Temple David Weiger Religious School
Our VALUEable Year
Fundamental Ideas
- As Jews, we are commanded to make a difference in the world.
- Judaism teaches that actions have primacy over study.
- A text is sacred because of its basis in Jewish values.
- Reform Judaism is based in the prophetic pursuit of justice.
- One avenue for deepening a relationship with God is through Acts of Loving kindness.
- Repairing the world is an act that anyone of any age can and must do.
- What makes values Jewish as opposed to universal is the context and history behind them
| Grade Clusters | 5784/2023-24 |
|---|---|
| Pre-K to 2 | Climbing the Ladder of Tzedakah Hebrew |
| 3 to 5 | The Recipe for Making a Mensch Hebrew |
| 6 to 7 | Soul Traits: Values from the Inside Out Hebrew |
| 8 to 10 | Translating Value-laden Words into Deeds So What’s a Reform Jew? |
Climbing the Ladder of Tzedakah
Pre-K-2nd Grades
| Pre-K | 5783-4/2023-4 |
| To be a Jew is to actively live our values including visiting the sick, welcoming strangers, and giving money or time to individuals and organizations that need our help. Through Torah stories and stories spanning our tradition, students will learn how to enact our Jewish values and then put those values into action. They will also come to understand the difference between Gemilut Chasadim (Acts of Loving indness), whose beneficiaries are all-inclusive and Tzedakah, whose recipients are in need of financial assistance. The more we learn, the more we work together, the more we repair our world.
The focus of our school-wide holiday celebrations will be on the values associated with them such as feeding the hungry for Yom Kippur and welcoming the stranger for Sukkot. |
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Evidence of Understanding:
- Students will be able to share the lessons from values-based stories of our people.
- Students will recite – or sing! – the Hebrew alphabet in order and name a value-based word for each letter.
- Students will be able to differentiate between Gemilut Chasadim which refers to acts of loving kindness that anyone can perform for anyone else including visiting the sick, welcoming a stranger, invitations to celebrate holidays together and providing comfort, and Tzedakdah which is a financial contribution targeted to help a fellow human being, animals, the earth, Israel, research, etc.
- Students will share examples of when they do acts of lovingkindness and when they give tzedakah.
- Students will enact specific Jewish values through observance of each of our holidays
The Recipe for Making a Mensch
3rd-5th Grades
| 3rd-5th | 5783-4/2023-4 |
| What is a mensch and how can I become one? A mensch is a good person; a person of integrity who cares about and respects others and who does their best to live their values in all circumstances. The recipe to become a mensch is a blend of being a mensch to yourself, learning from our commandments, traditions, and stories, meeting other mensches throughout Jewish history and practice. The secret ingredient is the inner work of middot, virtues (or a creative translation: soul traits) such as: generosity, self-discipline, humility, and patience.
The focus of our school-wide holiday celebrations will be on the values associated with them such as feeding the hungry for Yom Kippur and welcoming the stranger for Sukkot. |
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Evidence of Understanding:
- Students will translate “mensch” as a good, respectful person of integrity who lives their values in all circumstances.
- Students will explain that the bases for Jewish values are commandments, traditions, stories, meeting other mensches.
- Students will translate “Mitzvah” as “commandment” not “good deed” understanding that being commanded with regards to ethics holds more weight than choice.
- Students will be able to translate “middot” into “virtues” or “soul traits” and give examples of them.
- Students will be able to read some or all of Elu D’varim in Hebrew and give concrete examples of each value within Elu D’varim such that they can live them
- Students will give examples of actions they have taken which could be called “menschlekeit.”
Soul Traits: Values from the Inside Out
6th-7th Grades
| 6th-7th | 5783-4/2023-4 |
| Bringing the commandments to life begins with our inner selves. Jewish tradition guides us as to how to live as mensches through living a life of middot (Jewish virtues) creatively translated as “soul traits” including humility, how to be a friend, how to speak appropriately and pursuing peace. Middot will be studied through texts, stories from our people and examples in ancient and modern life. Most importantly, Jewish values will be brought to life through action.
The focus of our school-wide holiday celebrations will be on the values associated with them such as feeding the hungry for Yom Kippur and welcoming the stranger for Sukkot. |
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Evidence of Understanding:
- Students can define middot as “virtues” or “soul traits”
- Students will be able to list middot such as: humility, rules of deportment, being slow to anger, friendship, honoring parents, when life is at stake, pursuing peace, the ethics of language, repairing the world, rebuke, repentance, being kind to animals, tzedakah, love your neighbor as yourself
- Middot could be considered the mortar between the “bricks” of mitzvot
- Leading a full Jewish life includes living by both the mitzvot and middot
- Students will give concrete examples from their own lives of living by middot
- Specific Jewish values are lived through each of our holidays
Translating Value-laden Words into Deeds
8th-10th Grades
| 8th-10th | 5783-4/2023-4 |
| Jewish values are the way in which our commandments, traditions, historical experience, and heroes guide us to conduct ourselves every day in every context. Ancient and modern rabbis, theologians, philosophers, and scholars teach us about Jewish values but it is only when we explore, internalize, apply our skills and prioritize them that we live them.
The focus of our school-wide holiday celebrations will be on the values associated with them such as feeding the hungry for Yom Kippur and welcoming the stranger for Sukkot. |
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Evidence of Understanding:
- Students will be able to list ways in which various values can be enacted each and every day
- Students will share personal experiences of living Jewish values including judging others fairly, gratitude, civility, and humility
- Students will be able to articulate the importance not of intellectually knowing a value but of prioritizing living it
- Students will be able to explain that what makes values Jewish as opposed to universal is the context and history behind them
So What’s a Reform Jew?
8th-10th Grades
| 8th-10th | 5783-4/2023-4 |
| Our Union for Reform Judaism defines Reform Judaism this way (urj.org):
Throughout history, the Jewish people have remained firmly rooted in Jewish tradition – and yet, since its earliest days, Reform Judaism has asserted that a Judaism frozen in time cannot coexist effectively with those who live in modern times. In this way, Reform Judaism has enabled the Jewish people to introduce innovation while preserving tradition; to embrace diversity while asserting commonality; to affirm beliefs without rejecting those who doubt; and to bring faith to sacred texts without sacrificing critical scholarship. Using this as our guide, we will consider what it means to be a Reform Jew today regarding theology, practice, study, social action, and social justice. |
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Evidence of Understanding:
- Students will be able to trace the history of Reform Judaism and what factors led to its creation
- Students will be able to articulate different understandings of belief in God and theology and in the origins of our sacred texts including their own
- Students will expand upon their own Jewish practice
- Students will be able to describe the state of Reform Judaism today regarding its demographics as well as its priorities
- Students will create a self-definition of what it means for them to be a Reform Jew in terms of belief, practice, study and repairing the world
All students will study Hebrew on an age appropriate level using the Mitkadem self-paced curriculum.