| Goals: | Types of Learners: | Some Appropriate Settings: | The Leader's Role: |
Some Resources (a very partial list): |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Textual Literacy | Novices seeking basic knowledge | ·Committee or board meeting (10-30 minutes) |
·Selects the text and begins the discussion · reviews main points |
·UAHC "Go and Study" packet · UAHC Torat Hayim · Harvey Fields, A Torah Commentary for Our Times · Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Wisdom. |
| Finding Personal Meaning in the Text | Learners at all levels |
·A Shabbat service ·workshop or class (at least 30 minutes) |
·Asks questions, uses techniques such as bibliodrama and handmade midrash · selects classical midrashim |
·Collections of classical midrashim, such as Sefer Haggadah (The Book of Legends) and Legends of the Jews · collections of contemporary midrashim and poems, such as Kates and Reimer, Reading Ruth |
| Reflecting on Belief and Practice | Learners at all levels |
·Shabbat service · class or retreat (at least 30 minutes) |
·Frames the issues · makes available the full range of traditional and contemporary answers · speaks personally about belief and doubts |
·Barry Holtz, Finding Our Way · Jack Miles, God: A Biography · Harold Kushner, When Bad Things Happen to Good People |
| Learning How to Study Text | Learners interested in honing their skills |
·An ongoing class · a weekend kallah | Prepares a variety of interpretive lenses for students to work through. |
·Joel Grishaver, Learning Torah · Avigdor Bonchek, Studying Torah · Nehama Leibowitz, Studies in the Weekly Torah Portion ·works of scholarly exegesis |
| Creating a Community of Learners | Learners at all levels | An ongoing study group | Prepares participants to teach one another using all the techniques mentioned above | All of the above |
Back to Summer 1998
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