As Jewish boys enter middle school, they are close to entering into their religious majority at age 13.  In a religious school, they begin to study more advanced texts and their prayer obligations are greater.  Like all middle school boys, they are starting to think about what it means to be a man, and drawing conclusions based upon the values they see in both the secular and religious cultures in which they participate.

 

This unit includes mythological and historical characters from their religious and secular education in order to present them with the widest possible choices but also to enable them to make connections between themselves and their various worlds.