Feedback

If you are reading this blog, I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas.  Please share by commenting so this can be a collaborative effort.

Shemot

There is a new book called "Beyond Courage", written byDoreen Rapaport which tells how some people went to extraordinary lengths to save Jews during the Shoah.  Some stories will be familiar, some will probably be new to the reader, all are powerful and inspirational.
Talking about Shifrah and Puah in this week's parsha leads naturally to discussion of others in our history who have played a similar role.
If you are interested in using this book with students, I invite you to download the Teachers' Guide here.

Mishpatim

Reading through this upcoming parasha I realized how important it is to remember that we are Rabbinic Jews, whose understanding of Judaism is filtered through the multiple lenses of those wise people who have interpreted Torah in ways that are meaningful to us in our time and continue to be meaningful for all time.

For those who read the words of Torah literally I would suggest that you do our religion no favors. Fundamentalism in all its varieties has the potential to do much more harm than good.

Please look at the suggestions for study of parshat Mishpatim from last year with this in mind.

Also, be sure to click on Parsha 4 Kids for an idea for a conversation you can have with students about parshat Mishpatim.

Yitro

In the first chapter of this parasha Moshe is reunited with his family for the first time since he left his wife and children to return to Egypt. According to the text,

ה  וַיָּבֹא יִתְרוֹ חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה, וּבָנָיו וְאִשְׁתּוֹ--אֶל-מֹשֶׁה:  אֶל-הַמִּדְבָּר, אֲשֶׁר-הוּא חֹנֶה שָׁם--הַר הָאֱלֹהִים.
5
And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness where he was encamped, at the mount of God;

Who would you expect Moshe would be most anxious to see?

According to the text, what happened next?
ז  וַיֵּצֵא מֹשֶׁה לִקְרַאת חֹתְנוֹ, וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ וַיִּשַּׁק-לוֹ, וַיִּשְׁאֲלוּ אִישׁ-לְרֵעֵהוּ, לְשָׁלוֹם; וַיָּבֹאוּ, הָאֹהֱלָה. 7


And Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and bowed down and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare; and they came into the tent.

Does anything surprise you about this reunion? Why do you think it is described this way?

Later on in the same chapter, Yitro advises Moshe to appoint judges to help him with his work. The qualifications are as follows:
אנשי חיל
יראי א לוהים
אנשי אמת
שנאי בצע

These four attributes may be translated as:
Valiant men
God-fearing men
Truthful men
Those who are not greedy

Do you think these were the most important values a judge in the time of the Torah needed in order to do the job?
Are they the same values a judge today ought to have?

List the values you believe a judge today needs. How do they compare to those stated by Yitro?

Yitro

In the first chapter of this parasha Moshe is reunited with his family for the first time since he left his wife and children to return to Egypt. According to the text, ה  וַיָּבֹא יִתְרוֹ חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה, וּבָנָיו וְאִשְׁתּוֹ--אֶל-מֹשֶׁה:  אֶל-הַמִּדְבָּר, אֲשֶׁר-הוּא חֹנֶה שָׁם--הַר הָאֱלֹהִים. 5 And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness where he was encamped, at the mount of God; Who would you expect Moshe would be most anxious to see? According to the text, what happened next? ז  וַיֵּצֵא מֹשֶׁה לִקְרַאת חֹתְנוֹ, וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ וַיִּשַּׁק-לוֹ, וַיִּשְׁאֲלוּ אִישׁ-לְרֵעֵהוּ, לְשָׁלוֹם; וַיָּבֹאוּ, הָאֹהֱלָה. 7 And Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and bowed down and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare; and they came into the tent. Does anything surprise you about this reunion? Why do you think it is described this way? Later on in the same chapter, Yitro advises Moshe to appoint judges to help him with his work. The qualifications are as follows: אנשי חיל יראי א לוהים אנשי אמת שנאי בצע These four attributes may be translated as: Valiant men God-fearing men Truthful men Those who are not greedy Do you think these are the most important values a judge in the time of the Torah needed in order to do the job? Are they the same values a judge today ought to have? List the values you believe a judge today needs. How do they compare to those stated by Yitro?

Vayera

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Free Play

Bo Revisited

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

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.