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Rimmonim: Outline of Three-Year Curriculum Oriented Around How the Middot Relate to Our Lives

Our area of focus is **the body**. We will look at the ways our bodies help us do mitzvot as well as the ways our bodies can do things that are harmful. We will talk about what is on the outside (how we look) and what is on the inside (how we feel). The year’s topics include many aspects of taking care of our bodies including appreciating how our bodies work, understanding our responsibilities to safeguard our bodies, being aware of the many ways our bodies differ one from another and appreciating these differences, being good listeners, being careful with what we say and with how we say it. The //middot// we will study that are related to this theme include:
 * I.** **Year 1: //Bayn Adam L’Atzmo/// Between You and Yourself** (how the middot can enhance our self awareness and help us in our daily lives)

//1.// //Shmirat haGuf:// Taking Care of Your Body.
 * //i.// Week One: Introduction to broad concept of Shmirat HaGuf. We are all made in the image of God. Our bodies are gifts from God and must be treated with great care and respect. We must properly take care of our bodies (food, bathing, rest, and exercise) and we must also not endanger ourselves (safety) and seek help when we need it (from professionals)). Moderation is a good guideline to follow: not too much and not too little.
 * //ii.// Week Two: To fully appreciate God’s gift of our bodies, we can try to understand how they work. An M.D. will come to teach the children the basic systems at work within our bodies.
 * //iii.// Week Three: Rest///Menuchah//. When we rest, we are taking care of our bodies and honoring God’s creation. We will talk about balance and the need for balancing work/activities with rest. We will talk about internal peace and external peace and how we can enhance both in our lives.

2. //Ma’akeh//: Preventing Accidents
 * i. Week One: Basic safety guidelines relating to our bodies such as wearing bike helmets, looking and listening before crossing the street, making sure we are in control of our bodies and not dong things too fast on the playground, etc. so that we don’t hurt ourselves.
 * ii. Week Two: Accident prevention. An police officer or other safety expert will come to talk with the children about safety and things we can all to do prevent accidents

3. //Tz’ni’ut//: Modesty
 * i. Week One: We will talk about modesty (simplicity, reserve) in both how we look and how we behave and we will explore the differences between public and private. We will explore what modesty in dress and in behavior mean and look at how modesty can help us to feel good about ourselves and about our relationship with God.
 * ii. Week Two: We will talk about ways that people can harm their bodies by tattooing, piercing, and in other ways altering the gift which God gave us. We will try to understand why people do these things and will look at our Jewish values for guidance in how to feel good about ourselves without hurting our bodies in the process.

4. //Mechabayd Zeh et Zeh//: Honoring One Another
 * i. Week One: We will talk about the many ways our bodies are different one from another and about their all being created by and gifts from God. We will focus awareness on how who we are outside is no measure of who we are inside. In appreciating the preciousness of all creatures and in valuing each person’s uniqueness, we show honor both for God and for each other.
 * ii. Week Two: We will have a congregant with a physical disability visit us and talk about her disability, her life, her attitude towards her disability, and ways she does and does not appreciate being treated.

5. //Shmiat HaOzen//: Attentiveness/Being a Good Listener
 * i. Week One: We use our ears to hear, but we use our hearts and minds when we really listen to another person. When we listen and pay attention, we learn about others and also about ourselves. If we are attentive to our own inner voice, we understand ourselves more fully. When we listen with compassion, as we say God does, we can fully take in another person and at the same time expand our own hearts and minds and draw closer to God.
 * ii. Week Two: We will have as a guest a hearing impaired person and a congregant who is an interpreter for the deaf. They will teach us some sign language and help us to understand the many ways of really “hearing” someone else.

6. //Shmirat HaLashon//: Care with Our Speech
 * i. Week One: We will talk about the need to be very careful about what comes out of our mouths. We will explore various kinds of //Lashon Hara// such gossip, rumors, and slander. We will learn about how words and things said about someone can hurt the speaker, the listener, and the person spoken about.
 * ii. Week Two: We will explore ways we can train ourselves to avoid speaking unfairly about others.

7. //Emet//:Truthfulness
 * i. Week One: We all try to be truthful and honest, but sometimes we slip into lying. We will look at how and why lying is harmful. We will also explore the many categories of falsehoods in order to better recognize them in our lives.
 * ii. Week Two: We will learn about ways to avoid lying and become more truthful.

8. //Busha//: Embarrassment
 * i. Week One: We will focus on the ways we can cause someone to feel shame and the ways we can learn to avoid doing this. We will talk about how embarrassing someone is like stealing something from a person­ his/her feeling of self-worth, happiness, confidence.
 * ii. Week Two: We will talk about self shame and the ways it can be self destructive, but we will also look at how self shame can lead us to change our behavior and to perform //Teshuvah.//

9. //Sayver Panim Yafot//: A Pleasant Demeanor
 * i. Week One: We will learn about what it means to have a pleasant demeanor and how it can actually help us to feel happier. We will look at the connection between how we present ourselves on the outside and how we feel inside.
 * ii. Week Two: We will learn how to greet people cheerfully, how to show friendliness, how to not show grumpiness. We will practice this //middah// on one another and in our daily lives.

Area of focus is on **the home**. Includes:
 * II.** **Year II: //Bayn Adam L’Chavero/// Between You and Other People** (how the middot can enrich and inform our relations with others)

//1.// //Chesed//: Kindness //2.// //Kavod//: Honor //3.// //Nedivut:// Generosity //4.// //Dan L’Chaf Zechut:// Give the Benefit of the Doubt //5.// //Din V’Rachamim:// Justice and Mercy 6. //Hachnasat Orchim//: Welcoming the Stranger //7.// //Shalom Bayit//: Peace in the Home 8. //Kibud Av Va’Aym:// Honoring Our Parents 9. //Kibud Zekaynim:// Honoring the Elderly 10. //Bikur Cholim//: Taking Care of the Sick 11. //Dibuk Chaverim//: Cleaving to Friends/Friendship

Focus is on how the middot can enriches spiritually in relationship to God. Includes:
 * III.** **Year III: //Bayn Adam L’Makom/// Between You and God**

1. //Yirah//: Awe and Reverence, 2. //Lo Tachmod//: Not Coveting 3. //Samayach B’Chelko//: Gratitude, Contentment with Your Lot 4. //Anavah//: Humility 5. //Simchah//: Joy 6. //Ahavat HaShem//: Loving God

Focus is on how the middot can help us relate to the natural world in a more enlightened way. Includes:
 * IV.** **Year IV: //Bayn Adam L’// (?)/ Between you and the Natural World** (This material could be included in Year III instead.)

1. //Bal Tashchit//: Not Destroying 2. //Tza’ar Ba’alay Chayim//: Kindness to animals

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