HOLY BLOSSOM TEMPLE RELIGIOUS SCHOOL

Holy Blossom Temple Religious School/Hebrew School
Curriculum Outline 2012-2013
Grade 4/Kitah Bet
The Religious Education committee of Holy Blossom Temple is committed to the
ongoing Jewish education of our students and families. If at any time you have a
question or comment, please consult with Debbie Spiegel, Director of Education or
Sheryl Brodey, Chair of the Religious Education Committee, sherylbrodey@rogers.com
The Chai curriculum designed in collaboration with URJ (Union for Reform Judaism),
Hebrew Union College – JIR, the National Association of Temple Educators and URJ
Press provides our core curriculum. The lessons review the three tenets of Judaism,
Torah, Avodah (prayer) and Gemilut Chasadim (Acts of Kindness). Each lesson focuses
on the “big ideas” of Jewish belief and practice.
HOLY BLOSSOM TEMPLE RELIGIOUS SCHOOL
The theme for Level 4 Chai curriculum is Am Yisrael (the people of Israel) Eretz Yisrael
(the Land of Israel) and brit (covenant). The Enduring Understanding for Grade 4 is
“With the promise of a holy land (Eretz Yisrael), we as a holy people (Am Yisrael) have
a responsibility to strive toward holiness by observing the covenant (brit).”
The topics in the Torah section of the curriculum include:
Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael and brit
All Jews are members of Am Yisrael; I am a member of Am Yisrael
It takes 12 tribes to create a People
Eretz Yisrael: the physical Land
Eretz Yisrael: the land for our soul
Brit: Joshua and Caleb
Brit: Keeping the Brit
The Avodah (prayer) section of the Grade 4 Chai curriculum deals with the concepts of
Keva (the fixed order of the service and the practice that it takes to feel comfortable in
traditional prayer) and Kavanah (the proper intention and emotional focus that allow us
to connect with God during prayer and worship experiences.)
The Enduring Understanding for this section is Keva and Kavanah are complementary
aspects of Jewish worship, combining to help us make sacred connections.
Lesson topics include:
Kavanah
Keva
Siddur Geography
The Shema and its blessings
Kiddush- sanctifying our lives through fixed prayer
In the Gemilut Chasadim section of our curriculum, the focus is on “Making Peace
Among Friends”. The Enduring Understandings in this section are that we are each

esponsible for performing acts of gemilut chasadim in order to make the world a holier
place with people that we encounter in our daily lives.
The topics covered in this section include:
Making Peace Among Friends
Shalom Bayit
Accepting difference between people
Honour your Parents
Befriend the lonely
The danger of gossip: Lashon Hara
Honouring and Understanding the Elderly
HOLIDAYS
Our preparation for the Holidays is vast. Students have a great deal to learn about
holidays in a short period of time – sometimes only 1-2 weeks. We hope that our
students will be able to accomplish the following objectives:
ROSH HASHANAH
• Recall the names of the sounds of the shofar
• Say L’Shanah Tova and understand its meaning
• Explain the meaning and concept teshuva and ways of implementation
• Recite the Shehechayanu and connect it to some examples of new beginnings
YOM KIPPUR
• Explain why Yom Kippur is a fast day
• state that Yom Kippur is the day of saying special prayers asking for forgiveness for the
things we have done wrong
• Articulate some of the wrongdoings and explain how teshuva can make a difference.
SUKKOT
• identify Sukkot as a harvest holiday
• state that Sukkot is a Jewish festival of Thanksgiving comparing it to Canadian
Thanksgiving.
• state that a Sukkah is a temporary home (not an apartment during a home renovation)
• demonstrate how to use the lulav and etrog
• repeat the blessings over the lulav and etrog and upon dwelling in the Sukkah
SIMCHAT TORAH
• identify Simchat Torah as the completion and new beginning of the yearly cycle of Torah
reading
• connect the Temple Sefer Torah project to the Holiday of Simchat Torah
• identify Simchat Torah as a time of joy and dancing
CHANUKAH
• tell the story of Chanukah in their own words
• Character analysis of Judah, Antiochus, Greeks
• Describe ways in which as Jews we express our freedoms
• Recite the blessings over the Chanukah lights

TU B’SHEVAT
• state that Tu B’Shevat is the New Year for the trees in Israel
• Recognize the Jewish view and value of the “greening” of our environment.
• Recite the blessing for the fruits
PURIM
• tell the story of Purim in their own words
• demonstrate the joy of giving by giving Mishloach Manot to friends and Matanot
L’evyonim
• identify Megillah as a part of 5 megillot (Ruth, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs,
Lamentations, Esther) and associate each with the holiday in which they are read.
PESACH
• identify and name in Hebrew and English the symbols of the seder and the seder
plate
• explain the meaning and the significance of Elijah’s Cup and Miriam’s Cup
• explain the meanings of the symbols on the Seder plate
• explain the significance of three matzot
• recite the blessing over Matzah
• explain the significance of the counting of the Omer and its relationship to Shavuot.
YOM HA’ATZMAUT
• identify Israel as a country and homeland for all Jews
• identify similarities and differences between aspects of daily life in Israel and Canada
• Compare the political system in Israel and Canada
• List the current political parties in Israel and their viewpoints
SHAVUOT
• explain that Shavuot is celebrated by a special service in the Synagogue
• explain that Shavuot gives thanks to God for the summer harvest in Israel
• state that Mount Sinai is the place where we believe the Torah was given to the Jewish
people
• Recite all Ten Commandments
ISRAEL
Chai Israel uses the following enduring understandings for their Israel Curriculum:
• A fundamental aspect of a healthy Jewish identity is a relationship to Israel as the
historical homeland and the spiritual inheritance of the Jewish people
• A fundamental aspect of a healthy Reform Jewish identity is a commitment ot
advancing religious pluralism within Israel
The essential questions that guide learning are:
1) What does Israel mean to me? What do I think of when I think of Israel?
2) How can knowledge of Israel enrich my Jewish belief and behaviour?
3) What different roles do the Land of Israel and the State of Israel play in my
relationship to Israel?

Students will be able to identify cities and regions in Israel, and have knowledge and
understanding about each.
Students will discuss/debate the need of developing the desert and desirability of
maintaining it.
Students will discover different ethnic groups that make up the Jewish population of
Israel, and the issues around immigration to Israel.
Students will discover how they connect to and support Israel.
HEBREW LANGUAGE
Learning Hebrew prayers
This year we have chosen a unique new learning tool, the Behrman House Online
Learning Center and Kol Yisrael 1, the first book in a fully integrated multimedia
Hebrew prayer series. Kol Yisrael 1 consists of a book and access to online
reinforcement exercises and games. Your child will use the book in class and will
practice the new prayer skills at home in animated online activities and computer
games. This combination is a highly motivating way to learn Hebrew, and we think your
child will love the program.
In Kol Yisrael 1 two young characters, Batya and Ben, and their pet fish Doug take
your child on a multi-media learning adventure. Together they learn the blessings and
prayers for participating in rituals at home such as the Shabbat and holiday blessings,
and singing the Mah Nishtanah at the Passover seder.
With the software, your child will even be able to hear the Hebrew read aloud in an
American or an Israeli accent, reinforcing our work in class.
The learning software is easy to use and can be accessed from anywhere you have a
computer and high speed internet access through our school’s invitation-only space in
the Online Learning Center. Invitations for class will be sent to an email address that
you choose and register by signing up at www.behrmanhouse.com and creating a
password. Your child simply clicks on the link we send, and will be added to our class.
After registering and accepting the class invitation (from
jewisheducation@behrmanhouse.com) your child can log in to the Online Learning
Center at any time at www.behrmanhouse.com using the registered email address and
password.