Shavuot Leil Iyun (Evening of Learning) Project
Date: Trimester 3, 2019-2020
Teachers: Rabbi Tavi Koslowe & Rabbi Zachary Rothblatt
Grade: 9th
Subjects: Beit Midrash
(Note: This project was done exclusively in a virtual school environment due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.)
Project Description:
As a culmination of our 9th grade unit on Tzedek U’Mishpat [justice and righteousness], students worked in groups of five to synthesize relevant Torah and secular source materials into engaging Google Slide presentations on complex modern topics. Each group then used their Google Slides to lead a shiur [Torah lesson] on their topic through Zoom for parents, classmates and community guests as a Pre-Shavuot Leil Iyun program.
Essential Questions:
How are personal and communal wellbeing balanced when determining ethical policy?
How can Judaic texts inform a discussion about modern day life/death values?
Content:
Close textual reading of sources from Torah, Navi, Talmud, Rishonim and Achronim [medieval and modern Jewish commentaries] as we learned and discussed:
Based on the sources that students learned from the source sheets above, they prepared Shiurim on the following topics:
Skills:
Project Deliverables:
Google Slide Presentation
As a culmination of our 9th grade unit on Tzedek U’Mishpat [justice and righteousness], students worked in groups of five to synthesize relevant Torah and secular source materials into engaging Google Slide presentations on complex modern topics. Each group then used their Google Slides to lead a shiur [Torah lesson] on their topic through Zoom for parents, classmates and community guests as a Pre-Shavuot Leil Iyun program.
Essential Questions:
How are personal and communal wellbeing balanced when determining ethical policy?
How can Judaic texts inform a discussion about modern day life/death values?
Content:
Close textual reading of sources from Torah, Navi, Talmud, Rishonim and Achronim [medieval and modern Jewish commentaries] as we learned and discussed:
- The Case of Sheva ben Bichri (Sacrificing one person to save many others)
- Whose Blood is Redder? (To kill or be killed?)
- Lifeboat Ethics (How is triage determined in Halacha [Jewish law]?)
- Balancing my Risk and Responsibility (How much risk can I take in order to save another person?)
- End-of-Life Ethics
Based on the sources that students learned from the source sheets above, they prepared Shiurim on the following topics:
- Kidney Donations and Jewish Law
- The Ethics of Warfare
- Abortion and Jewish Law
- Self-Driving Cars and Jewish Law
Skills:
- Acclimate to and utilize the Chavruta [learning in partnership] protocol
- Develop comfort in accessing sources and creating source sheets on Sefaria
- Develop collaborative skills as students work together and share responsibility for the content and quality of their presentation
- Develop comfort in public speaking as each group will lead a shiur on zoom.
- Develop an understanding of and appreciation for the historical progression of Torah sources
- Recognize the relevance of Torah sources to complex modern-day situations
- Develop an appreciation for the many ways in which we are the beneficiaries of others risking their lives for our wellbeing
Project Deliverables:
Google Slide Presentation
- Each group of 5 students was responsible for creating a Google Slide Presentation for their shiur that included at least 5 sources that we had studied.
- The presentation of sources must allow for a meaningful flow of information and indicate a clear understanding of that source’s relevance to the topic.
- Each individual student was responsible for the content of, at least, one of those slides.
- Each group of 5 students was responsible for delivering a 10-15 minute shiur on their assigned topic
- Each individual student was responsible for the delivery of, at least, one part of that shiur.
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