Betty.Anns.Best.Bets

Vayera

2011-11-07T15:30:00.000-05:00

Here are some of the Big Ideas you may want to explore in this week's parasha.

1. Women in the Torah often act on their own, even though they live in a deeply patriarchical society (Sarah and Hagar, Lot's daughters).
2. It's hard to be a good person when the people around you are evil people (Lot living in Sedom faces ethical challenges).
3. Some stories seem to be worth telling more than once (Avraham says Sarah is his sister, not his wife; Noah and Lot both get drunk with bad outcomes; Avraham and Lot both welcome visitors; the world appears to be destroyed in the eyes of Noah and in those of Lot's daughters). Sometimes the meanings are similar, sometimes there are differences.

Here are some of the questions you might want to ask yourself and your students:

1. How can you be a good person when there is evil around you?
2. Can one person alone change the world? Explain your answer.
3. Often we have upsetting experiences with our family or friends. What can we do to get past these and repair relationships?

Lech Lecha

2011-11-02T13:15:00.000-04:00

Big Idea:
Our relationship with God is complex, multidimensional. The Torah describes us as connected religiously, nationally, historically.

As of this Shabbat we will have read about three covenants, "britot" that God has made with humans. The first, the Brit with Noach, was a Brit with all humanity never to destroy the entire world again.
The other two are both in this parsha
In chapter 15 we read about the "brit bein habetarim". You can read the story here

The story of the second brit is a description of Brit milah which you can read here verses 9-14.

So why are there two different covenants? How are they the same? How are they different?
Rav Alex Israel shares his ideas and those of Rabbi Menachem Leibtag to understand these two separate britot. You can read his article here

Here is another thought from Rabbi Arnold Samlan, aka the Notorious RAV about Jewish connectedness you may want to read

How do you feel connected Jewishly? Are you part of the Jewish nation? The Jewish religion? Part of some other aspect of Judaism?

Noach

2011-10-24T19:56:00.000-04:00

Most of our students over the age of 7 or 8 have heard the story of Noah, probably more than once if they attended a Jewish preschool program. So I'd like to focus in this post on the 'rest of the story' - the story of the Tower of Babel.

Many people wonder what the great wrong was that this generation committed. In the opinion of Dr. Isaac Gottleib of Bar Ioan University it was the intent rather than the action that was
punished. You can read his thoughts here:
http://www.biu.ac.il/JH/Parasha/eng/noah/lau.html

Do you think people should be punished for what they are PLANNING to do before they actually do it?
Can you think of instances where this might be a good idea?
Can you think of the problems with this approach?

Rabbi Daniel Gordis has a different idea. He suggests that the story of the tower is a foreshadowing of the existence of Am Yisrael - the Nation of Israel. You can read his opinion here:
http://www.azure.org.il/include/print.php?id=536

Which idea makes more sense to you?
Which explanation is most meaningful to you?
Can both ideas be true?
What other ideas do you have about this story?

Yom Kippur

2011-10-07T07:45:00.000-04:00

I'm seeing a lot of people asking forgiveness on Facebook this year. Am I the only one who finds this a little disturbing? Not that I don't want to ask forgiveness, but to all of my "friends" at once? Pretty sure that's not what we ought to be doing. There has to be a better way - oh, wait, there is! In person, with sincerity, and with thoughtfulness...and no, twitter won't work either!

Ki Tavo

2011-09-12T11:29:00.000-04:00

I was just thinking - Moshe is speaking directly to the people (in this book of D'varim). Suppose he had just emailed his thoughts. Would the understanding be the same? Is it possible that the tone of voice, the facial expressions, the body language might have impacted the way in which the words were heard?
We lose so much of the subtlety of communication when we give up the person-to-person that has so largely been superseded by the tweet, the email, The bbm. The Im.
Maybe Moshe didn't sound threatening during the tochechah - maybe he sounded worried. That would certainly change things, I think.
A teacher once asked me, "are you saying it's not just what I'm saying? It's the way I'm saying it that matters?

What do you think?

For the Seder this year

2011-04-13T17:39:00.000-04:00

How can we NOT mention what is going on in the Middle East at our Seder table this year? But what should we say?
Here's what I will say at our Seder -
If our Passover story is about freedom from the Egyptian tyranny, how can we ignore what is happening in Egypt now? On the surface the stories are similar. There has been an oppressive ruler, a tyrant, a 'Pharaoh' even who has been ruling the Egyptian people for 40 years (ok, not 400, but a long time nevertheless.). He has been overthrown by people who wish to be free of his control. So far, so good.
But now we read that the army, which is now in control, is beginning to act much the same way. Already, according to the news reports, they have arrested a blogger deemed opposed to the ruling powers http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/11/blogger-jailed-for-insulting-egypts-military-is-pro-israel/ .
So what is the fundamental issue? We were redeemed from Egypt not just to be free from, but to be free to - to become a people devoted to God.
Freedom 'from' is one thing. Freedom 'to' is quite another.

Hag sameach

Beshalach

2011-01-10T20:35:00.001-05:00

How ironic that the person who brought so many beautiful songs to the Jewish world died during the week leading to Shabbat Shirah - the Shabbat of Song. We all mourn the loss of Debbie Friedman this past Sunday, and yet she continues to live in the music she shared with everyone.

This week's parasha is the source for one of her most well-known and widely-sung compositions - Miriam's Song. You can read the lyrics and hear the song here:

Miriam's Song

Here is another song based on this section of this week's parasha:

Shirat HaYam

Click on this link to read the original text from which these two songs are taken:

Exodus 15

What do you picture when you read the lyrics to Debbie Friedman's Miriam's Song?

What do you picture when you read the lyrics to the next song, Shirat Hayam?

What do you picture when you read the entire chapter 15 of Exodus?

Why do you think each of the two composers chose the words they used in their songs?

What words would you choose to emphasize if you were writing music to remember the exodus from Egypt?

As always, please click on Beshalach in the "Labels" column for more ideas and suggestions for teaching.

Wonderful Article on Play

2011-01-06T09:43:00.000-05:00

Not strictly Jewish, nor focused on Jewish education, but wonderful nevertheless
Importance of Play

Free Play

Bo Revisited

2011-01-04T10:38:00.000-05:00

The Torah as a text is probably at least 2000 years old, and has been the foundation text for Jewish thought and action for as long as it has existed. Over time there have been hundreds if not thousands of explanations written by a myriad of sources.
The Constitution of the United States - while not as old as the Torah - was written over 200 years ago. Over time there have been amendments made that reflect the differences in the culture of our country over time.

The challenge: How do we remain faithful to a foundation text while bringing its ideas into a contemporary setting? We cannot ignore this challenge, not in our religious lives nor in our secular settings.

Which parts of this parasha convey ideas that are uncomfortable to you?
Which sections are as easily understood in the context of today's thinking as they were in the time of the original writing?

The calendar being what it is, this year parshat Bo does not come on the weekend we celebrate Martin Luther King's birthday. With the exception of that difference, the suggestions for analyzing the text in last year's blog are as relevant as they were last year. In the unlikely event that you thoroughly examined all the articles suggested, I welcome your suggestions for other resources. Please share your thoughts with other readers by commenting below.

Jewish Educational Thoughts Again

2010-12-20T18:25:00.000-05:00

12/19/10 NY Times Op-Ed by Ross Douthat, A Tough Season for Believers

While this article was written with Christians in mind, it seems to me just as appropriate for religious people of any faith group, since the tension it describes exists in every religious community. It is, I believe, the tension between tradition and change, between communal responsibility and individual autonomy, between a religious outlook and a secular one.
One of the books Douthat mentions in his article is American Grace, by Robert Putnam and David Campbell. Putnam is the author of Bowling Alone, one of my all-time favorites. His focus in that book was on the disintegration of community and communal responsibility. He noted then (in 2000) that religious communities were among the most successful communal organizations in the country. I look forward to reading this new analysis of community, and am anxious to see how he and his co-author describe the state of religious institutional connection today.
The last two paragraphs of the article sum up the problem:

Putnam and Campbell are quantitative, liberal, and upbeat; Hunter is qualitative, conservative and conflicted. But both books come around to a similar argument: this month’s ubiquitous carols and crèches notwithstanding, believing Christians are no longer what they once were — an overwhelming majority in a self-consciously Christian nation. The question is whether they can become a creative and attractive minority in a different sort of culture, where they’re competing not only with rival faiths but with a host of pseudo-Christian spiritualities, and where the idea of a single religious truth seems increasingly passé.
Or to put it another way, Christians need to find a way to thrive in a society that looks less and less like any sort of Christendom — and more and more like the diverse and complicated Roman Empire where their religion had its beginning, 2,000 years ago this week.

If you substitute the word "Jews" for the word "Christians" I believe you are describing the challenge facing the Jewish institutional community as well. While we may never have been "an overwhelming majority" in the United States, we certainly need to 'become a creative and attractive minority'. As Jewish educators, we are right in the middle as the situation unfolds, and must think seriously about possible outcomes.

Shemot

2010-12-20T17:20:00.000-05:00

Last year's post on this parasha is really filled with ideas and suggestions for analyzing this week's reading. Since the calendar is different this year, most of us are reading Shemot before the December vacation (if we have one) so the narrative that ended the book of Breisheet should be fresh in the minds of our students. With that noted, please re-read that post and pick out some of the issues you didn't have time for last year.

When I re-read the parasha just now a couple of questions jumped out at me. Interestingly, some were the same ones that troubled me last year, and some were a little different.

In chapter 1 verses 15 - 21 the text tells the story of the midwives, Shifra and Puah. Here's what popped out for me in this reading - Why didn't Par'o punish them for disobeying his orders? Also, when so many women who played roles in the story of the Jewish people remain nameless in the text, why are these two named?
Why did Par'o allow his daughter to keep the baby, who was obviously one of the Hebrews?
Chapter 2:25 - why do the Israelites cry out to God only after the Par'o who had enslaved them died?
Chapter 6:1 - isn't it strange that Par'o is described as having a "yad hazakah", a "strong hand", a term that I've always associated with God!?

Regarding the story of the midwives, and what they did to save a people in danger, an additional resource I would like to suggest is Facing History and Ourselves, which is a wonderful site about making moral choices in life. It has excellent teaching ideas that help sensitize students to the importance of being "upstanders" in the face of evil.

VaYechi

2010-12-13T16:03:00.000-05:00

This parasha brings us to the end of the first book of the Torah, and also to the end of the story of the family line that would eventually become the people of Israel. Please look at the other posts on this parasha for some questions you may want to ask yourselves and your students.
Looking at the book of Breisheet as a whole, think for a moment about some of the themes that were explored:

God's role in the world
Individual responsibility
Sibling relationships
Good and evil
Reward and punishment

What others can you think of?

Jewish Educational Thoughts

2010-12-13T15:52:00.000-05:00

Two articles on the same page of the NY Times Saturday caught my eye, and are worth reading for what they suggest about Judaism and about education - my two favorite topics, as you know.

What Works in the Classroom? Ask the Students.
There has been a great deal of attention paid recently to the issue of teacher evaluation. Most honest people would agree that some teachers are better than others - the disagreement seems to be around what the criteria should be for making that distinction. Race to the Top, the national program for improving education, includes as one of its four areas of concentration

Recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals, especially where they are needed most;

Good idea, but doesn't define "effective teachers" and in practice relies on standardized test scores for its judgments about whether or not a teacher is effective.

Sam Dillon's article identifies a different way of evaluating teachers that asks students directly what they think. According to Ronald Ferguson, the developer of the questionnaires,

"Kids know effective teaching when they experience it."

If this is true in the public school sector, it is even more true in the Jewish sector. We are not simply in the business of learning and education, we are also very much in the business of attitude development. It's been said before - the way in which your students relate to you as their teacher becomes in many cases the way in which they relate to the Jewish world in general, and to their Jewish identity in particular. So it's not just a matter of being "nice". It's also of modeling the kinds of behaviors and values we want our students to internalize as fundamental to Jewishness - love of learning, compassion, intellectual curiosity, kindness, you fill in the rest. Teaching in a Jewish school is one of the most challenging and weighty responsibilities one can have.

Which brings me to the next article: On the same page as the article about asking students is a fascinating story in the Beliefs column, by Mark Oppenheimer - "Agency's Shtick is Jewish Humor For a Good Cause"
I have a few questions I'd like to raise about this article, which troubled me on many levels.

Why is repeating negative stereotypes about Jews and Jewish behavior humorous?
Is it OK to say derogatory things about Jews if you yourself are Jewish?
Is it OK to say these things if the agency sponsoring them thinks it will raise money?
What is the "Jewish" that the celebrities in these spots feel?
Is the "Jewish" these personalities present the "Jewish" we hope our young people grow up to be?

Judd Apatow, who ran the project and is quoted in the article as saying,

“I am the kind of Jewish person who feels very Jewish but does not practice at all. I did not take part in this project because Jewish people run this charity. I got involved because they do very important work that is changing many people’s lives in a positive way.”

The final question: Am I being overly sensitive? Is it generational? Should I just 'get over it?'
I'd like to know what your reaction is.

VaYigash

2010-12-06T16:00:00.001-05:00

Click on VaYigash in the column on the right for more thoughts and ideas

Try as I may, I can't get away from my 21st century perspective when I think about Joseph. No matter that the traditional commentaries understand him as a tzaddik, a righteous person, my perspective is less sure of his status.
We all know the history - how he was apparently singled out by his father for special consideration, his brothers' jealousy, his time in jail in Egypt, his rise to power, his eventual reconciliation with his family.

and yet...

Did he really need to gain ownership of the entire gross national product of Egypt in the process?
What kind of favor did he do his family by setting them up with special privileges in Goshen?
Why is it so important to Joseph that his father know what a big shot he has become - and why is he comfortable ignoring the unpleasant fact that he has not made any attempt that we know of to contact this same grieving father for all the years of his absence from Canaan?
Is it possible to read the Biblical account without addressing these questions?
Does being a believing Jew require us to accept that in this case the end justifies the means?
or does being a believing Jew require us to ask just this sort of question and come to answers that satisfy us in the context of our culture and society?
How is Joseph an example of the kind of person we hope our Jewish children will grow up to be?
How is he not?
How might the narrative here have laid the groundwork for later events in Egypt?

It might be easier to read these final parashot of the book of B'reisheet without these questions. It's just that I can't do it.

Miketz

2010-11-28T22:08:00.000-05:00

Joseph is obviously talented in many ways. He is good-looking, as we saw last week here in chapter 39:

ו וַיְהִי יוֹסֵף, יְפֵה-תֹאַר וִיפֵה מַרְאֶה. 6 And Joseph was of beautiful form, and fair to look upon.

He was able to interpret dreams, as we saw last week and also this week in chapter 41:

יב וְשָׁם אִתָּנוּ נַעַר עִבְרִי, עֶבֶד לְשַׂר הַטַּבָּחִים, וַנְּסַפֶּר-לוֹ, וַיִּפְתָּר-לָנוּ אֶת-חֲלֹמֹתֵינוּ: אִישׁ כַּחֲלֹמוֹ, פָּתָר. 12 And there was with us there a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted our dreams for us; to each man according to his dream he did interpret.

He realized that his power was a gift of God, not of his own making, as we read, also in chapter 41:

טז וַיַּעַן יוֹסֵף אֶת-פַּרְעֹה לֵאמֹר, בִּלְעָדָי: אֱלֹהִים, יַעֲנֶה אֶת-שְׁלוֹם פַּרְעֹה. 16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying: 'It is not up to me; God will give Pharaoh a complete and satisfying answer'.

He is trustworthy, as we read:

לט וַיֹּאמֶר פַּרְעֹה אֶל-יוֹסֵף, אַחֲרֵי הוֹדִיעַ אֱלֹהִים אוֹתְךָ אֶת-כָּל-זֹאת, אֵין-נָבוֹן וְחָכָם, כָּמוֹךָ. 39 And Pharaoh said to Joseph: 'Since God has shown you all this, there is no one as discreet and wise as you.

He is also manipulative, as you can see if you read what happened when his brothers appeared before him to beg for food the first time (chapter 42) and the second time (chapters 43 and 44).
Finally, in chapter 45 Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers, who return to their father with what must have seemed unbelievable news.

What do you think caused Joseph to behave the way he did?
What bothers you about Joseph's behavior?
What about Joseph's behavior seems fair to you? What seems unfair?
Who changes the most in the story - Joseph? his brothers? his father? someone else? Explain your answer

An important aspect of the story of Joseph is related to the theme of Hanukkah. There are two interesting stories in today's NY Times that relate to the theme of identity, a theme that is central to Hanukkah.

The first is about Poland, and the tension in that country between the forces of religion, specifically the Catholic Church, and the influence of secularism, of life independent of the rule of religion. You may want to read the article here

Poland, Lacking External Enemies, Turns on Itself

The second article is about yoga and its relationship to the Hindu religion.

Hindu Group Stirs a Debate Over Yoga's Soul

What is the relationship between these two stories and the upcoming holiday of Hanukkah?

Be sure to look at last year's post on Miketz here for more ideas

VaYeshev

2010-11-22T13:34:00.001-05:00

I can remember as a young teacher that the story of Joseph was the most fun to teach - there were so many projects one could choose, there was so much detail in the text that kids could enjoy reading, and the issue of sibling rivalry was always a topic students were able to speak about with authority.
Assuming younger students have spent their time learning the narrative - who said what to whom and where, who dreamt what and what it meant, who sold Joseph to whom and why, and on and on and on, perhaps it is time to think about Big Ideas instead of storytelling.

BIG IDEA:

Living as a minority within a majority culture is a challenge - especially when the values of the majority are different than those of the minority

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

How was living in Egypt different from living with his family in Canaan?
What were some challenges Joseph faced in this story so far?

LEARNING ACTIVITIES:

This article by Rabbi Harold Berman suggests a connection between the story of Joseph while he was in the household of Potiphar the Egyptian and the story of Hanukkah. How does he believe they are similar?
Amy Virshup in the NY Times writes about online preparation for Bar Mitzvah. What does it say about the tension between traditional Jewish practice and the modern culture in which we live?
Bruce Feiler, the author of Walking the Bible and a number of other books based on examining Jewish history and theology, wrote an article entitled Time-Shifting Holidays that examines his efforts to meld tradition with the constraints of the modern world. What is your reaction to his solution? To the words of the Rabbi he quotes?

ASSESSMENT:

Students should be able to express their ideas about what it is like to live as a Jew in a world which often creates conflicts with what they ought to be doing as members of the Jewish people.
Students should understand that being Jewish involves being part of a community, and is not simply an individual identity.
Students should be able to articulate ways in which they can choose to be part of the Jewish community in their own lives.

As always, be sure to read the other posts which examine this parasha by clicking on the list to the right or by clicking here

VaYishlach

2010-11-15T13:00:00.001-05:00

Be sure to read last year's post for more ideas on how to understand and teach this parasha.

This year the issue of the conflict between Jacob and Esau feels very current. Both in Israel and in communities around the world there is a tension between the descendants of Jacob and the descendants of Esau that seems to be getting worse, not better.
In Israel the relationship between the Jewish and Arab populations is complex. There is an excellent article at My Jewish Learning entitled Arabs in Israel which explains some of the historical and contemporary issues involved.

A great deal of attention is being focused on peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. This week's parasha raised some questions that may impact the thinking around resolving the conflict.

When Jacob and Esau lived together, how did they get along?
What happened when they separated?
When they met each other after years of living apart, what happened?
After this (apparently) friendly reconciliation, then what? When did they next meet each other?

Michael Oren, currently the Israeli ambassador to the United States, said in an interview in 2007 that one of the problems Americans have is that we look at the Middle East and think we are looking in a mirror. This interview can be viewed here.

Most Americans have been raised with the idea that everyone can get along. No differences are seen as too great to prevent cooperation and collaboration. But maybe this is not always the case. Maybe sometimes people with completely different values, aspirations, and cultures get along better if there is some distance between them.

On the other hand, there are certainly those who believe that the differences can be overcome without separation. Some websites that support this idea are here:

Hand in Hand

Arab-Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperation

The Center For Jewish-Arab Economic Devopment

Finally, if you are interested in hearing the voice of an Arab Muslim who is an example of thoughtful and moderate views, please read any of the articles here.

You may not agree with all the views presented here, but they are certainly material for discussion.

History - How the Story is Told

2010-11-10T12:02:00.000-05:00

Recalling History on a Day of Light and Darkness - An article appeared in today's NY Times that explores the tension inherent in deciding what to commemorate, and who does the remembering. It refers specifically to the fact that Kristallnacht occurred on the same date as the fall of the Berlin Wall many years later. Both happened in Germany, both are commemorated by the people of Germany, both are significant events for Germany and her people.
When preparing to celebrate my own mother's 100th birthday several years ago, I came upon a number of sites on the internet that enumerate the events that happened on every day of the calendar year. It was amazing how many things had happened over the years on her exact birthday - how few of them I knew about - and how even fewer did I realize shared the date of her birth. What does that mean for how we learn, teach and understand history?

Ideas to think about:

We are more likely to remember that which has personal meaning for us
Time often diminishes memory
Some things seem to be remembered no matter how long ago they occurred
Every individual and every group chooses its memories according to their own criteria
Events that are publicly commemorated tend to be remembered longer than those which are not

Questions to think about:

Which events in Jewish history do we as a Jewish community commemorate publicly?
Which events in Jewish history do non-Jews know about? Why?
How do we choose which events to remember publicly? Why?
In your opinion, what events in Jewish history should be commemorated forever? Why?
In your opinion, which events in Jewish history will be commemorated forever? Why?
Which historical big ideas do you want your students to remember? Why?

Jewish Wisdom for Today's Reality

2010-11-08T12:50:00.000-05:00

I really like this first issue of Shabbat Table Discussions from Yeshiva University's Center for the Jewish Future. I came upon it at Tzvee's Talmudic Blog which I follow and enjoy. I recommend you read it and hope you enjoy it as well.

Vayetze

2010-11-08T12:20:00.000-05:00

Last year I asked some questions in the blogpost - didn't get any answers!!! I still have the same questions, and I'm hoping some readers might suggest some responses!
I thank you in advance for your thoughts.

Vayetze, 2009

I checked the links and they're still valid.

In case you are interested in more resources, here are a few new links:
G-dcast is a wonderful site to find short cartoons illustrating each parasha. This one focuses primarily on the relationship between Rachel and Leah, and the importance of children in Biblical times.

A question - why do you suppose there is a daughter mentioned at all? Until now only sons have been mentioned, although the law of averages would certainly suggest that our ancestors had female children as well as male, and I just wonder what the significance of the daughter is that causes her to be named here.

If you are interested in what the community of Beit El is like today, click on this link to the site of the winery there.

What do you think it feels like to read this week's parasha in Beit El?

Engaging Teenage Boys in Jewish Life

2010-11-03T13:33:00.000-04:00

I just read about a program for post-Bar Mitzvah boys that sounds very interesting. The organization that has created it is the same one that sponsors "Rosh Hodesh, It's a Girl Thing!" I hope people will think about bringing it to the New York area. There is certainly a very large potential pool of participants.

Moving Traditions

Toldot

2010-11-01T12:01:00.001-04:00

Last year's post for Toldot suggested several alternative ways to read and understand the parasha. This year I would like to concentrate on an idea that connects the story of Jacob and Esau with current thinking about education.
James Kugel, in his book How to Read the Bible says the following:

Interpreters ... assumed that the Bible was a book of lessons directed to readers in their own day'

Traditional commentaries tell us clearly that Esau is 'bad', Jacob is 'good'. And yet today we might look at both of these personalities less as "black and white" and more as "shades of grey".

Big Idea: People - even 'identical' twins - are not exactly the same. Identical educational practices are therefore inherently not fair to students.

Important questions you may want to think about.

How can we support learning in our diverse classes (and all classes are diverse - some more so than others, but in the end all)?
What are the factors that help us decide how to teach a particular concept?
What does it mean to focus on learning rather than on teaching?
What lesson is the Bible trying to teach us as readers today?

Sources you may find helpful

Torah with Rashi commentary, from Chabad.org presents a traditional understanding of the sons of Yitzhak
How to Read the Bible, by James Kugel - this link takes you to several different pages, all of which say similar things about how the traditional interpreters describe Jacob and Esau
Multiple Intelligences, a theory of learning first developed by Dr. Howard Gardner, and since embraced by many educators, could easily have been suggested by the story of Jacob and Esau.

Assessment:

Please explain how the story of Jacob and Esau might affect the way your classroom functions.
Try to be an objective observer in your classroom. How are you showing respect for different learners? How do your lessons support alternative strengths your students have?

Be sure to check out Parsha 4 Kids for more ideas on connecting your students to Torah thinking

Hayei Sarah

2010-10-28T12:21:00.000-04:00

As I was rereading this parasha I was thinking how strange it must sound to today's young (and even not-so-young) people.

Avraham calls his servant and instructs him to find a wife for Yitzhak, his son with his wife Sarah, who has recently died.
We have no evidence he discussed this plan with Yitzhak - in fact, we have no evidence that Avraham and Yitzhak ever spoke to each other after the incident we call the Akeidah, when Avraham appears to have been ready to sacrifice his son.
We read that the servant takes many gifts with him as proof that his master is wealthy.
The servant describes some sort of magical test by which he will know how to choose the bride-to-be that has to do with her hospitality to strangers and kindness to animals.
He repeats (with a few minor alterations) his master's instructions to the father and brother of this young woman he wants to bring back home to his master for Yitzhak.
The father and brother of the bride-to-be accept the offer with no information other than about the wealth of the family.
The brother and mother of Rivka (the bride-to-be) ask for a few days to prepare her for the journey
Rivka say's she'll go, and she does - accompanied by her nanny.
Her family receives many gifts in return.
She still doesn't know anything at all about the groom to whom she will be married - not even his name!

Well, that certainly doesn't sound much like today's world - except in some cultures we and our students would consider backward and anti-feminist. So what questions might we raise to make this episode meaningful to today's audience?

Questions to consider:

In a time and place when families might live in little contact with other families, how would a young person be able to meet a mate?
What appears to be important to Avraham in choosing the mate for his son?
What at first appears to be important to Lavan in deciding whether his sister should go with the servant?
What do Lavan and Betuel say is the deciding factor?
Does Rivka have a choice?
What do you think we are supposed to learn from this story?

Sources: If you want to read the entire chapter that tells this story, go to Chapter 24 in the Bible. Here are some excerpts:

24:[3] Swear by Adonai, the God of heaven and of earth, that you won't take a wife for my son from the Canaanite people among whom I live. [4] But go to my country, to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Yitzhak

...

[6] And Avraham said to him, "Be sure you don't take my son back there."

...

[29] And Rivka had a brother named Lavan. He ran to the man outside, to the fountain. [30] And when he saw the ring and bracelets on his sister's hands, and when he heard his sister Rivka's words, 'this is what the man said to me'

...(the servant repeats essentially what Avraham has told him)...

[50] Then Lavan and Betuel answered and said, 'The thing comes from Adonai. We can't say whether it is a good or bad thing. [51] Here's Rivka in front of you - take her and go,and let her be your master's son's wife, as Adonai has spoken.
...
[55] And her brother and her mother said, 'Let the young woman stay with us a few more days - after that she'll go.
...
[58] And they called to Rivka and said to her, "Will you go with this man?" And she said, "I will go". [59] and they sent Rivka their sister, and her nanny, and Avraham's servant and his men.

Teshuvah

2010-10-19T22:07:00.000-04:00

We usually introduce the subject of teshuvah as saying 'I'm sorry', but an article in today's Wall Street Journal highlighted the difference between the two. In particular, please read the inset here that appears in the article

Saying 'I'm Sorry'
A 'comprehensive' apology is more likely to win forgiveness, researchers say. There are eight elements:
Remorse
Acceptance of responsibility
Admission of wrongdoing
Acknowledgment of harm
Promise to behave better
Request for forgiveness
Offer of repair
Explanation
Source: University of Waterloo

Maimonides states the steps of teshuvah as follows:

Realizing what you did was wrong
Confessing to the wrongdoing
Correcting the wrong you caused
Acting properly when confronted with the same situation that led to the original wrongdoing

Here are some questions to help you think about the difference between "I'm sorry" and "teshuvah"

What is the purpose of "I'm sorry"?
What is the purpose of teshuvah?
What step that leads to teshuvah is missing from the "I'm sorry" list above?
How does this help you understand teshuvah?

Akeidah

2010-10-19T21:44:00.000-04:00

In an article in the NY Times today entitled Lessons in a Life Well Lived, and Values Upheld there is a charming quotation from the wife of the subject, Alice Hartman Henkin, who writes

A guarantee you that if Abraham had been ordered to sacrifice his grandson, he would have said, "Buzz off"

VaYera

2010-10-18T14:20:00.000-04:00

The story about Abraham welcoming his visitors is well-entrenched as part of Jewish wisdom. We should be hospitable, yada, yada. There are probably still cultures in which this sort of absolute and unquestioning hospitality is still the norm - but they're not the culture we live in. If a stranger comes to your door you are more likely to call 911 than to break out the food and drinks, and with good reason.
We understand that reaction, but it's still sad that we have such fears, justified though they may be. Fortunately there are settings in which we can be more open to new relationships, as expressed in this commentary at Ten Minutes of Torah: VaYeira, 5771

Please be sure to click on Vayera in the labels column for more suggestion for thinking about this week's parasha. Also, remember to check Parsha 4 Kids for a ready-to-go trigger you can use with middle school or high school students. And feel free to comment on the idea at either site, yourself or with your students.

Not Israel's Fault

2010-10-14T11:19:00.000-04:00

Today's NY Times, front page article entitled "Parched Earth Where Syrian Farms Thrived"

A problem in the Middle East, and IT'S NOT ISRAEL'S FAULT!!!!! WHAT A SHOCK!!

News Flash: No Silver Bullets in Education!!!

2010-10-14T11:15:00.000-04:00

Everyone's talking about "Waiting for Superman", and with good reason. I hope they will also talk about this article in the NY Times Lauded Harlem Schools Have Their Own Problems. Here's what I think is important about both, in no particular order:

Big Ideas in Teaching and Learning

Good education costs a lot of money
Money alone isn't an answer
Complex issues require complex approaches
There is no single answer to any complicated problem
There are many partial answers, and it isn't always possible to isolate the most important
People who want to help have many different skill sets - all of which can and should be utilized to make things better.

These Big Ideas are crucial in general education, and no less so in the Jewish educational world. Too often we jump on a single bandwagon expecting that what works in one context will work in all. This simply isn't true. We should never discourage people with a passion for good outcomes, because we can never be sure what will trigger improvement in any single situation.

Lech Lecha

2010-10-11T11:24:00.000-04:00

A month's, no a year's, no again - a lifetime curriculum could certainly be built around this week's parasha, and if you are studying Torah according to the weekly schedule you surely have to pick and choose - especially since you probably have only a short time with the text.

Will you choose the challenge of deciding whether the voice you hear commanding you is the one you should follow? (Gen 12:1)

How does Abram know who is talking to him?
How do you know what voices to follow in your own life?)

Will it be the challenge of leaving behind everything you know to follow what you believe to be the instructions of God? (12:1 - 4)

Did someone in your family ever leave everything behind to start 'fresh'?
How is moving today different than it was 100 years ago? 1000 years ago? in the time of Abram?

Will it be the adjustment to a strange new place? (most of the parasha)

What new places have you adjusted to in your life?
What has helped you adjust?
What has stood in your way?

Will it be survival in the face of threat to your safety? (12:11 - 20)

Is there such a thing as a "white lie"?
Does telling the truth always trump everything?

So many questions, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Be sure to look at last year's post by clicking on "Lech Lecha" in the "Labels" column on the right. Some of the links may no longer be active - but you can still hear Kum v'Hitalech Ba'Aretz at the link provided.

Noach

2010-10-04T13:18:00.005-04:00

Please click on Noach in the labels column on the right to view last year's post about the portion.
And please use this parasha to connect yourself and your students to a current issue.
You and your students have heard about the tragic suicide of Tyler Clementi, a college freshman whose private behavior in his dorm room was broadcast on the internet by his roommate. What connection could this possible have to the Torah portion? The story of Noach after the flood seems to have something to say about this. If you teach middle school or high school kids, this is a real opportunity to share Jewish wisdom about privacy and create a connection between what they are learning in the Jewish educational setting with the dilemmas they face in their lives.

Big Idea:
People have choices about their behavior. Jewish wisdom can be one of the guidelines that helps us make good choices.

Questions you might want to ask:

What were the choices faced by Noach's sons? How does this relate to the story of Tyler Clementi?
How important is privacy? Is everyone entitled to privacy? What about public figures? Politicians? Sports personalities? Entertainment stars?
What role do decisions about the right to privacy play in bullying?
How does the world we live in affect the choices we make?
How does Jewish thinking affect the choices we make?

Resources

Text: Genesis 9:18-27
Jewish thinking about privacy

Remember - the purpose of these ideas is to connect ourselves to Jewish wisdom as it impacts the choices we make in our lives. I hope this helps.

2010-09-27T13:38:00.000-04:00

I believe the teaching of Torah must reach for Big Ideas and Important Issues. The posts already on this blog are an attempt to help teachers in Jewish educational settings identify and share these ideas and issues with students.
This year I will be posting weekly to my other blog - http://parshakids.blogspot.com/ - which is specifically designed for use with middle school or high school students. I invite you to look at that blog and, if you find it appropriate, to use it with your students.
If you would like suggestions for using this blog effectively, please send me a note and I will be happy to share ideas with you and with other teachers.
The posts from last year will continue to be accessible on this blog - http://bettyannsbestbets.blogspot.com/

Please read the new post on Parsha 4 Kids. If you use it with your students, I urge you to have them post directly to the blog so other young people can share their thoughts in a collaborative effort to understand Jewish thinking in today's world.

V'zot Habrachah

2010-09-20T15:55:00.001-04:00

We rarely look carefully at this parasha, as it comes in the midst of the Fall holidays - and there is so much else to think about and study. But let's consider the last Torah reading of the entire year.

Big Idea #1:
The conclusion of a book/story/narrative/movie often attempts to wrap up loose ends so the reader/viewer/listener has a sense of what the whole thing is about.

Some Questions to consider:

What is there in this parasha that helps you understand the whole of the Torah?
If you were writing a concluding chapter for the Torah, would it look like this? Explain your answer.
In what way are you satisfied or not with this ending?

Big Idea #2:

If you know your life is coming to an end, there are things you might want to do or say that you had not done or said before.

Some Questions to consider:

What do you think was going through Moshe's mind in this parasha?
Most people don't know exactly when they are going to die. What difference does that make?
Why do you think Moshe said what he did on this occasion?

Big Idea #3:

The Torah as a whole is the foundation of Judaism

Why is the Torah so important to the Jewish people?
What does our tradition mean when it says that "the study of Torah is equal to everything else?"
Professor James Kugel says the following in his book, How To Read The Bible, on page 362:

The Pentateuch was now viewed, as Ben Sira and other sages attest, as nothing less than divine wisdom in written form, one great book of legal and ethical instruction. As a result, the Pentateuch as a whole came to be radically transformed: its etiological narratives now became moral exempla, and its ancient laws became an up-to-date guide for daily life today. Rather than a record of the past, the Pentateuch became, like all wisdom writings, a set of instructions for the present.

Agree or Disagree: No matter how you understand the origin of the Torah, whether you believe it was dictated by God to Moshe or written over time by wise people, as Jews its significance is as Kugel states, "a set of instructions for the present." Whether you agree or disagree, be prepared to support your opinion in a discussion.

Be sure to look at my other post on this parasha to see some more detailed ideas for studying it with your students or study partners.

Hazak, Hazak, V'Nitchazek!!

Yom Kippur 5771

2010-09-13T17:08:00.000-04:00

There are so many facets to Yom Kippur

laws
customs
rituals
prayer
text readings
ideas
challenges

Where to begin? Here are some articles to start you thinking:

URJ has some wonderful suggestions for study before and during Yom Kippur. You can see some of them here. I particularly enjoyed the guide to Avinu Malkenu, which traces the changes in the prayer as written in the Reform Mahzor through time, the study guide for Mishnah Yoma, chapter 8, and the story of Pelimo and the Devil. You may prefer other sections of the resource guide
Rabbi Ami Berlin talks about how Sometimes We are Jonah, examining the Haftorah traditionally read on the afternoon of Yom Kippur
A universal suggestion that is related to Rabbi Berlin's description of Jonah as isolated from the world for 3 days, and that may be a wonderful idea for our super-connected times is in this article from the Jerusalem Post
Why is reaching the goals of Yom Kippur so difficult? Donniel Hartman, from the Shalom Hartman Institute, asks: Yom Kippur: Why Doesn’t It Work Outside of the Synagogue?
Marc Oppenheimer. writing in Slate magazine, compares the ritual of atonement in Judaism with that in Christianity in his article Sin Offerings
On a lighter note, but one that may appeal to some of your students, here is an article by the granddaughter of the famous baseball player Hank Greenberg about how his Judaism influenced him on the High Holidays - Why My Grandpa Was No Hitter on Yom Kippur

I wish you a meaningful Yom Kippur in whatever way you are marking the day.

Things I Know About Teaching and Learning...

2010-09-08T11:02:00.000-04:00

but turn out not to be true. As is so often the case, 'conventional wisdom' comes up short. According to this article, Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits, some of what you may have believed about teaching and learning seems to be less-than-written-in-stone, so to speak.

What's the Big Idea? How can it be that what I knew was true isn't???
And WHAT DO I DO NOW????

I think you do what good teachers everywhere always did -

you try lots of different things.
you have a 'toolkit' of varied and tested ideas
you stay alert to what is working and what is not
you are always revising, tweaking, improving based on evaluation of desired outcomes
you remember that you won't always be successful, but you never stop trying to be better
you study new ideas but don't necessarily throw out the old ones
you hesitate to blindly follow every new theory
you plan,
you evaluate,
you build on success
you remember that you became a teacher because you love learning
you do everything in your power to encourage the love of learning in your students.

Remember the wisdom of the statement:

Lo alecha ha-m'lacha ligmor

v'lo ata ben chorin l'hivatel mimena

You don't have to finish the work - but you are obligated to begin it

Nitzavim/Vayelech

2010-08-30T20:56:00.000-04:00

It can't be a coincidence that this parasha is read on the Shabbat before Rosh HaShanah every year. It could not be more closely tied to the concepts that underlie Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. Let's look at some of the Big Ideas:

Big Idea #1
Change is challenging

Questions you might want to think about

What are the changes that are about to occur in the parasha?
What are the changes that occur in your life at this time of the year?
What are the changes in the lives of your students?
How will the Israelites react to their changes?
How will you react to your changes?
What do you expect from your students as a reaction to the changes in their lives?

Big Idea #2

We are responsible for our actions

Questions you might want to think about

If Moshe has given the people God's instructions for how they are to behave, how do you explain the fact that they disobey those instructions on a regular basis?
If God knows the people are going to disobey, why doesn't God stop them?
What does God expect the people to do when they make mistakes?
Everyone makes mistakes. Do we always know they are mistakes when we are making them? What do you do when you realize you have made a mistake? What does God have to do with this?

Big Idea #3

We can be responsible for agreements made by others

Questions you might want to think about

What does it mean when the Torah says,

ט  אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים הַיּוֹם כֻּלְּכֶם, לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם: רָאשֵׁיכֶם שִׁבְטֵיכֶם, זִקְנֵיכֶם וְשֹׁטְרֵיכֶם, כֹּל, אִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל. 9 All of you are standing today before Adonai your God: your leaders, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel,
י  טַפְּכֶם נְשֵׁיכֶם--וְגֵרְךָ, אֲשֶׁר בְּקֶרֶב מַחֲנֶיךָ: מֵחֹטֵב עֵצֶיךָ, עַד שֹׁאֵב מֵימֶיךָ. 10 your little ones, your wives, and the stranger who lives in your camp, from the woodcarver to the water-drawer;
יא  לְעָבְרְךָ, בִּבְרִית יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ--וּבְאָלָתוֹ: אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, כֹּרֵת עִמְּךָ הַיּוֹם. 11 in order to enter into the brit, the covenant, of Adonai your God--and into God's oath--which Adonai your God makes with you today;
יב  לְמַעַן הָקִים-אֹתְךָ הַיּוֹם לוֹ לְעָם, וְהוּא יִהְיֶה-לְּךָ לֵאלֹהִים--כַּאֲשֶׁר, דִּבֶּר-לָךְ; וְכַאֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע לַאֲבֹתֶיךָ, לְאַבְרָהָם לְיִצְחָק וּלְיַעֲקֹב. 12 that God may establish you today as a people, in order to be your God, as God spoke to you, and as God swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
יג  וְלֹא אִתְּכֶם, לְבַדְּכֶם--אָנֹכִי, כֹּרֵת אֶת-הַבְּרִית הַזֹּאת, וְאֶת-הָאָלָה, הַזֹּאת. 13 Not only with you do I make this brit and this oath;
יד  כִּי אֶת-אֲשֶׁר יֶשְׁנוֹ פֹּה, עִמָּנוּ עֹמֵד הַיּוֹם, לִפְנֵי, יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ; וְאֵת אֲשֶׁר אֵינֶנּוּ פֹּה, עִמָּנוּ הַיּוֹם. 14 but with the person who stands here with us today before Adonai our God, and also with the person who is not here with us today--

How can God make a covenant, a brit, with people who are not there?
What are some other agreements that you have to follow even though you were not part of the group that created them?
What would it mean if you were only responsible for things that you personally agreed to? How would the world be different?

Big Idea #4

It's not over until it's over

Questions you might want to think about: What (root) word do the following phrases from Chapter 30 have in common? How is this related to this season of the year?

וְשַׁבְתָּ עַד-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ
וְשָׁב יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֶת-שְׁבוּתְךָ
וְשָׁב, וְקִבֶּצְךָ מִכָּל-הָעַמִּים
וְאַתָּה תָשׁוּב וְשָׁמַעְתָּ בְּקוֹל יְהוָה
כִּי תָשׁוּב אֶל-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ

And finally, here are two interesting commentaries on these parashot that you may enjoy reading:

You may remember Dr. Aaron Demsky who many of us were privileged to study with throughout the years. His commentary explains how it came to be that the Torah was read aloud to the people on a regular basis. The Command of Assembly
I'm not sure how to categorize this next link, but I think you may find it unusual and thought-provoking. Please read it to the very end (and feel free to share your thoughts). Urban Parsha Nitzavim/Vayelech

Ki Tavo

2010-08-23T15:52:00.000-04:00

BIG IDEA: The future depends on understanding and acknowledging the past. We understand who we are as Jews today by understanding what our history was.

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK:

What is our history as Jews?
How do we know that history?
How does that history impact the way we understand our community today?
How does our history affect the way in which we understand the broader community in which we live?

Near the beginning of this week's parasha there is a passage that probably sounds familiar:

ה  וְעָנִיתָ וְאָמַרְתָּ לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, אֲרַמִּי אֹבֵד אָבִי, וַיֵּרֶד מִצְרַיְמָה, וַיָּגָר שָׁם בִּמְתֵי מְעָט; וַיְהִי-שָׁם, לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל עָצוּם וָרָב. 5 And you shall speak and say before the LORD your God: 'A wandering Aramean was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
ו  וַיָּרֵעוּ אֹתָנוּ הַמִּצְרִים, וַיְעַנּוּנוּ; וַיִּתְּנוּ עָלֵינוּ, עֲבֹדָה קָשָׁה. 6 And the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage.
ז  וַנִּצְעַק, אֶל-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי אֲבֹתֵינוּ; וַיִּשְׁמַע יְהוָה אֶת-קֹלֵנוּ, וַיַּרְא אֶת-עָנְיֵנוּ וְאֶת-עֲמָלֵנוּ וְאֶת-לַחֲצֵנוּ. 7 And we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice, and saw our affliction, and our toil, and our oppression.
ח  וַיּוֹצִאֵנוּ יְהוָה, מִמִּצְרַיִם, בְּיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרֹעַ נְטוּיָה, וּבְמֹרָא גָּדֹל--וּבְאֹתוֹת, וּבְמֹפְתִים. 8 And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders.

Where have you seen this passage? (If you are not sure, go to this link at JewishFreeware and read beginning on page 30)

Why do you think reciting this passage is part of this particular event? (I'm not saying what event - you should have found the answer from the link above)

There is a new children's book, Ruth and The Green Book and a new play, by the same author, entitled The Green Book.

What is The Green Book?
What is the connection between the book and the play?
What is the Jewish connection?
What do you think a young African-American in America might learn from reading this story?
What do you think a young person who is not African-American might learn?
What connection can you make between The Green Book and the Haggadah?

BIG IDEA: It is often a bigger challenge to behave correctly in secret than in public.

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK:

What are some reasons to behave correctly in public, when there are other people watching and listening?
Are the reasons the same when you are in private? Explain your answer.
Which is more of a challenge - public behavior or private? Why?

Read the following passage:

טו  אָרוּר הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה פֶסֶל וּמַסֵּכָה תּוֹעֲבַת יְהוָה, מַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵי חָרָשׁ--וְשָׂם בַּסָּתֶר; וְעָנוּ כָל-הָעָם וְאָמְרוּ, אָמֵן. {ס} 15 Cursed is the man who makes a graven or molten image, an abomination before ADONAI, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret. And all the people shall answer and say: Amen. {S}
טז  אָרוּר, מַקְלֶה אָבִיו וְאִמּוֹ; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן. {ס} 16 Cursed is the person who dishonours his father or his mother. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
יז  אָרוּר, מַסִּיג גְּבוּל רֵעֵהוּ; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן. {ס} 17 Cursed is the person who moves his neighbor's landmark. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
יח  אָרוּר, מַשְׁגֶּה עִוֵּר בַּדָּרֶךְ; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן. {ס} 18 Cursed is the person who misleads the blind. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
יט  אָרוּר, מַטֶּה מִשְׁפַּט גֵּר-יָתוֹם--וְאַלְמָנָה; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן. 19 Cursed is the person who perverts the justice due to the stranger, orphan, and widow. And all the people shall say: Amen.
כ  אָרוּר, שֹׁכֵב עִם-אֵשֶׁת אָבִיו--כִּי גִלָּה, כְּנַף אָבִיו; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן. {ס} 20 Cursed is the person who lies with his father's wife; because he has uncovered his father's skirt. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
כא  אָרוּר, שֹׁכֵב עִם-כָּל-בְּהֵמָה; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן. {ס} 21 Cursed is the person who lies with any animal. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
כב  אָרוּר, שֹׁכֵב עִם-אֲחֹתוֹ--בַּת-אָבִיו, אוֹ בַת-אִמּוֹ; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן. {ס} 22 Cursed is the person who lies with his sister, either the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
כג  אָרוּר, שֹׁכֵב עִם-חֹתַנְתּוֹ; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן. {ס} 23 Cursed is the person who lies with his mother-in-law. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
כד  אָרוּר, מַכֵּה רֵעֵהוּ בַּסָּתֶר; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן. {ס} 24 Cursed is the person who hits his neighbor in secret. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
כה  אָרוּר לֹקֵחַ שֹׁחַד, לְהַכּוֹת נֶפֶשׁ דָּם נָקִי; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן. {ס} 25 Cursed is the person who takes a bribe to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
כו  אָרוּר, אֲשֶׁר לֹא-יָקִים אֶת-דִּבְרֵי הַתּוֹרָה-הַזֹּאת--לַעֲשׂוֹת אוֹתָם; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן. {פ} 26 Cursed is the person who doesn't accept the words of this law to obey them. And all the people shall say: Amen.' {P}

According to the commentaries, all these things are things done in private. Therefore, there are no witnesses to report the behavior.

Why do you think the text specifically mentions these things?
Are you more likely to behave publicly or privately? Explain why.
You might say that what you do in private is nobody else's business. Besides being done in private, with no witnesses, they have something else in common. Can you figure out what it is? If you can, you may want to leave a comment on the blog.

Samson Raphael Hirsch, an important Jewish thinker, believed that this particular passage had another, perhaps deeper meaning:

"All blessing is denied to him who outwardly plays the pious man devoted to God but in secret denies the exclusive existence of One God and His rule; who outwardly is respectful to his parents but inwardly considers himself vastly superior to them; who in the eyes of men preserves the reputation of an honest man but, where it is unobserved, does not hesitate to injure the rights of his neighbor to his own advantage; who is full of enthusiasm for the welfare of his neighbors, in the presence of clever and intelligent people, but pushes short-sighted and blind people into misfortune; who grovels before the powerful but denies the weak and helpless their rights; pretends to be a highly respectable member of society, to wallow in sexual licentiousness in intimate privacy (verses 20-23); who does not dig a dagger into his neighbor but, under the cloak of conversation, murders his happiness, his peace, and his honor; who enjoys the highest confidence in his community but misuses it in secret corruption; finally, also one who, even if he lives correctly and dutifully for himself, still looks with indifference on the abandonment of the duties of the Torah in his immediate and wider circles." (p 1519, The Torah, A Modern Commentary, W. Gunther Plaut)

What is Hirsch talking about?
How is this important?

Ki Taytzey

2010-08-16T15:15:00.000-04:00

The Wall Street Journal had an article in this past weekend's edition entitled The Power Trip, written by Jonah Lehrer, about power and how it affects the ways in which people behave.
Please re-read last year's post about Ki Taytzay and think about what it says concerning power, lack of power, and the restrictions that can and should be placed on power.

Some things to think about:

Last week we read that a king of Israel, if there is to be one, should have a copy of the Torah in his possession at all times during his reign. How is this related to this week's parasha?
Many of the most disturbing passages in this parasha prescribe punishment for certain acts that seem to us to be out of proportion to the acts themselves (like stoning a 'stubborn and rebellious child'). The rabbis of the Talmud and since have explained that such punishments never were used and never will be. (If you want to read a translation of the original text in the tractate Sanhedrin, go to this site and read folios 68 - 71) If this is the case, why was the Torah written as it was? How do we answer those who say that the God of the Tanach, the God of the Jews, is a vengeful God?
Some of the mitzvot in this week's parasha are easy to understand - they make sense to us as moral. Others appear arbitrary and without justification. Pick one mitzvah which makes sense to you and explain

How do you understand this mitzvah?
How do you explain it to people who wonder about it?
What do you think about it in today's world?

Pick another mitzvah which seems arbitrary - that doesn't seem to have any moral basis. Try to answer the same three questions as above. Can you do it? If you can, fine. If you can't, what does that mean for how you understand Torah?

Shoftim

2010-08-09T18:12:00.000-04:00

Big Idea: Impartial justice is an important value in the Torah

The first two verses of this parasha explain how judges are to be selected and how they are to judge - they are not to show favoritism, they are to be righteous themselves so they judge justly, they are not to take bribes. And then, in verse 20, one of the most quoted phrases in the Torah:

Tzedek tzedek tirdof

Justice, justice shall you pursue

According to Rashi, this is a commandment to 'seek out a good court', and, if we read the rest of the verse, this is so "that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you."

Impartial justice is clearly important in the Torah. We already read in Leviticus 19:15:

'Do not pervert justice;

do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great,

but judge your neighbor fairly

Elena Kagan was just confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States. During the hearings which preceded her confirmation she was asked many questions. A number of articles suggested questions she might have been asked.

The Heritage Foundation suggested these
The Christian Science Monitor proposed these
Ralph Nader had these
The American Humanist Association asked these questions

At the Learning Blog of the NYTimes there is a list of the questions about her confirmation hearings. They are based on the related article here which describes some of the things she actually said.

An interesting article in Tablet Magazine by David Sarna examines Kagan's answers from the perspective of Jewish attitudes toward justice, particularly the use of precedent.

If you were on the committee considering Elena Kagan for Justice of the Supreme Court, what questions would you have asked her based on what you learned in this week's Torah portion?

Big Idea: We all have an obligation to preserve the natural world. This concept is known in Hebrew as "Bal Tashchit"

Verse 19 in chapter 20 reads as follows:

When you besiege a city a long time in order to conquer it, don't destroy the trees by cutting them down, You can eat the fruit from them, but don't cut them down, 'ki ha-adam etz hasadeh, lavo mipanecha bamatzor'.

The phrase ki ha-adam etz hasadeh... is usually translated as a question: Is the tree of the field 'man' who should be beseiged by you? But some prefer to look at it differently, as you can read here in a lesson from Nechama Leibowitz.

You might also be interested in reading an article about weddings that discusses this issue (well, it doesn't exactly say Bal Tashchit, but you'll see the connection when you read it

Re'eh

2010-08-02T12:23:00.000-04:00

It seems that this week's parasha is focused on making sure that the Israelites behave differently once they enter the land that has been promised to them, giving up some of the autonomy they have had in the desert. One of the most important issues, judging from the emphasis it is given, is the centralization of worship. In the context of the times, this means sacrifices will have to be limited to the central location yet-to-be-named, under the supervision of the priests in that place, and according to the exact specifications set out in the text.
If this is a correct interpretation, there are some questions I would like to ask:

Is this centralization of practice only mandatory within the limits of the land of Israel? Are those living outside still entitled according to this text to have differences of practice among, within and between groups of Jews?
Does this text support the control of Jewish practice within Israel by a single rabbinic authority? If the answer is yes, then whose responsibility is it to determine which authority shall be in charge?
Is there consideration to those who may at one time in their lives be within the land and at other times outside?
Did the destruction of the two Temples erase this requirement of centralization?
In the world in which we live today is it possible or desirable to have only one way to be Jewish?
And the age-old question, which can be asked about anything: Is it good for the Jews? Or is it bad for the Jews?

Here are a couple of articles which discuss this issue.

From 10 Minutes of Torah, these from Rabbis Perlin and Cohen
Keep Dreaming, When Chelsea Wed Marc, a post by David Breakstone, compares his own family's experience with that of Chelsea Clinton and her new husband Marc Mezvinsky. You may also be interested in reading the comments on this article.

Ekev

2010-07-26T18:14:00.000-04:00

As is so often the case, there are phrases and passages in this week's parasha that make me smile, and some that make me cringe. And as always there is the problem of being satisfied with those sentiments that reflect my own attitudes while wanting to 'wish away' the ones that particularly violate my 21st century sensibilities!

This week, it being after Tisha b'Av, leading up to Shabbat Nachamu, I think I'll take the easy way out and focus on what is easy for me to agree with. So here we go:

The parasha begins with chapter 7, verse 12 in the book of Devarim, and is pretty upbeat. If you (plural) do what God wants you (singular) to do, all will be good for you (singular, so I guess it means each and every one of you). But wait - does that mean that everyone must do the right thing for the individuals in the group to be OK?

And another thing - if God is the only God of the entire world, then I would expect a little compassion for those who do not acknowledge God. Instead, I read there will be complete destruction of those other people.

Let's continue with chapter 8. In verse 3 we are reminded that God provided manna, and while we are not positive what that was, there are some chefs these days who believe they know, and who are serving it in their restaurants! There are also those who believe it was bird poop, but the chefs' opinions are way more appetizing.

Verse 10 makes me smile - because it reminds me of a group of people sitting at the table after a meal and singing together as they thank God for their food. This time of year I particularly imagine the dining hall at a Jewish camp where this singing is loud and enthusiastic. Hooray for Jewish camping! I also like this commentary by Rabbi Ranon Teller which splits the three verbs (eat, be satisfied, and bless God) into three separate mitzvot - I like to think that God is actually commanding me to eat until I am full.

Moshe certainly takes the time to remind the people of everything he has done for them - particularly when God was angry with them.

And in chapter 11, verses 13 - 21, we have the text that has become the second paragraph of the Shma prayer as it has always appeared in traditional siddurim and which has been added in the newest Reform prayerbook. I have heard some people say this is their favorite prayer, because it makes it clear what they must do in order to be rewarded by God. Others are troubled by what they consider the simplistic lesson of the section, since it is obvious that not everyone who does what God wants has good outcomes. This is the fundamental challenge known as theodicy - the existence of evil in a world ruled by a God who is all-powerful and good. Rachel Barenblat, known as the Velveteen Rabbi, has a good treatment of this problem here at her blog.

The text mentions listening and hearing a number of times. I'm reading a book now, The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein, in which the narrator is a dog - and the dog makes the comment that he is good at listening - in contrast to humans who hear every story as an opportunity to tell their own tales rather than really listening to what is being said. Perhaps there is some relationship to the passage "va-y'he im shamoa tish-m-u". Here is a commentary about listening from Rabbi David-Seth Kirshner.

Finally, (and even though I'm trying hard to make a connection it seems totally unrelated to anything in this parasha,) I would like to share an article by Rabbi Levi Cooper about cucumbers. It's that time of year, and cucumbers are very much on my mind (as they ripen incessantly in my garden).

Ve'Etchanan

2010-07-19T16:01:00.000-04:00

There are some really familiar passages in this week's parasha.
Here are some verses you may recognize, possibly in English, possibly in Hebrew. Find them and read them:

4:44
5:6 - 18
6:4 - 9
6:20 - 21

Where have you heard them before?

How does seeing them in the context of the Torah affect the way in which you understand them?

Think about the fact that this parasha comes right after Tisha b'Av every year.

Do you think this is merely a coincidence? Explain your answer.
If you read the parasha with Tisha b'Av in mind, does anything change for you? Explain why or why not.
What do you think was in the minds of Jews reading this parasha in the time of the Second Temple? ...right after the expulsion from Spain? ...in Europe during the Middle Ages? ...during the Shoah? ...in Israel in 1948, after the War of Independence? ...in 1967, right after the Six Day War?
What are you thinking about this parasha this week? Why?

Devarim, the Book and the Parasha

2010-07-12T10:59:00.000-04:00

If your students don't attend a Jewish summer camp that includes study, will they ever encounter the book of Devarim? It may be that they will study certain portions that include well-known prayers, like the Shma in next week's parasha. Or it may be that this book will remain unread and unstudied. Too bad, because there's some good stuff in it.

Let's start with an overview of the book, and then use the close-up lens to focus on this week's parasha.

A helpful way to begin to think about the book as a whole is with this article from URJ, Destination: Devarim. You may also want to look at the G-dcast video on Devarim.

What are the lenses through which you can look at the book of Devarim?
Which perspective is most comfortable for you? Explain why.
Is it important to use more than one point of view when studying something? Explain your answer.

Now let's use the magnifying lens and focus only on this week's parasha.

Moshe doesn't repeat the stories in this parasha exactly as they were related earlier. Why do you think this is so?
Using the principles of Backward Design, we would imagine that Moshe had a Big Idea, an Enduring Understanding, something the people would remember long after they had forgotten the details of the story he is retelling. What do you think his Big Idea was?
If you were introducing this book of the Torah, what would your big ideas be

If you were living in the time of Moshe?
If you were living in the land of Israel before the Babylonian exile?
If you were living in Israel today?
If you were living outside of the land of Israel?

Matott-Massey

2010-07-05T15:48:00.000-04:00

One of the issues in this week's double parasha concerns the decision of two and a half tribes of Israel to live outside the borders of Eretz Yisrael - the Land of Israel. The relationship between those Jews who choose to live inside and those who choose to live outside has been a complicated one.
David Ben Gurion, the first Prime Minister of the newly-created country of Israel believed that once Israel became independent all the Jews from all over the world would enthusiastically come to live there. That has not happened, although there certainly has been significant aliyah over the past 62 years.

In fact, the Jewish Agency, originally focused almost exclusively on encouraging aliyah, as you can read at this section of their website has recently refocused its energy, as you can read here, toward building Jewish identity and peoplehood among the Jews of the world.

Is the decision the two and a half tribes made to live outside the borders of Israel a problem for those who settled inside? Why or why not?
How does living outside Israel affect Jewish identity?
How does living inside Israel affect Jewish identity?
Is Jewish identity the same as Israeli identity?
What is your answer when people ask your identity?
How is your answer important?
In today's world, would you rather be known as "Jewish" or "Israeli"? Explain your answer.
What would you expect to hear if you asked an Israeli Jew about his/her identity?
What if you asked an Israeli Arab? Would you hear the same thing? Different? Why?
Why do you think the Jewish Agency has changed its mission? You can read the entire strategic plan here or read an article about it that highlights its main points here

Finally, I challenge you to think about what Jewish identity means in the world today - in your world, in the world of your children, your parents, your teachers, your students, your particular Jewish community, in the Jewish community as a whole.

My friends know I believe that in today's world Every Jew is a Jew By Choice, since identity - at least in a free society such as we have in the United States - is largely self-defined. What are we doing to encourage the Jews we know to identify as such in our world?

Pinchas

2010-06-28T18:53:00.000-04:00

Three years ago in our study group we constructed a number of big ideas for Parshat Pinchas, as we did for every other parasha we studied together. One of the big ideas was:

You can find support for almost anything in the Torah if you are looking for it.

What are some of the ideas we can find this parasha?

Extreme action can be warranted in extreme circumstances (Pinchas is rewarded for killing a couple engaged in illicit relations)
Women have the same rights as men (the daughters of Tzelophehad are permitted to inherit their father's land)
Leadership is an earned position, and can be withdrawn if the leader does something sufficiently wrong (Moshe will not lead the people into the land of Israel because of his actions at Meribah)

Yet each of these ideas presents challenges to us

Is zealotry a positive attribute?
Are the laws of inheritance as described in this parasha really as non-sexist as we would like to believe?
If a leader is doing a good job on the whole, should a mistake cause him or her to lose his/her position?

Questions to think about:

What do we say to the terrorist who believes s/he is acting on God's behalf?
Is it intellectually honest to interpret Torah through the lens of modern thought?
What kind of mistakes justify/necessitate removing a leader from office?

Issues that challenge us today:

How do we respond to violent extremism?
How can we reconcile differences between liberal and conservative religious thinking?
How does the media change the way in which we view leaders?

Finally, here are the current issues that this parasha made me think of:

'Inglorious Basterds', the Quentin Tarantino movie about revenge against the Nazis has been discussed widely in the Jewish community. Here is one article about a showing at the Museum of Jewish Heritage
This article - Jew vs. Jew - is on an interesting site called Kehillah, Jewish Outreach Media Campaign. I don't know if the site is active, but it has some interesting articles.
David Brooks' article on June 24 about the media effect on the world is as usual provocative and articulate. He speaks specifically about the Generals McChrystal and Petraeus in Afghanistan, but his thoughts concern broader issues of exposure and accountability.

How about you? What do YOU think?

Balak

2010-06-21T15:59:00.000-04:00

... otherwise known as "The Talking Donkey and What She Saw"

This really seems out of place - more Disney than Torah, not to say that Disney doesn't sometimes have important ideas to present (just saw Toy Story 3 with my grandson, and was it ever a powerful story about what is really important, loyalty, growing up, and other good stuff)
So this fellow and his donkey are on their way to curse the Israelites, having been paid for doing so by a local king. Only it doesn't happen the way the king thought it would. And it's not that he didn't try - he offered money, sacrifices, changes of location - nothing worked. Instead of cursing the Israelites, Balaam blesses them. And he does so with words that are familiar to many of us - "Mah tovu ohalecha Ya'akov"
There are many lenses through which to read these words:

In what way is your 'tent' good? Here is a commentary that may provide some perspective
In what way is your 'tent' welcoming? Here is what Rabbi Karen Citron understands the words to mean
Does it matter who is admiring your 'tent'? Rabbi Mindy Avra Portnoy points out the hesitancy some have when words of support come from the 'other'.
Eizehu asheer? Hasameach b'chelko. This quotation from Pirkei Avot teaches that the rich person is the one who is happy with what he or she has. Another way of saying the same thing: The successful person gets what s/he wants. The happy person wants what s/he has. What's the difference?

Some Questions to Think About:

How can we decide what we should be proudest of in our lives? Is it possible in today's world to continue to value the 'good' over the 'plenty'?
How inclusive do we want our community to be? How exclusive? How can we balance our separate identity within a society that seems to want us to all be similar?
What is the appropriate reaction when someone we might consider an 'enemy' speaks words of praise?

Korach

2010-06-07T15:13:00.000-04:00

As Yogi Berra is reputed to have said, "This is like deja vu all over again!"

People complain, God gets angry, people are punished.

But this feels a little different - and in light of the current situation please allow me to suggest some alternative perspectives on this parasha:

Korach is absolutely wrong. He is questioning God's choice of Moshe as the leader of the people and of Aharon as the high priest. In questioning their authority he and his supporters are questioning God. This is expressed in most of the writings of the ancient commentators, and appears to be the mainstream way of understanding this rebellion. You can read some articles supporting this view here at Kolel.org, 5760 and here at UTJ, the Union for Traditional Judaism

Korach is reflecting a popular movement in questioning the authority of Moshe and Aharon. After all, he is from the tribe of Levi, as they are, and believes that he has as much a right as his cousins do to serve God in the tabernacle. In fact, Korach may be more like us today, living in a democracy, than the other players in the story. Please read this commentary by Rabbi Mark Greenspan, of the Oceanside Jewish Center which examines this thought

Korach may have believed he was justified in his complaint to Moshe and Aharon, but should have understood why he was really wrong. This commentary from a student rabbi explains why

Today there are many ways of questioning authority - with differing motivations and multiple outcomes. If we use the story of Korach as a trigger for discussing this issue, here are a few questions we might want to think about:

How is it possible to know the motives of political and religious leaders?
How can we try to understand the motives of those who question these leaders?
What if we agree the question should be asked but disagree with what we believe is the motivation for asking it?
How do these questions relate to the way in which we understand the world around us?
How can we learn to use critical thinking skills to look at multiple viewpoints when we hold strong personal opinions?

Shelach Lecha

2010-05-31T12:39:00.000-04:00

Having just returned from two weeks in Israel, it feels like a wonderful coincidence that this week's parasha tells the story of the 12 spies sent to survey the land. Here are two of the places we "spied out" on this recent visit.

Ir David, the City of David, is the site of the original city of Jerusalem in the days King David conquered it from the Jebusites. Over the past 20+ years it has been excavated and examined quite thoroughly. One can imagine what it was like in the time of King David. To take a virtual tour, go to the website here.

Gush Etzion is an area near Jerusalem, on the way to Beit-Lechem. Modern Jewish settlement here dates from the 1920's, when land was purchased from local Arabs and settled by Jews from Yemen. Destroyed more than once, as you can read at this site, this area is considered by most people to be a permanent part of the modern country of Israel.

Efrat, one of the towns in Gush Etzion, is a beautiful place. You can read about it here at the website of Ohr Torah Stone, the educational institution founded by Rav Shlomo Riskin, formerly of New York City's Lincoln Square Synagogue and since 1983 the inspirational chief rabbi of Efrat. During our recent visit one could imagine it had always been there - and yet we were told by our host that until the early 1980's the land on the top of its hills was filled with rocks rather than with homes, trees and flowers. In fact, he related, it was a full two years after the current resettlement began that birds began to appear, realizing that the formerly barren earth was now welcoming.

Reading the Torah portion this week can be a reminder that Jews coming to live in the land of Israel have always faced obstacles, both real and perceived. Whether to live there or not may be an individual choice, but no matter our personal decision we all have the privilege and obligation to support Israel.

Today's media are filled with discussions of the weakening connection of American Jews - particularly young American Jews - to Israel.

Is Israel perfect?
Is any country perfect?
Is Israel a target of criticism far out of proportion to its actions?
Is there diversity of political opinion within Israel?
Can one criticize Israel's actions while still supporting her?
As Jewish educators what should we be teaching about Israel?
How can what we teach encourage emotional engagement with Israel?

Here is the article by Peter Beinart about the loss of liberal support for Israel.
Here is a response by Benjamin Kerstein
I suggest you read both articles.

B'Midbar

2010-05-10T21:44:00.000-04:00

The first portion of the fourth book of the Torah begins with a census. Every tribe except the tribe of Levi is counted - men only, from age 20 and up - apparently to find out how many potential soldiers were available to fight against enemies.
Later on in the parasha the men in the tribe of Levi are counted - not as potential soldiers, but for serving God.

This year we are participating in a census in the United States. Do your students know about this? Who is being counted?
What is the purpose of our census? Compare and contrast to the purpose of the census in B'Midbar.
What is your reaction to the fact that only men were counted in the B'Midbar census?

We learned a while ago that since God saved all the first-born of the Jews in Egypt, from then on all first-born are supposed to be dedicated to working directly for God. Now we hear that the Levites will replace the first-born sons, but there's a problem: there are more first-born sons than there are Levites.

What solutions can you think of?
What solution is in the Torah?
How is this related to the ceremony we know as Pidyon HaBen?
When you read the Torah with today's eyes and minds it is often troubling. Only men count? Fathers are important but not mothers? Here is a commentary from The Torah: A Women's Commentary that helps us understand from a more contemporary perspective what the portion is about.

There is a very precise description of the way in which the tribes set camp in the desert. You can see a picture here as well as an interesting commentary on why each tribe was in a particular place.

You might also enjoy reading this blogpost which questions the numbers of people in the Israelite camp in the desert. One explanation in Torah, A Modern Commentary, by Gunther Plaut, suggests that the Hebrew word 'elef' which we understand to mean 'thousand' may have had a different meaning when used in the Torah.

B'Har/B'Hukotai

2010-05-03T13:26:00.000-04:00

This Shabbat we read together the last two parshiyot of the book of VaYikrah - Leviticus. This book has been filled with laws - laws about sacrifices, about agriculture, about kashrut, about interpersonal behaviors, and in general about what God will expect from the people of Israel as they go forward as free people to settle in the land of Israel.

The first of the two parshiyot - B'Har - describes the laws of shmitah and yovel - each one a time when Jews in the land of Israel were not to work the land. Shmitah, which occurs each seventh year, is still observed today. Every seven years Jews are to allow the land to rest - a shabbat for the land, just as every seven days we have a shabbat for people.

Question to think about:

You may have heard about sabbatical leave in some professions - particularly teaching. How do you think this is related to the law of shmitah - letting the land go unworked every seven years?

Another important issue in this parasha is the mitzvah not to charge interest when lending money (to another Jewish person).

Questions to think about:

Jewish law about interest worked when we lived in an agricultural world. It doesn't work so well in a society in which money is used more widely. The rabbis created a document called a "heter iska" to help solve this problem. You can read about it here. What do you think about it?
The law in the Torah is specific to relationships among Jews. In his article Economic Justice for Insiders and Outsiders Rabbi Joshua Heller examines some of the challenges this law has created over the years. How does this feel to you?
One of the reasons many people believe the Jewish people has survived is the ability and willingness of the leaders to adapt to changing situations. So we have created a framework for living according to Jewish law and at the same time living within the modern world. Some people feel this is a positive thing, others that it is negative. What do you think?
The past two years have highlighted major issues with lenders and borrowers, and there is a great deal of attention being paid to how loans were made, by whom, to whom, and so on. Does Jewish thought have anything to add to the conversation? Read this article on Predatory Lending from the Jewish Business Ethics Center of Jerusalem. Do you agree with this interpretation? Why or why not?

The second parasha, B'Hukotai, sets out the blessings that will come if the Jewish people obey the mitzvot and the curses that will ensue if we do not. Reward and Punishment.

What if bad things happen to good people?
What if good things happen to bad people?
What are the advantages of using reward to motivate behavior? What are the disadvantages?
What are the advantages of using punishment? What are the disadvantages?
How is our thinking today the same as the thinking in Biblical times?
How is our thinking different?

Emor

2010-04-26T12:00:00.000-04:00

It felt good last week to have such a feel-good parasha - who could question the commandments to treat others well. We could all read parshat Kedoshim and feel proud of the universally accepted human values that our Judaism introduced to the world.
Not so much this week! With the exception of the descriptions of when important holidays fall in the calendar, we are faced with some concepts that are less than comfortable for most of us in today's world.
First, we have a list of those relatives whose dead bodies a priest, a cohein, is permitted to come in contact. Not so troubling - in fact it is understood to be precisely these relatives for whom we are obligated to observe the rituals of mourning.
Next is a list of the physical deformities which disqualify a cohein from offering sacrifices - a problem for today's society, as it seems to contradict the values we promote - specifically the prohibition against discrimination on the basis of physically handicapping conditions.
The parasha continues with the times of celebration of our relationship with God - Shabbat and the other holidays about which we are given dates according to our calendar and certain standards of behavior.
The parasha closes with more uncomfortable news - someone is stoned to death for using God's name disrespectfully, and we hear for the second time about equitable punishment - eye for eye, etc.

Here are some sources that may or may not help you understand the troubling passages. One thing is certain - they demonstrate that we aren't the only ones disturbed by them.

The issue of cohanim needing to be perfect physical specimens is discussed here by Rabbi Levi Cooper, a member of the faculty at Pardes in Jerusalem, and the rabbi in Tzur Hadassah, a suburban community near Jerusalem.
An eye for an eye is explained in various ways by various religious traditions

A Christian interpretation assumes that the words in the Torah are to be taken literally, and represent an improvement over previous impulse to escalate responses.
The traditional Jewish interpretation is quite different, as you can read in this lesson from Nechama Leibowitz, teacher of Torah at the highest level.

Here is a concise commentary on the major issues of this parasha written by a rabbi in England. It highlights the section about the holidays, and includes some information that may be new for you.

If you are teaching this parasha, which of the main points would you choose to focus on? For which age groups? Why? Which concept(s) can you find contemporary issues that seem relevant?

Aharei Mot and Kedoshim

2010-04-19T13:19:00.000-04:00

Big Ideas:

Parts of the Torah are universal, while others are particular to the Jewish people
Not all the Torah can be understood logically and rationally

Essential Questions:

Who gets to decide which portions of Torah to pay attention to and which to ignore?
Why do you think Leviticus 19 is called the "holiness code"?
Which statement or passage in these two parashot is the most comfortable for you? Why?
Which statement or passage in these two parashot is the most uncomfortable for you? Why?
If you are teaching parshat hashavua there is a whole lot to choose from this week. What would you choose and why?

Many of you know that I read the comics in both the daily and Sunday newspapers. I do that for two reasons - first, I like to laugh (and I read that laughing is good for your health, both physical and mental. Don't ask me where I read that - I can't remember!) and second, because I hope to find a connection to Jewish values and ideas. I usually get at least one laugh, and often find a useful strip to illustrate a point or trigger a discussion.
A third reason I read the comics is to find a relationship to the week's parasha. Sometimes I'm lucky, sometimes not. But this week was particularly interesting. I read all the comics in Sunday's newspaper, and in almost all of them saw a connection to either Aharei Mot or Kedoshim, this week's double parasha.
Why were there so many obvious connections (at least obvious to me)?
I suspect it wasn't so much the comics that were relevant - it was rather the contents of the parashot. After so many weeks of descriptions of sacrifices, sacrifices and more sacrifices, seemingly archaic and useless in our lives today, we come to a section of Vayikra (Leviticus) that speaks to all of us in a powerful way.
Aharei Mot contains a detailed description of Yom HaKippurim as it was observed in the time of the Temple in Jerusalem. It expands on the laws of forbidden foods, and articulates forbidden sexual relationships. All the rules set forth are to be followed because God commands them, and because they will differentiate the people of Israel from their contemporaries in the world around them. It's all very particular to the Jewish people.
Kedoshim is a different story - most of the rules here are rules that seem to lead to the kind of society anyone would want to live in, a society that takes care of the less fortunate, that treats others fairly, that doesn't take advantage of the weak or disabled. Of course there are a few rules that separate Jews from other people - not mixing wool and linen in clothing seems a particularly confusing law - one many modern Jews choose to ignore probably because it seems so unimportant in the scheme of things.

Some interesting commentaries here:

The Law of the Farm explains why complicated problems cannot have simply solutions.
Threat and Promise of Conformity challenges us to differentiate between the positive and negative aspects of assimilation
Constructive Criticism builds a case for how we are to express disapproval in a way that is helpful rather than hurtful. Those classical sources certainly understood the way people think.

Reflection:

Which of the ideas in this week's parashot do you relate to in your own life?

Tazria/Metzora

2010-04-12T11:46:00.000-04:00

Another double portion - since this is not a Jewish calendar leap year, and this is one of those that could really present a challenge if you want to design centerpieces for a Bar or Bat Mitzvah!

Big Ideas:

Physical appearances can affect the way we relate to people
People need to find reasons for things they cannot easily explain
Science is one way to understand the world around us. Religious thought is another

Learning Activities:

According to Maimonides, there is a non-medical cause for tzara'at - which is usually translated as "leprosy" in English, but which is almost definitely not the same as Hansen's Disease, the modern term used in medicine for this disease. This commentary from Bar Ilan University tell what Maimonides believed was the cause of tzara'at

( Hilkhot Tum’at Tzara’at 16.10):
Tzara’at is a noun used collectively for many different things which do not resemble one another; whiteness in human skin is called tzara’at , and loss of patches of hair from the head or beard is called tzara’at, and a change in look of one’s clothing or houses is called tzara’at. The change that is discussed in clothing or houses, which the Torah calls by the same word tzara’at, is not something which occurs in the normal way of the world, rather it is a wondrous sign that occurred in Israel to warn them against lashon ha-ra (slanderous gossip), for the walls in the home of someone who spoke lashon ha- ra would become affected, but if he mended his ways the house would become pure...

What does Maimonides suggest is the cause of tzara'at?
What, according to Maimonides, is the cure, at least for a house?

The text of the Torah is quite clear - whoever shows sign of this disease is to be separated from the rest of the community.

Knowing what we know now about the medical cause of leprosy (and how to cure it), what is the point of reading this parasha?
In today's world, do we believe there is a physical sign that can identify those who gossip? How can we identify the source of malicious rumors today?
How do you think the internet affects verbal bullying?
What - if anything - is the difference between gossip and bullying?
Traditional Jewish thinking forbids gossip of all sorts, whether it is positive or negative, as in this article from Aish HaTorah
Some researchers (Science Now) have found that "...Gossip enforces group norms and strengthens social bonds."
Why is it so hard NOT to gossip?

Assessment:

Here's a visual representation of the elements of the parashot. Can you match the pictures to the text?

What do you think are the most important elements of the parashot?
How would you illustrate these parashot?

Teshuvah - Jewish GPS

2010-04-09T10:41:00.000-04:00

BIG IDEA:

There can never be a simple answer to complex problems.
If you have only one answer, you can only understand a question in one way.

David Brooks' column today, The Humble Hound is about leadership. It is also about a very Jewish model of living - and particularly, about teshuvah.

[the 'humble hound' leader] believes we only progress through a series of regulated errors. Every move is a partial failure, to be corrected by the next one. Even walking involves shifting your weight off-balance and then compensating with the next step.
[The leader] knows the world is too complex and irregular to be known, so life is about navigating uncertainty. She understands she is too quick to grasp at pseudo-objective models and confident projections that give the illusion of control.

There is a wonderful video called "Making the Most of Making Mistakes" that illustrates the same idea for upper elementary students. I would urge you to try to locate it and use it with your students. There is a wonderful segment in which the narrator describes the flight path a plane takes on a long trip - it is never exactly aimed toward the target, but continuously self-corrects in order to arrive at the correct destination.

This is a powerful and clear explanation of teshuvah.
Life is complex.
Judaism understands that no one is perfect.
Jewish tradition provides a valuable path for self-regulation and correction.
Jewish values can be a GPS that constantly re-calculates your direction based on the relationship between where you are and where you want to be.

I suggest you file this with your resources

Sh'mini

2010-04-07T11:41:00.001-04:00

There is a well-known narrative in this parasha that describes the death of two of Aharon's sons - Nadav and Avihu. According to the text (chapter 10, verses 1-4) the following happened (translation according to Everett Fox):

Now Aharon's sons, Nadav and Avihu, took each-one his pan, and, placing fire in them, put smoking-incense on it. And brought-near, before the presence of Adonai, outside fire, such as He had not commanded them. And fire went out from the presence of Adonai and consumed them, so that they died, before the presence of Adonai. Moshe said to Aharon: It is what Adonai spoke about, saying: Through those permitted near to me I will be proven holy. Before all the people I will be accorded honor!

Aharon was silent.

What do commentaries and commentators say about this event?
Role Models for Leadership discusses some classical understandings of this strange event, along with a modern message.
Alcoholism and the Nation Priests builds on verse 9, in which Aharon is instructed not to drink before entering the Tabernacle. Is this the real reason his sons were killed?

Some questions to consider:

Is it always possible to find meaning in events?
Do we always remember things accurately?
How does our view of the world affect the way we tell our story?

Here are some interesting articles about the way we understand history. You may want to read them and think about the possible relationship to the way in which we understand Torah.

A Closer Reading of Roman Vishniac appeared in the NY Times, and suggests that the way in which this famous photographer portrayed pre-Shoah Jewish life in Eastern Europe may not be as complete as we might have thought.
Thine is the Kingdom may seem a strange choice for an article in a blog about Jewish education and thinking. I suggest you read it, however, because it seems to me to address the same fundamental issue that James Kugel struggles with in his book How to Read the Bible - is it possible to reconcile theological understanding of religious text with scientific and historical reality (whatever that is in the shifting sands of knowledge!)? And, more important, does it matter?
Finally, please read China's Ancient Jewish Enclave. Though not exactly parallel to the others, it does ask the reader to consider how a group understands its history and connection to community. It also made me wonder what the "tipping point" is between 'being Jewish' and 'being of Jewish descent'.

Tsav

2010-03-22T09:27:00.001-04:00

Imagine you are a young child just beginning the study of Torah.
Now imagine that you are studying in a school in which VaYikrah is the first book you are studying, as it is in the most traditional Jewish educational systems.
The sixth, seventh and eighth chapters of VaYikrah make up this week's parasha.
Chapter 6, at least for the first 16 verses, describes an offering to God made from grain.
So far, pretty bland. Not gory at all. I think of it as a sort of holy noodle kugel.
The rest of chapter 6, and continuing with 7 and 8 is a little more vivid - animal fat, blood, body parts, more blood - not what I would choose as a starting point for entering into the study of Torah.

Here's how one person expresses the ideas in this parasha:
Command, a poem based on chapter 6 verse 6

Akhlah is described as The Jewish Children's Learning Network.
Here is their summary of Tzav.
What meaning would your students find in this summary?

And here is TorahTots with their explanation of Tzav.
I'm pretty sure this would not speak to my students.

Here's the challenge: How can you make this parasha important to your students? How about this?

From URJ, Ten Minutes of Torah

Two opinions about shmutz

A song from Matisyahu, the frum reggae singer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tpMmaMLx8k

And here are the lyrics

Or maybe you just want to gloss over this parasha briefly and concentrate on Pesach, which begins a week from tonight!

History is How We Write It

2010-03-15T13:43:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago there was a lengthy article in the New York Time Sunday Magazine about the Texas Board of Education and its influence on textbook publishers. The debates and hearings are now over, and the new Texas standards are now in place.
Publishers will now respond to the new standards by publishing textbooks that align to them - Texas is a huge market and the publishers need to sell their books.

I hope this will encourage educators to seek sources for their students that reflect appropriate perspectives, even if those are not reflected in the available textbooks. That is one of the advantages (and yes, challenges as well) of the enormous amount and diversity of information available to us today. Please click on this blog from the ASCD Smartbrief about learning in today's world. What is true about students in the general educational world is true in the Jewish educational world as well.

And to remember that - as I wrote on February 24, 2010 in a post about Purim -the lens through which we understand history is even more important than the accumulated facts that we have about it.

VaYikrah

2010-03-15T12:53:00.000-04:00

Big Ideas:

Different sections of Torah focus on totally different concepts and ideas
It can be challenging to make personal meaning for ourselves from sections of Torah which appear to be archaic and irrelevant
All the diverse ideas in Torah can lead to important ideas for the reader

Essential Questions:

How can the discussion of animal and grain sacrifices be important today when Jews no longer bring sacrifices?
Why did the rabbis want all Jews to read about something that only a small group (the Cohanim) ever did?
Should there be consequences for improper acts if they are done accidentally? Explain your thoughts
What happens to a people when their situation changes radically altered by circumstances beyond their control?

Learning Activities:

This commentary connects parshat VaYikrah with the upcoming holiday of Pesach in an interesting way. It can offer a way to relate to what might seem archaic on its face
American Jewish World Service invites us to consider why we should continue to read about things that we no longer do in this commentary by Evan Wolkenstein
Shoshana Glatzer, my valued friend and even more valued teacher, wrote the following about this parasha. It includes an explanation of the sacrifices, as well as a reference to the meaning of the Hebrew word het. How does understanding the word affect the way you understand wrongdoing?

Assessment/Reflection:

The book Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco, is a historical novel set in the first half of the 14th century. It describes an Italian monastery in which there is a huge library of scrolls containing the collected wisdom not only of the Church, but also from Greek, Arabic and other cultural sources. This library is open only to the official librarian and a few hand-picked helpers - scribes whose job it is to copy the texts and preserve them. No one else is permitted access. The purpose of the library is to preserve the knowledge within its walls, not to share it.

In the Druze religion, an offshoot of Islam, only the priests have deep knowledge of the religious texts, as stated on their website:

Ordinary members, Jahill (singular) and Juhaall (plural), do not normally have access to religious texts. They attend only the first part of their religious meetings. The remainder of the meetings are reserved for the Sheiks. There is no actual prohibition of the reading of religious books. It is just that if a person becomes educated in the truth of God and of life and yet do not follow the duties arising from these truths, then their judgment would be worse that if they had remained uneducated.

The Torah and other Jewish writings are open to all who wish to study them, and all Jews are encouraged to become personally involved in such study.

What does this mean to you?

Please read and follow my new blog, addressed directly to students about the Big Ideas in Torah. It is found at http://parshakids.blogspot.com

It provides an opportunity for upper elementary and middle school learners to respond directly to thoughtful questions about each week's parasha, and to create valuable, collaborative meaning

VaYakhel and P'kuday

2010-03-09T09:05:00.000-05:00

Please take a look at a new blog just begun this week.
You can find it at http://parshakids.blogspot.com/
Its target audience is kids in 5th through 8th grades who are interested in what their peers are thinking about parshat hashavuah.

Big Ideas:

Studying Torah can create a Jewish lens through which to see the world
Every parasha has important ideas that learners can integrate into their worldview
One can apply critical thinking skills to study of Torah
Sharing ideas is a wonderful way to build understanding

Essential Questions:

How are the ideas in this parasha meaningful to you?
How do these ideas relate to your life?
In what way does using a Jewish lens impact the way you understand the world around you and interact with it?

Learning Activities:

There will be one or two statements of ideas from the parasha articulated on the blog
Participants will be invited to read the post, discuss the ideas with a friend or in class (optional), and post their own thoughts in the comments section of the blog.
Learners can read the thoughts of others and react to them by posting comments

Assessment:

Participation on a regular basis will be a marker of engagement
Teachers will read the posts and comments and may use them in class discussions

I encourage you to try this out with your students if they are in the appropriate grades. I will be reading the comments before posting them publicly to avoid inappropriate language.

Why I chose Jewish Education as a career

2010-03-01T13:40:00.000-05:00

Recently I was waiting for a plane and happened to be sitting with someone who, it turns out, holds a pretty high position in a government educational agency. In the course of conversation I half-jokingly suggested that she use her influence to limit the number of high-stakes tests students are obligated to take. Her answer, more or less was this: 'You know, don't you, that educators aren't running the system these days - business people are.'

Here are two articles you may enjoy reading:

Business principles won't work for school reform, former supporter Ravitch says - This article has received a great deal of attention, for good reasons
Where the Bar Ought to Be is an op-ed by Bob Herbert in which he describes Deborah Kenny, creator of charter schools in Harlem. I am not necessarily a fan of charter schools, but I agree wholeheartedly with this statement she made:

“I had five core things in mind for my kids, and that’s what I want for our students,” she said. “I wanted them to be wholesome in character. I wanted them to be compassionate and to see life as a responsibility to give something to the world. I wanted them to have a sophisticated intellect. I wanted them to be avid readers, the kind of person who always has trouble putting a book down. And I raised them to be independent thinkers, to lead reflective and meaningful lives.”

In most settings of Jewish learning we are not bound by the strictures of the general educational world. We can set our own priorities.

What are the five core things you have in mind as what you want for your students?
Does the constituency (clergy, teachers, parents, kids) in your school share your core ideas?
What are you doing to support these ideas?

How does the curriculum in your school align to these ideas?
How does the structure of your school further them?
How does the staff nurture their development?
How are those other than students involved in supporting these ideas?
How can everyone involved do a better job?

Ki Tissa

2010-03-01T12:59:00.000-05:00

Big Idea:

Some phrases from the Torah have become well-known, even to people who don't know their origin

Important Questions:

What words and phrases stand out for you when reading this parasha? (i.e. 31:16-17; 32:9; 33:3; 33:5; 33:19; 34:6-7; 34:9; 34:20)
Why do you think you know these words and phrases?

Learning Activities:

Listen to this rendition of Adonai, Adonai, El rachum v'chanun and read the English translation of the words. Why do you think this is part of the Yom Kippur service?
Why, in your opinion, are these same words part of a traditional Bat Mitzvah observance in the Italian tradition?
Read this article about Selichot in Jerusalem. How does it relate to what we have been learning about?
How does a teen understand this parasha? Here is a d'var Torah from a young person
What does it mean to "make Shabbat?" Here is a short article you may want to read, from the Chief Rabbi Emeritus of the Great Synagogue in Sidney, Australia
I had never heard of David Kronemyer, and may never again, but in his blog he asks some interesting questions about the idea of Jews being am k'she oref - a stiff-necked people.

...exactly when did God find out the Jews were stiff-necked? Did he know it before the Golden Calf incident, or is he attributing this characteristic to them on the basis of the Golden Calf incident? While the text is unclear on this point, I think God’s use of the term “behold” at 32:9 means he just now is finding out. This raises the question, though, of whether God would have made the Jews his Chosen People, if he had known they were stiff-necked, before designating them as such.

What do you think?

Assessment:

Which of the ideas you studied in this parasha is most meaningful to you personally? Be prepared to support your choice in a discussion
Create a visual representation of one of the segments in this week's parasha that expresses your feelings about it.
Write a short reflection of your reaction to this week's parasha

Purim - Did It Happen?

2010-02-24T18:17:00.000-05:00

The question is raised about the story of Purim, and also about every story we tell our students: "Is it true? Did it really happen?"

Recently I read an interesting book: A Voyage Long and Strange, by Tony Horwitz. Horwitz (who happens to be married to Geraldine Brooks, the author of People of the Book, a wonderful historical novel about the Sarajevo Haggadah) took it upon himself to investigate European settlements in the Americas before the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock in 1620.
What he discovered contradicted much of what he remembered learning as a child. In fact, at the end of his travels he came to believe that much of what we learn about early American history is not accurate. And still most of us celebrate Thanksgiving the way we always did, ignoring the inconsistencies.

I believe that his conclusions are pertinent as well to how we understand our own history as Jews, and our Jewish texts.
Here is what he says at the end of his book:

Myth is more important than history. History is arbitrary, a collection of facts. Myth we choose, we create, we perpetuate.

The story here may not be correct, but it transcends truth. It's like religion - beyond facts. Myth trumps fact, always does, always has, always will.

Perhaps that is why the Texas Board of Education is working so hard to influence the social studies textbooks that are published in that state and used all over the country, as described in this article in the NY Times Magazine on February 14: How Christian were the Founders?

As Frances FitzGerald showed in her groundbreaking 1979 book “America Revised,” if there is one thing to be said about American-history textbooks through the ages it is that the narrative of the past is consistently reshaped by present-day forces. Maybe the most striking thing about current history textbooks is that they have lost a controlling narrative. America is no longer portrayed as one thing, one people, but rather a hodgepodge of issues and minorities, forces and struggles. If it were possible to cast the concerns of the Christian conservatives into secular terms, it might be said that they find this lack of a through line and purpose to be disturbing and dangerous.

I think these two issues are related, in the following ways:

How we tell a story determines its meaning
Deciding how to tell a story tells more about the teller than about the actual story
As educators we need to think carefully about how we construct stories - considering how they affect the listeners
What we learn from a story may or may not reflect historical accuracy, but it certainly will reflect and create attitudes in powerful ways.

Purim Today

2010-02-24T16:56:00.000-05:00

There are those who believe the story related in Megillat Esther happened as described.
Others believe the story is fantasy.
I think it doesn't really matter who is right.
According to The Jewish Study Bible

...The setting of the Persian court is authentic, but the events are fictional.

It goes on to say

The book does have a serious side, and an important function as a Diaspora story, a story written about and for (and perhaps by) Jews of the Diaspora. As such, it promotes Jewish identity, solidarity within the Jewish community, and a strong connection with Jewish (biblical) tradition.

...

It addresses the inherent problems of a minority people, their vulnerability to political forces and government edicts, their lack of autonomy, and their dependence on royal favor and on the sagacity of their own leaders.

...

The book succeeds in putting a serious message in a comic form.

So what might that mean for our students?

Big Ideas:

As Jews we are part of a group with at least some shared experiences
As members of a group we have responsibilities to the other members of the group
Appearances do not always reflect reality

Important Questions to Ask and Answer:

What groups are you part of?
What threats exist to those groups?
What are our responsibilities toward the other members of these groups?

Learning Activities:

Reading Megillat Esther in language the learners can understand should be a core part of the learning activities
Brainstorm the different groups students are part of and the threats facing each. Threats can be physical, but need not be. For example, disappearance of the group can be a threat.
Discuss ways to address these threats (or challenges, if you prefer)

Assessment:

Prepare an action plan to address challenges that have been identified

NOTE: Linking to popular culture is a wonderful way to engage learners

In the movie Avatar, what group(s) does Jake belong to?
Which of these groups is threatened?
How does Jake decide which group to support?
How was his choice personally threatening?
Compare and contrast Jake (in Avatar) and Esther (in the Purim story)
What Jewish values are expressed in the movie?

Tetzaveh

2010-02-22T12:00:00.002-05:00

Big Ideas:

How we perceive people is often affected by their appearance.
Certain peoples' behavior may honor or dishonor the group they belong to.

Important Questions:

How do you decide when to wear certain clothes?
When you see someone 'dressed up' what do you think?
Why do you think people wear uniforms?
What responsibilities do public figures have to their 'public'?

Learning Activities:

Watch this video about the uniforms worn at the Olympics in Vancouver -
G-dcast posted a video last year about this parasha that explained the uniform of the High Priest in an interesting way
Aish.com has an article which explains why, when, and which head coverings are traditionally worn by Jews

Assessment:

Do you think a person wearing a certain uniform has an obligation to behave in a particular way? Explain why or why not.
In what way do the actions of a person dressed in a way that identifies him or her as a member of a certain group (e.g. Catholic priest, soldier in uniform, Jew wearing a kippah) reflect on the group? Is this fair? Explain why or why not.
Public figures often behave in ways that bring criticism not only on themselves but on the institutions and individuals they represent (e.g. politicians, athletes, religious leaders). Choose two people you believe fall in this category and recommend what you think they should do.

NOTE: Take a look at the other post that refers to Tetzaveh by clicking on that label in the list of labels

Terumah

2010-02-15T21:48:00.000-05:00

Last week - lots and lots of laws about any number of things, most of which were instructions for interpersonal behavior - what are called in Hebrew mitzvot bein adam l'chavero - how to treat your friends, your slaves, your enemies, your animals.
And this week what seems to me a huge change of direction.

Big Ideas:

Some important things have to be done voluntarily
Some of our ideas about God may have changed over time

Questions:

What is this parasha about?
How do you think it relates to last week's parasha?
What seems to you important in this week's parasha?
How are the builders to assemble the materials they need to build the mishkan?
For whom are the instructions in this week's parasha intended?
What ideas about the way we live today do you think can be learned from this parasha?

Learning Activities:

Look at the pictures at the links here to see what the mishkan may have looked like:

In chapter 25, verse 22 there is a reason given for building this structure.

"And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the cover of the ark, from between the two k'ruvim which are on the ark of witness, of all the things which I will command you - the children of Israel."

What is the reason according to the text?
How does this compare with what you believe about God?

Look around your own synagogue. Compare and contrast your synagogue with the description of the mishkan that you have read about in this parasha.

Assessment:

Last week's parasha was called "Mishpatim", which means Laws. This week's parasha is called "Terumah", a kind of offering to be set aside, in this case, voluntarily. Explain why you think the laws given last week are obligatory, while the offering described this week is voluntary.
Why do you think the rabbi in this commentary says this parasha is a favorite of rabbis in the middle of a capital campaign (a fundraising effort concentrating on improving the synagogue building)? If you were such a rabbi, how would you use this text in planning a sermon for your congregation?

Mishpatim

2010-02-08T13:46:00.000-05:00

Just a few questions to get you started thinking about this week's parasha:

What is familiar in this week's Torah reading?
What is disturbing in this week's reading?
What do you find meaningful in your own life about this reading?
What do you think about the relationship between this week's parasha and last week's?
If you were forced to choose, which do you think is the most important law in this list of laws for humanity in general? For the Jewish people in particular? Explain your answers.
Create a "top ten" list of laws in this parasha, as if you were writing for Dave Letterman. Explain your choices
Create a "bottom ten" list - explain your choices
Choose one of the commentaries from those here at My Jewish Learning that you find particularly relevant and bring it to the table for discussion with your group.

Clothes Make the Man?

2010-02-08T13:02:00.000-05:00

A blogpost at the Lede Blog, at the NY Times, is entitled "An 'Israeli Remix' of a Palestinian Scarf". It is the story of the creation and marketing of a keffiyeh, traditionally worn by Arab men, with Jewish and Israeli motifs. It started me thinking about the role of clothing in expression of identity.

Big Idea:

People choose their clothing for many different reasons
First impressions of others are often based on appearance

Questions You Will Want to Ask

How do you decide what to wear?
What is your response when you see someone wearing a keffiyeh? Why?
What message do you expect your appearance to convey?
How does your Jewish identity influence what you wear?

Learning Activities:

The Kohen Gadol wore very elaborate clothing as a symbol of his status and role in the community. You can read about this clothing here in a commentary on Parshat Tetzaveh
An interesting article about Jewish clothing in the Middle Ages can be found here at My Jewish Learning
At Aish.com you can read a history of the kippah, including an explanation of the term 'yarmulke' that may be new to you.
Some Jewish clothing is really bizarre - 5 pages of Jewish dog clothes?
There is a holiday coming up on which costumes play a big part.

Assessment:

Keep a log in which you describe how what you choose to wear each day for a week expresses your identity
Keep a log in which you describe how something you choose to wear each day for a week expresses your Jewish identity. How did it make you feel to do this?
Create a display of traditional Jewish clothing from different times and places in history
Make a video in which you explain items of Jewish ritual clothing (kippah, tzitzit, tallit or other) to someone unfamiliar with them
Design a Purim costume for yourself that expresses an aspect of your Jewish identity (you don't have to wear it, just design it! In the U.S. it is common to wear costumes on Purim that reference Jewish heroes. Not necessarily so in Israel.)
Describe your reaction to the blogpost on the 'Jewish' keffiyah.

What do you think about it?
Would you wear it?
Do you think it is problematic to adopt another group's dress?
What is your thought about the reaction of others to this?

Haiti and Tzedakah

2010-02-05T14:37:00.001-05:00

No one can be unmoved by the tragic outcomes of the recent earthquake in Haiti. There is no questioning the hardships that exist and continue to affect the inhabitants of this country. During the past few weeks millions of dollars have been collected from people all over the world who feel they want to help fellow human beings who are in trouble.

What guidance can we derive from Jewish wisdom?

Big Ideas:

Tzedakah is an obligation.
There is Jewish thinking that can help us decide when to give, to whom to give, what to give, how to give.

Essential Questions:

When should I give?
To whom should I give?
How much should I give?
What is my obligation to determine if the money I am giving is being put to good use?

Learning Activities: Choose as many as you feel you have time for. Or, divide your learners into groups and let each group select the aspect it wants to investigate, sharing results with the rest of the class. Be sure to include at least one site describing Jewish wisdom about tzedakah and either scambusters.com or CharityNavigator.org.

A traditional and detailed explanation of Jewish thinking about tzedakah is at this link, Just Tzedakah. The site appears not to be maintained currently, and the links may not be active, but the information is well-cited and clear
My Jewish Learning has a brief presentation of the rules governing tzedakah, and includes the question of how to determine if a claim is honest
Maimonides described 8 degrees of tzedakah, which you can read about here
Read the information at www.scambusters.com/ and http://www.charitynavigator.org/, two websites that evaluate the authenticity of groups collecting money for various causes, including disaster relief in Haiti
A Conservative perspective on tzedakah is given in this post
URJ has responded to the earthquake in Haiti in the following ways: Earthquake in Haiti
USCJ has the following opportunity to give to Haiti: Disaster Relief Fund - Give to Haiti
The Orthodox Union has a Facebook page you can access concerning Haiti relief
JRF has a page with links to a number of different reliable organizations which are accepting donations and aiding Haiti

Assessment:

Learners will make informed decisions about donating to disaster relief in Haiti
Learners will be able to explain how Jewish wisdom and thought guides decisions they make in their lives
Learners will use what they have learned in regard to Haiti to guide their tzedakah in other areas.

Note: There are legitimate differences among Jewish authorities as to one's responsibility for determining if someone who asks is honestly needy. Some say you give first to whomever asks, and investigate later. According to Rabbi Benjamin Yudin of Congregation Shomrei Torah, in Fairlawn, NJ, one gives first to whomever asks, since God is "rav hessed v'emet:, and the hessed of giving preceeds the emet of investigation (I heard this from a valued colleague, Emily Amie Witty, who shared the thoughts of her Rabbi with me as I was preparing this post). Others say that one has the responsibility to be sure the tzedakah is going to a reliable cause. In order to do this one should investigate the legitimacy of the recipient individual or group before giving.
You may want to have this discussion with your students, and perhaps invite a member of the clergy in your school to participate in the conversation.
Part of our job as Jewish educators is to empower our students of all ages to make responsible decisions guided by Jewish thinking, and responding to the tragedy in Haiti can help us do just that.

Yitro

2010-02-01T10:30:00.000-05:00

Big Ideas:

A person's position often affects the way in which that person is perceived.
The way in which one understands the events at Sinai is fundamental to one's religious beliefs.
Mainstream Jewish thinkers understand Sinai differently.

Some Questions:

In chapter 18, almost every verse has a reference to Yitro. In each case Yitro is identified as "Hoten Moshe", Moshe's father-in-law. Do you have any thoughts about why this label is repeated over and over? Wouldn't it be enough to identify him by name after the first time?
How do you understand the event that occurred at Sinai? What Jewish thinker shares your understanding?
How does your understanding of Sinai affect the way you are Jewish?

Learning Activities:

Read chapter 18 carefully. How many times is Yitro referred to as "hoten Moshe"? How do you understand this?
Find information that describes these Jewish thinkers' beliefs about revelation.

Joseph Soloveitchik
Abraham Joshua Heschel
Eugene Borowitz
Mordecai Kaplan

Assessment:

Choose one of the people you learned about and prepare a presentation for the rest of the group explaining why this understanding of revelation is meaningful for you.
Create a chart that compares and contrasts the various ways in which Jews understand the events at Sinai
Find evidence in the popular culture of the world around you that a person's position affects the way in which he or she is heard and understood. Who do we listen to? Who do we ignore?

Avatar and Jewish Education??

2010-01-27T12:44:00.000-05:00

You can enter the words "Avatar" and "Jewish" in a search engine and find numerous discussions of the content of the movie and its Jewish underpinnings (or not!). It is of no concern to me whether James Camaron had Jewish thoughts in his head when he created the movie or not. It simply is not an issue for me as a Jewish educator. What does matter is how the viewer understands the movie. Our learners are going to see this movie. Is Jewish thought a factor in how they understand it? That's my issue.

Big Idea:

Everyone sees and understands the world through his or her own perspective.
Most of our students have already or will soon see the movie Avatar.
As teachers we have an obligation to be familiar with the culture within which our students live.
As Jews we have a Jewish lens with which to understand the world.

Questions to guide your thinking:

What did you see in the movie that appeared to you to reflect Jewish thought or wisdom?
What did you see in the movie that seems to contradict Jewish thought or wisdom?

Learning Activities:

The Talmud says the following: "We do not see things as they are. We see them as we are." How does this statement relate to your ideas about Avatar? (Note: I've seen this quotation many times (even here!), but don't have a proper source. Perhaps a reader can help me.)
There is a website, Jewish Wisdom Quotes, that lists dozens of sayings with Jewish origins that you are welcome to visit. Choose a topic that interests you from their list of possibilities, and explain how it applies in your life.

Assessment:

You may want to encourage your students to choose a wisdom quote each week and find examples in the news of its application in the world
When this idea of using a Jewish lens to see the world is learned, you can challenge your learners to apply Jewish wisdom to any and all issues that arise in class.
A personal note: I love reading comics. Most days I can find a comic strip that either reflects or contradicts Jewish thinking. Suggest this to your students.

Rewards in Education

2010-01-26T15:14:00.000-05:00

Every teacher in every school has faced the challenge of motivating students. Some of our learners are easy - they seem to motivate themselves. Others are not so easy - seeming to "dare" us to make them care about what they are learning. The problem is perhaps even more visible in congregational religious schools. We are asking our students to learn things that by no stretch of their imaginations add any value to their lives (aside from the value of Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebrations and presents).

What are we to do?

According to a recently published book - "Drive" - by Daniel Pink, we have good reason to think carefully about how we respond to student effort and achievement. According the the research he describes, rewards may be counterproductive - students come to value the reward over the accomplishment, and to demand ever bigger and more costly rewards for their work. An article in the NY Times about the book explains his thinking.

This is not a new idea. Alfie Kohn, a well-known educational thinker, has long been writing about the negative aspects of reward, as you can see by reading his articles about the subject on his website.

For those who struggle with motivating a group of students, or with responding to disruptive classroom behaviors, this may sound at best idealistic and at worst impossible. After all, what's wrong with a few chocolate kisses if they lead to better performance and improved behavior?

Here are a few links to articles which may suggest alternatives:

Education World Professional Professional Development Channel provides links to a variety of resources on reward
One Question a Day is an article that describes one school that decided to experiment with making reward more intrinsic than extrinsic by inviting students to answer questions about their behavior in different situations.
Rewarding Systems is an examination of the advantages and disadvantages of both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, and concludes that there are points to be made in favor of each, but with cautions about both that should be noted.

As usual, the challenges are many, the solutions varied, and the decisions to a certain extent personal. The most important thing is to learn as much as we can - from both research and experience - and to use what we learn thoughtfully and responsibly.

B'Hatzlachah.

Beshalach

2010-01-25T17:29:00.002-05:00

Big Ideas:

It takes repeated experiences to internalize learning.
People need to learn to take an active role in their fate, not depend totally on intervention of others - even when the "other" is God.
In some situations people are unable to solve their own problems - they require the assistance of others

Questions to Think About and Try to Answer:

How is it possible that the Israelites were still complaining after what God had already done for them?
Why would God choose a route for the escaping Israelites that avoids confrontation with potential enemies?
What do you think God expects of these former slaves? Is God's expectation reasonable?
In your opinion, do the Israelites live up to God's expectations? Explain why you think they do or don't.
What is Moshe's role at this point in the story? Do you think God is satisfied with Moshe's actions? What is your evidence?
What are the implications for our lives today?
Is there anything in this parasha that can help you make sense of the tragedy in Haiti?

Learning Activites:

G-dcast.com has an interesting focus for this week's parasha. Watch the video for a thoughtful explanation of why the Israelites complain so much, and a perspective about the nature of their complaints.
The New York Times had an article about Israel's response to the earthquake in Haiti. You can access the article by typing "For Israelis, Mixed Feelings on Aid Effort" in your search engine (Google or other. Be sure to use the quotation marks around the title to find the article easily). On the one hand there is praise for the speed and expertise that was evident in the way the Israeli team is working to save survivors of this tragedy. There is also reference to a criticism within Israel - why is it that Israel can respond to the suffering in Haiti and not in Gaza? Compare and contrast the situations by answering the following questions about each place:

What is the nature of the problem?
What are the causes for the problem?
Who is responsible for the problem?
Who is able to solve the problem?
Who is responsible for the solution?
What are the obstacles to a solution?

There is a midrash that says Yam Suf only split after the Israelites stepped in and the water came up to their nostrils. What do you think that midrash wants us to understand?

Assessment:

Learners should be able to summarize the parasha
Learners should be able to apply the Jewish wisdom in this lesson to their own lives
Learners should be able to articulate some of the complex issues in the relationship between Israel and Gaza.

Note: This parasha and others make a good case for the idea that everything - both good and bad - is intentionally caused by God. The thought that our One God is responsible for everything has been an issue that Jews and those who follow religions based on Judaism (Christians and Moslems) have struggled with for as long as these religions have existed. The issue is called "theodicy", a Greek term summarized by the following question: If God is all-powerful and also good, why is there evil in the world? You may want to read more about theodicy and how different Jewish thinkers respond to this tension. I particularly recommend the book Sacred Fragments, by Dr. Neil Gillman.

Bo

2010-01-18T10:46:00.000-05:00

It's always a challenge to find new ways of seeing familiar text. Parashat Bo is well-known as one of the foundation texts for our celebration of the Pesach seder - the questions, the matza and maror, the Pesach itself. Here are some things you may not have thought about before:

According to Rambam, this whole experience was really a test for those Israelites who were living as assimilated people in Egypt. How was it a test? What made it a challenge? What do you think this felt like to the Israelites?
Many of the traditional commentaries refer to the idea that only 20% of Israelites chose to leave Egypt with Moshe and Aharon. In fact, there is an opinion (Torah.org, paragraphs 7 and 8, referring to Rashi's interpretation) that the 80% who were not willing to leave were killed during the plague of darkness. I did not see a reference to this in any of the liberal commentaries I read. Why do you suppose the more traditional commentaries talk about this and not the modern, liberal commentaries?
According to Dr. Eliezer Diamond, in his commentary from February 2006, it is challenging to think of ourselves as obligated to God's service - especially in our individualistic culture. Where is our autonomy if we are obligated to God? What does it mean to be free? Is there a purpose to the ending of Egyptian slavery beyond the immediate release?
This section of Torah coincides with the celebration of Martin Luther King Day. There is a wonderful photographic essay on the Jews and Blacks in America that illustrates the roles Jews played in the civil rights movement in the United States. The last few pages also highlight some of challenges to the relationship between Jews and Blacks that have developed over time. Your students might be interested in seeing this article.
Here are some customs you may not be familiar with (from Answers.com). How do they express the big ideas of Passover? Which of these customs might you want to incorporate into your own celebration of Passover?

"The Samaritans in Erets Israel observe the Passover rites on Mount Gerizim near Shechem. To this day, the slaughter of the paschal lamb is the climax of their ceremony. A number of sheep are set aside on 10 Nisan. On the eve of the 14th they are slaughtered, roasted for six hours in ovens dug in the earth, and distributed to the families to be eaten in their homes with bitter herbs, to the accompaniment of song and dance.

"The Ethiopian Jews (Beta Israel) cease to eat leaven three days before the festival, consuming only dried peas and beans until Passover eve. Then they fast until their high priest slaughters the paschal lamb on an altar in the courtyard of the synagogue. The blood is sprinkled around the entrance to the building.

"In the Caucasus, the Jews wear clothes of "freedom" with wide, loose sleeves, some with a dagger or even a pistol in their belt. They reenact a drama in which one of their number goes out, knocks on the door and pretends he has just arrived from Jerusalem. All the others ask him for news of the Holy City and whether he has a message of liberation and redemption.

"Certain Sephardim and Oriental communities also enact a drama, eating hastily, standing, with loins girded and staff in hand, like the Israelites in Egypt. Some wrap the afikoman in a cloth which they put over their shoulder and leave the room saying, "This is how our ancestors left Egypt."

"The secret Jews of Spain and Portugal, the Marranos, observed the festival on 16 Nisan in order to avoid suspicion on the previous day. They clandestinely baked unleavened bread on that day and held a secret Seder at which they consumed a whole roast sheep while wearing traveling shoes and holding staffs in their hands. Marranos in Mexico smeared their doorposts with the blood of lambs, like the ancient Israelites, and beat the waters of a stream with willow branches to symbolize the crossing of the Red Sea.

An afterthought:

This parasha happens to be my own Bat Mitzvah portion. Interestingly, as my Bat Mitzvah observance was held on a Friday night I never actually studied the Torah portion - only the Haftorah. In retrospect, what a shame I missed the opportunity to be aware that this powerful text was to be read the following morning!! On the other hand, perhaps when I was younger the power of the words would not have been as impressive to me as it is today. And here is one of the challenges I believe is at the heart of the Jewish educational system as it is today, particularly in pre-Bar/Bat Mitzvah settings.

How do we find the opportunity to support mature understanding of Jewish wisdom, thought and experience if the only people we encounter in our educational programs are children?

It's a big question.

Odds and Ends, Thoughts and Ideas, Challenges and Questions

2010-01-15T11:06:00.001-05:00

This post is longer than usual, but I hope you will find many things to think about. And tonight is Shabbat, so you should have plenty of time to do your thinking!!
Please share your thoughts with the rest of the reading community so we can learn from each other.

From Michael Tucker, in the AARP Bulletin, January 1, 2010 edition on-line.

"Pen Man"
"You’d think that Indianapolis teacher Dan Stroup would have major writer’s cramp by now. That’s because every past and present student of his eighth-grade Bible class receives a personal, handwritten birthday letter from him every year. “I wanted them to know that I not only cared about them in the classroom but outside the classroom,” says Stroup, 54, who teaches at Heritage Christian School. Stroup figures he’s penned about 33,000 letters to 2,500 students over 25 years, using regular pens and tablets of lined paper. “If students know I care about them, they’re more open to what I teach,” he says."

What a wonderful idea - and what a valuable suggestion. Can you think of ways to show your students that you care about them? How about helping them learn their Hebrew birthdays through a lesson on the Jewish calendar, and using that as an opportunity to both reinforce their connection to Judaism and to let them know you are thinking about them. Just a thought.

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from Jeffrey Rosen, NYT Magazine, January 8, 2010: Prisoners of Parole
Rosen writes about a pilot project to reduce parole violations, and through that reduce jail time, in Hawaii. He writes that

"...a variety of recent research suggest[s] that people are more likely to obey the law when they view law enforcement as fair and legitimate."

While Rosen focuses on law enforcement and ways in which that can be more effective, surely the same ideas are relevant in the classroom. The words that appear over and over in articles about classrooms that work include the following words: fair, firm, consistent. That is the big idea of Rosen's article, and it is a big idea in teaching and learning.
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from John Tagliabue, NY Times, January 5, 2010: Rising Price of Faith in France's Shrinking Parishes
France has a problem with its churches. The population is less and less active in religious practice, the number of priests is a fraction of what it once was, and the cost of upkeep of the admittedly beautiful buildings is higher and higher. The solution in some towns has been to continue to support the traditional buildings, while in others the decision has been made to demolish what have become underused and increasingly expensive structures and replace them with modern and more efficient buildings.

"In other countries, notably England and Italy, disused houses of worship have been converted into homes, stores or museums. In France, there is an emotional resistance to the practice, though in Dijon, an abandoned church now serves as a theater, and in Alsace, also in the east, former synagogues now serve as museums."

Why am I bringing this article? In my opinion the fundamental problem is inability or unwillingness to think seriously about the future. For our institutions the questions we must ask include the following:

What is the infrastructure that is necessary to support a future that may look very different from today?
Do our buildings meet the needs of tomorrow's Jewish populations?
Do our institutions support creative and innovative programs that engage people whose connections to Judaism are based on a variety of different forces?
Are we encouraging platforms for developing community that are realistic for today and tomorrow?

These are really important, really challenging, really tough questions. We need to begin to answer them now.
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Footnotes in Gaza is a new book by Joe Sacco, reviewed on December 27, 2009 in the New York Times Book Review. It suggests that the reason for Palestinian hatred of Israel can be traced to 2 incidents in 1956 during which Israeli troops massacred Arab residents during one of the many wars between Israel and her neighbors which have taken place over time. Two letters to the editor of the NY Times challenge this assertion.
Choosing an arbitrary date on which to begin a historical narrative ignores what came before. In the case of the Middle East situation one can hardly claim seriously that the conflict began in 1956. How the author/illustrator does this is one thing - how the reviewer repeats this ridiculous accusation is even worse.
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from David Brooks, January 12, 2010: The Tel Aviv Cluster
If you want to feel really proud of being Jewish and having Israel 'in the family', read this article.
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If you are teaching about the Holocaust, or even if it is not a part of your regular curriculum, please take time to note with your students the death of Miep Gies, who helped hide Anne Frank in Amsterdam and saved her diary when the Frank family was deported to Auschwitz. A detailed obituary is available at Legacy.com . You can find a good resource for learning about her and about World War II at the following website: http://teacher.scholastic.com/frank/miep.htm . There are lesson plans appropriate for grades 4 - 8 on that website as well.
If you are looking for a Jewish source of information about Righteous Gentiles, this link to the Jewish Virtual Library website is a good resource. It does not mention Ms. Gies, but it does mention several others who risked their lives to save Jews during the Shoah.

Va'Era

2010-01-11T14:52:00.000-05:00

This parasha (summary here at My Jewish Learning, full text here at Mechon Mamre) continues the drama of liberation from Egypt. Most of us are familiar with the story line, having heard it many times as children and as adults either in studying Torah or in celebrating Pesach around a seder table.
I have a few questions for you to think about:

Moshe is 80 years old when this part of the story begins. I wonder, in today's society, when things change at a greater rate than ever before in history (as this story, Old Fogies in their 20's , shows quite dramatically) how do we relate to our elders? In what ways is it possible to respect the wisdom of age while at the same time valuing the importance of change?
Does it matter to you that there may be a natural explanation for the plagues, as explained here in an article entitled "A Skeptic's Guide to Passover", by Michael Lukas published in Slate last spring?

What if there is a scientific explanation?
What if there isn't?
Is there a relationship between the way we remember the story of Hanukkah and the way we remember the exodus from Egypt? Can you compare and contrast these two stories in terms of the role of God, in terms of miracles, in terms of how we celebrate?

How can you reconcile the idea of Free Will, a basic understanding of Judaism, with the story of how God "hardened Paro's heart" in this parasha?

There is a traditional saying in Hebrew: "One mitzvah leads to another, one sin leads to another." How might this apply to Paro's actions?
If Paro didn't have a choice about his actions, should he have been punished?

Is there a traditional Jewish attitude toward people who are oppressed? Toward slavery? There were Jewish slaveholders in this country before the Civil War, as you can read in this article from JewishEncyclopedia.com.

How does it make you feel to know there were Jewish slaveholders?
Why do you think Jews who lived in the north were mostly opposed to slavery, while those who lived in the south mostly supported it?

Do Jews have any special responsibility to confront injustice in the world?

If you answered yes, explain why you think so.
If you answered no, explain why you think not.

Do you think that the Hebrews who were living in Egypt in slavery thought about leaving before Moshe and Aharon came to talk to Paro? Why?
Why do you think God insisted on so many plagues? Couldn't God have rescued the Jews more quickly and without so many bells and whistles?

What are the big ideas you think we can learn from this parasha?

Shemot

2010-01-04T20:46:00.000-05:00

New year, new book of the Torah, new ideas (I hope)!

Beginning with the first verses of the parasha, we have a review of the names of those who came into Egypt. As teachers we know that before we can go forward we have to be sure our learners remember what came before (although I sincerely doubt that in the early days of Torah study this parasha came after the December vacation. Of course, it doesn't always fall out that way now either!)
We also learn from the text that the descendants of Yaakov have become quite numerous - so numerous that they are viewed as a threat by the Egyptians. And, according to verse 12, their numbers apparently "embarass" the Egyptians.

Why should the Egyptians be "embarassed"?
Do you think the Hebrews are assimilated into the general population or not? What is your evidence?

The story of the two midwives (Shifrah and Puah) who rebel against Paro's orders to kill the Hebrew boy babies is familiar to most of us, but I never noticed the reward before (look at 1:21)

Do you think the midwives are Hebrews or Egyptians? What is your evidence?
Why do you think they disobeyed Paro's direct order? Did they really think he would believe the story they told him about why the babies lived? What might the consequences be for their disloyalty?
If the midwives were in fact Egyptian, can you think of a different time in history when people who were not part of the Jewish people saved Jews? Explain your answer.

Skipping down to the second chapter we learn of the birth of a baby to an as-yet unnamed couple from the tribe of Levi. We all know that he was put in a "teva" at the age of 3 months and adopted by Paro's daughter. For a few years he is nursed by his birth mother.
In 2:10 Moshe comes to live with Paro's daughter.

In 2:11 he is described as "grown".

Fill in the blanks - what happened between verse 10 and verse 11?
What was Moshe's childhood like? How was he treated by the Egyptians around him? Did he think he was different from them? Did he wonder about his birth parents? Did they wonder about him? Did everyone know what his background was? How did he see himself - as an Egyptian noble? as a Hebrew?

When Moshe saw the Egyptian who was attacking a Hebrew, he looked around -

Why?
What was he looking for?
What did he find?

The next day (according to the text) he went out again and tried to stop a fight between two Hebrews.

What happened?
Why did Moshe run away?
According to the text, Paro was ready to kill Moshe. But he had raised him as a grandson. What does that suggest to you about Paro?

Moshe marries the daughter of Yitro, a Midianite priest. He names their first son Gershom

What does Gershom mean?
Who is the 'Ger'? Where is the 'sham'? Think about the possibilities.

In 2:24 we hear that God heard the groaning of the people, and remembered his covenant with Avraham, with Yitzhak, and with Yaakov.

Why now?
Where has God been all this time?

In 4:14 we read that God is angry with Moshe.

Why is God angry?
Do you think God has a right to be impatient with Moshe?

In 4:23 God tells Moshe what to threaten Paro with.

Why is this here?
What is the relationship between the threat here and what is to come?

6:1 Then the Lord said to Moshe, "Now you will see what I will do to Paro, for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land."

Does anything strike you about this phrase (look at the Hebrew if you are not sure)?
Does the wording surprise you? Explain.

Here are a few sources you may want to read for help in answering the questions above.

Becoming a Leader by Rabbi Shimon Felix may help you understand how Moshe evolved as a leader.
This article from Haaretz by Naftaly Gliksberg focuses on the interchange between Paro's daughter and Moshe's sister - very interesting and not a perspective I have thought about before.
The Bumpy Road to Redemption by Rabbi Avraham Fischer deals with the impatience we often feel when things don't go quickly enough for us.
Rabbi Avi Weiss, of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, uses the story to ask some important questions about our willingness to take a stand when necessary.

Jews and God, and VaYechi Redux

2009-12-30T17:17:00.000-05:00

I just watched Julia Sweeney's one-woman show "Letting Go of God" on Showtime. She is a very funny comedian who was raised Catholic and has become a proud atheist. The monolog is funny and engaging, and if you are interested in seeing it you can either watch the first 15 minutes or so on YouTube or, which I recommend, the entire show on Showtime (if you have it). The schedule is here - just go to "more airings" for the times and dates.

The first time I was the show I missed the beginning, and just watched the last portion. What struck me was her description of a conversation she had with someone after her father died, and when she had already decided she was sure there was no God.

Her friend said to her, not exactly in these words, but close: "You know you're Jewish."

Sweeney was surprised, and asked what was meant by that comment.

The answer was that what she was doing - struggling to understand God - was a particularly Jewish thing. Almost obligatory, if I remember the exchange properly.

And I loved that comment. We do struggle to understand God. And we have room in our Jewish community for many ways of understanding God. And that, to me, is one of the most wonderful things about Judaism.

Jewish thinking is questioning - not simply memorizing and repeating. We know that, and we need to help our learners - whatever their ages - to learn that.

On her blog, juliasweeney.blogspot.com, she wrote the following:

I am thinking about some of the questions that people have asked. Some people worry about having meaning in a world without god in it. I don't have the best answer for that yet (I am mulling on that one) but I remember once being at a convention with Daniel Dennett (such a hero of mine) and he said (Dennet is a philosopher and scientist at Tufts and has written several books, some of which really impacted me) and anyway, he was talking to someone else and he said, "People say to me, 'You're a philosopher, what is the meaning of life?' and I say, 'I don't know but I do know the secret to happiness. Find some subject that you love and spend the rest of your life studying it from every angle you can. That is the secret to happiness."

My personal opinion is that God is precisely what helps me find meaning in the world. I do, however, appreciate the statement about finding some subject that you love and studying it for your entire life. That subject will be different for different people.
In fact, if we look back at Yaakov's blessing of his sons we can understand them as recognizing and celebrating the various talents of each one. Jewish wisdom? Howard Gardner Multiple Intelligences? Learning Styles? Myers Briggs?

It's a wonderful day when there is overlap between what I learn in the scientific world about thinking and what I learn in the world of Jewish thinking.

Parshat VaYechi

2009-12-28T13:18:00.000-05:00

The end of the book of B'reisheet, this parasha is also the end of the stories of the avot and imahot - the founding generations who were the source of the Jewish people. The book is called B'reisheet - In the beginning - because of the first word of the first parasha, and refers to the beginning of the world, to the creation. I would like to suggest that it is also an appropriate title for the entire first book: B'reisheet - In the beginning of the creation and development of the People of Israel.

A big section of this parasha is devoted to the blessings Yaakov/Yisrael gives to his sons. There are many ways to understand these blessings.

Before reading any of the commentaries, I urge you to look at the text of the blessings and see if the text raises any questions for you. B'reisheet Chapters 48 to the end of the book.
Here are a couple of thoughts to get you started:

Why does it take a third party to let Yosef know his father is sick, and to let Yaakov know Yosef is coming?
Why does Yosef bring his sons? Why doesn't Yaakov (here referred to as Yisrael) recognize them?
Why do you think Yisrael reverses his hands when he blesses Yosef's sons? What does it remind you of?
What do you expect Yisrael to say to all his sons? Why?
What surprises you about the blessings of the sons?
Do you think Yisrael has changed during his lifetime? Explain why you think so.
Why do you think Yisrael wants to be buried in the Cave of Machpelah? Why not with his favorite wife Rachel, who is buried in Bethlehem?
Why do you think Yosef had his father embalmed?
Why do you think the Egyptians mourned Yisrael?
Why do you think Yosef's children and animals remained in Egypt, in Goshen, when Yosef and his brothers went to bury Yisrael?
What do you think about the brothers telling Yosef what their father supposedly said to them before he died? What does it tell you about them? What does Yosef's answer tell you about Yosef?
In what way does this parasha satisfy you (or not) as the end of the first section of Torah?

The following commentaries suggest a few interesting interpretations, but don't answer all the questions above.

Yaakov 'opens his tent' to the diverse natures of his sons. This commentary from Rabbi Kerry Olitzky builds on that thought
Aish HaTorah describes in detail the blessings of each of Yaakov's sons. Go especially to the sections which are entitled Blessing the Tribes and The Future Leader for some traditional insights into the blessings.
Rabbi Elyse Winnick talks about the blessings at Hillel.com in an article entitled All in the Family. I think she raises some thoughtful ideas about the tension between community and individual that are particularly relevant to our lives today.

Can you come up with your own interpretation of any part of the parasha?

Hazak, Hazak, VeNitchazek!

VaYigash II

2009-12-25T14:43:00.000-05:00

Just some more thoughts on Yosef before Shabbat -
As I read the text describing Yosef I can't help but think of all the adolescent and post-adolescent Jewish kids who have separated themselves from the Jewish community.
Think about it.

He lives in Egypt, among the Egyptians.
He dresses like them, talks like them, marries the daughter of one of their priests, even names his firstborn son a name that means (according to at least some commentators) "the one who causes me to forget my background) and - according to this blog I was reading - isn't even a Hebrew name!
He has so carefully hidden his identity as a member of the family of Yaakov that his brothers don't recognize him even after more than one meeting and extensive conversations with him.

Is this the person one would expect to fulfill the role of savior of the descendants of Avraham and Yitzhak? I wouldn't think so.

So maybe one lesson here is not to write anyone off - not the one who quits religious school the day after his Bar Mitzvah, not the one who refuses to join Hillel in college because it's not important to her, not the one who chooses a mate of a different religion.

Because if we look at the Torah, the text which defines us as Jews, it seems even the least likely candidate may come to play a key role in our future.

And if there is a lesson for us - as Jewish educators - perhaps it is that we need to go out of our way to create powerful emotional moments that remain a part of all who share them, since we can never be sure which of these moments will be brought to the surface at a time we least expect it.

After all, if Yosef hadn't become who he became, if he hadn't provided sustenance for his family during the famine, if he hadn't been willing to forget the harm and remember the good associated with his relatives, the story might have been quite different.

VaYigash

2009-12-21T12:44:00.000-05:00

Today's questions are based in large part on "Teaching Torah", by Sorel Goldberg Loeb and Barbara Binder Kadden, one of the must-have resources for anyone who teaches Torah to learners of any age. Here are some of the issues raised in the chapter on VaYigash:

We remember how the brothers felt about Yosef, caused, we agreed in our conversations, by his father Ya'akov's favoritism. It seems from the text that Binyamin has taken Yosef's place as his father's favorite. What evidence do we have about their feelings toward Binyamin?
Yehudah is to become a prime ancestor of the Jewish people - even his name and the name of his tribe are to be the name of the people in the future (Yehudah/Yehudim). How has he grown into this role through the story until now?
Teshuvah is a big part of understanding this parasha. Which of the personalities has (or have) done teshuvah? What is the evidence?
Some stories are told multiple times in this parasha and in those preceding it. Are they exactly the same each time they are told? What are some of the reasons a story changes with retelling? How do we define "history" if the story changes over time?
The people of Yosef's family are to live separately in the area of Goshen, not totally integrated with the Egyptian population in the rest of the country. Do you think this is an accident or is it part of a plan? Explain why you think so. How does living apart affect a group? Why do some people choose to live mostly with people who share their identity (homogeneous community) while others prefer a more heterogeneous community?
Serach is a granddaughter of Yaakov. I have a friend who recently added the name "Serach" to her own name. I invite you to read about Serach and try to figure out why she may have done this. Serach Bat Asher is a study guide from Hillel.org which, while intended primarily for use around Pesach, is a thorough examination of this character. Serach is Model for Jewish Memory is an essay by Rabbi Neil Gilman of the Jewish Theological Seminary.

I urge you to share your thoughts about these questions with other readers by posting a comment. We learn best when we learn together.

Miketz

2009-12-14T12:01:00.003-05:00

First, in case you missed it, the video of Senator Orrin Hatch's Hanukkah song. You just can't make this stuff up!!

Hanukkah Song

And one of my personal all-time favorites as well:

Tom Lehrer's Hanukkah Song

On to the parasha:

Most all of the commentaries I came across talked about the relationship between parashat Miketz and the holiday of Hanukkah. Since the parasha is always read on the Shabbat of Hanukkah, it is not surprising that this connection is a focus of attention.

Rabbi Perry Netter speaks about Joseph's assimilation in this video clip. It is easy to see the similarity between Joseph's assimilation into Egyptian culture and ours in the majority culture of our country.
One of the themes of this parasha is Joseph's forgiveness of his brothers for what they have done. Rabbi Joseph Telushkin offers an interesting discussion of forgiveness in this podcast which highlights Jewish thinking about forgiveness. It also explains the difference between Jewish thinking on forgiveness and Christian thinking on the subject. I believe it is important for our students to know that "Judeo-Christian Theology" is not an accurate title. There are real differences on some issues. This is one of them.
Here's a cartoon that may make you smile. Do you think it is appropriate for students? Explain your thoughts.
Please take a look at the G-dcast video which, as usual, presents the issues in this week's parasha in a way that our learners can relate to their own lives.

I hope you are enjoying Hanukkah, and that these resources give you some new ideas and provoke some new insights.

Here are a few questions you might like to think about:

At what point do you think Joseph sees the 'big picture?'
What about his family?
What is your opinion of the way Joseph acts in this parasha?
Describe the evidence that Joseph is changing.
How do you think your students view Joseph?
Why do you think this story is so long and detailed, in contrast to the other stories in B'reisheet?

Hanukkah - Holiday of Lights and Ambiguity

2009-12-11T15:04:00.001-05:00

I miss the Hanukkah I knew when I was young.
I miss the absolute truth I knew about the Maccabees and their fight for religious freedom.
I miss the unalloyed pleasure in lighting the hanukkiyah, singing the brachot and songs, and opening the presents each night.

Why do I miss these long-ago celebrations of Hanukkah? Because my understanding of this holiday has been impacted by what I have read and learned since those days, and because it is more difficult to unpack complex ideas than to absorb simple ones.

Big Ideas:

Hanukkah was about the preservation of Jewish practice according to the halacha as interpreted by a particular group of Jews of the time
Violence can be justified if your enemy threatens your existence
History is written by the winners
Historical context and events have a powerful effect on the way we understand the world

Essential Questions:

Who were the Maccabees? What was their mission?
What is a "just war"?
How are we like both the Maccabees and the Hellenists in our lives today?
How does the story of Hanukkah impact the various ways we understand our Jewishness today?
How did such a minor holiday get to be so important to us?

Learning Activities:

Read the article in My Jewish Learning about The Maccabee Revolt for a summary of the story of Hanukkah
The Jewish Way of War is a brief summary of some of the rules governing war in Jewish tradition
The following quotation from President Obama's speech in Oslo is here:

..."The concept of a "just war" emerged, suggesting that war is justified only when it meets certain preconditions: if it is waged as a last resort or in self-defense; if the forced used is proportional; and if, whenever possible, civilians are spared from violence...." You may want to read Obama's entire speech here

Gary Rosenblatt has written a thought-provoking article about today's Maccabees
Yosef Yerushalmi, a leading Jewish historian who died recently, suggested the following:

" ... Zakhor, still Yerushalmi’s best-known book, contrasts the study of history—in which the historian first marshals the facts, then interprets what they mean—with collective memory, in which the meaning of the story precedes and determines the events related. Yerushalmi argued that before the modern era, memory structured the stories Jews told about themselves. ..."

David Brooks has written about The Hanukkah Story in today's NY Times

The Eighth Day is an excellent trigger for a conversation about tradition and change in the context of the era of the Maccabees. It is available from Ergo Media

Finally, The Jewish Week has a special section it calls Text Context and the articles are a valuable aid to understanding what it means to be Jewish in America (and Israel) and how Hanukkah became what it is to us today.

Assessment:
Such a lot to read about what I already described as a minor holiday. I can only suggest you read what you have time to read, and think about the issues the articles raise. I am confident that you will look at Hanukkah differently, but please continue to enjoy the lights, the brachot, the songs and the presents.

VaYeshev, Part II

2009-12-07T17:33:00.000-05:00

He was groomed for his role from early childhood, doted on by his father and prepared for the future in many ways. He was good at what he did, and focused on what was ahead. He even dreamed about it.

As an adult he achieved fame and wealth, as well as the attention of at least one woman (probably more) who - for whatever reason - was attracted to him. Was it his position? His looks? His proficiency at his task?

How could one not talk about Tiger Woods in connection to this week's parasha!?! I have heard the opinion that for a person in his position it is impossible to resist the temptations all around him. Money, power, fame - all strong attractants, it seems, to groupies. Is it even possible to keep track of all the famous men who have - just within the past year - been exposed as "players"?

How did Yosef resist the temptations that these men gave in to? Did he understand that his role was too important to jeopardize with a personal scandal?

Is this why we call him Yosef HaTzadik - Yosef the Righteous?

I have it on good authority that sixth graders are quite familiar with the current saga of Tiger Woods, so I would not hesitate to use the story as a trigger for discussion of this week's parasha.

Does Tiger Woods need a lesson on Jewish values?
And by the way - what would be appropriate teshuva for these public figures?

VaYeshev

2009-12-07T10:12:00.000-05:00

The stories of Yosef, well-known and often-retold in religious school classrooms, contain more detailed narration than any other of the stories of B'reisheet. There is more description of peoples' feelings than anywhere else.

A few thoughts:

The brothers of Yosef seem to have little love or affection for their "baby" brother. What is it about the family dynamics that leads to their actions? Who do you hold responsible for the situation? Whose responsibility do you think it was to improve the situation? Explain your answer.
What do you think we are supposed to learn from the encounter Yosef has with the "man" when he is looking for his brothers? What does the story tell us if the "man" is simply a man? What if the "man" is actually God's messenger?
Where do you think Reuven was when the brothers decided to sell Yosef to the Ishmaelites? Whose idea was it to do this?
Does Reuven seem to know what has actually happened to Yosef? Does your answer to this question affect how you feel about him?
Skipping over (for the moment) the story of Yehudah and Tamar, what are your thoughts about Yosef's behavior in the house of Potifar?
What kind of person do you understand Yosef to be from what we read in this week's parasha? If you didn't know what comes next, what might you imagine at this point?
Back to Yehudah and Tamar - what is this story doing here? How can you connect it to the story of Yosef? To the bigger story of the development of the Jewish people?

Some interesting commentaries that may help you shape your thoughts:

God Was In That Text
G-dcast - take a look, click on and read the lyrics, and note how much is not in the original Torah text. What do you think about adding this additional material? Does it change the story? Does it make it clearer? Does it confuse the issues? Explain your response.
Divine and Human "Nudging"on the Path of One's Destiny is written by Jill Minkoff, a student at the Academy for Jewish Religion. What is the tension between "destiny" and "free will" that she describes? How can you know if your decisions are the decisions God would want you to make? What is "bashert"?

Social Networking before the Age of Twitter

2009-11-30T18:38:00.000-05:00

What Facebook Can't Give You, a fascinating article that appeared in the November 25th issue of Wall Street Journal, describes a group of approximately 20 men, of whom 75% happen to be Jewish, who have been meeting together since 1957.

I recommend the article as a good read, but also for the following paragraph, which appears somewhere near the end.

'Daddy's Ideas'
'The men had hoped their sons would create an adjunct group that would one day assume the Wednesday 10 mantle but none took the initiative. "Daddy's ideas are not the ones children tend to take on," says Mr. Menschel.'

Does that mean those ideas were not good? Of course not. I think it means that the founding generation cannot expect those that follow to necessarily value what they value. Or, at the least, cannot expect the next generation to express even the values that are shared in the same ways.

As this is true for those 'movers and shakers' in the Wednesday 10, it is often true of our institutions. It is the reason that to be successful going forward institutions have to be willing to re-invent themselves, to welcome the new ideas of those who come after the founders.

And this is particularly challenging in the context of a religious institution. Because most religion is by its nature conservative, and Judaism is no exception, there is a need to preserve the values, practices and wisdom of the past.

How we do that in a popular culture that often seems to look ahead, with little regard for the past, is one of the most difficult tasks we face.

Meaningful Assessment

2009-11-30T14:55:00.001-05:00

How do we know if our learners have learned? Sometimes we ask them outright:

Baby Blues Nov 29

By Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott

This cartoon appeared in Sunday's newspapers, and is not yet available online. You may be able to find a site that shows it. For those who cannot, there are 3 frames in which a teacher asks the class as a group whether they understand the work, whether they have any questions, and whether they know what to do for homework. They all answer "YES" to the first question, "NO" to the second, and "Yes to the third. The final panel shows that the student actually has no idea what she learned or what she is supposed to do for homework.

And sometimes we get meaningless answers!!

There are better ways to assess learning.

A good article - Why Every Student Needs Critical Friends, by Amy Reynolds, describes one way of involving the learner in assessment.

Understanding formative and summative assessment is the subject of this clearly written article in the December 2007 issue of Educational Leadership. It urges the teacher to help the learner answer these three questions:

Where am I going?
Where am I now?
How can I close the gap?

A list of possible assessment tools is part of this extensive learning module from edutopia, a reliable source of good information for educators.

Developing valuable and meaningful assessment is one of the most challenging aspects of teaching and learning. I urge you to find out more. I also urge you to try different types of assessment in your classroom, knowing ahead of time that some will work better than others in helping your students answer the 3 important questions above. And remember, if they can't answer question #1, they can't begin to answer the other 2 questions.

It won't be perfect when you start, but if you are serious about evaluating learning and helping your students do the same I am sure you will get better at it as you go along.

VaYishlach

2009-11-30T11:32:00.000-05:00

As I typed the title to this post I thought about the column in yesterday's NY Times Magazine about Camel Case, a term I had never heard before but which describes the practice of capitalizing letters within a word (as in the hump of a camel!). Just a note - when I do this, it is to emphasize the use in Hebrew of attached prefixes and suffixes. Not really important, except I hope it helps the reader differentiate the prefix or suffix from the word.

And now to the parasha:
There are several stories in this week's parasha. Yaakov is told by God to return to Canaan. Knowing his brother is there, and more than a little nervous about meeting him after all these years, he devises a plan to send messengers ahead. The rest of the summary is here at My Jewish Learning, with some questions you can think about . As we have seen each week, there are some aspects of this story that are troubling to the 21st century reader.

[By the way, I recently read in a sixth grade textbook that all this took place in "Palestine", with no mention of the land of Canaan. Strange, since the country was not named "Palestine" until the Roman conquest. One wonders who is writing (or editing) social studies textbooks.]

G-dcast.com is a site that offers a short (usually about 4 minutes long) cartoon video about each parasha of the Torah.
In its video of Vayishlach the creator of this week's commentary suggests that the "man" with whom Yaakov wrestled was neither an angel nor himself. Watch the episode by clicking on the link and consider whether or not you agree with the conclusion.

The rape of Yaakov's daughter Dinah is another of the incidents described in detail in this parasha. Many of you have read The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant. This novel based on the incident described here has been widely discussed, particularly in women's groups - the audience to whom the book seems to be addressed.

Do you think it is appropriate to rewrite stories from the Torah today?
Why might one want to do this?
Why do women today often react negatively to stories in the Torah?
In what way might this story sound different to girls [and women] than to boys [and men]? How might your teaching acknowledge this?

I look forward to your thoughts and comments.

What does it mean to be Jewish?

2009-11-28T18:00:00.002-05:00

Thanksgiving, an "American Holiday," is a feast in which my family and I participate with pleasure every year. Because it is a holiday we share with all Americans - at least potentially - it is a day in which we might give some thought to what it means to be Jewish and American.

Big Ideas:

Jewish identity is complex, and means different things to different people
Maintaining separate identity within a culture that encourages shared identity is challenging
Developing and transmitting identity can take various forms

Essential Questions:

What is Jewish identity?
What is the difference between "acculturation" and "assimilation?"
In what ways does identity develope?
What are the challenges involved in maintaining religious identity within a culture?

Learning Activities:

Four articles appeared this week that seemed to illustrate both the challenges and the outcomes of maintaining identity.

Three Clergymen Three Faiths, One Friendship, by Laurie Goodstein, is the story of a minister, a rabbi and a sheik who have developed a relationship across their religious differences, and who speak as a group to audiences of all faiths. They suggest that their relationship is strong because they believe:

"..not [in] avoiding or glossing over their conflicts, but by running straight at them."

According to the rabbi in the group, the following statement is how they see each others' religious beliefs:

"This is the truth for you, and this is the truth for me."

Does this sound Jewish to you? Can something be 'true' for me and something different 'true' for someone else? What does this mean to you?

How to Say Thanksgiving in Mandarin by Scott Simon describes his family and many others in the world today. He writes about the diverse religious and ethnic identities in his own family and in those around him.

As Jews, how do we define our identity?
What is the "Jewish people?"
What is "Am Yisrael?"
What is "Jewish food?"
What is the meaning of Israel in your life?
How do you celebrate the Jewish holidays?

The answers may be different for different Jews, because being Jewish has many aspects. Reading this article may encourage you to articulate what your identity means to you.

The Other Education by David Brooks talks about his realization that Bruce Springsteen had a powerful impact on the way in which he sees the world. While Springsteen may or may not be the influence we as Jewish educators are waiting for, several statements by Brooks certainly say something important to us:

"...It's generally a byproduct of the search for pleasure, and the learning is indirect and unconscious..."

"The uplifting experiences alone were bound to open the mind for learning."

"I do think a message is conveyed by the way he [Springsteen] continually situates himself within a tradition."

What do these statements tell us about the experiences we need to be providing for our learners?
How can we maximize the emotional learning that Brooks talks about in his column?

A Tradition that Cherishes Poker, not Pumpkin Pie is a whole other story - it describes a community, or at least a portion of a community - that has decided, for a number of reasons, that the celebration of Thanksgiving involves a trip to Mohegan Sun rather than "over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house.."

What happens when a group develops its own customs that are not aligned with those of the majority culture within which it lives?
Why might it be difficult to maintain this separation in succeeding generations?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of having unique ethnic and/or religious customs?

Assessment:

Create a collage that expresses your Jewish identity
Write a short description of your Jewish identity
Share an anecdote about your family's Jewish celebration of a particular holiday with a partner. Compare and contrast the ways in which your family celebrates with those of your partner's family.

Teachers Selling Lessons

2009-11-23T15:35:00.000-05:00

You may have read the article in the NY Times about teachers buying and selling their lessons on the internet.

Selling Lessons Online Raises Cash and Questions, by Winnie Lu

The article is interesting, and even more interesting are the responses from readers. As an educator I believe strongly in collaborative effort, and in my opinion teachers can often learn as much or more from their colleagues as they can from "experts" who drop in for a session or two and then leave.

On the other hand, one of the worst lessons I ever taught was one that I had participated in as a learner and then attempted to present to a different group as the teacher.

What is the significance of these two seemingly opposing threads?

I believe that good teaching ideas should be shared.
Some people are fortunate enough to be paid by publishers to create lessons that will be sold to other teachers as books.
Some people are fortunate enough to teach in institutions in which the culture provides time and support for sharing ideas with colleagues.
All good teaching requires time for preparing lessons - whether or not one starts with a template provided by a teachers' guide, book or on-line site.
Anyone who attempts to teach someone else's lesson without taking the time to make it his or her own will probably not be successful.

Teacherspayteachers.com is the website referred to in the Times article. I looked to see if there were Jewish educational lessons available, and found some on the Shoah, one on the lunar calendar, and little if anything else.

There are, however, on-line sites that can be very helpful to Jewish educators.

I suggest you type the words Jewish Lesson Plans into your search engine and see what comes up. You may be surprised at the resources you can access.

Just remember - no one should try to teach some else's lesson without making it his or her own.

Vayetze

2009-11-23T14:52:00.000-05:00

And so the drama continues - and our ancestors continue to act in ways that challenge us to see them as models upon which we will structure our behavior.

There are a number of interesting commentaries you can access at My Jewish Learning. I particularly enjoyed this one - I Have a Dream, by Rabbi Ed Rosenthal. And yes, the use of Martin Luther King's words is an intentional part of the essay.

Rabbi Melissa Crespy writes about the complicated family dynamics evident in this parasha and suggests they can help us better understand our lives today.

There are, however, a few questions that occurred to me and to which I wasn't able to find answers in the commentaries I examined. Perhaps you can help figure out some answers:

In 28:11 Jacob is described as taking stones to rest his head on. Sorry - but couldn't he find something more comfortable to put under his head?
Is there a relationship or comparison between the tower in Bavel and the ladder in this parasha?
Why does the text identify Avraham as Yaakov's father rather than Yitzhak?
In 28:14 the Hebrew reads: Yesh Adonai bamakom hazeh. What is the reason for the word "yesh?" The translations seem to be uniform as saying "God was in this place", but you don't ned the word "yesh" if that is the translation. It seems to me that a better translation would be "There is God (or perhaps 'godliness') in this place. Does that change the meaning for you?
Verse 28:22 has Yaakov making a deal with God - if...then... What can it mean that Yaakov promises to accept God if God provides certain material necessities? Is there a rationale that states we only accept God if God provides for and protects us?
Verse 31:53 - The English translation reads, "... the God of Avraham and the god of Nahor..." But Hebrew doesn't use capital letters, and the phrase in Hebrew uses the identical term for both "gods". What's that about? Does the god of Nahor exist alongside the God of Avraham as an equal in this text?

Perhaps you have answers to these questions - they certainly suggest rich discussions you can have. Perhaps you can share your answers with the rest of us.

Jewish Wisdom in the Workplace

2009-11-16T20:36:00.000-05:00

Shayla McKnight wrote an article about her workplace where, unlike many other workplaces we are all familiar with, gossip is not tolerated. In fact, when she began working there, she was told explicitly, "There's no back-stabbing here, and no office politics. Gossiping and talking behind someone's back are not tolerated."

Workplace Gossip? Keep It To Yourself

The interesting thing is that it works! The employees actually do not gossip, and if someone breaks that rule, s/he is called out on the issue and reminded about the policy.

We often have rules in our classrooms stating that lashon hara and rechilut are not acceptable, but in my experience we rarely go the extra step by following up and holding not only our students but ourselves to the high standards we articulate. Maybe we need to state the policy as part of our induction process for new teachers as well as new students and their families. And everyone would certainly benefit if we insisted on taking the policy seriously.

There is another section of the article that helps to explain why there is a real feeling of community in this workplace, and I believe it has possibilities for the classroom as well.

"There's a mix of personalities in any company, and rarely does everyone in a workplace like one another. but I believe that half the battle is in how people communicate.

When employees are hired here, they're given a communications assessment, a commercial program that the company uses to pinpoint a person's dominant communications style. the styles are linked to colors that identify how each employee likes to communicate.

If someone is a "red," for example, he or she appreciates when others are direct and state the facts quickly. A person who's a "blue" enjoys having all the details, and time to process them. A "yellow" is spontaneous and likes a personal connection.

I'm a "green" That means I'm sensitive and like to be approached as courteously as possible; greens tend to be compassionate and supportive.

Nameplates on our desks have a color bar to identify our styles, ... This system lets everyone know how co-workers prefer to be approached and it goes a long way in promoting harmony."

What if we gave our students the same courtesy this company gives its employees? What if we really treated our students as individuals? We know about multiple intelligences, and varied learning styles. We know about multiple assessment tools which give our learners the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned in different ways.

What if we also allowed them a voice in defining the way in which they communicate - with each other as well as with us - so they would feel safe and respected in our schools.

I'm willing to bet that the atmosphere in our classrooms would be different - in a very good way.

Twitter in Teaching?

2009-11-15T16:15:00.000-05:00

Many years ago, when CAJE was a young organization, I went to my first CAJE conference. Returning home I could hardly wait to share the innovative ideas that surfaced there with the principals and teachers in my congregational school. I still remember the response of the principal:
"Who needs Alternatives to Jewish Education?" he asked.
I corrected him.
"It was the Conference on Alternatives IN Jewish Education," I said.
I'm not sure I convinced him.

We've come a long way, I hope, in looking at innovation in learning. One example is a website, jlearn2.0 which highlights leading-edge thinking in this area.

I want to recommend you read this post at jlearn2.0 entitled Why My Students Were Texting in Class... and Learning. It is an exciting window into use of what might be seen as distractions to advance learning. We need to use all the tools available to engage our students.

Toldot

2009-11-15T15:38:00.000-05:00

Of all the Torah portions in B'reisheet this may be my all-time least favorite. Each year I struggle with the character of Ya'akov as it is expressed in his actions here. I remind myself that this text is here for a purpose - as I believe all the text in the Torah is - and wonder once again what God wants me to learn as I read and re-read the descriptions of the actions of all the players here.

Yitzhak, whose relationship with his father Avraham had to have been affected by the experience at Har HaMoriah. He loves his wife, he loves his eldest son, he doesn't really trust his own judgment.
Rivkah, who left her immediate family to become the wife of a distant relative, who was unable to bear children until her husband intervened with God, and who appears to believe she has the right to manipulate the people around her to further her goals
Ya'akov, who didn't show much initiative as a youngster, who went along with his mother's ruse and outright lied to his father about who he was in order to receive his father's blessing
Eysav, who - on the surface at least - seems the most innocent of all the actors in this play. He hunts, he tries to please his father, he gets taken advantage of by those more clever than he.

So what are we to learn from this?

Are these the lessons?

It's OK to lie to your parents if it gets you what you believe you deserve.
The ends justify the means.
Jews aren't supposed to be good outdoorsmen

Somehow I doubt these are the lessons we're supposed to learn from this section of Torah.

Here are some ideas I prefer:

Food can be an expression of love and part of an important experience. That's the idea in David Kraemer's commentary here
Rivkah has amazing clarity about God's Big Ideas. She knows what the overarching plan is and does what is necessary to advance it. That thought is expressed in The Women's Torah Commentary in the article by Rabbi Beth J. Singer here
Today as in the time of the Bible water is the key to survival. We have a responsibility to treat the land and its resources with care and respect. That idea is connected to this week's parasha in the commentary by Rabbi Yuval Cherlow at the website of Canfei Nesharim

How do you understand this parasha? What Jewish values do you see here? What do you think God wants us to learn from this portion?

Please feel free to share your ideas as comments to this post.

Our Most Important Job

2009-11-11T10:05:00.003-05:00

Helping students learn to evaluate available information is more important today than ever before. In the past, we as teachers were in the business of conveying content. We had the 'truth', and we chose the books that had the 'truth.'

In today's world there is more information at our learners' fingertips than there used to be in entire libraries. Unfortunately, much of that information is misleading at best and totally inaccurate at worst.

This article about the Dead Sea Scrolls is an example of how information on the internet can be manipulated by anyone with the desire to do so.

2000-Year-Old Scrolls, Internet-Era Crime

By sharing this article with your students you may help sensitize them to the possibility that what they read must always be read somewhat skeptically - and to introduce them to reliable sources of review, such as snopes.com and urbanlegends.about.com which carefully evaluate content.

A learner who develops critical thinking skills is a learner on the way to life-long learning.

What's Really Important?

2009-11-11T09:39:00.005-05:00

We know that people learn what they perceive as important. Our challenge as teachers is to find out what that is for our learners. Here's an example from medicine that may bring a chuckle, but ultimately may help you realize the importance of motivation in learning.

Treating Sleep Apnea with a Golf Club

Big Idea:

People learn what is important to them

Essential Question:

What is already important to your learners?

How can we make that which is important to us important to our learners?

Activities teachers can do to support uncovering the Big Idea:

Read what they read, watch what they watch, listen to their music. (I don't suggest you abandon your interests in favor of theirs, but you have a responsibility to be familiar with their cultural context if you are going to craft learning experiences they can relate to)

Provide time in class for students to talk about what they are interested in - to each other and to you.

Listen to your students.

Assessment: How will you know this is working?

Your students make more personal connections to the content of the learning.

Remember - your ultimate goal as a Jewish educator is to help your learners reach a level at which their Jewish knowledge, belief and practice are an important part of their lives and identities; a level at which what they are learning and doing is important not only to you as their teacher, but to them in their lives both within and outside the institution in which they learn.

Hayei Sara

2009-11-09T10:09:00.002-05:00

We have been reading the parashot this year through the lens of language - the power of words.

Big Idea #1:

Stories can change depending on the storyteller and the audience. That there are different versions does not necessarily mean one is true and others are not.

In Nechama Leibowitz' discussion of this parasha she compares the words Avraham uses in talking to his servant with the words the servant (Eliezer) uses in describing the task to the family of Rivka. You can read the commentary here. What are the similarities? What are the differences? What do you think explains why certain words or phrases are different in the two versions?

Essential Questions:

Have you ever told a story more than once?
Does it always sound the same?
What might be the reasons the story changes from one occasion to another?
Is there a person in your family who is the "custodian" of family stories? Who gets to say, "That's not how it happened!"
How does your position in the family affect your "ownership" of the family stories? How are family stories preserved?

Big Idea #2

People differ in the way they respond to life experiences.

Essential Questions:

What are some of the experiences Sarah had in her life?
Do you know people who have had the same concrete experiences, either good or bad, but whose response to those experiences is different? How can you explain this?
How can the way one responds to an event affect what comes afterward?
What are some lessons in Torah, in Jewish wisdom and thought, which can help us respond appropriately to life events?

Big Idea #3

Not all important ideas or events are broadcast loudly and clearly. Sometimes they are not so obvious at first glance

Essential Questions:

According to the Torah, who buried Avraham?
What, if anything, surprised you about this?
Do you believe this incident symbolizes a reconciliation between the brothers? Explain your opinion.
What are some occasions in family life that might lead to separation? to reconciliation? What are some ideas we can use to encourage shlom bayit, peaceful relationships within a family?

Jewish Music in Popular Cultural Settings

2009-11-08T14:51:00.003-05:00

Matisyahu - Jewish/rap/reggae performer - has written and performed the soundtrack for a commercial about the Vancouver Winter Olympics you can see here.

His original song is here.

Great opportunity for compare and contrast:

What is the big idea of the lyrics as used in the commercial? Why do you think the creators of the commercial chose this song? This segment of the song?

What do you think is the big idea of the lyrics in the complete song?

Does the segment reflect the entire song? Explain your answer.

Two Lenses: Jewish and Educational

2009-11-05T16:11:00.008-05:00

I. JNF is sponsoring Project Baseball, an effort to create up-to-date baseball fields for kids in Israel to play on. I can't think of a better fit for a tzedakah project for someone who loves baseball - especially now, after the excitement of the World Series!

Can you picture a donation made by your class in honor of the Yankees to Project Baseball?

After all, although "you don't have to be Jewish", as Levy's Rye Bread famously stated, but on the other hand, it's possible to be both Jewish and a fan!!

II. Ron Blomberg, former Yankee, wrote a book about his experiences titled Designated Hebrew, an allusion to the fact that he was both the first designated hitter in the American League and also a Jew. Your baseball fanatic (5th grade and older) might enjoy reading it.

III. While we're on the topic of baseball, what about how fans feel about Alex Rodriguez now? Can this be a trigger for discussing teshuvah with our learners? Did A-Rod do teshuvah after his having used steroids? What is your evidence? Was it complete teshuvah? Explain why or why not.

IV. If you didn't see it already, Zits on November 3rd was as perfect as possible a recommendation of hands-on learning. Doing, not listening, is the answer for many of us and probably most of our learners.

Vayera

2009-11-02T19:42:00.005-05:00

We learned a lot about the power of words in the first few portions of the Torah. We learned that words can create whole worlds, that they can harm, they can confuse, they can clarify, they can be a source of unity or of divisiveness. This parasha can be seen to expand on that theme.

Words can change the world, as suggested in this commentary from the Jewish Coalition for Service.

Words can be only the surface - real meaning involves deeper listening, as you can read here. What does it mean to really listen?

Words can be misunderstood, as suggested in this commentary from United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. What if Abraham didn't hear God correctly?

Finally, back to the power of words, what can we learn from the use of the phrase "lech lecha" here, when God is telling Abraham to take his son to Moriah? Haven't we heard this phrase before? Where? Compare and contrast the two places it is used.

Once again we are faced with a parasha which could easily be studied over the course of weeks. If you are teaching parshat hashavua in you classroom, which of the stories in this parasha will you choose? Why?

ט אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים הַיּוֹם כֻּלְּכֶם, לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם: רָאשֵׁיכֶם שִׁבְטֵיכֶם, זִקְנֵיכֶם וְשֹׁטְרֵיכֶם, כֹּל, אִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל.	9 All of you are standing today before Adonai your God: your leaders, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel,
י טַפְּכֶם נְשֵׁיכֶם--וְגֵרְךָ, אֲשֶׁר בְּקֶרֶב מַחֲנֶיךָ: מֵחֹטֵב עֵצֶיךָ, עַד שֹׁאֵב מֵימֶיךָ.	10 your little ones, your wives, and the stranger who lives in your camp, from the woodcarver to the water-drawer;
יא לְעָבְרְךָ, בִּבְרִית יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ--וּבְאָלָתוֹ: אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, כֹּרֵת עִמְּךָ הַיּוֹם.	11 in order to enter into the brit, the covenant, of Adonai your God--and into God's oath--which Adonai your God makes with you today;
יב לְמַעַן הָקִים-אֹתְךָ הַיּוֹם לוֹ לְעָם, וְהוּא יִהְיֶה-לְּךָ לֵאלֹהִים--כַּאֲשֶׁר, דִּבֶּר-לָךְ; וְכַאֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע לַאֲבֹתֶיךָ, לְאַבְרָהָם לְיִצְחָק וּלְיַעֲקֹב.	12 that God may establish you today as a people, in order to be your God, as God spoke to you, and as God swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
יג וְלֹא אִתְּכֶם, לְבַדְּכֶם--אָנֹכִי, כֹּרֵת אֶת-הַבְּרִית הַזֹּאת, וְאֶת-הָאָלָה, הַזֹּאת.	13 Not only with you do I make this brit and this oath;
יד כִּי אֶת-אֲשֶׁר יֶשְׁנוֹ פֹּה, עִמָּנוּ עֹמֵד הַיּוֹם, לִפְנֵי, יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ; וְאֵת אֲשֶׁר אֵינֶנּוּ פֹּה, עִמָּנוּ הַיּוֹם.	14 but with the person who stands here with us today before Adonai our God, and also with the person who is not here with us today--

ה וְעָנִיתָ וְאָמַרְתָּ לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, אֲרַמִּי אֹבֵד אָבִי, וַיֵּרֶד מִצְרַיְמָה, וַיָּגָר שָׁם בִּמְתֵי מְעָט; וַיְהִי-שָׁם, לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל עָצוּם וָרָב.	5 And you shall speak and say before the LORD your God: 'A wandering Aramean was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
ו וַיָּרֵעוּ אֹתָנוּ הַמִּצְרִים, וַיְעַנּוּנוּ; וַיִּתְּנוּ עָלֵינוּ, עֲבֹדָה קָשָׁה.	6 And the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage.
ז וַנִּצְעַק, אֶל-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי אֲבֹתֵינוּ; וַיִּשְׁמַע יְהוָה אֶת-קֹלֵנוּ, וַיַּרְא אֶת-עָנְיֵנוּ וְאֶת-עֲמָלֵנוּ וְאֶת-לַחֲצֵנוּ.	7 And we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice, and saw our affliction, and our toil, and our oppression.
ח וַיּוֹצִאֵנוּ יְהוָה, מִמִּצְרַיִם, בְּיָד חֲזָקָה וּבִזְרֹעַ נְטוּיָה, וּבְמֹרָא גָּדֹל--וּבְאֹתוֹת, וּבְמֹפְתִים.	8 And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders.

טו אָרוּר הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה פֶסֶל וּמַסֵּכָה תּוֹעֲבַת יְהוָה, מַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵי חָרָשׁ--וְשָׂם בַּסָּתֶר; וְעָנוּ כָל-הָעָם וְאָמְרוּ, אָמֵן. {ס}	15 Cursed is the man who makes a graven or molten image, an abomination before ADONAI, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret. And all the people shall answer and say: Amen. {S}
טז אָרוּר, מַקְלֶה אָבִיו וְאִמּוֹ; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן. {ס}	16 Cursed is the person who dishonours his father or his mother. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
יז אָרוּר, מַסִּיג גְּבוּל רֵעֵהוּ; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן. {ס}	17 Cursed is the person who moves his neighbor's landmark. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
יח אָרוּר, מַשְׁגֶּה עִוֵּר בַּדָּרֶךְ; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן. {ס}	18 Cursed is the person who misleads the blind. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
יט אָרוּר, מַטֶּה מִשְׁפַּט גֵּר-יָתוֹם--וְאַלְמָנָה; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן.	19 Cursed is the person who perverts the justice due to the stranger, orphan, and widow. And all the people shall say: Amen.
כ אָרוּר, שֹׁכֵב עִם-אֵשֶׁת אָבִיו--כִּי גִלָּה, כְּנַף אָבִיו; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן. {ס}	20 Cursed is the person who lies with his father's wife; because he has uncovered his father's skirt. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
כא אָרוּר, שֹׁכֵב עִם-כָּל-בְּהֵמָה; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן. {ס}	21 Cursed is the person who lies with any animal. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
כב אָרוּר, שֹׁכֵב עִם-אֲחֹתוֹ--בַּת-אָבִיו, אוֹ בַת-אִמּוֹ; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן. {ס}	22 Cursed is the person who lies with his sister, either the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
כג אָרוּר, שֹׁכֵב עִם-חֹתַנְתּוֹ; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן. {ס}	23 Cursed is the person who lies with his mother-in-law. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
כד אָרוּר, מַכֵּה רֵעֵהוּ בַּסָּתֶר; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן. {ס}	24 Cursed is the person who hits his neighbor in secret. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
כה אָרוּר לֹקֵחַ שֹׁחַד, לְהַכּוֹת נֶפֶשׁ דָּם נָקִי; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן. {ס}	25 Cursed is the person who takes a bribe to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say: Amen. {S}
כו אָרוּר, אֲשֶׁר לֹא-יָקִים אֶת-דִּבְרֵי הַתּוֹרָה-הַזֹּאת--לַעֲשׂוֹת אוֹתָם; וְאָמַר כָּל-הָעָם, אָמֵן. {פ}	26 Cursed is the person who doesn't accept the words of this law to obey them. And all the people shall say: Amen.' {P}