Taught by Lisa Klein

This year we will be going over all aspects of a b'nai mitzvah including the ceremony, what it means to become a b'nai mitzvah, how it ties in with our Jewish identity, and more. We will also be working on our D'var Torah for our own b'nai mitzvah ceremonies as well as working on our mitzvah projects. I look forward to a fabulous year while you each prepare for your upcoming b'nai mitzvah! We will be using the Girl Scouts Silver Award Guidelines as a model for project planning. I printed out a packet for each student where I crossed off the sections that don't pertain to us. If you need to refer to it for make up work, either use this link or view the inserted PDF file below.

Morah Lisa (or Morah Eliezrah)

lisa.klein@templehatikvahnj.org

What we did this week:

March 20: Today we continued a conversation that was started when I was out of town last week. We discussed the responsibilities of becoming a b'nai mitzvah, especially when it comes to making ethical decisions. We spent the entire period sharing our thoughts on what we would do in different scenarios and why.

March 6: Today we discussed etiquette, what it is, and how it pertains to our b'nai mitzvot. We spent most of the time talking about thank you notes, why we should write them as opposed to only saying thank you verbally, and what format to use when writing them. At the end of the period, the students wrote a thank you letter to their parents for everything they have done for them so far on their journey towards becoming a b'nai mitzvah.

MAZEL TOV to one of our students on your recent bar mitzvah!

Make up work: All make up work is due the Tuesday after the missed class. Please either bring something to class or send me an email (lisa.klein@templehatikvahnj.org) to let me know it has been done in order to receive credit for the work. If I am not shown that the classwork was made up by the following week, students will not receive credit for it, even if it is made up later on.

March 20: Look over the ethical scenarios posted below and send me an email with your thoughts on how you would handle some of them. Please include a list of some new responsibilities you feel you'll have once you become a b'nai mitzvah.

March 6: Tell me why you think sending thank you notes is important and who has helped you so far on your b'nai mitzvah journey. Write a thank you note to a parent or family member who has been working with you to show them how much you appreciate it.

Ethical Questions (March 20 make up work)

Georgia’s hands were sweating. She was fifteen minutes into her math final when she began to panic. This exam was worth most of her grade in the class. She understood math—even liked it—and usually did really well. Her constant problem was that she wasn’t a strong test-taker. Her grades never reflected her understanding of the material she studied.

Now, here she was, once again stuck on one problem worth twenty-five points on the test, and she was drawing a blank. She put her head down on the desk and concentrated as hard as she could. She remembered doing a similar problem in class and explaining it to her friend Jessie, but now she was so stressed out by the test, she couldn’t even remember how to begin the problem.

She lifted her head and stared at her test. She listened to the clock tick on the wall and imagined her parents’ expression when she receives her report card. Jessie was sitting right in front of her. He is always a good test taker and had already solved the problem. The teacher had his backed turned and was on the other side of the room. Georgia could look over Jessie’s shoulder, get the answer, and no one would know.

Georgia needed to think quickly. She thought about how unfair it was that she regularly does badly on tests even though she works so hard in class and understands the material, too. She thought about how often she helped Jessie in class throughout the semester. What should she do?

She prided herself on doing what was right. But how right is it that she has to work in a system that doesn’t reward such hard work?

Finally, she took a deep breath. She looked to see if the teacher was still on the other side of the room, and glanced over Jessie’s shoulder just long enough to get the final answer to the question. Then, she figured out the rest of the problem on her own. In the moment, she felt great about her decision. She felt she had sort of created an ethical compromise.

But on the way home on the bus, Georgia’s good feelings started to fade. “What exactly is an ethical compromise anyway?” she thought to herself. Should she tell her teacher what she did or move forward and forget about the whole thing?

(Taken from http://www.goodcharacter.com/dilemma/dilemma31.html)

Jennifer knows her parents won't let her go to "the big party" if they find out the host's parents are out of town. Should she lie about it?

What's the difference between cheating on a math test and lying about your age in order to save money on a movie ticket?

Julia's best friend has turned against her and is now organizing the other girls to bully and isolate her. What can Julia do?

Lea has been offered something she really wants. Unfortunately, it's terribly unfair to a lot of other people and she knows it. Should she allow herself to benefit from an unfair situation?

Stephanie was supposed to tell a certain guy that her good friend had a crush on him. Instead, Stephanie ended up hooking up with the guy, herself. And to make matters worse, she lied to her friend about it . Now things are spinning out of control. What's she supposed to do?

A stressed out honor student has plagiarized a term paper and been turned over to the school's honor council. She is pleading with the council not to report her violation to the Ivy League university she is applying to. What should the council do?

(Taken from http://www.goodcharacter.com/dilemma/archive.html)