MACHON MICAH:

Our new educational program is called Machon Micah. When Machon Micah meets on Sundays, there will be engaging classes for our 8th-12th graders. Class is generally from 11 AM to 12:30 PM, unless indicated otherwise on the calendar (see attachment).

When Machon Micah is all community (on some select Shabbats and Sundays, for holiday celebrations), all 8th-12th grade students will be treated as adult members in our community, and will be welcome to attend any of the learning opportunities offered for adults.

When the K-7 students have “regular” Machon Micah on Sunday mornings, so do the 8th-12th graders. When there is an all community Machon Micah, the teens are with the adults (no separate class for teens).

MACHON MICAH 8TH GRADE CORE CURRICULUM

There will be three modules of core curriculum for the 8th grade.

1. The Jewish Funds for Justice Poverty Curriculum,taught by Education Director Deborah Ayala Srabstein (Details below.)
2. Partners in Prevention,taught by senior staff members.(Details below.) 
3. A short course with Rabbi Danny Zemel.This class will center on the three major pillars of Jewish religious life:

• What do we mean when we say, “God?”
• What is the authority of the Torah in our lives?
• Who is Israel?

8TH GRADE: JEWISH FUNDS FOR JUSTICE POVERTY CURRICULUM:

Education Director Deborah Ayala Srabstein will teach the course called the Jewish Funds for Justice Poverty Curriculum, which was written by the Jewish Funds for Justice. Founded in 1984, the Jewish Funds for Justice acts on the historic commitment of the Jewish people to tikkun olam (repair of the world).

This program is a unique opportunity for our students to consider how their Jewish identity helps them to understand the world around them, and how that identity carries with it a responsibility to pursue social and economic justice.

This curriculum is interactive and text-based. Each lesson is built upon text study (ranging from Torah texts to rabbinic commentaries to modern rabbis).

The goals of the program are as follows:

• Students will understand the systemic causes of poverty.
• Students will understand that there is a Jewish mitzvah/mandate to combat poverty, and that the mandate entails tzedakah and personal action. Students will understand the content and sources of this mitzvah.
• From Education Director Deborah Ayala Srabstein
• Students will begin to understand what it means to be poor, who the poor are and why they are poor.
• Students will understand different strategies for combating poverty.
• Students will learn about local groups that are combating poverty.
• Students will engage in local community projects that address poverty.
• Students will raise/give tzedakah to local groups fighting poverty.
• Students will redefine their understanding of tzedakah so that they realize that it involves action, and not just the giving of funds, and that it involves action to change the system that leads to poverty, not just action that addresses the effects of poverty on individual people.
• Students will understand the value of creating a sense of community.
• Students will cultivate the skill of reflection.
• Students will "own" the themes of the curriculum and make the themes a part of their value system and identity.

The Jewish Funds for Justice Tzedek Partner Program was created with the following underlying assumptions/principles:

• Understanding and acting on the connection between Judaism and social justice cultivates a strong Jewish identity in young people.
• Though they are young, student voices count now and they have the power to change their communities.
• Part of being a responsible Jew means that we need to address problems that affect the broader society, and this needs to be done in partnership with the communities most affected by the problem—in the case of poverty, this means working with low-income people and communities of color.
• American Jews are living in a time of relative affluence and security in the US. We may not all directly relate to the problems of low-income people. But we understand our responsibility to help others through our knowledge of Jewish text and through familiarity with our own history of struggle in this country.
• The way to improve the world is by addressing the root causes of its problems—not just by providing social services to those in need.
• As Jews we believe in participatory democracy—that people should have a say in the issues that affect their lives.
• There are groups that are successfully improving their communities by building affordable housing, passing legislation for living wages, creating better schools, etc. Those living in poverty are working hard to better their lives and they are seeing results.
• Some of the above-mentioned successful groups are led by YOUTH!

The Tzedek Partner Program enables Judaism to shape the life decisions of young people and serve as their guidepost.

8th-12th Grade PARTNERS IN PREVENTION (8TH GRADE WILL BE A SEPARATE GROUP)

If Jewish learning can help individuals recover from addictive and self-destructive behaviors, why can’t it be just as useful in preventing it? In a culture where teens must cope with peer, media, and family pressures to “look good” and achieve material success, the soul is often ignored and neglected. We believe the antidote to this “hole-in-the soul” is Judaism.

Partners In Prevention (PIP) is a program which utilizes the path of Judaism to promote self-acceptance, self-worth, spiritual values and family harmony. PIP differs from other programs in that it does not focus on drug-education but rather the underlying “spiritual maladies” that lead today’s youth toward risky behaviors. It focuses on teaching spiritual tools to cope with daily stress and anxiety. This class will be taught by senior staff members, who will take the students through the workbooks and interactive exercises, designed to encourage honest discussion about life’s pressures and the relentless pursuit of perfection, which has become a cultural standard.

We will be offering this program to our 8th-12th graders (in two separate groups-8th and 9th-12th). During this time, the Partners in Prevention program will be the core curriculum, and students will also get to take an elective. On these dates, we will offer a class for parents of 8th-12th graders from 11:45-12:30. Parents will explore the same topics and questions as the teenagers.

MACHON MICAH 9TH-12TH GRADE CORE CURRICULUM

There will be two parts of core curriculum for the 9th-12th grade. One will be a survey in Jewish history, taught by Rabbi Zemel. This course will be taught over the course of the entire year, except for a break from history mid-year for the Partners in Prevention (PIP) course. See above for a course description of PIP. During this time, the 9th-12th will be taught by senior staff members, and there will also be a class for parents from 11:45-12:30.

9TH-12TH GRADE: RABBI ZEMEL’S JEWISH HISTORY COURSE

The textbook that the students use will is called Jewish History—The Big Picture. It is adapted from the two-volume award-winning work, The History of the Jewish People by Professors Jonathan Sarna and Jonathan Krasner. This single volume treats readers to a fast-paced account of Jewish history that is grounded in scholarship and brimming with information on topics as diverse as the development of Christianity beyond its Jewish roots into a new religion and the revival of Hebrew as a spoken language. The text is filled with colorful anecdotal detail about Jewish communities throughout history and around the world, such as how Passover was celebrated on the Civil War battlefield and the origins of Beta Israel, the Ethiopian-Jewish community. The broad array of graphics—16 maps, 12 charts, 27 timelines, and more than 100 photographs—is sure to engage readers and enrich their appreciation and understanding of Jewish history. To get an overview of the book, the abridged leader’s guide will give you more information. 

Please note that while Rabbi Zemel does plan to cover the whole book (so that the survey course spans ancient to modern history, there will be more time spent focusing in depth on the fourth section of the book (Holocaust, modern Israel).

Elective A Choices:

Leadership with Rabbi Esther Lederman

What defines good leadership? What can we learn from Jewish leaders, both ancient and modern? Who are some heroes we want to emulate? Who are others who should remained buried in the pages of history? Come to talk, ask questions, and debate different principles of leadership and how these lessons can impact our own lives and decisions.

Jewish Cooking with Julie Rezmovic

Come learn how to cook some Jewish foods while eating healthfully. This course will focus on Shmirat ha'guf (keeping the body healthy) while learning some age old Jewish recipes. We will be cooking recipes from different Jewish communities around the world and learning about each community. Whether it is Aleppo, Syria, or Budapest, Hungary you are sure to enjoy all the different healthy cuisines!

Israeli Culture and Current Events

Come learn more about Israeli culture and current events with Shaliach Tal Perelman! Each week will have a different focus.

1. Israeli army – learn about the differences between Israeli teenagers and American.
2. Gilad Shalit – learn about the Israeli kidnapped soldier and the reasons to the kidnapping.
3. Israeli culture – learn about Israeli life through the eyes of movies and songs.

Elective B Choices

Jewish Cooking with Julie Rezmovic

Come learn how to cook some Jewish foods while eating healthfully. This course will focus on Shmirat ha'guf (keeping the body healthy) while learning some age old Jewish recipes. We will be cooking recipes from different Jewish communities around the world and learning about each community. Whether it is Aleppo, Syria, or Budapest, Hungary you are sure to enjoy all the different healthy cuisines!

Jewish Ethical Decision Making with Martha Adler and Robin Wertheim Tolochko

This course will examine Jewish ethics, from its history to its applicability to our lives today. We will look at everything from the Sanhedrin (Supreme Court of ancient Israel) to making Jewish ethical decisions today. We will discuss the following questions: What are the central tenets of Jewish ethics? Is it important to make ethical decisions? Is it important to consider what Judaism says about situations when making a decision or acting in a certain way?

Judaism and Sports with Jerry Tracy Tolochko

This elective will explore historical events related to Judaism and sports, including: the Jewish soccer team in Vienna that was the first soccer team to defeat a British team in England; Sandy Koufax's infamous decision not to pitch on Yom Kippur; The terrorist attack on Israeli athletes at the Munich games; and the creation of the Maccabi games.

Elective C Courses will be announced later in the year.

Teacher Biographies

Martha Adler

Martha Adler has been a member of Temple Micah since 1995, and has been teaching in the Religious School since 1996. She taught 2nd grade for 8 years and graduated to 8th grade 4 years ago. During the week, she is the counselor at Sheridan School. Martha holds a Master's in Social Work from the University of Washington, and a BA from Stanford University. She currently lives in Washington with her husband David and their two children. 

Julie Rezmovic-Tonti

Julie has been teaching Teva (Jewish Environmentalism) since 2001 when she worked at the Jewish Nature Center of New Jersey. Since that time she has worked for many schools and outdoor education centers such as: The Teva Learning Center, Nature’s Classroom, Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, and currently she teaches Mishnah, Jewish History, and Teva at Gesher Jewish Day School in Fairfax, VA. When not teaching she is playing outside with her husband and children (ages 2 and 2 months).

Jerome Tolochko

Jerome Tolochko (formerly Tracy) attended the Atlanta International School and received a B.A. in International Affairs from the University of Georgia. He has visited the Jewish community in Havana, Cuba, and Bursa, Turkey, and he speaks both French and Spanish. He is originally from Atlanta, Georgia, and has taught in Atlanta at Ahavath Achim and Or Chadash synagogues. He currently works for Strategic Social and is an avid squash and soccer player. Jerry and Robin Tolochko (formerly Wertheim) – a fellow Micah teacher – got married in October and honeymooned in Patagonia.

Robin Tolochko

Robin Tolochko (formerly Wertheim) graduated from the University of Georgia in 2008, where she studied Geography and Spanish. She currently works at Green America, a non-profit harnessing economic power—the strength of consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace—to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society. Robin plays Ultimate Frisbee and was captain of the women's club team at UGA.

Throughout high school, she participated in the Meitav Fellowship, a Union for Reform Judaism program fostering future leaders in the Reform movement. Robin loves to travel, especially in Latin America. Robin and Jerome – a fellow Micah teacher – got married in October.

Education Director, Deborah Ayala Srabstein

Deborah has been the Education Director at Temple Micah since July 2008, and was the Director of Education at Shaare Torah in Gaithersburg, MD from 2004-2008. She spent the previous four years as a full-time classroom educator. She has taught at the American Hebrew Academy in Greensboro, NC; the Rashi School in Newton, Massachusetts, and at Boston Hebrew College Prozdor, plus a variety of congregational schools.

Deborah has a Master’s Degree in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University, and a BA in Religion from the University of Rochester. After college, Deborah received a fellowship from the Washington, DC Federation to participate in Project Otzma, a year-long service corps program in Israel. She also studied abroad in Jerusalem during college. 

Rabbi Esther Lederman

Originally from Ottawa, Canada, Rabbi Esther Lederman is thrilled to be joining Temple Micah as assistant rabbi. For the past two years, she has served as the Marshall T. Meyer Fellow at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun of Manhattan, a prestigious and competitive position in one of the United States most dynamic synagogues. She was ordained in May 2008 from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City. Prior to becoming a rabbi, Ms. Lederman worked for seven years in the non-profit world. She held positions with the Israel Policy Forum in Washington, DC, directed a project on Middle East peace education for the Union for Reform Judaism, and served as the National Director of Habonim Dror North America, an international Zionist youth movement. She received her B.A. in Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies from McGill University in 1996. Prior to entering college, she took six months to serve as a volunteer on a kibbutz in the north of Israel. 

Rabbi Daniel G. Zemel

Rabbi Daniel G. Zemel is the rabbi of Temple Micah in Washington, DC. He has served in this position since 1983. Rabbi Zemel is active in a number of local and national organizations. He is married to Louise Sherman Zemel. They have three children. Finally, and for him most significant, Rabbi Zemel is a devoted, passionate, lifelong fan of the Chicago White Sox.