I hope that you and your students had a fun-filled Purim and that you’ve had a chance to catch your breath after all the festivities!
With Purim behind us, it’s time to turn our attention to Passover! The Sefaria library is packed with resources to help you prepare — everything from the Passover story in the Torah (alongside a rich variety of commentaries) to the haggadah and related resources. You’ll also find plenty of educational materials, perfect for the classroom or to share with families at home.
Did you try something creative and exciting with Sefaria for the holidays? We’d love to hear about it and celebrate your success in an upcoming educator spotlight!
Happy learning,
Rachel Buckman
Senior Learning and Engagement Specialist
Educator Spotlight
Rabbi Tzvi Hametz Connects Torah and STEAM
Who? Rabbi Tzvi Hametz, Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy, Rockville, Maryland, Director of Educational Technology and Innovation
How? I integrate Sefaria’s source sheet editor as a core part of the design and research process in my STEAM and makerspace classes. For example, in my Judaica design and manufacturing class, students use Sefaria to compile relevant halakhic (legal) and historical sources before designing ritual objects. When creating a mezuzah case, students build a source sheet with texts on the mitzvah of mezuzah, including discussions on placement, materials, and symbolism. This textual exploration informs their design choices before they 3D-print or laser-cut their final product.
Rabbi Tzvi’s Top Tip: Take advantage of Sefaria’s ability to create source sheets tailored to specific learning objectives! Encourage students to use the platform’s search tools to find texts that resonate with their projects or questions — they may discover connections between Jewish texts and modern challenges they hadn’t considered before. The collaborative aspect of source sheets is a great way to promote student engagement and ownership of their learning.
Did you Know?
Learning by Topic
On Topic pages, you’ll find collections of sources from the library on a single theme — like #Trees, #Light, or #Friendship — along with headers and intro paragraphs for easy navigation. Searching by Topic is great for research, whether you're a student delving into sources related to a topic of interest or an educator discovering sources that they aren’t familiar with on a specific subject. Curious? Try out Passover-related Topics such as #Passover, #Matzah, or #The Exodus from Egypt.
Teaching Tanakh: Now with Vowels!
We are making Torah commentaries more accessible to students by adding vowels (nikkud) to some of the most important classical commentaries.
In addition to offering a fully vocalized Rashi commentary on Torah, we have recently added vowels to Ramban’s Torah commentary to the library.
EXPLORE RAMBAN WITH VOWELS
Teaching Mishnah: Ta’amei HaPardes
In the Mishnah section of the Ta’amei HaPardes Commentary, Rahel Berkovits, a faculty member of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, introduces the core themes and methodology behind Pardes’s approach to Mishnah study. These sheets provide an excellent introduction to studying Mishnah and could be used as they are for either adult or high school education. Otherwise, they could be adapted into background material for educators or course material for middle school students.
On the Jewish Calendar: Ready for Passover?
- Personalized Passover Haggadot: Get inspired by some examples of personalized haggadot made by other Sefaria users! You can use these as they are or make your own haggadah with Sefaria’s source sheet editor.
- Seder on Sefaria: These virtual mock seder activities are designed to educate, engage, and connect people around Passover preparation activities and the traditional seder. You can either use these as they are or make a copy of the sheet and adapt it for a different setting or audience.
Sefaria Tools to Know
Seamlessly add and format any source from the library to a Google doc with a single click. Now including verse numbers!
Create unique source sheets by compiling sources from Sefaria’s library alongside comments, images, and videos.