Eighth Grade

Building off the “Facing History and Ourselves” curriculum, we unpack difficult questions surrounding conformity and obedience, dogma, knowing versus doing, and the study of the Holocaust. Exploring issues of racism, hate and anti Semitism leads to the challenging discussion of the “upstander and bystander:” What does that mean for our children in their daily lives and how they define their Jewish identity? Students will work together to uncover reactions and feelings about the Holocaust as they design, prepare and lead the community service for Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day). The eighth grade class takes a special trip together in the spring. (“I became close friends with kids who don’t go to my school—these are my Kol Ami friends who I get to see each week in Religious School.”)