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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.

Shemot

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.

1. 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?
2. Why did Par'o allow his daughter to keep the baby, who was obviously one of the Hebrews?
3. Chapter 2:25 - why do the Israelites cry out to God only after the Par'o who had enslaved them died?
4. 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

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

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.

1. Why is repeating negative stereotypes about Jews and Jewish behavior humorous?
2. Is it OK to say derogatory things about Jews if you yourself are Jewish?
3. Is it OK to say these things if the agency sponsoring them thinks it will raise money?
4. What is the "Jewish" that the celebrities in these spots feel?
5. 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

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

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