This lesson focuses on eight levels of tzedakah (charity) that were identified by a great Jewish thinker known as Rabbi Moses Maimonides. Students will investigate various ways to give charity and gain an appreciation of how people give of their time, talent or treasure. They will...
This lesson will introduce learners to a number of texts from classical and modern sources on the topic of how the work of tikun olam is to be performed. From these texts, the learners will derive rules for Jewish living and apply those rules, along with input from family members, to...
Nonprofit organizations contribute to the common good and social capital of the community by supporting the arts. Students role-play as members of the board of a philanthropic organization focused on the arts. They create a plan to bring the arts to the children of the community, enhancing the...
In this lesson students collaborate within their groups to bring their project and solution to fruition. This solution will be revised and practiced several times before it is presented and implemented.
The learners will review the tolerance skills/characteristics necessary to discern and promote tolerance. They will also identify situations that call for tolerance in their daily lives.
This lesson will teach the basic Biblical laws of Tza’ar Ba’alei Chaim (the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) the rationale that supports these laws, and practical applications of these laws in today’s world. The learner will participate in a class project aimed to assist community...
This lesson will familiarize the learners with basic laws of charity (tzedakah) in Biblical literature. Through laws and stories, students will begin to understand the level of importance that the Bible places on acts of charity (tzedakah), specifically as it relates to...
This lesson will teach Maimonides’ (Rambam’s) Eight Levels of Charity as quoted in the Mishneh Torah, his book of Jewish laws and concepts. The learner will understand the Eight Levels of Charity, the reasons behind the hierarchy, and how these levels apply to today’s...
Our lives are the results of billions of decisions. Not only the big decisions – law school or skydiving classes, but the small decisions as well – do you greet someone or pass by? Do you extend a helping hand or the back of it? What we decide determines the course of lives, the content of our...
This lesson emphasizes that each individual must take action. After reflecting upon all that they learned earlier in the unit, students will have the opportunity to plan and execute a tikkun olam project of their choosing to help the local community.