: Tanakh 8: II Samuel
Navigating Complex Relationships
Biblical Leaders as Role Models
Challenges of Autonomy