Tanakh Department
Tanakh classes are designed to engage our students in the creative process of exploring the meaning of the text and thereby to develop the analytic and textual skills which are a prerequisite for independent study. The focus is on the text of Tanakh which students are asked to confront on their own. Study of biblical commentaries is part of the process of understanding the Tanakh rather than the goal of the classes. In this way, students begin to gain an appreciation of the process of Parshanut as they on their own levels are themselves engaged in the same quest as the commentators. By having students prepare texts prior to class discussion, we empower them to be active participants in the learning process. This preparation often takes place in the form of Chavruta (cooperative) learning. The students insights and questions are an integral part of our classroom discussions. The information and observations gleaned during preparation become the raw material from which the classroom discussion is constructed.
We concentrate on understanding the larger context and the interrelationship of sources. Although careful attention to individual words and niceties of language are essential to the proper study of Mikra, students are expected to go well beyond the focus on small units of language and to endeavor to identify the essential messages of the section, the Perek and the Sefer; to see how the details fit and to relate this text to others in Tanakh. Curriculum planning for the cross section of Neviim, Rishonim and Acharonim and Ketubim, which students study during their high school years, includes the identification of the spiritual/ethical/moral values inherent in the text and of sources which highlight its contemporary relevance.
Frischs Tanakh/Art History Integration Program encourages students to explore the nexus between the culture of the ancient world and that of Am Yisrael in biblical times. The goal is to help students understand the morally unique and vital contributions Judaism has made to the world. Students use art history as a way to compare and contrast the mythologies, art and historical figures of the Ancient Near East with the stories and figures from Tanakh and discover how the Torah, Neviim and Ketubim transform the cultures in which they were born.
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