Unit 1. Introduction:  Biblical and Rabbinic sources for Shabbat; the cycle of the Sabbath week and its structure: Shabbat as climax or tuning point in a 7-day cycle.  Internet resources and learning in an Internet/computer-based environment.

Forum Discussion Topic:  What does Shabbat mean to you?
 

Unit 2. The Three Fundamental Themes of the Sabbath: Creation, Exodus and Temple;  Modes of Sabbath identification:  Religious and National (Peoplehood) or Ethnic.

Forum Discussion Topic:  Can the Sabbath be "observed" in a national, civic or ethnic way, without reference to religion?  How?  Compare Sabbath observance in Israel and in the Diaspora.  How is each true to Judaism?
 

Unit 3. The Classical Rabbinic Sabbath - Four Mitzvot:  Honor, Enjoy, Remember and Keep the Sabbath Holy.

Forum Discussion Topic:  Does the Sabbath have to be defined by mitzvot, the fulfillment of commandments?
 

Unit 4. Honoring the Sabbath - Physical and Spiritual preparation in anticipation of the arrival of an honored guest:  flowers, baking Challot, studying the weekly Torah portion, kindling Sabbath candles, cleaning house and body, etc.

Internet Task:  Search the Internet for pictures, texts and music to fulfill the commandment to honor the Sabbath day.  Copy the file and save it to your Virtual Shabbat Project folder for later use.

Forum Discussion Topic:  If you observe Shabbat, how do you prepare for it?  What does "honoring the Sabbath" mean to you?  What constitutes "dishonoring" the Sabbath?
 

Unit 5.Enjoying Shabbat - Defining the Commandment: Physical and Spiritual use on Shabbat of what was prepared in its honor:  eating three meals with special Sabbath foods, singing Shabbat songs, wearing special clothes, Shabbat table-talk centered on the weekly Torah portion, its ideas and values, enjoying the light of the Shabbat candles, etc. Click here to see a Power Point presentation of the mitzvah of Oneg Shabbat.

Internet Task:  Search the Internet for pictures, texts and music to fulfill the commandment to enjoy the Sabbath day.  Copy the file and save it to your Virtual Shabbat Project folder for later use.
Click here to see a Power Point presentation of Drinking Wine as a fulfilment of Oneg Shabbat.

Forum Discussion Topic:  What do you like to do to enjoy the Sabbath?  How is that pleasure different because it’s on Shabbat?  What is the difference between the Jewish Sabbath and "the weekend"?
 

Unit 6. Enjoying the Sabbath II: Sabbath Songs (Zemirot).  Shalom Aleichem, for example (text and musical analysis), as a resource for understanding both the Sabbath and Judaism.

Internet Task:  Search the Internet for Shabbat music and copy the files to your Virtual Shabbat Project folder for later use.

Site Task #1:  Sabbath Songs.  Choose a Shabbat song from among those on our learning site, "Friday Flowers," and study it to learn its meaning for Shabbat.  How does the song express something of the nature of the Sabbath?

Site Task #2:  The Sabbath in Art.  Choose an example from the art gallery on our site (or find your own example on the Internet) and analyze its Jewish content and ideas.  How does the Sabbath come to expression in the work you chose?  Respond to the questions that accompany picture on the site.

Forum Discussion Topic:  Is there such a thing as "Jewish music" or "Jewish art"?  If so, what distinguishes it as being "Jewish"?  In what sense can the observance of Shabbat itself be thought of as a work of art?  How might we learn how to observe Shabbat more truly by studying and enjoying art and music?
 

Unit 7.  Remember the Sabbath day to make it holy - Mekhilta:  Different ways of fulfilling the commandment to remember the Sabbath day.  Kiddush and Havdalah.  Wine in Judaism.

Internet Task:  Search the Internet for something special that you would save during the week for Shabbat, and copy the file to your Virtual Shabbat Project folder.

Site Task:  Study the texts and listen to the melody of the Friday night Kiddush on our learning site.  How do the main themes of the Sabbath find expression in the Kiddush?

Forum Discussion Topic:  What Shabbat memories do you have from your childhood?  How could remembering Shabbat make it holy?  Why is commanded remembering important to the Sabbath?  How do you remember the Sabbath day during the week?
 

Unit 8. Keep/Protect the Sabbath day to make it holy - The 39 Categories of "Work" prohibited on Shabbat.  The Sabbath as a spiritual Temple in time and space.

Site Task: On the basis of the materials located on our learning site, answer the following question:  What is "Sabbath work" (melakhah), and why is it prohibited on the Sabbath?   Send your answer to the Discussion Forum.

Internet Task:  Search the Internet for examples of "Sabbath work," and copy the files to your Virtual Shabbat Project folder for use later in building your project.

Forum Discussion Topic:  What in your opinion is absolutely forbidden to do on Shabbat, and Why?
 

Unit 9. Sabbath Rest from Sabbath Work.  What’s so special about it?  What is Shabbat menucha?

Internet Task:  Search the Internet for examples of "Sabbath rest" by the non-religious, i.e., something special that non-observant Jews do on Shabbat to refresh themselves as human beings and as Jews, and copy the files to your Virtual Shabbat Project folder for later use.

Forum Discussion Topic:  Why aren’t Sabbath rest, enjoyment and work left up to the individual to define?  What right does Judaism (or its rabbis) have to tell me what to do or not to do on Shabbat?
 

Unit 10. Sabbath Stories - The Sabbath in Aggadah.

Internet or Site Task:  Find on the Internet or on our site a Shabbat story and explain what it teaches us about the Sabbath.

In the Forum:  Tell a Shabbat story you know or have heard.
 

Unit 11. The Synagogue and the Sabbath.  The Shabbat Prayer Service and Sabbath Readings.  Holy Space and Holy Objects (e.g., the Torah scroll and its ornaments, the reading pointer ("yad"), the Ark, the Reading Stand, etc.).

Site Task: "Lekha Dodi" - Welcoming the Sabbath Bride.  Study the sources and respond to questions on the site.

Site/Internet Task:  On the site, find the Weekly Torah Portion for the week of your Jewish birthday.  Search the Internet for interpretations (divrei Torah) that interest you of some part of your portion, and copy it to your Virtual Shabbat Project folder for use in your developing your own "D’var Torah."  Compose a short D’var Torah and post it on the Forum.

Forum Discussion Topic:  Is prayer necessary to Shabbat?  What is prayer, in your opinion, and why do people/Jews pray?  Why do people/Jews not pray?
 

Unit 12. Student Presentations of "Virtual Shabbat" Projects, which will share different virtual Shabbat experiences or visions built by the students on the computer during the course.

Forum Discussion Topic:  Given the many different kinds of Jewish Shabbat experiences, what if anything do they all have in common that makes each of them "signs" of the Covenant?  Are we still one people with one God?