This lesson will introduce learners to a number of texts from classical and modern sources on the topic of how the work of tikun olam is to be  performed. From these texts, the learners will derive rules for Jewish living and apply those rules, along with input from family members, to appropriately responding to the question- How is a person to use his/her time, talent and treasure?

This lesson will familiarize learners with a story of Creation from the Jewish mystical tradition. The story, based upon the Sefer Yetzirah, provides the foundation for the Jewish concept of tikkun olam, repair of the world. Learners will begin to formulate a personal concept of what that message might mean in their own lives.

The most important role models for learners demonstrate how one can live responsibly in our world while achieving success by contemporary measure. The great gift and challenge of Judaism is to bring holiness to the profane- to the worldly. The models offered in this lesson are successful in this world and they act as well as give voice to the ideal of caring and sharing our personal gifts and bounty.

This lesson focuses on two young Jewish survivors of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Nazi death camp.  As they return to their home town and the concentration camp, they each tell their story and explain why they were willing to return to such an emotionally devastating place. Their story is replete with examples of heroism and concern for others in the face of unspeakable sorrow. 

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