URJ Books & Music - Jewish Songs, Music, Books, Sheet Music

As Reform Jewish religious schools begin the school year, teachers are excited to be introducing their students to two new levels of the CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life curriculum- the Reform Movement's integrated religious school curriculum. CHAI Level 3 and CHAI Level 4 feature materials appropriate for children in grades 3 and 4, and can also be adapted for different age levels and multi-age classrooms.

The CHAI curriculum, a product of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and sold by the URJ PRESS, was introduced two years ago at the UAHC Biennial, when UAHC President Rabbi Eric Yoffie called for a complete overhaul of the after-school educational system in the UAHC's more than 900 congregations.

Designed to be flexible so that synagogues can incorporate its lessons into already-existing religious school curricula, CHAI materials also include Mitkadem, a student-paced Hebrew learning program, as well as supplementary materials for family and parent education. The UAHC has also sponsored CHAI retreats, workshops, and on-line courses for Jewish educators, ensuring that those who teach the material fully understand its goals and methods.

"The Curriculum Core just keeps getting better," saaid Wendy Rapport, Associate Director of the UAHC's Department of Lifelong Jewish Learning. "Thanks to the partnership we have with UAHC congregations and outside evaluators, levels 3 and 4 are truly new and improved. It's exciting to see how we were able to respond to feedback from the field and create a more useful and engaging product."

Each level of the CHAI curriculum contains 27 one-hour classroom lessons focusing on the core Jewish values of Torah (worship) Avodah (prayer) and G'milut Chasadim (deeds of loving-kindness). Based on a curriculum model known as "backward design," CHAI encourages students to develop deep, enduring understandings about Jewish life and tradition, establishing a foundation for lifelong Jewish learning within each child.

In Level 3, students learn to refine their own understanding of k'dushah (holiness), and apply it to lessons on how ritual objects, symbols, prayer, and proper behavior can make moments and places special, holy, and closer to God. In Level 4, students learn about how individual behavior relates to community by studying the relationship of the People of Israel and the Land of Israel in the Torah, the significance and structure of communal prayer, and the ways in which acts of g'milut chasadim affect relationships.

The two levels also feature "My Jewish Life Journal," workbooks which enable students to develop their understandings of Jewish life and tradition through written exercises.

CHAI also makes use of some of the most cutting-edge pedagogical techniques currently available. The "backward design" approach is adapted from Understanding by Design, a book published by the secular Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and CHAI has been piloted in UAHC congregations, with these synagogues' feedback analyzed and evaluated by the Jewish Educational Services of North America.

More information about CHAI, including lesson plans and sample lessons, is available on the UAHC Web site at www.uahc.org/chai.

The Union of American Hebrew Congregations is the central body of the Reform Movement in North America, and represents 1.5 million Reform Jews in more than 900 congregations across the United States and Canada. UAHC programs and services include music and book publishing, youth camping, outreach to intermarried and unaffiliated Jews, and the Religious Action Center in Washington, DC.

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9/03