Our students encounter the riches and complexities of Judaism through an analysis of the primary texts of our tradition. The focus of the curriculum is on teaching meaningful and relevant topics and themes in Judaism with practical moral or philosophical lessons via rigorous and intensive text study. All students must take the four-year core program described below, and may also choose to specialize by taking electives. Studies of holidays and prayer are interspersed throughout the core program.  The curriculum features an integrated approach to teaching about Judaism--each year weaves together Bible, Rabbinics, ancient and modern history, ethics, Israel, lifecycle events, Holocaust, holidays, and prayer.

Ninth Grade: Tanach with Commentaries--The Spiritual Journey of the Individual
The ninth grade curriculum focuses on the spiritual journey of the individual, identity formation, and topics relevant to teenagers as they start upper school. The primary goals of the ninth grade curriculum are to increase the students’ abilities, in breadth and in depth, to analyze Jewish texts, especially Tanach with commentaries; to orient our students to the unique Jewish atmosphere of the Adelson Upper School; to engage students on a personal spiritual journey; to empower students to make healthy decisions in their lives based upon Jewish values; to enable students to internalize the relevance and meaningfulness of Judaism to their lives; and to see the joys of Judaism.

Tenth Grade: Rabbinic Literature--Communal Unity Amid Diversity
Tenth graders students tackle what it means to live in a diverse global society. Students study the development of Rabbinic Judaism inside the Talmud itself, in addition to a wide variety of other primary Jewish texts, and confront the challenges of successfully living in the twenty-first century. This curriculum focuses on issues involved in creating Tarbut HaMachloket, which roughly means “a pluralistic, trans-ideological culture of respect.” After studying foundational Jewish texts on this subject, we examine four case studies using the theoretical knowledge from the first unit. Each case study looks at how two or more people (or groups of people) can have a serious difference of opinion yet remain united in the same community. These case studies were chosen because each focuses on different aspects of the students’ lives: their friends, their family, their Jewish community, and their world community. The overarching issue in each case is how to live in a peaceful and respectful environment in which there are multiple claims on the truth, while remaining faithful to one’s own choices.

Eleventh Grade: Jewish History--Memory of the Jewish People
Rather than starting with a list of facts to be taught, we start with a list of questions to be asked. For example, instead of learning the history of the priests, prophets, kings, and rabbis in Judaism, we ask a more central question: Who is the ideal leader? We use the prism of Jewish history to help focus our analysis of such questions. The goal of this course is not to simply acquire facts and information about the past, nor is it to “cover” all of Jewish history. Facts, names, places, and events may often serve as the background for our lessons, but won’t constitute their essence. Rather, our goals are to utilize our past to help us make sense of our present; to recollect our dramas and narratives; to explore our individual and collective identities; and to understand Jewish memory as a sacred concept that is rooted in our Torah, liturgy, calendar, people, thought, and ritual. Since we can’t re-experience our past, we will encounter and gain insight into our past through the next best thing—essential historical texts about specific dramas in Jewish history.

Twelfth Grade: Foundations of Jewish Law--Ethics and Practice
The twelfth grade curriculum centers on the foundations of Jewish ethics. The first half of the course focuses on analyzing foundational stories and texts from the Jewish tradition that relate to ethics, while the second half focuses on case studies pertaining to ethical issues. Additionally, students will begin mentally preparing for college by studying campus issues such as Israel advocacy, the challenge of keeping a Jewish identity in college, spending money wisely, and dealing with people who subscribe to different ideas and faiths.

Honors Judaic Studies
Motivated students with prior background in Judaic Studies will also have the opportunity to choose a more advanced program of Judaic Studies. This program is designed for students who want a more intensive study of Jewish texts, such as Talmud and Halacha, than is offered in the core curriculum. Students may study a Masechet (Talmudic tractate) in depth with commentators, and/or may study practical Halacha through the Shulchan Aruch and Mishna Brura, among other texts.

Judaic Studies Electives
The goal of our elective program is to empower our students to take control of their
Jewish education. Sample course offerings may include:

Modern Israel and Israel Advocacy
Women in Judaism
Judaism and the Arts
Musical Midrash
Senior Project
G-d and Evil
The Shoah (Holocaust)
What Happens After You Die
Biblical Criticism
Comparative Religion