Rabbi Karp works extensively with tweens and teens in Jewish Studies and in Spirituality. Rabbi Karp is happy to design courses or workshops to fit all settings: your own child/ren or grandchild/ren, students, havurah, Religious Schools, Day Schools, camp, youth group and more. Some courses that she has created and taught teens are:
Sample Courses:
How Not to Be a Jerk
What is a good person? Is there a difference between a good Jew and a good non-Jew? How has this vision of goodness changed over time? How does Hasidism change this conversation? How do Jewish ethical concepts play into this concept of goodness? Students will examine a variety of ethical texts from the Bible, the medieval period, and modern times, and will look at how the views expressed have changed and stayed the same, seeking to create a Jewish ethic.
Israel: From the Bible to Today
How can we best understand Israel today? What do we know of Israel from the Biblical text? How has Israel changed over the course of the Bible and through modern times? What are the goals of a Jewish state? How do the various Zionist philosophers state those goals? Do they generally agree or disagree? Does Israel meet those goals? Students will examine Israel from the perspective of the Bible, and will then look to the modern state through the lenses of Zionist thought and of modern social issues in Israel to see how her past helps us to understand Israel's present and future.
Strangers in Strange Lands:
The Bible describes many individuals who are not living among their tribe or kin, or in their country of origin. Joseph as a Hebrew in Egypt and Ruth as a Moabite in Judah experienced life in some unique ways due to their position as “stranger”, or “other”. What does the Bible teach us about individuals in these situations? How have these “strangers” interacted as minorities in larger societies? Where and how did they fit in, if at all? What were and are some of the positive and negative aspects of being strangers in strange lands? How do we view foreigners who became or become part of our people? This course will examine these issues as they pertain to a variety of men and women in the Bible, among them Joseph, Moses and Miriam, Ruth, Esther, Daniel, Jezebel and others, to see how they lived and what their lives can teach us about our own lives as Jews today.
Introduction to the Torah The Hebrew Bible unfolds a story of the relationship between God and people, and records human perceptions of God’s efforts to find a way to have humans be somehow responsive to God in a certain kind of relationship. The Hebrew Bible reveals to us a record of ancient Israel's experiences and observations of God’s search for human partners, as well as their own search for God’s presence and God’s will in the world, and their attempts to understand what it all means. In this survey of the Torah, we will take a broad view of the Five Books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, occasionally dipping deep as well. We will explore the main questions that each book asks and tries to answer, trying to understand what the text is saying, what it means, and what it means to us. We will analyze texts together and voice our own interpretations on what the Bible is saying to us—for our modern lives. No previous knowledge of the Bible, or of Hebrew, is required for this course.
Personal Integrity: Beginning with the Biblical concept of holiness, this course focuses on issues that are of personal concern to Jewish teens, such as love and sex, safe sex, relationships, birth control, abortion, AIDS, gender identity and sexual orientation, drug and alcohol use, body piercing, tattooing and more. The over-arching theme of this course is the Jewish tradition of conducting ourselves with holiness and respect in our relationships with ourselves and others. Learners in this course study Jewish ways to view these important and sometimes difficult issues, with an eye towards developing a system of personal integrity that is based on Torah.
Jewish Meditation and Mindfulness Practices
Do you find that your life as a High School student is stressful? This course will teach you self-relaxation, meditation, visualization and mindfulness practices that will allow you to find your calm center, breathe through stressful moments and experiences, focus your attention when needed, and begin to approach awareness of the Divine in and outside of ourselves.
Some reflections on Rabbi Karp's work with teens:
" Molly is a gifted educator.... I was fortunate enough to be able to co-teach a Tefilah [prayer] class with her and see her work in various other capacities as well. Most significantly, Molly is a true thinker, reflective in her practice and flexible in her teaching. I was often awed by her approach to Tefilah, where she demonstrated a constant willingness to hear and even encourage students' challenging questions in their own struggle toward Tefilah even while she ensured their development of Tefilah skills. She added a sense of spirituality to our sessions by playing Neshama Carlebach melodies as students walked into the room and by teaching students--even in 9th grade-- meditation. She set a tone of sacred respect for Tefilah. That sense of spirituality and belief that even young students could reach their own sense of spirituality led Molly to teach a highly successful meditation elective to interested students.
In the classroom, Molly demonstrated a command of Tanach that few educators have. Here again, she articulated a sacred reverence for text amidst competing modern interpretations. She respected the budding voices of her students as sacred unto themselves. Highly organized and a master of classroom management, Molly's pedagogical skills cultivated in her students a love for text and for questioning, but most of all, she cultivated in them the ability to think critically. ..... Molly is a creative and committed educator with whom it was a great honor to work." Eric
"SRHS was a small, young, and vibrant school where students and faculty interacted closely inside and outside the classroom. As a student teacher in my first year, I had several opportunities to observe Molly in the classroom and her meetings (formal and informal) outside the classroom. She is a dynamic teacher who brings Tanakh to life for her students through her knowledge, attention to detail, humor, and personality. Molly encourages her students to participate actively and to analyze texts closely. Molly is an approachable teacher who establishes a rapport with her students and helps them understand difficult texts and concepts. ... Molly and I worked together in 9th grade Tefilah Education classes. She brought her many skills to our class and I often use Molly's ideas in my current Tefilah classes. Molly is an extraordinary person and I am a better teacher from having her as a colleague." Marita
"Although I work as a professional at our community's central agency for Jewish education, I became familiar with Molly's teaching through the lens of my son, who was a 9th grade student in her Bible class. Molly reinforced my son's love of learning Tanach. She deepened his ability
to closely read the text and to engage in critical inquiry. She transmitted a deep passion for the subject and personally connected with her students. " Frieda
"Molly challenged her freshmen from the moment they walked in the door of her classroom, transforming them immediately from the rote learners of their elementary years into critical thinkers with highly sophisticated insights entirely their own. Some of the less sophisticated at first rebelled against the intellectual freedom that she offered them, but all benefited greatly from it, as is reflected in the independence of mind that they demonstrate when I cross paths with them now as young adults." Adam
CONTACT ME WITH YOUR QUESTIONS OR INTERESTS. I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU!!!
Sample Courses:
How Not to Be a Jerk
What is a good person? Is there a difference between a good Jew and a good non-Jew? How has this vision of goodness changed over time? How does Hasidism change this conversation? How do Jewish ethical concepts play into this concept of goodness? Students will examine a variety of ethical texts from the Bible, the medieval period, and modern times, and will look at how the views expressed have changed and stayed the same, seeking to create a Jewish ethic.
Israel: From the Bible to Today
How can we best understand Israel today? What do we know of Israel from the Biblical text? How has Israel changed over the course of the Bible and through modern times? What are the goals of a Jewish state? How do the various Zionist philosophers state those goals? Do they generally agree or disagree? Does Israel meet those goals? Students will examine Israel from the perspective of the Bible, and will then look to the modern state through the lenses of Zionist thought and of modern social issues in Israel to see how her past helps us to understand Israel's present and future.
Strangers in Strange Lands:
The Bible describes many individuals who are not living among their tribe or kin, or in their country of origin. Joseph as a Hebrew in Egypt and Ruth as a Moabite in Judah experienced life in some unique ways due to their position as “stranger”, or “other”. What does the Bible teach us about individuals in these situations? How have these “strangers” interacted as minorities in larger societies? Where and how did they fit in, if at all? What were and are some of the positive and negative aspects of being strangers in strange lands? How do we view foreigners who became or become part of our people? This course will examine these issues as they pertain to a variety of men and women in the Bible, among them Joseph, Moses and Miriam, Ruth, Esther, Daniel, Jezebel and others, to see how they lived and what their lives can teach us about our own lives as Jews today.
Introduction to the Torah The Hebrew Bible unfolds a story of the relationship between God and people, and records human perceptions of God’s efforts to find a way to have humans be somehow responsive to God in a certain kind of relationship. The Hebrew Bible reveals to us a record of ancient Israel's experiences and observations of God’s search for human partners, as well as their own search for God’s presence and God’s will in the world, and their attempts to understand what it all means. In this survey of the Torah, we will take a broad view of the Five Books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, occasionally dipping deep as well. We will explore the main questions that each book asks and tries to answer, trying to understand what the text is saying, what it means, and what it means to us. We will analyze texts together and voice our own interpretations on what the Bible is saying to us—for our modern lives. No previous knowledge of the Bible, or of Hebrew, is required for this course.
Personal Integrity: Beginning with the Biblical concept of holiness, this course focuses on issues that are of personal concern to Jewish teens, such as love and sex, safe sex, relationships, birth control, abortion, AIDS, gender identity and sexual orientation, drug and alcohol use, body piercing, tattooing and more. The over-arching theme of this course is the Jewish tradition of conducting ourselves with holiness and respect in our relationships with ourselves and others. Learners in this course study Jewish ways to view these important and sometimes difficult issues, with an eye towards developing a system of personal integrity that is based on Torah.
Jewish Meditation and Mindfulness Practices
Do you find that your life as a High School student is stressful? This course will teach you self-relaxation, meditation, visualization and mindfulness practices that will allow you to find your calm center, breathe through stressful moments and experiences, focus your attention when needed, and begin to approach awareness of the Divine in and outside of ourselves.
Some reflections on Rabbi Karp's work with teens:
" Molly is a gifted educator.... I was fortunate enough to be able to co-teach a Tefilah [prayer] class with her and see her work in various other capacities as well. Most significantly, Molly is a true thinker, reflective in her practice and flexible in her teaching. I was often awed by her approach to Tefilah, where she demonstrated a constant willingness to hear and even encourage students' challenging questions in their own struggle toward Tefilah even while she ensured their development of Tefilah skills. She added a sense of spirituality to our sessions by playing Neshama Carlebach melodies as students walked into the room and by teaching students--even in 9th grade-- meditation. She set a tone of sacred respect for Tefilah. That sense of spirituality and belief that even young students could reach their own sense of spirituality led Molly to teach a highly successful meditation elective to interested students.
In the classroom, Molly demonstrated a command of Tanach that few educators have. Here again, she articulated a sacred reverence for text amidst competing modern interpretations. She respected the budding voices of her students as sacred unto themselves. Highly organized and a master of classroom management, Molly's pedagogical skills cultivated in her students a love for text and for questioning, but most of all, she cultivated in them the ability to think critically. ..... Molly is a creative and committed educator with whom it was a great honor to work." Eric
"SRHS was a small, young, and vibrant school where students and faculty interacted closely inside and outside the classroom. As a student teacher in my first year, I had several opportunities to observe Molly in the classroom and her meetings (formal and informal) outside the classroom. She is a dynamic teacher who brings Tanakh to life for her students through her knowledge, attention to detail, humor, and personality. Molly encourages her students to participate actively and to analyze texts closely. Molly is an approachable teacher who establishes a rapport with her students and helps them understand difficult texts and concepts. ... Molly and I worked together in 9th grade Tefilah Education classes. She brought her many skills to our class and I often use Molly's ideas in my current Tefilah classes. Molly is an extraordinary person and I am a better teacher from having her as a colleague." Marita
"Although I work as a professional at our community's central agency for Jewish education, I became familiar with Molly's teaching through the lens of my son, who was a 9th grade student in her Bible class. Molly reinforced my son's love of learning Tanach. She deepened his ability
to closely read the text and to engage in critical inquiry. She transmitted a deep passion for the subject and personally connected with her students. " Frieda
"Molly challenged her freshmen from the moment they walked in the door of her classroom, transforming them immediately from the rote learners of their elementary years into critical thinkers with highly sophisticated insights entirely their own. Some of the less sophisticated at first rebelled against the intellectual freedom that she offered them, but all benefited greatly from it, as is reflected in the independence of mind that they demonstrate when I cross paths with them now as young adults." Adam
CONTACT ME WITH YOUR QUESTIONS OR INTERESTS. I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU!!!