Mrs. Teichman and Mrs. Katz from the Math department designed an integration lesson for their 9th grade geometry class which combined the theoretical principles of Geometry and its practical applications in Halacha. They invited Rabbi Jaffe to come give a shiur on parts of Gemarah that use the geometry that the students had recently learned. The integration lesson focused on building an eruv and how the Halacha uses the area of squares and circles to determine the distance that one is allowed to walk on Shabbat. Rabbi Jaffe also explained how trigonometric functions were used to see if a seafarer was considered close enough to the city to be allowed to continue traveling on Shabbat. As Rabbi Jaffe spoke, the students were focused on a complementary activity of filling out guided worksheets pertaining to the lesson, and were equally excited to share a 3-5 sentence response email with Mrs. Katz and Mrs. Teichman as a follow-up assignment. This is the second year that they have presented this integration lesson which has been described as both energizing and relevant.
