A HERO IN MY EYES

This week we unpacked the Purim story with a different slant, and we gave our students a new way to look at a very old story. After retelling the story and reviewing the setting, the plot, and the laws associated with this joyous festival, we spent some time delving into the personality traits of the main characters.  We talked about the hidden attributes of each of the characters, and compared these personality traits to our own strengths and weaknesses.  

We talked about the absence of  GOD in the story of Esther, but of course we know GOD is always watching over us, acting as a puppeteer when needed.  Purim is a story with many twists and turns, and things are not always as they seem.  Although GOD is never mentioned in the megillah, GOD sets things in motion, and intends for each of us to be mindful in a situation, stepping up to the plate when necessary.  Such was the case of Esther and Mordechai, hiding their identities until the future of all Jews was in jeopardy, and then coming forward. We see King Ahashverous, often in a drunken stupor, hiding behind  Haman, a descendant of Amalek, the most evil of all human beings, being defeated only after Esther comes out from hiding, and opens the king's eyes. Unfortunately, we still see the descendants of Haman who continue to plague us even today with acts of terror around the world. 

Finally, we talked about bullies and heroes, and what it means to stand up for what is right. We talked about being honest with ourselves and others, and how we can't hide from the bad choices we make.  We talked about taking action when things are wrong, admitting our mistakes, and coming forward to defend the weak.  From here, students spent some time brainstorming, and described a hero as someone who works hard, is honest, brave, kind, helpful, thoughtful, unselfish, and strong-minded.  A hero is awesome, stands up for themselves and others, makes mistakes, and puts others before themselves.  

To end the week, students were asked to describe their hero,and wrote position papers on why they chose their subject.   We hope to share these stories on Sunday morning at 10:30am.  If you are available, please feel free to join us for these presentations. 

DO AS I SAY, FOLLOW IN MY WAYS

This week, we talked about the many lessons presented in each Torah portion, and how GOD gave the Torah to the Jewish People with the expectation that we turn the words over and over again, learning new and different things every time we read a passage. We talked about finding meaning in the words of Torah at different stages in our lives, and how even as adults, there are new things to learn, and different ways to interpret the words of Torah to meet our needs.

As we conclude the first two chapters of the Torah, we learn GOD spent a tremendous amount of time teaching us about creation, and how to live a Jewish life. We have the ability to think and make individual choices, and we are expected to take responsibility for the choices we make. We are partners and rulers, and we are the caretakers for all living things. In the first two chapters of the the Torah, GOD fails to create moral and ethical leaders able to carry on the traditions of Torah, and so we begin to see a new wave of leadership, this time through Abraham and Sarah.

In our Taste of Torah, we began to explore the journey of Abraham and Sarah, and we talked about what it means to carry the future of Judaism on our shoulders.  Abraham was chosen by GOD to be the leader of the Jewish people. GOD told Abraham to pack his bags and move to a place he did not know, and with this commandment, Abraham was promised that he would become a great nation.  

Our students talked about moving and how difficult it would be to leave all that was familiar and start life anew.  We talked about what it would be like to move to a new state, a new neighborhood, and a new school, and trusting our parents to make the right choices for us.  We also talked about having faith in our parents just as Abraham had faith in GOD.  

Please take a few minutes and ask your children what it means to follow in GOD's footsteps, and the importance of challenging those that make decisions that are not fair or just.

MANY VOICES ONE RESPONSIBILITY

For those of you wanting a one word description of what we do in our class every week, I would have to say TORAH.  The Torah teaches us the skills we need to be a partner with GOD.    We learn Jewish values to help us live a Jewish life from the Torah, and most importantly, the Jewish people live for the Torah.  In our core class, we spend quite a bit of time turning and twisting the words in the Torah to help us understand the importance of living a Jewish life in a non-Jewish world.   The Torah challenges us to think and to take responsibility for our actions, and  no matter how often we study, speak, teach, say, learn, or live Torah, there is always more to explore.  We are teaching our students to turn the Torah over and over, in order to better understand the words passed on from generation to generation.  The take away every week, is we are created in GOD’s image, and we are here as GOD’s partner.   The stories are great, the imagery even better, but most importantly, it is the values we learn from the Torah that really stick with us.

This week we explored the last passage in Noah, and we talked about the Tower of Babel.  Students learned the first commandment in the Torah, and the importance of following GOD's commands. The generations after Noah lived a sedentary life in a small area of earth, speaking one language and pitting one against the other.  They tried to build a Tower to GOD, showing GOD their power, strength, and wisdom, and GOD quickly recognized their bloated egos and lack of commitment to bettering the world.  He confounds their speech and scatters the people to the four corners of the land. It is here we see the last of  Creation narrative, and begin to examine the lives of our forefathers.   

Finally, we talked about what we need to do to build a relationship with GOD even if our plate is quite full.  GOD understands we have many responsibilities, but also demands we work to make ourselves better so we can serve GOD through mitzvot.  We had an interesting discussion about how much we can do, and even though we are busy, we can always push ourselves to help others. It is these little things that really make a difference in our lives and the lives of others.   

Please ask your children the first commandment in the Torah, or better yet, let them ask you.  

ON YOUR HONOR

On Sunday morning, our students talked about the power of words.  We talked about strengthening relationships with others by keeping our word.  Students learned the importance of trust when building relationships, and honoring a commitment once we make a promise.  We talked about Noah and GOD and the relationship they built through the ark, and learned GOD made a covenant with the world through the rainbow. Students created a rainbow of promises and thought about commitments they could make and honor.   It was really quite difficult for some of our students to go out on a limb, and make a promise, knowing they may be help accountable.  Please ask your students to share their promises with you, you may be pleasantly surprised.

Unfortunately, school was cancelled on Tuesday afternoon, but we hope to conclude our conversations about Noah in the coming week, and look forward to learning about heroes, the strength of a community, and leaving a place we know as home, and moving to a new land filled with hopes and dreams.  

THE POWER OF A PROMISE

Welcome Back!  

Our Kitah Dalet students continue to study the text of Noah, and this afternoon we talked about honesty, integrity, and the importance of building a relationship with GOD.  After some true confessions, we began to see how building a relationship with others is how we  build a relationship with GOD, and this relationship is at the heart of making the world a better place.  

As we examined the text in Parsha Noach, we found the promise GOD made with man, and we talked about the importance of keeping our word. We talked about GOD being remorseful when destroying the world, and questioning his decision to destroy all of his creations. Finally, we talked about GOD'S promise to never destroy the world again through a flood. We talked about the Hebrew word for promise, Brit, and the strength of this commitment.  When talking about GOD's promise, students were asked to think about agreeing to do something, and then changing their minds. We also talked about trust, and honoring their commitments. Digging a little bit deeper, we had a rather heated discussion about how we feel when others promise to do things, and then go back on their word.  On the same note, students were asked to think about how others feel when we say we will do something, and fail to follow through.  

Finally, we talked about the relationship we have with each other, and how important it is to follow our words with actions.  We talked about the teacher student relationship, and how it feels when our teacher may not think our word is good, or worse, when a teacher doubts our integrity.   Fortunately, this is not the case in Kitah Dalet, and I made a promise to our students, and they made one as well. It will be interesting to see how strong our relationship is on Sunday morning.

Please spend a few minutes talking with your students about the power of their words, and what their thoughts are about building relationships through integrity.  

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT

Many of classroom units are woven into teaching everyday life lessons, and we constantly pull from a variety of resources to make sure we are giving our students many opportunities to understand how the Torah is relevant to our lives. In Bereshit we talked about how GOD created the world for man to take care of. We are commanded to care for all of the animals, birds, fish, and bugs, as well as the land, air and water. Most importantly, GOD commands us to take care of all living things. In Parshah Noach, again GOD teaches us to care for all the animals by telling Noah to save the animals before GOD destroys the world.

Furthermore, GOD commands Noah to take seeds from all of the trees and plants so he can care for them once the world is restored. This week we took these lessons one bit further and talked about the importance of being mindful of how we treat animals, plants, trees, and seeds. The Torah is very clear when talking about our responsibility for caring for all of GOD's creations. When GOD instructs Noah to build the ark, GOD is quite clear about what Noah's duties are.

In class we talked about being mindful of what we eat, and how we treat the food we have. Specifically, we talked about keeping kosher, and why we are commanded to observe the dietary laws. In the Torah, we learn Noah took seven pairs of kosher animals on the ark, and two of each non-kosher animal, one male and one female. We talked about what makes animals kosher, and how kosher means fit or proper. The most important reason for keeping kosher is to be mindful of what we eat, and the importance of thinking about being Jewish when we put food in our mouth. We need to have food to live, and being mindful of what we eat, makes us live a meaningful life.

On Tuesday, although our class was quite small, we had a lively discussion about using animals for research, and whether the Torah supports this cause. We talked about the ethical treatment of animals, and your children were really quite torn with this controversial topic.  I encourage you to continue the discussion at home, as your children had some interesting opinions about this very relevant topic.

Please have a safe and pleasant winter break, and we will see you on Tuesday, February 23, 2016

WALKING WITH GOD OR GOD'S PARTNER

The Torah provides us many opportunities to explore our relationship with GOD. Our Kitah Dalet students have been looking at the story of Noah and we have been talking about what it means to be a partner with GOD.  We shared our ideas of what a partner is, and what responsibilities we have to make the partnership work.  We talked about trust, and how the best partnerships are based on mutual trust and communication. We examined the relationship between Noah and GOD, and decided Noah walked with GOD, but was not GOD'S partner.  

In our classroom discussions, we talked about building relationships through trust, and what we have to do to earn the trust of our parents, friends, family, and teachers.  We talked about standing up and doing the right thing when we feel someone is being wronged, and how this helps makes us a trusted member of our community.  We talked about Noah working for GOD, but never having the strength to challenge GOD when GOD wanted to destroy the world.  To bring our point home, we found partners and traveled around the synagogue on a Trust Walk.  On our first attempt, most of us opened our eyes, failing to totally trust our partners or build a relationship.  As we continued our travels, we began to communicate with our partners and became more secure in our relationships. We shared our feelings about trusting others, and challenged our partners when we felt they were not cooperating or treating us fairly.  

To end the week, we talked about Noah not arguing with GOD because Noah's family was being taken care of, thus the flood wasn't his problem.  Unfortunately this was not the case, and the Torah teaches us over and over again, that not everything is about us.  We are commanded to step up and help others when they are in need,  Finally we talked a little about the water contamination in Flint, and how even though it's not in our backyard, it is still our responsibility to step up and help those in need.  

Please ask your students to share their ideas about trust and partnerships, and what they have to do to earn your trust.