An “Enduring Understanding” has lasting value beyond the classroom, is important for the students’ lives and their place in an active Jewish community. The foundations for Enduring Understandings are taught in the religious school, but the learning is intended to last a lifetime.
Our entire Kindergarten through high school curriculum is designed so that in 30 years from now, when we meet our students on the street, we will have given them the foundation to:
Torah
- Appreciate the sanctity of Torah as the holy book of the Jewish people
- Outline the major parts of Torah and Tanakh, and be familiar with the major characters, some of their stories, their relationship to one another, and their relationship to the bigger picture of the Jewish people
- Explain different theories of the origins of the Torah
- Study Torah as an ongoing source of lessons in morality and values
- Explore our biblical relationship with God
- List the 10 Commandments and major mitzvot and the role they play in the graduate’s daily life
- Define “Post-Biblical Texts” or “Rabbinic Text,” and explain its role in Jewish tradition.
- Explore various Jewish philosophies
Holidays
- Observe the holidays with family and synagogue
- Explain the historical significance of the holidays
- Explain the solar-lunar Jewish calendar
- Demonstrate knowledge of rituals and traditions associated with each Jewish holiday
- Find spiritual satisfaction in observing holidays
Values
- Exhibit Jewish values in their daily lives, recognizing their origins in Judaism
- List and explain the primary Jewish values they follow in their lives
- Celebrate and explain life-cycle events according to Jewish tradition
- Involved in tzedakah and tikkun olam throughout their lives
God
- Have a sense of God’s presence in their lives
- Describe God’s relationship with the Jewish people and all of humanity
- Explore various Jewish theology
Hebrew
- Participate in any Jewish worship services by reading Hebrew
- Understand ritually- and culturally-based Hebrew terms
- Have basic grammatical and vocabulary skills in Modern Hebrew
- Understand that Hebrew is a living language connecting Jews throughout the world and specifically with Israel
Prayer
- Explain the format of various Jewish prayer services
- Describe service choreography
- Attend Jewish services regularly
- Summarize the themes of the prayers in a Jewish prayer service
- Explain the ideological differences in the various Jewish movement’s services
People of Israel/Am Yisrael
- Actively involve themselves in the Jewish community, including synagogue affiliation
- Identify with the Jewish people as a unique community and family to which they belong
- Know an overview of the history of the Jewish people
- Discuss current events impacting the Jewish community worldwide
- Explain the ideological differences between different branches of Judaism, and state their reasons for affiliating with a particular movement
- Explore different Jewish cultures worldwide.
Land of Israel/Eretz Yisrael
- Summarize the biblical history of the land of Israel
- Describe the historical connection between the biblical Israel, the diaspora and the attainment of a modern state
- Identify the location and significance of geographical places in the biblical land of Israel
State of Israel/Medinat Yisrael
- Broadly outline the history, politics, and geography of the modern state
- Explain the importance of the modern state to Jews today
- Visit and support Israel
- Explain the role of religion in the modern state, with particular emphasis on the status of Reform Judaism