Students

Addressing Social Justice with Students

“Justice, justice shall you pursue,” the Torah insists.  This notion of social justice and pursuing fairness is a central tenet of Judaism, rooted in both text and halacha. How can you teach this to your students?  Here are some ideas to incorporate social justice into your classes or courses:

What Moses Can Teach Us About Setting Goals

What can Moses teach us about New Year's resolutions? Our annual good intentions so often fall apart before they ever really begin, and perhaps that's because our self-created barriers of "can't" and "won't" get in the way. 

Behrman House Launches Web and OLC Redesign

Behrman House recently kicked off the first phase of a design overhaul to the website and Online Learning Center. The redesign process, which will take many months, will help us create a simple, fresh, and engaging digital portal where you can share, learn, and play. We'll be making things simpler and clearer for educators, teachers, students, parents, and families to find and use all our great content from any device, any time.

Free Hanukkah Resources for Students, Educators, and Families

Instructional Guides How do you light the candles? What is the “helper” candle called? How do you play dreidel? To introduce the holiday to young children or families, Celebrating Hanukkah from the For the Family series provides the perfect entry. This 4-page laminated folder includes the story of Hanukkah, explanation of why and how the holiday is celebrated,  instructions for how dreidel is played, and all the blessings – in Hebrew, transliteration, and English. Click the images below for some sample lessons.

Students as Ambassadors for Inclusion

For the many Jewish congregations and organizations considering ways to make their environments and programs more inclusive, the challenge is less about why than of how.

Tools to Assess and Strengthen Students' Hebrew Skills

You survived the fall holiday marathon. Now it's time to use your uninterrupted schedule to focus on your students' Hebrew skills. Our resources can help you meet students where they are in their Hebrew, and ensure they succeed in reaching the next level of your program.

Free Hebrew Practice Links for Student Success

Make the most of the next eight weeks of school (before winter break)! We know you want to ensure your learners get good opportunities to learn and practice Hebrew. We know that when kids practice Hebrew for just five minutes a day, they get better more quickly. That's why we offer lots of free digital resources for students to practice Hebrew - on their time, on their devices. You can send links to your families and recommend our free apps for quick and fun ways to enhance their learning.

Free Resource to Explore What Judaism Says About Presidential Elections

What qualities should voters should look for in our leaders? That's the question you can help teens explore through a Jewish lens as the general election fast approaches.

Simchat Torah Time: Show Students How It's Made

With Simchat Torah just around the corner, we've put together a free educator's guide for using How It's Made: Torah Scroll - the vibrant new resource that enhances the learning of the holiest object in Judaism.

New Sam Glaser Album Celebrates 25 Years of Music

Musician Sam Glaser has traveled the world in concert many times over, performing the music from his two dozen albums to audiences of all denominations, equally comfortable playing a solo at the grand piano, leading his 8-piece band, or backed by a full orchestra. After 25 years in the Jewish music business, we think it’s fitting that he chose to celebrate the anniversary with music.

Big Idea for Jewish Learning #3 - Living Our Values

As you plan your curriculum, we have created a Big Ideas Guide that identifies three areas that encompass the key values and purpose of part-time Jewish education programs. The Big Ideas in this small downloadable guide help you think through the enduring understandings you want your learners to grapple with as they form connections with Judaism, as well as point to specific Behrman House texts and materials that support the learning and help you guide students.

Lessons about Caring with Avi the Ambulance

Avi the Ambulance dreams of being a life-saving ambulance just like his parents and big sister. In the new book Avi the Ambulance to the Rescue, the second in the Avi the Ambulance series, he gets his chance to help in a most unexpected way. His mom, the command car, has assigned him and his medic to restock supplies.

Big Idea for Jewish Learning #1 - Deep Connection to Our Sacred Texts

As you plan your curriculum, we have created a Big Ideas Guide that identifies three areas that encompass the key values and purpose of part-time Jewish education programs. The Big Ideas in this small downloadable guide help you think through the enduring understandings you want your learners to grapple with as they form connections with Judaism, as well as point to specific Behrman House texts and materials that support the learning and help you guide students.

Break Through the Hebrew Reading Summer Slide

As students head back to school, help them break through the Hebrew reading summer slide with a variety of tools for students of all ages and levels.

Second Hebrew in Harmony Cohort Begins Sept. 1

It's not too late to join the second cohort of teachers training to use Hebrew in Harmony, the groundbreaking new music-based curriculum for 4th-6th graders to ensure an engaging and musical Hebrew experience for your students.

Generosity of Spirit: The Performers at NewCAJE

If you were to ask me about what stood out at the NewCAJE conference, I’d say the incredible generosity of the musicians and performers. Generosity—and humility. As far as I could tell, they:

Presidential Elections and Other Hot Topics Through a Jewish Lens

What qualities do you think voters should look for in a presidential candidate? That's the question you can help teens explore through a Jewish lens as the general election heats up. 

What to Do with Your Finished Shalom Coloring Pages

Coloring books have been proven to put the adult mind at ease. The health benefits of coloring include decreased anxiety and increased mindfulness, according to Marygrace Berberian, a certified art therapist and professor at the Graduate Art Therapy Program at New York University in a CNN article. The process is great, but then what? Really, how many masterpieces can we fit on our refrigerator? How can we sustain the therapeutic flow?

Add New Apples and Honey Press Titles to Your School Collection

Enrich your school or classroom library with our new crop of Jewish children's books. Apples and Honey Press has published seven new titles, just in time for the new school year and your fall lesson planning. Eligible for our educator discount and with free teacher resource pages available, Apples and Honey Press books are accessible, affordable, and make a wonderful addition to any Hebrew or Judaics curriculum.

Join the Second Cohort of Hebrew in Harmony Teachers

Thanks to high interest in an online teacher training course for Hebrew in Harmony, we have opened registration for the second cohort sooner than planned!  The first cohort, currently in session, filled up quickly and is now oversubscribed. Don't miss out on this key learning of how to use the new prayer-through-music curriculum Hebrew in Harmony. 

Teach Israel

 Experience Modern Israel

New from Behrman House. Fly to Israel without a plane ticket.

Discover Israel

 Let's Discover Israel

Offer younger children an exciting and age-appropriate introduction to the Jewish homeland