Sinai and Civics

Lesson 4: The Separation of Powers

Is dividing government power just a mechanism to prevent tyranny, or does it serve a deeper purpose? Every civics class teaches how power is split among three branches of government. But the Torah described its own model of divided authority thousands of years earlier, for a very different reason. In this lesson, we look at how the king and the Sanhedrin divided power under Torah law, why even a king could be tried for breaking it, and what happens when a society removes that higher authority from its public life.

Sinai and Civics

Lesson 3: In G-d We Trust

Why is owning a home the ultimate symbol of the American Dream? The answer traces back to a radical biblical law: every fifty years, the Torah required land to return to its original family (Leviticus 25:10). Discover how that ancient idea shaped America's vision of opportunity, and what "In G-d We Trust" really means for how we work and earn today.

Sinai and Civics

Lesson 2: The Roots of Equality

Why did Thomas Jefferson call it "self evident" that all men are created equal, when for nearly all of human history it wasn't self evident at all? What did the Torah teach in Genesis 1:27 that no ancient civilization had ever imagined? And how did that idea find its way from Sinai into the Declaration of Independence? Join us for Lesson 2 to find out.