Judaism Unit Guide

Judaism Unit Guide

Judaism Unit Guide

IB World Religions SL Unit #3

Unit Description: This unit will consist of four main parts:

  1. In the first part we will look at the Jewish answer to the question: Why are we here? To do this we gain knowledge via inquiry, reading and discussion, and lecture to get a broad understanding of the religion. We will explorethe creation story, the book of Genesis, the flood story and all the way up to the calling of Abraham of Ur.We will read and discuss various excerpts from the first part of the Torah as well as supplement articles talking about both the impact of Abraham and monotheism.
  2. The second part of this unit will try to answer the question: What is the human condition? from a Jewish perspective. We will look at the nature of humanity and its grounding in the story of both Abraham and the Exodus story while juxtaposing it next to ideas about God’s relationship to man. We will also consider the importance of laws to Judaism and the idea of the Jews being a chose people with a covenant with God.
  3. In the third part of this unit we will consider the question, from a Jewish perspective of Where are we going? We will look closely at the role and relationship of YHWH to the world in both past present times. We will consider the Jewish ideas of afterlife, atonement and sin. Finally we will focus on the importance of the concept of messiah to Judaism.
  4. In the final part of the unit we will consider the final question of How do we get there? To do this we will look at, in much more detail, the role of mitzvoth within Judaism and how those impact the lives of everyday Jews. We will also compare the different branches of Judaism, their beliefs and their interactions within society. Finally we will consider the commonalities and the role of the Shema in daily Jewish belief and life.

Themes & Key Ideas:Jewish

Israel

Torah

rabbi

Shabbat

mitzvoth

messiah

Abraham

prophecy

Talmud

Readings:Norton Anthology of World Religions text

from Genesis

from Exodus

from Job

from Ecclesiastes

from Jerusalem by M. Mendelssohn

from The Religious Significance of the State of Israel by Y. Liebowitz

from Channels of Prophecy by T. Overholt

from Crisis and Story: An Introduction to the Old Testament by W. Humphreys

Living Religions text

Projects:

  1. Examining Exodus: You will have to research on the historical ideas and probability behind the Exodus story and come up with an answer about its hagiography.
  2. Prophecy: You will do extensive research about the role and ideas of one prophet within Judaism and then submit your ideas about his impact to the class
  3. Socratic Seminar: After reading a bunch of Jewish texts, we will have a major Socratic seminar about Jewish beliefs, practices and the world today.

Skill Development:Understand religious texts

Religious Diversity

Roles & impact of religion in historic and modern culture & society

Discussing sensitive issue

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