Jewish Portal of
Teacher Education
The online resource of pedagogical and academic content on teaching and Jewish education
Jewish Portal of Teacher Education
Articles of the week
Celebrate Jerusalem with resources and lesson plans from the National Library of Israel. High school students discover the fascinating history of Naomi Shemer’s love song to Jerusalem, Yerushalayim Shel Zahav in a lesson based on the lyrics written in Shemer’s own hand, photographs, and biblical texts that inspired the song.
It’s no secret that Shavuot is Sefaria’s favorite holiday. While the ways we encounter Torah may be different this year, our passion for learning remains. Sefaria’s Learning Department has been gathering resources to help you prepare for Shavuot with your students and community.
After nearly two months of intense social distancing, we are all finding ourselves longing for things to return to normal — and recognizing that it might be a long while before that happens. But is a return to business as usual really what we should aim for? The extended disruption gives us a chance to take stock of how we’ve operated up to now, consider alternatives and even build a better vision for the future. We’re already seeing that happen across the Jewish world. Jews of all denominations have tapped digital tools to deliver the Torah and connection that had been largely analog. The heartbeats of Jewish life — weddings, funerals, bar and bat mitzvahs, studying Torah, cooking together, telling jokes and daily minyanim — have been reimagined to match the circumstances. And communities are stepping up to support their neediest members in new ways. But those have mostly been quick fixes, responsive and scattershot rather than carefully considered and coordinated. What if we had a shared vision for the Jewish future, so we could do more than just fumble our way there?