conference on rabbinic education

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Teaching Rabbinics in Schechter SchoolsJune 26, 2007

Program Schedule9:30 a.m. Arrival, registration and coffee and light refreshmentsRoom 310

10:00 a.m. Keynote by Rabbi Gordon Tucker. "A Challenge to Teach, BeitKnesset but Perilous to Ignore: Why Talmud and Midrash

Demand our Curricular Attention"A reflection on the experience of encountering Talmud as a child, and studying andteaching it as an adult. Why Rabbinic literature is not only a massive source forJewish knowledge in its content, but also a critical intellectual model in its form.

11:00 a.m. Short break

11:15 12:30 p.m. First session (4 concurrent sessions)

1. Rabbi Elliott GoldbergChicagoland Jewish Day School, ILRoom 309

Rabbinics: The Connections between Why We Teach, Whom We Teach and WhatWe Teach.Drawing from the Orientations approach of Barry Holtz (Textual Knowledge) and fromthe pedagogic content knowledge concept of Lee Schulman, we will look at theassumptions that we make about the purpose of teaching Rabbinics and what we knowabout our students. These will serve as building blocks toward formulating a well-

reasoned approach to curriculum development. In this session participants will reflectupon our own work settings and how the school environment impacts on structuringcurriculum. (It is recommended that those choosing to attend this session read thechapters by Holtz and Schulman in advance, although it is not mandatory.)

2. Rabbi Scott BoltonReuben Gittelman Hebrew Day School, NYRabbi Sheryl Katzman, co-facilitatorSSDS of Metropolitan Chicago, Northbrook, ILRoom 312

Building on "Bonayich" - Adopting the Torah Sheh B'Al Peh Upper Elementaryand Middle School "ready-made" Vishinantam Curriculum - Why This One?Come hear why our schools are adopting the Bonayich V'Shinantam curricula.Stretched over three, four or five years (4-8, 5-8, or 6-8), the curriculum stresses bothskill acquisition and content knowledge. A goal of the curriculum, as it stands, is thatstudents will gain fluency in identifying the layers of rabbinic texts. Committingcertain mishnayotto memory is also an element of the program. As we are adopting thecurriculum, we are exploring ways to make it uniquely fit our schools, while at the sametime taking advantage of the workbooks, teachers' guides and approaches defined by

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the creators. We will show some sample pages, share some of their hopes andmethods, and talk about our own approaches to implementation.

3. Dr. Cathy LasserSSDS of Essex & Union, NJ

Room 313

Brit: A Meeting Place for Psychology and Rabbinics. From Halachah toAgadah,Midrash and liturgy, ourMkorotare informed with a profound understanding ofindividual consciousness. The role ofBrit, mutuality in our relationship with God andour heritage, is central to our discipline. Dr. Cathy Lasser, with PhDs in both Jewishphilosophy and psychology, will share her perspective on applying psychology to Jewishthought. Through drama, discussion, and self-awareness exercises, she aims to helpstudents find and read the texts of their hearts as well as the texts of our sources.

4. Amanda PoganySolomon Schechter School of Manhattan, NYRoom 314

How to Make Talmud Accessible to students and how to develop their skills tobecome independent Talmud learners. We will explore how to present material thatfeels inaccessible to students both because of content as well as complexity. We willdiscuss how presentation, key terms and structures can make the text more accessibleto students as well as give them skills to become independent Talmud learners.Strategies that help students to understand the structure of a sugya will be shared,including visual representations of Talmudic arguments and identifying key terms tounpack a text.

12:30 1:15 p.m. Working Lunch Room 310-311

Sara Stave will present the new siddurthat she has developed. Those interested inlearning more about it will have lunch together in Room 312.

People wishing to share curriculum materials from their school, will have lunch togetherin Room 311.

1:15 2:30 p.m. Second session (4 concurrent sessions)

1. Benjamin Mann, FacilitatorSolomon Schechter School of Manhattan, NYRabbi Matthew Bellas, The Brandeis School, NY, will present a dilemma for theconsultancy protocol.Room 309

Making Talmud RelevantThis session will be conducted as a consultancy protocol and the participants willgrapple with issues raised by a specific case study. All students are required to study

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Talmud and some really take to it. Year after year, however, some students are turnedoff by the esoteric content, difficult language, or complicated logic. They do not see the"opinions" of ancient Rabbis as being relevant to their own lives. Students who findmodern literature or other coursework more compelling are prioritizing those classesover Talmud. In addition, some parents send their children the message, whether

implicitly or explicitly, that Talmud class is not as important as general studies.

2. Michele Kwitkin-Close,South Area Solomon Schechter Day School, MARoom 312

What Is "Oral Torah"?(Curriculum Design)This session will present a thematic approach to teaching Torah She-B'al Pehto middle school students. We will sketch a year-long curriculum that includesseminal texts about the nature and scope of rabbinic authority as well as severalsub-units that trace the development ofhalakhah from Written Torah to Oral Torah. We

will explore how our choice of essential questions about Rabbinics guides our choice oftexts. The focus of this session will be on the content of the curriculum (i.e., which textsshould we teach?), but some attention will also be paid to presentation of materials,particularly with a focus on differentiated instruction.

3. Rabbi Shira Johnston,Solomon Schechter Upper School of Essex & Union, NJRoom 313

Text Methodology: An issue we all face is journeying with our students fromcomprehension to meaning. A Rabbinics teacher must be prepared to equip students to

engage text in many dimensions: from Hebrew grammar and vocabulary to historical,comparative and literary analysis and finally to a realization that Torah speaks to eachof us. In her teaching, Rabbi Shira Johnston combines rigorous skills development withconnections to the affective modality through humor, contemporary and classicalperspectives ranging from Hasidic thought to the New York Times. She will share withus her personal approach to empowering students to find inspiration in our classicalsources.

4. Moshe RudinSolomon Schechter Day School of Essex & Union, NJEd Zinbarg, a lay leader who helped to develop this program, will participate.Room 314

Tzedek, tzedek tirdofTaking the Tikkun Olam project to the next level, SSDS of Essex and Union is currentlypiloting a Bar/Bat Mitzvah program that encompasses community resources, local shulsand Rabbis, student empowerment and intensive text study. The Gil Mitzvotprogram isa work in progress in Jewish transformation of the middle school. Share yourperspectives on integrating community, federation and formal and informal pedagogy.

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2:30 3:00 p.m. Minha and snack Room 310-311

3:00 4:00 p.m. Dr. Elaine Cohen, "Chalk Talk"

Wrap-up session (bringing it all together, revisiting the big pictureissues, and planning next steps)Beit KnessetDr. Robert Abramson, USCJ Department of EducationRabbi Amanda Brodie, Ezra Academy, CTDr. Jon Levisohn, Mandel Center, Brandeis UniversityRabbi Harry Pell, Solomon Schechter Upper School of Westchester, NY

Lhitraot!

4:00 6:00 p.m. Meeting of the SREL Fellows (Rabbis who are SchechterResidency in Educational Leadership Fellows or alumni)Room 310

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