We started January with our new unit on Achrayut/Responsibility. In our first lesson we discussed the things we feel responsibility toward in our lives (family,environment, school, friends, etc.) and then made a pie chart to visually represent them. We also learned from the examples of famous Jewish Americans, such as Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who modeled taking responsibility for others and standing up to injustice. Most students had seen or heard the quote. “...I felt my legs were praying” or “I prayed with my feet”, but didn’t know who said it or in what context.. In our second lesson we continued our discussion about how Achrayut requires that we “step up” or “stand up” when confronted with injustice. We learned about the biblical prophets and how they called out for justice no matter the cost. Students worked in small groups to create public service announcements that instructed people on the right way to treat others. Students also learned that Simon and Garfunkel, two Jewish musicians, were the original singers of The Sound of Silence (not Pentatonix!)
