Course Description: The Basic Building Blocks of Gemara – Berachot Chapter 4
Course Name: The Basic Building Blocks of Gemara Course Teacher: Rabbi Reuven Spolter Course Details: Gemara Berachot Chapter 4 – Tefillat HaShachar Pages: 26a – 28 For Grades: 6-8 General Course Description: The fourth chapter of Berachot is generally one of the first texts studied by beginning students as the enter the world of Gemara study. Through the study of the text of the Gemara, we will learn how Gemara study “works” – what questions does the Gemara ask, and how does it answer those questions. We will learn basic elements of the Amidah, as well as a very famous story that appears in this chapter.
The student will learn the following skills during this course:
Text reading and comprehension
Key Gemara concepts
Differentiation between Tanaitic and Amoraic statements (i.e. when is the Gemara quoting a text, and when is it asking a question or giving an answer)
Fundametal Gemara terms and basic vocabulary
The student will learn the following Judaic knowledge:
Basic halachot about the Amidah for Shacharit, Minchah and Arvit including the times when they are recited, what happens when one makes a mistake, additions for holidays and other times, and more!
The basic structure of the Amidah
How one must act during Amidah
The student will understand:
Different understandings for the rationale behind the Amidah
How halachah stretches time for Amidah and other concepts
The complicated nature of Jewish leadership
Number of lessons: 20 Detailed Lesson Plans: A detailed lesson plan list is coming soon Sample Lesson:
We are excited to present a sample of the first lesson in Gemara Berachot. You can progress through the lesson to get a sense of how we present and organize Kitah materials. To access the sample lesson click here.
We are very excited to announce that expert Torah and technology educator Rabbi Jonathan Simons has agreed to serve as the first Kitah Classroom teacher. Rabbi Simons is an experienced Torah teacher and is also a trained consultant in educational technology. Most importantly, he recognizes the importance of connecting with his students and giving them the best possible learning experience. You can read Rabbi Simons’ bio on our Staff Page.
With Rabbi Simons’ position secured, we are very excited to officially open registration for the 5781 Kitah Classroom.
Dates and Schedule: The first Kitah Classroom class begins on Monday, September 7th, 2020. (We know that this is Labor Day in the United States, but remember that all KITAH classroom lessons are asynchronous. While the lessons will be assigned on Monday, your child can study at any time throughout the week.)
Tel: +972-54-220-4347, (US number in Israel: +1-347-434-9212)
Rabbi Reuven Spolter, Kitah Founder and Director
Kitah, a new Online Jewish Education Initiative, to Help Schools Weather the COVID Crisis
KITAH unveils an exciting online Jewish Education platform to help Jewish Day schools and Jewish parents address the uncertainty they will face over the coming year.
YAD BINYAMIN, ISRAEL – Last March, when the COVID crisis struck shutting down cities and communities around the world, schools scrambled to shift to distance learning. Teachers and students adapted to Zoom classes and virtual schedules, utilizing online teaching resources to bring their students meaningful learning experiences.
Teachers quickly realized that they could not expect the same level of attention and focus from their students in Zoom lessons that they did in person. Judaic teachers discovered that while their counterparts on the “secular” side could access a wide range of digital teaching resources, very little ready-made online Jewish material was available for their own instruction.
“It was a struggle,” said Adina Blaustein, a high school Tanach teacher at the Fuchs Mizrachi School in Cleveland, OH. “I couldn’t just email a worksheet and expect the students to manage on their own. And there simply was no available digital teaching material that we could easily assign our students.”
Recognizing this need, a group of English-speaking Jewish educators built an online educational platform aimed at giving Jewish studies teachers powerful digital educational tools.
Titled Kitah (which means “class” in Hebrew”), the platform is modeled after the world-famous Khan Academy “flipped classroom”. In a “flipped” classroom, teachers assign students lessons via YouTube which they watch on their own. When the students meet in class, a teacher can follow-up, enhancing and expanding on what the students have already learned.
Kitah is built on this innovative educational model. However, instead of teaching math or science, Kitah focuses on classic Jewish subjects including Chumash, Navi, Mishnah and Gemara. Courses combine YouTube videos prepared by seasoned Jewish studies teachers with Google Forms, making the lessons easy for teachers to use in classrooms around the world.
“We built Kitah to allow teachers to assign home-based study focusing on skills and text reading,” explains Rabbi Reuven Spolter, founder and director of Kitah. “A student can watch a lesson once, or as many times as needed, in order to answer the included questions.” This allows students the time and focus they need to properly understand the Hebrew text, greatly enhancing and improving the classroom experience later on. “A teacher does not have to start from scratch. Students enter the classroom having been exposed to the basic meaning of the text, allowing teachers to focus on broader themes and deeper lessons they otherwise might not address.”
This coming school year, with the significant possibility of further community closures, Kitah offers schools the peace of mind that, should they need to shift to distance learning, they will have digital Jewish studies lessons ready to deploy.
“While we did not build Kitah because of the COVID crisis,” explained Rabbi Johnny Solomon, Kitah’s educational director, “Our platform is certainly an important option for schools looking for Jewish online learning tools.”
Spolter agrees. “In the end, we know that we’ve built a tool that will help Jewish children learn and connect to classic Jewish texts. If we can help Jewish schools and teachers weather this incredibly challenging time, that will be an added bonus.”
For more information about Kitah, contact Rabbi Reuven Spolter or visit their website, Kitah.org.
Course Description: Courage and Kindness in Megillat Rut
Course Name: Courage and Kindness in Megillat Rut Course Teacher: Mrs. Adina Blaustein Course Details: Sefer Rut Chapters & Verses: Chapters 1-4 Number of lessons: 20 For Grades: 6-8 General Course Description: In this course, students will learn Megillat Rut. The study will be focused around the following essential question: What is the true meaning of Chesed? Students will learn about the protagonists through this lens, understanding that Ruth, Boaz and Naomi are heroic in their embodiment of this trait. Students will grow more comfortable reading text in the original Hebrew and using text to support key ideas.
The student will learn the following skills during this course:
Text reading and comprehension
Identification of key shorashim and their translations
Differentiation between דיבור ישיר (words spoken by characters) and narrative
Quoting from the text to support themes and opinions
The student will learn the following Judaic knowledge:
Plot and themes of Megillat Rut
Connection between Megillat Rut and other books in Tanach
The student will understand:
The connection between Chesed and heroism
How to apply the themes of Rut to his/her day-to-day life, and what it means to truly perform an act of Chesed
Detailed Lesson Plans: A detailed lesson plan list is coming soon Sample Lesson:
We are excited to present a sample of the first lesson in Megillat Rut. You can progress through the lesson to get a sense of how we present and organize Kitah materials. To access the sample lesson click here.
Course Description: Shemot Part 3: From Yam Suf to Sinai
Course Name: The Journey from Egypt Course Teacher: Rabbi Johnny Solomon Course Details: Sefer: Shemot Part 3 (Parshat Beshalach) Chapters & Verses: Ch. 15:22-16:26 For Grades: 6-8 General Course Description: In this course, students will learn about the fascinating journey of Am Yisrael from Yam Suf to Marah, Elim & Sin.
The student will learn the following skills during this course:
How to read and translate biblical texts
How to pay attention to grammatical inconsistences
How to identifying key words in a verse
How to compare two similar biblical texts
How to identify key words (milot manchot) in a verse
How to read and interpret Rashi’s commentary
The student will learn the following Judaic knowledge:
The events that occurred from Yam Suf to Marah as described in the Torah
The rabbinic interpretation why Bnei Yisrael were reluctant to leave Yam Suf
The events that occurred in Marah as described in the Torah
Rabbinic interpretations about the events that occurred in Marah
The events that occurred in Elim as described in the Torah
Rabbinic interpretations about the events that occurred in Elim
The events that occurred in Sin as described in the Torah
Rabbinic interpretations about the events that occurred in Sin
The student will understand:
How Bnei Yisrael felt when they left Yam Suf
How Bnei Yisrael felt when they arrived at Marah
Why it was important for Bnei Yisrael to be tested at Marah
Why it was important for Bnei Yisrael to be given mitzvot at Marah
The biblical significance of the numbers 12 and 70 as reflected in the bounty of Elim
The significance of the Manna
Number of lessons: 20 Detailed Lesson Plans: A detailed lesson plan list is coming soon Sample Lesson:
We are excited to present a sample of the first lesson in Chumash Shemot. You can progress through the lesson to get a sense of how we present and organize Kitah materials. To access the sample lesson click here.
