Fall 2008 Rothbart Course Offerings
Fall semester runs from September 15th, 2008 until January 16th, 2009.
New low tuition for each class is $125 plus $50 technology fee. College credit courses are $200 plus $50 technology fee. College credit courses are 2-credit courses.
Only juniors and seniors may receive college credits. As with all such credits, acceptance of transfer credits is subject to each college’s or university’s own requirements. In order to receive college credits, additional information and requirements will be mailed upon registration.
Dilemmas in Jewish History
Not a college credit course.
Jewish history presents many dilemmas of Jews who lived in different societies. Jews were usually strangers and sojourners in the lands where they lived, their history the symbol of homelessness and vulnerability. They wanted to obey G-d's laws but they wanted to stay alive too. The societies in which they lived forced life choices upon them, which were rarely clear options of "right and wrong." The course will question how Jews fared in the societies in which they lived and what dilemmas they had to solve in order to survive against all odds.
The Torah’s Top Fifty Ideas: The Essential Concepts Everyone Should Know
Not a college credit course.
Why is the Bible more famous that known, as Voltaire once asked?
Partly because it is an anthology of so many books, written over so many centuries, by so many different authors. It is like reading through the Encyclopedia Britannica, cover to cover. No one goes through an encyclopedic work like this page by page, book by book.
This vast collection of morals, poetry, laws, stories and divine revelation remains a hidden treasure for most people. Yet, it forms the basis of all ethical standards (“Love your neighbor as yourself”), all great moral philosophy (“In the image of God was the human formed”), and legal majesty (“There shall be one law for you and for the stranger among you”).
Too many people think of the Bible as a collection of outmoded laws, descriptions of old-fashioned customs such as animal sacrifice, boring genealogies, and irrelevant miracle tales. Yet, the core of the Tanakh contains the essential moral legacy of the Jewish People. This course examine fifty verses and verse-clusters that are the fundamental principles of Jewish ethics, and the passages which make the Hebrew Bible the most important collection of books ever written.
Introduction to Education I
2 college credits
So, you have taken a job teaching Hebrew school and the students are sitting in front of you and you have a year of classes to plan! Where do you begin and what tools do you need to insure a successful and meaningful year of Jewish learning for you and your students? This course will provide you with those tools and a support group of high school students all over the country to learn together and share our experiences as take on this important task of providing children with a journey of substantive Jewish learning, while we ourselves are still learners in so many ways. During this semester, we will:
- Come to understand our role as a teacher and facilitator of Jewish learning and growth
- Look at the realities and challenges of our Jewish Communities and schools carefully
- Learn important tools for classroom management, discipline, and lesson planning
- Explore and come to a better understanding of learning differences and modalities
- Set up and monitor goals and objectives for ourselves and our students
- and so much more.
Most importantly, we will be an ongoing group that learns practical teaching strategies while supporting each other as teachers and learners of our Jewish heritage. Come join us!
Israeli Identity in the 20th and 21st Centuries: Politics, Culture, and Statehood
2 college credits
This course is designed to give students the knowledge and tools they need to be empowered, strong activists for Israel. We will:
- Provide an introduction to the political history of Israel, from the emergency of the Zionist movement through the present;
- Situate the development of an Israeli national identity, focusing on a variety of social, cultural, and political features, and
- Provide comparative perspectives on modern national states, cultures, and identities.
Issues to be discussed include immigration, minorities and social integration, the political, military, and educational systems, media and popular culture, and relationships with neighboring states and the world community.