1. Michigan Jewish Institute
Sakai Orientation
for online students of the
Talmudic Law & Jurisprudence Certificate Program
Welcome to the Michigan Jewish Institute Sakai orientation. This orientation is designed for online students of MJI’s Talmudic Law & Jurisprudence certificate program.
MJI is accredited by the ACICS: The Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, a nationally recognized accrediting agency by the USA Department of Education.
We invite you to visit our website at You should also become familiar with the current MJI Academic Catalog and Student Handbook. The MJI Academic Catalog & Student Handbook current at the time you were admitted to MJI is your contract with MJI. To access this, click the ‘academics’ link on the mji.edu homepage near the top lefthand corner. You can also click the link in this presentation for the most current published version.
During this orientation, you will learn more about MJI and MJI policies, the Talmudic Law & Jurisprudence certificate program, and how to study online at MJI using our Learning Management System - Sakai. Please watch this orientation in its entirety.
Academic Catalog and Student Handbook

2. Important Information
> MJI Consumer Information page
> Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ - page
In accordance with US Department of Education guidelines, you can find our campus security report, financial assistance information, MJI’s completion and graduation rate and student’s rights to confidentiality of your academic records under FERPA on the website Consumer Information page. You can access this by going to mji.edu and clicking on the ‘Consumer Information’ link on the top of the page. You can also click the link on this slide. You are also entitled to receive a paper copy of these reports by request. Please address such requests to Registrar’s Office Michigan Jewish Institute, Administrative Office, W. Nine Mile Road, Ste. 200, Southfield, MI
Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ - page
You can access the FAQ page right from the mji.edu homepage or by clicking the link on this slide. This MJI page helps you find instant answers to many of your MJI related questions. You can bookmark this page as we are constantly updating it in response to the higher education environment and the needs of the MJI community.
The FAQ page includes information and links about lots of MJI information, including:
Study Abroad Informational Booklet
Code of Conduct
Pmanual - Essential policies for all incoming students
Other Important Information, such as how to request an appointment with your Academic Counselor

3. The Certificate in Talmudic Law and Jurisprudence
Promoting scholarship of the Talmud & Codes
Equipping students with relevant theoretical and practical background
Effective and pleasant learning environment
Acquisition of moral values and integrity
The Michigan Jewish Institute seeks to serve all segments of the Jewish community. All of its educational programs are offered in a manner and within an environment that adheres to the highest ethical standards and religious traditions of Judaism.
The Michigan Jewish Institute seeks to promote scholarship of the Talmud and codes, and therefore, in addition to its undergraduate degree programs, the Institute grants certificates in Talmudic Law and Jurisprudence (for men only).
Supporting Objectives of the Certificate in Talmudic Law and Jurisprudence
To provide in-depth education in the system of Talmudic Law. This is achieved by a carefully chosen and balanced curriculum in these disciplines.
To equip the students with the relevant theoretical and practical background so that upon graduation they can be integrated into a rabbinic ordination program without any difficulty. This is achieved by ensuring a constant stress on the halachik implications of the Talmud being studied.
To make the learning environment effective and pleasant. This is achieved by means of small classes and strong personal contact between faculty, administration and students.
To graduate students who have acquired moral values and integrity and are cognizant of the great ethical and moral tradition of Judaism.
The Michigan Jewish Institute admits qualified men of the Jewish faith to the certificate program in Talmudic Law and Jurisprudence, without unlawful discrimination to race, color, age, marital status, disability/handicap, national origin, height, weight, or other protected classifications, granting all the rights, privileges, programs, utilization, benefits and other activities generally accorded or made available to students at the Institute.

4. Admission Requirements
Talmudic High School graduation or its equivalent;
Competence in the entire Pentateuch and commentaries;
Previous completion of at least 150 folio pages of Talmud;
Competence in the laws and customs in the Code of Jewish Law (Orach Chaim) and a personal commitment to their observance.
Entrance exam.
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Admissions criteria were established to assure that students have the interest, ability, and perseverance required for completion of the intense schedule of studies in this 60 credit program.
The Certificate of Talmudic Law and Jurisprudence program is only open to men.
All students must meet the following requirements:
Talmudic High School graduation or its equivalent;
Competence in the entire Pentateuch and commentaries;
Previous completion of at least 150 folio pages of Talmud;
Competence in the laws and customs in the Code of Jewish Law (Orach Chaim) and a personal commitment to their observance.
Applicants to the certificate program studying online will undergo a multiple choice / true and false test, “entrance exam”, administered either by the admissions team or during the first week of a student’s first semester in the program.
In addition, students whose records are incomplete at the time of registration may be admitted on a provisional basis pending the receipt of official documents.

5. Your MJI Address
The first initial of your first name, your last name, and the last 2 digits of your social security number followed by Example for Dov Cohen:
Default Password to your MJI account is your 11 digit Student ID.
To log into your mail, go to mail.mji.edu.
MJI staff will only send and respond to s from your MJI address.
Due to privacy and other communication concerns, MJI employees must you at your MJI-issued address only. MJI uses its school- provided accounts as a primary mechanism to communicate important information to students regarding their programs. Such communication may include tuition statements, financial assistance award letters as well as your program information.
MJI is aware that some students may not always have consistent or reliable access to the internet. That can impact the student’s ability to receive communications from MJI. Nevertheless, we strongly urge you to check your MJI at least a couple of times a week to ensure you don’t miss a time sensitive communication.
Your MJI address is the first initial of your first name, your last name, and the last 2 digits of your social security number followed by
The default Password to your MJI account is your 11-digit Student ID. You should change your Password as soon as possible to increase the security of your information communicated through .
To log into your mail, go to mail.mji.edu.
You can your instructors with any of your academic questions or concerns and he will provide you with the guidance you need. His contact information may be found on the home-page of the course. Your instructor may only send and respond to s from your MJI address.
You have a Student Services representative assigned to you. You will learn more about how he can help you later on in this presentation. You can correspond with him, too, via address

6. Username Password Type mail.mji.edu into your browser’s URL
________________________
Password
Click “Sign In” to enter your account
As you can see, you should type mail.mji.edu into your browser’s URL. Then, when you come to the login page, type your entire username, into the top field. In the next field, enter your password.
Please note that the first time you log into your account, you will need to agree to the terms of the account.

7. Observant Jewish environment
MJI’s Virtual Campus
Online Studies
Convenient
Flexible
Observant Jewish environment
In addition to MJI’s Michigan campus, MJI offers students the convenience and flexibility of learning online in an observant Jewish environment. You have opted to study online. We hope this short tutorial will help you understand your responsibilities and prepare you for your online studies at MJI.

8. Two courses per semester
Talmud
Series of Courses: YJST 1211, , 1241, 1251
Halachah
Series of Courses:
YJST 2210, 2220, 2230, 2240, 2250
You will be taking two 6-credit courses per semester: one course in Talmud and one in Halachah

9. Halachah: Rabbi Yaakov Goldstein
Course Instructors
Talmud: Rabbi Zecharia Steinman, with Guest Lecturer Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Druk
Contact info: | Ext. 418
Halachah: Rabbi Yaakov Goldstein
Contact info: | Ext. 419
Your Course Instructors will be:
Talmud: Rabbi Zecharia Steinman, with Guest Lecturer Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Druk
Contact info: | Ext. 418
Halachah: Rabbi Yaakov Goldstein
Contact info: | Ext. 419
Please look at your course homepage for their office hours.

10. Your Virtual Campus Sakai mjionline.mji.edu To login, go to:
Accessing Your Online Courses.
The best browser to use is Firefox . Other browsers have been known to crash during test.
The website for all your MJI online courses is: mjionline.mji.edu. In your browser’s URL, type in mjionline.mji.edu. This will take your to our virtual campus named Sakai.

11. Type mjionline.mji.edu in the Mozilla Firefox brower’s URL.
Then press ‘enter’.
Do NOT type it into the Google search bar
NOT HERE
When you open a Mozilla Firefox browser, this is what it should look like. Type mjionline.mji.edu in the Mozilla Firefox brower’s URL. Then press ‘enter’ on your keyboard. Please do not type it into the Google search bar.

12. Enter your User ID here, e.g. dcohen18@mji.edu
Enter your password, which is your 11 digit Student ID here
This is the Sakai homepage. Think of it like an entrance to your virtual campus. Just as you would have to show ID to enter a physical campus, you have to enter your unique user ID and password to enter MJI’s virtual campus Sakai.
Enter your user ID and password. Your user ID is the same as your MJI the first initial of your first name, your last name, and the last 2 digits of your social security number followed by Please note that your user ID is lowercase and case - sensitive. The default Password to your Sakai account is your 11-digit Student ID. Then click ‘Login’ or press ‘enter’ on your computer keyboard.

13. Welcome - you just entered Sakai, MJI’s virtual campus
Welcome - you just entered Sakai, MJI’s virtual campus. The first time you log into Sakai, you will see a pop up window with a brief tutorial. Once you’ve read through the tutorial, if you don’t want the pop up window to open again, click out on the red X.
If you X out of the tutorial, and then want to see it at a later stage, click on the small man in the top right hand corner of the page and click on ‘Tutorial’.

14. A tab like this is a course. Click to enter.
My Workspace tab
A tab like this is a course. Click to enter.
Click preferences to set your time zone
When you first login to Sakai, you will be in ‘My Workspace’. On this page, you can see a message of the day, a calendar with due dates for various coursework, various due dates, and recent announcements. You can also see a 15 minute introduction to Sakai.
You can check that your account is set for the correct time zone by going into >My Workspace >Preferences >Time Zone >Asia/Jerusalem.
The tabs at the top of the page are your courses for the semester. Click a course tab to enter that course. Note that the tab that you are in will be colored gold.

15. If you can’t see this semester’s courses click here for more options
Your current courses should appear on the top but if you can’t find them you can click on “more sites” and more courses that you have taken or are registered for will appear.

16. When you enter your course, you will be on the homepage
When you enter your course, you will be on the homepage. The homepage has an overview of the course, course objective, required texts, guidelines, attendance, grading, and homework policies, and other relevant information. The instructor’s contact info and office hours are also listed here. You can always access the homepage when in the course by clicking on ‘Home’.
On the righthand side of the page you will see the announcement for the week, detailing the weekly learning and assignments for the course.

17. Click on ‘Syllabus’ for a schedule of the weekly course materials, tasks, and dates. The syllabus will also enable you to look ahead towards future weeks and see what materials will be covered.

18. As you scroll through the syllabus, you will see a detailed list of all tasks, including a list of all the sources for study materials, lectures, and assignments - such as test and forum discussion.

19. click here
Each week, you will have the week’s page, with all the information on that page. For example, for the first week, you will click on ‘Unit 1’ on the left hand side. On this page you will have an outline of the week’s activities, and the written materials to learn will be featured, either to learn while on the site or to download.

20. Click on the link to access your forum discussion forum
Lectures - You can listen on this page or download and put on your MP3.
Click on the link to access your forum discussion forum
You will also have lectures. You can listen to the lectures right on the page or download them to your computer and put them on your MP3.
Additionally, you can access your forum discussion question by clicking on ‘Forum Discussion’. Please note that you will not be able to access your test until you have answered the forum discussion question and responded to at least one other student’s response.

21. When you click on the forum discussion link, it will bring you to this page. To read the question for the week, click on ‘View Full Description’.

22. Click on the button to answer the question.
The question for discussion
After reading the question, click on ‘Start a New Conversation’ to answer the question. You must answer the question before you can see other students’ responses.

23. Give your response a title.
Rules for commenting:
Observe Netiquette rules - be polite
Must answer the question
Must provide reasoning.
Grading will be 0 - 5:
0: a non-academic response
1 - 2: Academic response without reasoning
3 - 4: Academic response with some reasoning
5: A well-thought out academic response with reasoning
Write your response here
When you are ready to respond, the first thing you should do is give your response a title. Then, in the main text box, write your response. When you’re finished, click ‘Post’.
Rules for commenting:
Observe Netiquette rules - be polite
Must answer the question
Must provide reasoning.
Grading will be 0 - 5:
0: a non-academic response
1 - 2: Academic response without reasoning
3 - 4: Academic response with some reasoning
5: A well-thought out academic response with reasoning
When you’re finished, click ‘Post’.

24. Once you submit your response, you will be able to see other responses and instructor feedback. Click on the ‘Display Message Content’ button to see all the messages.

25. Rules for replying: Respond politely.
“I agree” or “I disagree” are not considered responses and will earn you 0 points.
You can respond “I agree because...” or “I disagree because...”, respond with a follow up question, or respond with a follow up statement based on the initial response.
Once you have read all the responses, click on ‘Reply’ to respond to the comment you wish to reply to. You must respond to at least one other comment and can respond to as many comments as you like.
Rules for replying:
Respond politely.
“I agree” or “I disagree” are not considered responses and will earn you 0 points.
You can respond “I agree because...” and give your reasoning, or “I disagree because...” and give your reasoning, respond with a follow up question, or respond with a follow up statement based on the initial response.
If you are the first that week to post an answer, check back later in the week to read other responses and comment on them.

26. Type your response here
You don’t need to change the title of your reply. Type your response in the main text box and then click ‘Post’.

27. Click to return to the unit page to take your test.
Click the ‘Return to Lesson’ button to return to the unit page to take your test.

28. Click on the link to the test to begin your test.
Once you participate in the forum discussion, you will see a checkmark. Then you can take your test.
Once you have participated in the forum discussion, you will see a checkmark. Then you can take your test.
Click on the link to the test to begin your test.

29. Click ‘Begin Assessment’ to start your test.
IMPORTANT - Due Dates for Tests: Each week you will be required to do one test for each course. It will be available all week from Sunday 12:00 AM- Saturday Night 11:59 PM. Make sure you complete your test during this time as the test won’t be up beyond its due date. Once you click "Begin Assessment," you will have a set time or until Saturday night 11:59pm whichever is shorter to complete this assessment. It will be submitted at that time, regardless of whether you have answered all the questions.

30. Look at the ‘Time Remaining’ bar to see how much time you have to take the test.
Pledge of honesty
At the top of the screen, you’ll see a green bar. Look at the ‘Time Remaining’ bar to see how much time you have to take the test.
The first test question of the test asks you to pledge that you will not cheat on your test. You will get a zero on the test if you don’t commit to honesty.

31. Test questions are either multiple choice or true/false
Test questions are either multiple choice or true/false. You will only be able to click on one answer per question. If in doubt, choose what you believe is to be the best answer.
Test Design: The tests are designed to prevent cheating. Test questions are drawn from a question pool much larger than the number of questions on the test. The test questions you get will not be the same test questions that your coursemates get. Even the answers are randomly ordered, so that if two students do get the same question, the answers will not be ordered the same way.

32. Pledge of honesty
Before you submit your test for grading, the final question of the test asks you to pledge that you do not cheat on your test. You will get a zero on the test if you don’t attest to your honesty during the test.
When you have answered all the test questions to the best of your ability, click on ‘Save’ and then on ‘Submit for Grading’. IMPORTANT: If you do not click on ‘Submit for Grading’ you will not have submitted your test and will get a zero.

33. The system will give you an ‘Assessment Submission Warning, to ensure that you really want to submit your test for grading. You must click on the ‘Submit for Grading’ button to submit the test. If you want to return to the test, click ‘Previous’ to return to the previous screen.

34. Click ‘Gradebook’ to see your test score.
This screen shows you that you have submitted your test. You can click on ‘Gradebook’ in the left hand toolbar to see your test score.

35. If you fail a test... If you fail a test with a score of 59 or below, please your instructor immediately to discuss the possibility of retaking your test (if the due date hasn’t yet passed). Please note that your new test will not have the same questions as the one you failed.
A friendly note of advice: if you wait until Thursday night to take your test, your instructor may not see your request before the week has passed and it is too late to retake.

36. Logout button
When you have finished with your work for the day, don’t forget to log out. You can click on the ‘Logout’ button located on the top right hand corner of any Sakai page. This is especially important when using a computer that other MJI students will be using.

37. You must do this for the Talmud course as well as the Halachah course
Each week you must:
Study your course materials
Listen to lectures
Participate in Forum discussions
Take the test
You must do this for the Talmud course as well as the Halachah course
To recap, Each week you must study your course materials, listen to lectures, participate in Forum discussions, and take the test You must do this for both the Talmud course as well as the Halachah course. This means that you must enter two course shells each week, study the course materials for 2 courses each week, listen to the lectures for two courses each week, participate in the forum discussions for both courses, and take 2 tests each week.

38. General MJI Course Policies
Weekly Attendance
Homework
Grading
Academic Honesty
General MJI Course Policies.
Attendance Policy: Attendance is defined as weekly presence in the online classroom through participation in a minimum of one of the following course activities
Weekly Tests
Contributions via interactive opportunities to discuss concepts such as forums.
Three (3) consecutive week-long absences throughout the semester will result in a full letter grade reduction.
Four (4) consecutive week-long absences throughout the semester will result in an Administrative Drop (reflected on your official transcript).
Homework Policy:
MJI has defined the appropriate amount to be two hours of homework for each credit hour per week. Therefore, a student taking a 6-credit class for a 15 week course should anticipate 12 hrs. of homework per week to be completed outside the classroom including reading, assignments, and/or other activities.
Grading Policy
The semester grade is made up of the following components: weekly discussion forums, coursework (quizzes and cumulative exams). Final grades are generally composed of the following:
Weekly tests - 50% of your final grade
Weekly Discussion Forums- 25% of your final grade
Cumulative exams - 25% of your final grade
Academic Honesty
Students are expected to maintain honesty and integrity in preparing their work. Incidents of academic dishonesty may lead to the assignment of a failing grade. Refer to the MJI catalog for the entire policy regarding academic misconduct.

39. Best wishes for a great semester!
Hatzlachah Rabbah
We hope that you now understand how to participate in your MJI online courses.
Best wishes for a great semester!