This week students started asking critical questions about the Chagim (Holidays). The verse in the Torah (Bible) states, “on the first day of the seventh month, will be known as Yom Teruah (Day of the Shofar Blasting). The students asked how can Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, be during the seventh month, Tishrei, and not the first month, Nissan? Toiling through Jewish text (via the internet) the students figured out that Tishrei refers to start of Creation and Nissan refers to the period when the Israelites left Egypt.
One of the skills we are teaching the students this year is how to learn and become familiar with a diverse group of Jewish texts.