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Goals for
University Synagogue Religious School
5770 / 2009-2010 |
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| Katantan/Pre-School: |
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end of their Kantanan year, families will… |
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Gain familiarity with
Jewish holidays and the basic rituals associated
with them. |
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Establish a positive connection with the
Religious School. |
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Become closer to their
parents through exploration of Jewish life
together. |
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Make friends and help create a synagogue family. |
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| Gan/Kindergarten: |
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end of their Gan year, students will… |
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Gain familiarity with
and a knowledge of Jewish holidays, symbols,
and concepts. |
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Be able to locate and identify key synagogue
objects and explain various roles of people
in the synagogue community. |
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Know key Torah stories
from the book of Genesis and how they relate to their lives. |
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Apply the Jewish values
found in Torah and holidays to their own
lives. |
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Be able to identify
Hebrew letters and their sounds. |
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Chant the following
prayers, and know when they are to be recited:
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Motzi |
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Kiddush (Borei
P’ri Ha-gafen) |
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Sh’ma |
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Shabbat candles |
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Hanukkah
candles |
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Shehecheyanu |
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| Alef/1st grade: |
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end of their Alef year, students will… |
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Be able to recount
the stories and identify the symbols of
each major Jewish holiday. |
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Understand that the
Torah is told/read in a cycle and express
how those stories relate to their lives. |
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Connect with the land
of Israel. |
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Begin to discuss ideas
about God. |
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Recognize Hebrew letters
and their sounds. |
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Understand and recite
the order of the prayers for Shabbat evening
(candles, Kiddush, Motzi). |
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Be able to recite the Barchu and
the Shema. |
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| Bet/2nd grade: |
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end of their Bet year, students will… |
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Explore Jewish value
concepts and apply them to their own actions. |
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Gain personal meaning
from study of values, family, and holidays.
Consider what values to practice. (i.e.
covenant, g’milut chasadim, derech
eretz, mitzvot, lashon hara, kavod, teva,
pikuach nefesh, etc.). |
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Begin to explore Hebrew
writing/sound making/word building. |
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Be able to retell the
story behind each Jewish holiday. |
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Identify differences
between American and Israeli food through
cooking traditional Israeli treats. |
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Chant the following prayers, and know when
they are to be recited: |
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Borei P’ri
ha-eitz |
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Borei p’ri
ha-adamah |
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Passover blessings
and four questions (Mah Nishtanah) |
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| Gimel/3rd grade: |
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end of their Gimel year, students will… |
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Develop Hebrew speaking
and reading skills. |
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Relate the importance
of Hebrew as the language of Israel, the
Jews, some prayer, and Torah. |
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Identify Jewish values
in practice and explain personal choices
in “Jewish” terms. |
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Apply holiday knowledge
to personal holiday practice. |
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Discuss holiday celebration
in a modern context. |
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Recognize Hebrew vowels
and their sounds. |
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Retell the story of
the founding of Israel and explain its significance
in their lives. |
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Ask and discuss big questions about God. |
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Understand that our concepts of God are
constantly developing and changing. |
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Recognize that Judaism acknowledges a multitude
of theological ideas under the umbrella of "there is one God." |
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| Daled/4th grade: |
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end of their Daled year, students will… |
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Decipher Torah narrative according to patterns
and clues in the text. |
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Synthesize Torah and value knowledge to
express how one can emulate Torah, and how/why
one would or would not want to do so. |
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Locate important historical sites in Israel,
and explain their biblical significance. |
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Understand that Jewish values are part of
our rich Jewish heritage, woven into folk
tales and biblical stories. |
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Create a personal code of ethics incorporating
Jewish values as a guide to ethical living. |
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Chant/recite to the following prayers: |
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Be able to recognize and define key Hebrew
word roots (i.e. bet-resh-chaf, shin-mem-ayin,
etc.) |
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Be able to explain that the Barchu is a
call and response prayer that readies individuals
both to pray and to belong to a prayer community. |
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Demonstrate and explain
the reasoning behind any prayer choreography
in the Barchu, Sh’ma, and V’Ahavta.
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Understand that Yotzer
Or is a prayer about creation that we read
only in the morning service. |
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Explain the metaphor
of “light” in the Yotzer Or,
and determine individually which metaphor
has the most personal meaning. |
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Interpret the idea
of love in Ahavah Rabah and analyze ways
they show love to others, and feel loved.
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Recall that the Torah
is one of the ways that God shows love to
the Jews. |
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Identify the Shema as the most important prayer in the prayer
service and explain its significance. |
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Discuss how the Shema and V’Ahavta moves us from God’s
love into actions, and will demonstrate
how to “live” that God is one. |
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Understand that the Mi Chamochah is about
the redemption of Israel, and name where the
prayer came from. |
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Rank the prayers learned in order of personal
importance, and explain their list. |
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Explore their personal connection to prayer
through written journals. |
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| Hey/5th grade: |
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end of their Hey year, students will… |
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Become familiar with
Jewish lifecycle and explain Jewish milestones
and their personal meaning. |
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Combine knowledge of
Torah narrative with creativity and imagination
to delve into deeper meaning/rabbinic understanding. |
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Understand that Jews
around the world have different holiday
food traditions and practice preparing various
holiday foods. |
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Gain understanding
and appreciation of major cities and areas
in Israel. |
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Be able to locate major
cities and areas in Israel on a map. |
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Chant/recite the following
prayers: |
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Be able to recognize
and define key Hebrew word roots |
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Demonstrate and explain
the reasoning behind any prayer choreography
in the Avot V’Imahot, G’vurot, and K’dushah.
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Understand that the
Amidah is a series of prayers that work
in a certain order. |
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Explain that in the
Amidah we praise God, ask God for things,
and thank God. |
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Interpret that through
the Avot V’Imahot, we remember our
ancestors and connect to God through our
families. |
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Weigh the value of
hesed described in the the Avot V’Imahot.
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Identify the G’vurot as a prayer where we value God’s power. |
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Demonstrate ways we
can be like God, according to the G’vurot. |
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Explain that the K’dushah is in many ways the climax of a service. |
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Remember that some
of the K’dushah relates experiences
that our prophets had with God. |
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Discuss how God’s
holiness becomes real through our own holy
actions. |
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Evaluate how each student
is holy, and how he/she can perform holy
acts. |
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| Vav/6th grade: |
| At the
end of their Vav year, students will… |
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Identify various prophets and their messages. |
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Evaluate personal
and societal actions regarding prophetic
messages: what are we doing "right,"
what can we do better? |
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Understand key characters in American Jewish
history and evaluate their contribution to
the Jewish community and American society. |
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Be able to identify the various religions
and cultures represented in Israel and explain
how their presence impacts the country. |
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Connect the biblical past of Israel to the
modern-day present Israel. |
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Further cultivate a relationship with the
state of Israel. |
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Evaluate and discuss challenges in Israel
(i.e. environmental, land, religious, etc.) |
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Know the history of Israel and express personal opinion regarding controversial moments in Israel's founding and development. |
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Chant/recite the following
prayers: |
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Torah Service
– blessings for before and
after Torah and Haftarah readings
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Aleinu |
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Mourners' Kaddish |
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Havdallah blessings |
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Be able to recognize and define key Hebrew word roots. |
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Demonstrate and explain the reasoning behind
any prayer choreography in the Aleinu and Mourner’s Kaddish. |
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Understand that the Torah is a source of
life and strength for Jews. |
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Explain why reading the Torah is like going
“up.” |
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Recognize that by reciting the Torah blessings
they put themselves at the moment that the
Torah was given to Israel. |
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Judge how the Torah is a gift to the Jewish
people. |
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Explain why reading the Haftarah parallels
reading the Torah. |
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Know that Aleinu is a summarizing
theological statement at the end of our services. |
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Describe how Aleinu acknowledges
what God has done for us. |
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Evaluate the idea of chosenness, as explained
in the Aleinu.
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Analyze our responsibility to do tikkun olam (heal the world) as it is expressed in Aleinu..
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Identify why the Mourner’s Kaddish
is a prayer to comfort those in mourning. |
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State that the Mourner’s Kaddish
is a prayer in Aramaic, not Hebrew. |
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Describe why the Mourner’s Kaddish
can bring communities together. |
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Understand that Havdallah is the
ceremony that transitions us from Shabbat
to the rest of the week. |
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Explain the various symbols we use in the
Havdallah service. |
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Discuss what it means to be holy and ordinary. |
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| Mechinah/7th grade: |
| At the
end of their Mechinah year, students will… |
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Identify challenging
issues in holiday practice. |
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Explain personal meaning
behind celebrating various holidays. |
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Develop leadership
skills in communal participation: |
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Leading t’filah
(both in and out of the Religious
School) |
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Performing
hands-on tikkun olam (healing
the world) projects |
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Assessing
a variety of charitable agencies
and deciding where to donate funds
collected through the Religious
School tzedakah fund. |
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Understand and relate
personal responsibility in making the world
a better place. |
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Identify major events
in Holocaust history. |
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Review all prayers
already learned for meaning and fluency.
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Identify key historical figures both in
Jewish history and in the founding of the
state of Israel. |
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Name and summarize a number of the books
of Writings. |
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Be able to debate big questions about God,
faith, and the afterlife. |
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Read basic modern Hebrew conversations. |
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Practice Hebrew reading through reading Hebrew children's books. |
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Feel a part of the Tichon (high school)
program, and build community with post b’nei
mitzvah students. |
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| Tichon/High School: |
| At the
end of the Tichon experience, students will… |
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Have a chevre
(social friend group) of other Jews. |
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Feel a connection to
Judaism. |
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Develop a deeper understanding
of a variety of topics including God, Torah,
morals and ethics, and history. |
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Have a positive Jewish
identity and be able to express their personal
practice and beliefs. |
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Explore their “core
selves” as they relate to their Jewish world
around them. |
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| Goals for Shira (Music): |
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To foster a sense of
enjoyment, appreciation, pride of Jewish
music. |
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To connect to Judaism
through Jewish music. |
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To be “literate”
in music of the Reform movement and camps.
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To increase students’
interest in Hebrew and Judaica studies.
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To connect students
to Judaism and the Jewish narrative through
different senses and modalities of learning
than the typical classroom. |
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| Goals for Rikud (Dance): |
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To teach students basic
body movement skills. |
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To give students a
sense of community and community involvement.
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To connect students
to Israel. |
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To appeal to different
learning styles in the student community.
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To connect students
to Judaism and the Jewish narrative through
different senses and modalities of learning
than the typical classroom. |
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To demonstrate for students that Israel
is a diverse nation. |
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To teach world and Jewish history through
an alternative modality of learning. |
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