Korach

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:

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

Shelach Lecha

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

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.

1. This year we are participating in a census in the United States.  Do your students know about this?  Who is being counted?
2. What is the purpose of our census?  Compare and contrast to the purpose of the census in B'Midbar.
3. 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.

1. What solutions can you think of?
2. What solution is in the Torah?
3. How is this related to the ceremony we know as Pidyon HaBen?
4. 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

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

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.

1. 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.
2. An eye for an eye is explained in various ways by various religious traditions
1. 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.
2. The traditional Jewish interpretation is quite different, as you can read in this lesson from Nechama Leibowitz, teacher of Torah at the highest level.
3. 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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:

1. Business principles won't work for school reform, former supporter Ravitch says - This article has received a great deal of attention, for good reasons
2. 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

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