הסטורי

Historia is more than the study of the history of the Jewish people; it is the study of the relationship between the Jews and Hashem. Through the learning of Historia we connect to our heritage, we recognize ourselves as a part of a greater whole, as a part of Klal Yisrael that has spanned the ages.

We discover a nation that has been pursued and persecuted, and how they rose from blood and ashes to build and develop the beautiful nation that we are today. We learn about the Torah and how it has remained true and intact throughout many trials and tribulations. As we discuss the events that transpired, we follow the cycle, and we discover the richness of our Mesorah, developing an appreciation for our manhigim. We thus can perceive the role that we play as the current link in the chain.  We are therefore infused with a powerful sense of responsibility; we must preserve and safeguard the kedusha of the Torah and the Jewish nation amidst all of the challenges that face our generation.  Students learn to look back at the previous Doros in order to know how to proceed and work towards bringing Mashiach, the ultimate historical event.

GOALS:

• Students will have a clear understanding of the course of events from בריאת העולם until today. They will know the dates on a basic timeline comprehending the millenniums, and what happened during each one.
• Students will understand that the events throughout all of history are a cycle of cause and effect.
• Students will gain an in depth understanding of the מסורה and how the Torah “evolved” over the years. They will follow the important “links in the chain”, seeing how the מסורה was protected and how the חכמים throughout the years worked to ensure its correct passage. They will see how the events throughout the years resulted in the structure of our nation and of Yiddishkeit of today.
• Throughout the curriculum we will learn about the significance of the leadership of the Jews. We will thus express the concept of אמונת חכמים and how we must respect and rely on our גדולים for the proper guidance in every generation.
• In addition to learning about the events in the lives of the תנאים and אמוראים, students will be taught to incorporate practical application into their daily lives from the השקפה and מדות of these great leaders.

CONTENT:

The class begins with an overview of the history from בריאת העולם, until today. An in depth study of the תקופת התנאים לפני בית שני עד תקופת הגאונים is the main focus of the curriculum. Comprehension of the תקופה of ר’ יוחנן בן זכאי and his talmidim, the challenges they faced and their accomplishments, resulting in חתימת המשנה with רבנו הקדוש, moving onto the אמוראים in ארץ ישראל and in בבל, how they led our nation and their accomplishments, climaxing in the חתימת התלמוד with רבינא and ר’ אשי. The lessons are interactive and lively and include group work and presentations. Throughout the year as we cover the personalities of the תנאים and the אמוראים, we will focus on appreciating the challenges that they were faced with and understanding how they galvanized to action, achieving what they did for Klal Yisroel.

SKILLS:

• Girls will acquire knowledge of that era of Historia through in depth and clear classes.
• Girls will comprehend the timeline of Jewish History and know how to decipher random dates and place them on the timeline.
• Girls will learn to recognize cycles of Jewish History and “predict” events.

PROJECTS:

• Girls will take an active role in discovering the personalities of the time period. They will do a project that requires researching a particular תנא or אמורא, discussing their accomplishments, as well as the middos and practical lessons that can be learned from that individual.
• Girls will write short essays of what practical lessons they are gleaning from the material being learned.
• Girls will create a visual timeline around the classroom that will include all of the major events throughout Jewish History. Each event will be creatively illustrated on an arrow pointing in one direction around the classroom.