Educators

Jewish Identity - The Debate about What it is and What it Means for Jewish Education

How do we measure Jewish identity? Stanford professor, Ari Y. Kelman has been actively studying "how people learn to be Jewish" and recently shared his views in jweekly.  Even as a teenager Kelman questioned why all the educational questions seemed to be connected with the value of a strong Jewish identity. 

Celebrate Tu B'Shevat with Mama Doni and Chocolate Bark

The possibilities are endless with this great fill-in-the-blank chocolate bark recipe from A Jewish American Family Cookbook by Mama Doni and Recipe Rachel! This yummy chocolate bark can be made in four easy steps and offers a chance for you to get creative with your own choice of toppings. 

Available Now: Augmented Reality App Brings the Alef Bet to Life

Help Students interact with the printed pages from Let's Discover the Alef Bet using the new Augmented Reality App from Behrman House.

10 Ways to Celebrate Jewish Disability Awareness Month with Your Synagogue

With the start of Jewish Disability Awareness Month under way, we can start to consider ways that we can commit to inclusion and celebrate with our synagogues.  Coordinator of the URJ-Ruderman Family Foundation Partnership for Inclusion of People with Disabilities, Rabbi Edythe Held Mencher, recently created a list to help Jews across the world come together to help all feel included and commit to the needs of all abilities and disabilities. 

We're Bringing the Alef Bet to Life and You Can be the First to Try it!

Now students can interact with the printed pages from Let's Discover the Alef Bet in an entirely new way, using the new Augmented Reality App from Behrman House. Watch the pages come alive with help from the camera on your mobile device or tablet to activate digital elements in the popular folders that introduce the Hebrew letters. 

Hot Topics: The Deaths of Garner and Brown

The deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown—both black Americans killed by white police officers—have sparked protests around the country, reawakening the debate about whether America’s criminal justice system is racist.  With the latest Hot Topics: The Deaths of Garner and Brown resource, you can help students discuss the need to improve the relationship between police officers and citizens of all races.

Make It Happen: A Tu B'Shevat Proposal

How can we help students celebrate the beginning of a new year of growth for trees by showing our gratitude for all that the natural world gives us? What can you do to promote bal tashchit in your school?  This activity from the student journal, Jewish Holidays, Jewish Values, helps students understand bal tashchit and put it into action!

Looking for Quick Resources for Tu B'Shevat? Our Pinterest Board Has You Covered.

Pinterest is a great place to collect educational resources for almost any need in your classroom, but can sometimes take an excess of time to find just the right thing you're looking for.  This Tu B'Shevat leave the searching up to us and use our 'Our Place in the Universe' board for all of your resource needs. 

How Well are Your Students Decoding? Find Out Now!

You're back in the swing of the second half of school, but are your students? You can help them brush up on their Hebrew skills while tracking their progress in decoding with the Hebrew Reading Assessment by Lesley Litman. 

The Gateways Haggadah: A First of Its Kind

Behrman House proudly collaborated with Gateways: Access to Jewish Education to welcome families with children of all abilities and disabilities to their Passover table with the help of our new haggadah.  In a recent article from The Jewish Advocate by Director of Marketing and Communications at Gateways, Rachel Fadlon provided a little insight behind The Gateways Haggadah: A Seder for the Whole Family.

Hot Topics: Making Football Safer

Professional football is America's most popular sport and the Super Bowl is the most watched television in the country.  With the 49th Super Bowl less than two weeks away, it is a great time to discuss the safety measures and the price of a good tackle with the new Hot Topics: Making Football Safer lesson plan.

Are Part-Time Religious Schools Getting the Support They Deserve?

Have we demoralized supplemental school education directors? Lisa Harris Glass and Stephanie Hausner seem to think so. In the recent article, "Synagogue-based Religious Schools: A Community Responsibility," Glass and Hausner touched on the idea that we have consigned our number one opportunity - to inspire a lifelong love of Judaism and positive Jewish identity -  to a "less than" status.

Rabbi Danny Zemel's Non-Jewish Parent Aliyah Blessing Brings Changes for Interfaith Families

To provide a welcoming, inclusive ceremony for interfaith families, Rabbi Daniel Zemel of Temple Micah in Washington, DC created a different Bar-Bat Mitzvah blessing. 

Eight Ways to Build an Inclusive Religious School Program for Students Who Learn Differently

After the frustrated parents of a five-year-old with a chronic genetic cell disorder shared their struggles of being denied by Jewish organizations and educational institutions they approached, Rabbi Steven H. Rau informed the parents that their child would be treated like all other children at The Temple in Atlanta.  "Unfortunately, the experiences of these parents is common to many parents of children with learning differences - children with differences are often treated differently." Rabbi Rau explains. 

It's All Done! Connect Students to Israel with ISRAEL21c Teacher's Edition Summary Packet

Last year Behrman House presented ISRAEL21c Teacher's Edition Summary Packet to assist educators as they find ways to enrich students' exploration of Israel with articles and videos. 

Coming Soon: Augmented Reality App Brings the Alef Bet to Life

Help students interact with the printed pages from Let's Discover the Alef Bet using the new Augmented Reality App from Behrman House. This February students will watch the pages come alive with help from the camera on their mobile or tablet to activate digital elements in the popular folders that introduce the Hebrew letters. 

Hot Topics: Homosexuality and the Jewish Community

How do we help students understand the nature of a Biblical to-evah (taboo) and how it influences our thinking about homosexuality? With the newest Hot Topics article and lesson plan, students will explore the nature of the Leviticus 18:22 text (which is often cited as a proof text for exclusion of homosexuals in religious communities,) and compare it to other to-evah in the Bible, and to our contemporary understanding of a taboo.

Educator Gets Results by Encouraging Hebrew Practice at Home with the Online Learning Center

We know that students are more successful learning Hebrew when they also practice a little at home. Here's how one educator encourages them, using the Online Learning Center. Lynn Calnek, Principal and Director of Life Long Learning at Temple Kol Tikvah in Davidson, NC, teaches 6-10 students who are new to Hebrew, learning the Alef Bet.  "It's hard for me to have tutors for each individual student," Calnek said. "The Online Learning Center gives me a better way to teach these students all together."

Available Now! The Gateways Haggadah: A Seder for the Whole Family

We celebrate Passover with family and friends, singing songs, saying prayers, and eating holiday foods that help us remember the Passover story. This is a special time of year that all should enjoy.

You Too Can Preview the Newest Materials in Jewish Education with Golem Express

When you join Golem Express you will automatically receive a review copy of all the new educational materials we publish as soon as they are released. This upcoming year we are releasing 15 titles that will be included in Golem packages. With the Golem Express plan we will bill you ONCE per year, at the time of your first shipment. The additional Golem Express shipments will arrive automatically at NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE.

Teach Israel

 Experience Modern Israel

New from Behrman House. Fly to Israel without a plane ticket.

Discover Israel

 Let's Discover Israel

Offer younger children an exciting and age-appropriate introduction to the Jewish homeland