Anna Fein ,
Lukstein Center

Jewish Internet – to the teacher

In spite of the explicit prohibition of the Internet put by the leading Israel rabbis, Jewish Internet will definitely see its bright future. Unlike communism, this bright future is inevitable, as the main idea of the Internet is blood-related with the very essence of the Jewish culture.

The window of a browser– the program, which sends the treasures of the Net to your personal computer - is opening in front of you. What is often seen in the window of a browser when you enter any (not obligatory Jewish) site? You see a text, but not just a text, but a HYPERTEXT, broadened by means of electronic links, which lead to other web pages. You have "stepped" with your mouse on the marked word and have seen that the arrow on the screen has changed into five-fingered palm, like a "khamsa", which symbolizes soul in the culture of Oriental Jews. Now push the left button of your mouse. The link has done it – you have found the similar word in another text.

It is exactly this way that the Torah is arranged. Indeed, it is the oldest hypertext in the world, which existed long before the Internet. "Pushing" on any of its word leads to another page of the Torah, to a Midrash, or a comment. The "buttons", which open the links – this role is played in the Torah not only by the verses "pasuks", but also by just separate letters, voicings and even the strokes of the crowns on the letters! Let me give one simple example: the word "teivah" – meaning the ark in the story about Noah "opens the link" to the story about rescuing Moshe, as the basket, in which the latter was put by his mother, was also named "teivah".

Is it possible to transform the Torah into an electronic hypertext, which illustratively demonstrate the ancient principles of its commenting with the help of modern technology? Yes, it is possible, but it is unlikely to be fulfilled in the nearest future in the Hebrew Internet because of the already mentioned rabbis' prohibition. But Russian-Jewish educational Internet, which has experienced a rapid development recently, has already reached the realization of this grandiose task. Now the window of a browser is your window into the Jewish world. If, of course, you are not afraid of computer mouse' bites or of a blow when pressing "the wrong button". That is why elimination of computer illiteracy among Jewish teachers is the task of primary importance, which is on the agenda of many organizations and funds.

What does the Russian-Jewish net give today to a teacher of a day or Sunday Jewish school? Let us have a little walk around the Internet and stay for a while in some sites. This survey doesn't in any way claim to be complete. I ask the owners of the sites, which won't be mentioned in this article, not to get offended but to tell about them. By registering your site in a proper way you can help people!

1. Let us begin with the huge and constantly growing site of the "Machanaim" society: http://www.machanaim.org.il

   Everything is to be found here! The text of the Tanakh and comments to it, including comments to separate chapters of the Torah and surveys, religious philosophy, Jewish calendar and holidays, articles on urgent problems of Jewish life and many others. The search system and the map of the site facilitate one's travelling through the server and just opened forum permits to join the dialogues with other visitors of the site. Please, notice how the text of the Torah is arranged here – in the shape of a database, which opens several windows on the screen simultaneously. You can select a section, a chapter, a pasuk, select the necessary comment to it and even a variant of translation from several options. In future, it is planned to "broaden" the text by means of references, "tied" to separate words of the Torah. That is why the "Machanaim" society" invites everybody to send any interesting comments and Midrashes found while studying the primary sources.

   This is what the "Machanaim" have, but what don't they have? They don't have any programs aimed at a Jewish school. As the site is a continuation of the society's non-virtual activities, its main aim is adult Jews' self-education. There is something for children and their parents, but school programs are in other sites, which will be spoken about below. But we strongly recommend "Machanaim" as the source of the texts necessary for a Jewish teacher for broadening his/her world outlook and improving the qualification.

2. "Machanaim"'s surrounding – the site "Song of Songs"

   http://www.machanaim.org.il/surround/liter/miri.htm

   "The Song of Songs" contains the Hebrew poetry of the XX c in Russian translations. It is an indispensable source of the texts for a teacher of Jewish literature, who is tired of teaching only Sholom-Aleichem and those few works of modern Israel literature, which he managed to find. In this site there are also articles by a famous literary critic Yakov Liberman, which will be of help for getting ready for a lesson. The site is moderated by poetess Miri Yanikova – you can also visit her personal page and reach other authors with the help of the links.

3. The Pedagogical Club "The New Jewish school", St. Petersburg

   http://www.ort.spb.ru/nesh/njschool.htm

   At last we have reached the school programs! The site is arranged in a simple and convenient way, one of its sections is "The Virtual methodological cabinet". "The Virtual Methodological cabinet" is a moneybox of the live experience of the teachers from Jewish schools of the former USSR. Each teacher has sent what he can: some have sent articles describing the technique of teaching, some – the texts for reading, some – the programs of lessons. The site also contains syllabi – that is, the lists of the main topics to be studied within the limits of this or that subject. "The New Jewish school" is in fact the only Jewish site, which publishes syllabi. The range of subjects is very wide – it is not just the tradition and the history, but even the Jewish topics at English lessons. When you enter the site, you will immediately find the materials necessary for you just today – at the entrance there is the button with the name of the coming holiday. It is especially important for Sunday school teachers, whose activity is tightly connected with the calendar.

4. The Center of Jewish education in Diaspora named after rabbi G. Lukstein (Bar-Ilan University)

   http://lookstein.daat.ac.il/

   Here you won't find any syllabi, but instead there are school programs in the full sense of this word: texts for reading with tasks for pupils and methodological recommendations to the teacher.

   • Now the site publishes the unique program "Introduction into the Jewish classical texts":

     http://lookstein.daat.ac.il/russian/start.html

     This is so far the only program, which enables a teacher to teach Introduction into Mishna during a year basing on the analysis of the sources.

   • The Hebrew variant of the program on the following site:

     http://lookstein.daat.ac.il/hebrew.htm

     permits to compare fragments from Mishna in the original with their Russian translations. If in your school there are two teachers of tradition – local and Israel, then using such a bilingual program is rather advisable.

   • Besides, the site publishes the program on the Books of Iehoshua and Judges and the article "The Jewish bookcase" (from the materials of the International quiz on Jewish self-identity). The address of the article is:

     http://lookstein.daat.ac.il/russian/hidon-p1.html

     The article describes the development of all Jewish sources "from TANAKH to Palmakh" and is rather a valuable reference material.

5. The history of the Jewish people - the site of the ORT school (St. Petersburg).

   http://school.ort.spb.ru/library/torah/index.htm

   A wonderful, material-abundant project by Sergey Mitrofanov – a teacher of history from St. Petersburg. Visit it and see it with your own eyes. The site contains materials on general and Jewish history, history of Israel and Jerusalem, materials on Catastrophe of the European Jewry and many others. Unfortunately, many rubrics do not yet contain texts, just syllabi, but what they contain is enough to enrich the methodological cabinet of any school.

   You can also walk around the virtual museum exhibiting various visual materials:

   http://school.ort.spb.ru/library/torah/muzeum/muzeum03.htm

6. "The Source"

   http://www.istok.ru

   The site was intended to be a giant educational server. Today most of its materials are being worked on. But there is not one, but several discussion forums, where you can discuss separately Written and Oral Torahs. There is also a separate chat-room for the history. As for the materials themselves, a Jewish teacher can find here articles on general pedagogics, which are to change the style of teaching in a Jewish school. There are also translations of several well-known books on the basics of Judaism, materials on Jewish calendar, holidays and Sabbath (mostly translated from English). Soon these chapters will be supplied by study games and other methodological "know-hows".

7. R. Adin Steinzaltz' Institute (also – "Judaics")

   http://www.judaica.ru/english/index.html

   The site is interesting, first of all, by r. Steinzaltz' articles on the week chapters of the Torah. There are also articles on history by M. Etinhof, E. Berkowich and others. The article by Keren Bat-Ohr, dedicated to Jewish names, is wonderful. The site has its own discussion club. One can subscribe to the self-education program and receive materials by the Steinzaltz Institute - beautifully published brochures - by mail.

8. "Israel for you" – the site of the informational service of Israel cultural centers.

   http://www.il4u.org.il:8101/

   It is one of the most beautiful Russian Jewish sites. It is aimed at any Jew, but nevertheless, a teacher also can use some materials at the lessons.

   • We strongly recommend the section dedicated to Jerusalem – the book on the history of the city and several interesting photo-exhibitions.
     http://www.il4u.org.il:8101/jer/

   • This electronic variant of the Concise Jewish Encyclopedia published in "Israel for you"
     http://www.il4u.org.il:8101/enc/

     will be a big surprise for teachers, who are seeking in vain for the Encyclopedia in their pre-historic motherland.

   • The teachers of Jewish literature will be glad to find the survey of Israel literature of 1990-ies made by Khamutal Bar-Iosef:
     http://www.il4u.org.il:8101/art/liter/

   To put it short, it is the site one can visit time and again.