The study of Tanach (Hebrew Bible) at Solomon Schechter Day School roots students in their history and heritage, as Jews of the 21st century. Students become familiar with the figures and narratives of the Tanach. They also explore Jews’ 3000-year-long individual and national relationship with God. The deep engagement of biblical dilemmas and choices builds moral decision-makers who integrate traditional values into their contemporary lives.

K through 2nd grade

Students in our early elementary grades are introduced to the study of Tanach through learning about the major figures and narratives in the Chumash, and begin to learn the structure and order of the parashot through their study in the TalAm curricular materials.

Third through Eighth Grades

All Bible programs in these grades are guided by a standards-based approach (the Jewish Day School Standards and Benchmarks Project) for the teaching of TaNaKH. The approach was developed by the Jewish Theological Seminary's Melton Research Center for Jewish Education.

The two primary standards chosen by Solomon Schechter Day School are:

• Students will become independent and literarily astute readers of the biblical text in Hebrew.
• Students will develop an appreciation for the sacredness of Tanakh as the primary record of the meeting between God and the people of Israel and as an essential text through which Jews continue to grapple with theological, spiritual, and existential questions.

These standards are scoped and sequenced to support grade-level-appropriate acquisition of skills that are components of the standard. The approach also incorporates assessments that synthesize student knowledge effectively in showing students’ “big picture” enduring knowledge.

Third through Sixth Grades

Students in these grades use textbooks produced by the MaToK Program, the joint Torah Curriculum Development Project of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism’s Department of Education and the Jewish Theological Seminary's Melton Research Center. The program aims to instill in children the view that the Bible is a text different in kind, and not only in degree, from every other type of text. It is sacred text which they are encountering, and, hence, the approach they take to reading it is deeper, more inquiring, and more reverent than the way they read other books. From the beginning of their Biblical studies students are engaged in the making of meaning through the interpretation of Biblical texts. Students study major narratives in the book of Bereshit (Genesis) in third and fourth grades, in the book of Shemot (Exodus) in fifth grade, and in major narrative sections of the remainder of the Chumash in sixth grade.

Seventh and Eighth Grades

In these grades, our students engage in a deep thematic study of key narratives related to individual journeys and Eretz Yisrael. They also continue to develop their independent reading skills. Students move from Torah study to the study of The Book of Prophets, beginning with Yehoshua (Joshua). Eighth graders study the literary art of the Tanach in Yonah (Jonah) and Shmuel I (Samuel), where they learn about the social transformation in Israel’s shift to a monarchy.