The edition is published
by Pedagogical Club "New Jewish School"
with the help and support of the Jewish Community Development
Fund in Russia and Ukraine (New York),
Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture
and UJA - Federation of New York.

Summary
(all texts are in Russian)

OPEN LESSON

TEACHING THE WRITTEN TORAH

Nehama Leibowitz
THE SACRIFICE OF YITZHAK: WORKING WITH COMMENTARIES (text in Russian)

Nehama Leibowitz, the teacher of a whole generation of Israeli pedagogues, shows how to avoid superficiality when teaching Torah at school, focusing on specific passages and getting children used to serious text study. She also shows how to present this story to children bearing in mind their life experience and the peculiarities of their thought and perception. The lesson as a whole is based on Jewish classical commentaries, but originally applied as only Leibowitz could.

Gabriel Chaim Cohen
TEACHING MEGILLAT ESTHER (text in Russian)

Dr. Cohen’s manual will be of special interest to teachers of Jewish tradition and to everybody interested in studies of Jewish classical texts,. His detailed literary analysis of the Book of Esther makes comparisons with parallel places in Torah, which sometimes throw new unexpected light on the events of the Megillah. Classical commentaries and midrashim quoted by the author also provide deeper insights, enabling one to see philosophic categories behind the simple chain of events. The quoted opinions of the Sages. Cohen formulates stimulating questions that help even a reader familiar with the story come to a new understanding of Purim; they also refresh the real sense of the annual reading of Megillat Esther.

TEACHING ORAL TORAH

David Bargman, Igor Vdovenko, Marina Galaktionova, Alexander Lvov, Boris Ostrer, Arye Rotman, Hana Rotman, Moshe Treskunov
THE TREE FROM WHICH WE ATE. A LESSON OF MIDRASH (text in Russian)

This group of Petersburg teachers and writers caused a stir with their first study of midrash “Over the Waters” (NJS No 11/2002, p.57) Breaking with custom, it openly acknowledged that the authors had strikingly different in-terpretations and explored them all.

This lesson continues this multi-level approach. Discussion is robust, texts are made to strike sparks from each other. We believe the result makes in-teresting and useful reading to teachers, but all intellectually curious readers as well.

TEACHING JEWISH LITERATURE

Naum Basovsky
THE PROPHET (text in Russian)

The poem “The Prophet” of Naum Basovsky includes a poetic rendering of the Biblical text of the prophet Nahum, who in the VII century BC foretold the ruin of the great city of Nineveh and the fall of the mighty Assyrian empire. The author stresses the topicality of the prophet’s book, and that is why a poetic dialogue arises between the that time and ours, as well as between the author and the prophet.

METHODOLOGICAL CLASS

TEACHING JEWISH TRADITION

Herman Levin
A STEP INTO THE JEWISH WORLD: A WAY TO INTEGRATE DIFFERENT CURRICULA OF THE JEWISH CYCLE (text in Russian)

The article “A step into the Jewish world” of the Riga teacher Herman Levin presents a concept of an integral complex of curriculums of the Jewish cycle created by pedagogues of the S.Dubnov. Levin demonstrates how his group combines curricula in Tradition and History of the Jewish people, and gives the organizing principles behind the separate curricula. After laying out the main themes, the ways in which disciplines of the Jewish cycle are linked are analyzed. The team’s ultimate goal is building a unified concept of Jewish national up-bringing.

Boris Levin
“THE ETHICS OF BUSINESS RELATIONS IN THE JEWISH TRADITION” (A CURRICULUM) (text in Russian)

Boris Levin, a teacher in Novosibirsk, bases this highly topical course on Mishnah and Talmud. It is broken down into five main topics and supplied with a useful glossary. Levin’s treatment is aimed at contemporary teenagers and tries to deal with the entire world of business today.

Herman Levin
A CLASSROOM TEST OF A COURSE IN “BUSINESS ETHICS AND THE TALMUD” (text in Russian)

Herman Levin has taught a course in “Ethics and the Talmud” to the 11th and 12th grades in a Jewish day school in Riga. He outlines the course (described in greater detail in this same issue) and presents a sample lesson plan.For students preparing to chose an occupation the topic has practical relevance and Levin sees this as another reason for teaching this course at this level.

TEACHING JEWISH LITERATURE

Marina Galaktionova
A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF LITERATURE IN RUSSIAN ON JEWISH HOLIDAYS (text in Russian)

This bibliography covers fiction and specialized literature on the Jewish holidays and Jewish tradition up to the beginning of the XXth century.The index is aimed at teachers in Jewish schools, as well as all those willing to study Jewish tradition and culture. Ms.Galaktionova teaches in St Petersbsurg. Her index was based on the holdings of the largest St. Petersburg libraries, namely the Russian National Library and the Library of the Academy of Sciences; for convenience, the biblography contains complete library call numbers.

EXCHANGE OF EXPERIENCE

“STORY ABOUT A SCHOOL”

Leonid Smilovitsky
“A SUNDAY SCHOOL IN RETCHITSA, BYELORUSSIA” (text in Russian)

Leonid Smilovitsky, a PhD in History from Tel-Aviv University, depicts this school as a real island of Jewish life in a town where in the beginning of the XX century almost half of the population was Jewish. Neither genocide nor the long years of the Soviet regime failed to destroy this community, though weakening it significantly. The present school in Rechitsa was or-ganized in 1997 and continues to grow, due to the enthusiasm of both its teachers and students.

SOCIOLOGY OF JEWISH EDUCATION

Pinchas Polonsky
THE SOCIO-RELIGIOUS STRUCTURE OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN ISRAEL

Pinchas Polonsky (Jerusalem) discusses the results of a sociological study of the religious structure of Israeli society undertaken by the Gutman Centre at the Israeli Institute for Democracy with the support of the Avi Chai Foun-dation. His article proposes to find new, more objective markers of the scale of religious identity in Israeli society.

INVITATION TO DISCUSSION

Zakhar Rochlin, Hana Rotman
FULL-TIME AND SUNDAY SCHOOLS: THE SILENCE OF THE PRINCIPALS? (text in Russian)

This article presents the results of a 2001 sociological poll of principals of Jewish Sunday schools. In the course of this poll the possibilities of metho-dological cooperation between Day schools and Sunday schools were con-sidered. The results of the poll turn out to be ambiguous. The principals of Sunday schools are interested in cooperation, and yet no coordination can be seen. This paradoxical situation is submitted for discussion by our readers.

HISTORY OF JEWISH EDUCATION

Dmitry Slepovich
JEWISH MUSICAL INSTITUTE IN VILNA (1924—1940) (text in Russian)

Dmitry Slepovich (Minsk) tells the story of the now almost forgotten Jewish Musical Institute in Vilna. Founded in 1924, the Institute preserved and deve-loped the interpretative traditions of the Petersburg “Society of Jewish Folk Music”, creating distinctive Jewish music in Yiddish. One of the main direc-tions of the Institute’s work was musical education of the general public, by the use of recitals and reading. In 1941, almost all the JMI graduates found them-selves in the Vilna ghetto, where they continued their concert activities until their tragic death.

PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY

Akibah Ernst Simon
PESTALOZZI AND KORCHAK — PIONEERS OF SOCIAL EDUCATION AND UPBRINGING (text in Russian)

The article is an abridged translation of the book “Pestalozzi and Korchak — pioneers of social education and upbringing” by A.E. Simon. The author tells us about two famous pedagogues, who lived in different epochs in different countries, but still had similar pedagogical views. Both pedagogues-reformers tried to convince the society to solve global social problems from the point of view of the individual; they protected the interests of the individual personality and stressed the uniqueness of every person.

FEEDBACK

Golda Achieser
IS THERE A FUTURE TO THE SCHOLARLY STUDY OF THE JEWISH PAST? (text in Russian)

A response of Golda Achieser (Jerusalem) to the study by Yosef Chaim Ye-rushalmi published in the almanac “New Jewish School” No 9, 11. She dis-cusses the necessity of a new approach to this field. Instead of mechanically reproducing the approaches of European scholars, she stresses the importance of combining traditional Jewish values and specific historical experience.

JEWISH WORLD

LITERARY PAGE

David Bunimovich
“FROM THE IRON HEARTH” (STORY) (text in Russian)

David Bunimovich (Kazan) depicts the life of a provincial Jew who served in the pre-revolutionary Russian army. Its hero undergoes many hardships and ordeals , but at the end of his days he still whispers: “Ani mamin…” (“I believe…”).

David Bunimovich
“SPIN, DREIDEL,SPIN”(text in Russian)

Bunimovich’s story takes place during World War II. On the eve of Chanukah, the front-line soldier, alienated from friends and relations, returns in his thought to the festive and quiet atmosphere of his home. While no longer believing in such things,he nonetheless hopes for a Chanukah miracle.

Naum Basovsky
IN THE BREAKS OF THE CHIAROSCURO (POETRY)

“In The Breaks Of The Chiaroscuro” is a collection of philosophical and lyrical poems by Naum Basovsky. The poems are united in this cycle due to the commonness of their philosophic motives.

Svetlana Nasekina
“THE LINE FOR BOARDING” (STORY)

This story deals with the difficult choice of a woman between friends and her lover and a new life with her relatives in Israel.

FEEDBACK

Valentina Lebedeva
A LINK OF THE CHAIN COME ASUNDER.
ARYE ROTMAN’S STORY “THE SPLITTING OF THE WATERS“

Arye Rotman’s story (New Jewish School, No.10) takes place in the 70ies in the Jewish underground of Leningrad. Lebedeva starts by noting that Rotman’s heroes reflect the intertwining of human fates of people belonging to different worlds, generations, and cultures. Most of the review is dedicated to Alizah, one of the key images, through whose eyes we see many of the events. Unlike other heroes, this girl sees everything in a very special light, for she doesn’t belong to any of the worlds of the story. Lebedeva concludes that through the figure of Alizah the reader is led to feel the hard and complicated way towards the feeling of the Divine Presence.

INVITATION TO DISCUSSION

Rivka Menovich
JEWISH THEATRE? IS IT THINKABLE?

The article of the Israeli pedagogue Rivka Menovich is dedicated to the problems of the Jewish theatre. The author tells us about the situation in contemporary Western and Israeli dramatic art. What conditions are neces-sary and sufficient for the theatre to become really Jewish? How can religion harmonize with service to art in a man? Can there be a compromise between the aesthetics of the theatre and the ethics of Judaism?

CHRONICLE

Marina Karpova
VIRTUAL LEARNING COMMUNITY — AN ON-LINE NETWORK EDUCATIONAL COMMUNITY OF TEACHERS AND MEMBERS OF JEWISH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS ON THE TERRITORY OF THE FSU

Marina Karpova, the coordinator of the Virtual Learning Community de-scribes problems of Jewish educational institutions on the territory of the CIS. The possibility of network interaction given the conditions of geographical dispersion of the Russian-speaking Jewish Diaspora. She describes the structure of this Internet community and the techniques of interaction — on the expe-rience of the Virtual Learning Community project created with a grant from UJA Federation of New York. Progress to date and the aims of the network educational community in 2002—2003 school year are outlined.

Zakhar Rochlin
THE ‘RAISING PEDAGOGICAL SKILLS’ COURSES FOR JEWISH SCHOOL TEACHERS AND SEMINARS FOR CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT (MOSCOW, MAY-JULY 2002)

Zakhar Rochlin summarizes the seminars for curriculum development for Jewish secondary schools. The seminars were organized in May-June 2002 by the “New Jewish School” Pedagogical club and the Moscow regional centre for development of educational systems, to the request of the Association of principals of Jewish schools of the CIS and Baltic countries. Teachers of various subjects of the Jewish cycle from CIS and Baltic countries schools took part. The mentioned seminars resulted in new curricula in Hebrew for Russian-speaking children, Tradition and History of the Jewish people.