ICJudaism: A Teacher’s Guide to Judaism

      Hosted by ICTeachers                                                                Formerly: Mike’s Rough Guide to Judaism

Disclaimer:

The contents of these pages represent the author’s personal views, experience and understanding.
There are bound to be some things here that some Jews would disagree with.

 

Resources and Downloads

 

Useful Websites

Tracey Rich's Judaism 101. Probably my favourite site about Judaism, it is well organised with a good depth of clearly explained information about Jewish thought and practice. Aimed mainly at Jews who want to know more, it is also a great resource for non-Jews wanting to find out about Judaism.

Another useful site is that of the Chabad-Lubavich community, which is crammed full of information about Judaism, much of which is simply but comprehensively explained, and although it is written from a strictly orthodox viewpoint, much of it is easily accessible to non-Jewish readers.

BBC Religions: Judaism has clear simple explanations. This is a useful site for pupils.

Judaism: Rabbi Scheinerman’s Web Page: although aimed primarily at a Jewish audience, the information is clear, comprehensive and potentially useful to teachers. Quite a lot of it could also be very useful to pupils - especially the section headed Synagogue.

The Jewish Education Bureau: Based in Leeds, the JEB can provide artefacts, lectures, talks and walking tours, a programme of visits to schools nationwide (both primary and secondary) and experiential weekends for teachers and other adults.

A visit to a synagogue is a great way to get a brief “inside view” of Judaism. Some synagogues have volunteers who will host visitors, such as classes of school children and explain the features of a synagogue and what happens there. In some Local Authority areas the SACRE (Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education - every English Local Authority has one) will have information about places of worship that accept visits from schools, or simple track down the nearest synagogue and give them a ring.

If you are unable to take your pupils to visit a synagogue you might find a virtual visit useful. There are several “virtual synagogues on the internet, here are links to a couple of them:

 

Useful Books

Judaism An Introduction by CM Hoffman in the Teach Yourself series from Hodder. An excellent, comprehensive book, both learned and straightforwardly written, intended primarily to provide an introduction for non-Jews (I also learned things from it).

Judaism GCSE Religious Studies - The Definitive Resource by Clive Lawton. Produced by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, this guide to Judaism addresses the requirements of all the English GCSE syllabi as regards, Judaism. Written in plain English it comprehensively and clearly explains the beliefs, teachings and practices of Jews across the spectrum of Jewish denominations. This really is an excellent resource both for teachers and older pupils. It is available both in hard copy and as a PDF download from https://www.bod.org.uk/

Downloads

A zip archive containing 18 worksheets / pupil information sheets, several with teachers’ notes. There is also an index and summary file. (Updated and corrected February 2021)

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