What kind of laughter do you think each of these pictures shows? What is the difference between them? After looking at the pictures, think about which kind(s) of laugh you think are closest to Sarah’s laugh? Try performing that laugh.
All images are open source from creative commons: https://pixabay.com/
Intertextual Source: Deciding when to leave – Reasons not to leave
Look up these further references in the Torah: What do they tell us about reasons people have for leaving and reasons they have for staying? In what ways do they involve ‘going from’ and in what ways are they a matter of ‘going to’?
Bereshit 12: 10 – Abram goes to Egypt
Bereshit 27: 41-45 Ya’akov leaves the family home
Bereshit 30:25 – 31:18 – Ya’akov decides to leave Laban.
Ruth1:12-19 – Story of Ruth. Orpha decides to leave Naomi, but Ruth decides to stay with her.
“Know from where you came, where you are going, and before whom you are destined to give a judgment and accounting.” Mishna “Pirke Avot”, ch.3:1
American Slavery
Sethe is a central character in Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved. She is a slave who runs away to find freedom but is eventually caught and made to go back. This description of Sethe’s escape comes from Susan Babbitt in Impossible Dreams. It is a vivid account of the experience of leaving.
Sethe describes her escape from slavery, saying, “I did that. I had help, of course, lots of that, but still it was my doing it; me saying, Go on, and Now.” Nine months pregnant and alone, she struggles through the woods on swollen, blistered, bare feet. She does take conscious control of her life for that short, difficult time… “ Susan Babbitt in Impossible Dreams
Hagar in Art
Look at this picture –Having read the story of Hagar, is there anything in this interpretation that you find interesting?
“Hagar Leaves the House of Abraham” Rubens, Peter Paul, 1577-1640, Flemish Baroque Painter
Play “She’s Leaving Home” by the Beatles. Try analyzing it according to some or all of the following; (i) good reasons for leaving, (i) drawing lines, (iii) rhetorical questions, (iv) running from/running to
She’s Leaving Home Lyrics – The Beatles
Wednesday morning at five o’clock as the day begins Silently closing her bedroom door Leaving the note that she hoped would say more She goes downstairs to the kitchen clutching her handkerchief Quietly turning the backdoor key Stepping outside she is free.
She (We gave her most of our lives) is leaving (Sacrificed most of our lives) home (We gave her everything money could buy) She’s leaving home after living alone For so many years. Bye, bye
Father snores as his wife gets into her dressing gown Picks up the letter that’s lying there Standing alone at the top of the stairs She breaks down and cries to her husband Daddy our baby’s gone Why would she treat us so thoughtlessly How could she do this to me.
She (We never thought of ourselves) is leaving (Never a thought for ourselves) home (We struggled hard all our lives to get by) She’s leaving home after living alone For so many years. Bye, bye
Friday morning at nine o’clock she is far away Waiting to keep the appointment she made Meeting a man from the motor trade.
She (What did we do that was wrong) is having (We didn’t know it was wrong) fun (Fun is the one thing that money can’t buy) Something inside that was always denied For so many years. Bye, bye She’s leaving home. Bye, bye
Play “She’s Leaving Home” by the Beatles. Try analyzing it according to some or all of the following; (i) good reasons for leaving, (i) drawing lines, (iii) rhetorical questions, (iv) running from/running to
She’s Leaving Home Lyrics – The Beatles
Wednesday morning at five o’clock as the day begins Silently closing her bedroom door Leaving the note that she hoped would say more She goes downstairs to the kitchen clutching her handkerchief Quietly turning the backdoor key Stepping outside she is free.
She (We gave her most of our lives) is leaving (Sacrificed most of our lives) home (We gave her everything money could buy) She’s leaving home after living alone For so many years. Bye, bye
Father snores as his wife gets into her dressing gown Picks up the letter that’s lying there Standing alone at the top of the stairs She breaks down and cries to her husband Daddy our baby’s gone Why would she treat us so thoughtlessly How could she do this to me.
She (We never thought of ourselves) is leaving (Never a thought for ourselves) home (We struggled hard all our lives to get by) She’s leaving home after living alone For so many years. Bye, bye
Friday morning at nine o’clock she is far away Waiting to keep the appointment she made Meeting a man from the motor trade.
She (What did we do that was wrong) is having (We didn’t know it was wrong) fun (Fun is the one thing that money can’t buy) Something inside that was always denied For so many years. Bye, bye She’s leaving home. Bye, bye
Leading Idea: Rhetorical Questions “Where have you come from? Where are you going?”
When the Angel comes to Hagar he asks: “Where have you come from? Where are you going?” Does the angel want an answer? Rhetorical questions are questions we ask when we do not expect (or even desire) an answer – rather, their intent is either: (i) to lead us along a path of reasoning (in which case the person asking the question then proceeds to answer it (e.g.; “Why am I saying this? Because…), or (ii) to point our attention to something we are already expected to know (e.g.; “Do you really want that third cookie?”). In the case of Hagar, it seems the angel is asking the second kind of rhetorical question. So what is the angel seeking to get Hagar to think about? Hagar has left Avram’s house and she is ‘on the road to Shur’ – heading back toward her place of birth, Egypt. It looks like she is fleeing from one home and returning to another home. The question might be: “To what home should you be returning?” or “Where do you belong?” Other cases of rhetorical questions in the Torah involve other pivotal events.
God to Adam and Chava in the garden of Eden, (Bereshit 9-13)
God to Cain “Where is Hevel your brother?” (Bereshit 4:9)
God to Moshe “Why are crying out to me?” (Exodus 14:15)
Can you think of circumstances in which the following might be asked as a genuine question? Can you think of circumstances where the question is asked rhetorically? f it is a rhetorical question, what might it be designed to get the person to think about?
Do you really want that third cookie?
Have you been listening to what I have been saying?
Aren’t you tired yet?
Did I say that you could go out tonight?
Aren’t you cold?
Are there questions that can only be asked rhetorically?
Intertextual Sources: Exploring the meaning of אות
Exploring the meaning of אות
Is there any difference between the meaning of אות in the following passage and the way it is used in Noah?
Read together Shemot 12:13 (God telling the Israelite to mark their door frames during the plagues)
Discuss the ways in which this is similar and different from the rainbow. (for example: What is the function of the אות (to show? tell? remind? something else?). Who is doing the actions? Is this to help the Israelites also remember that they will be safe from God’s actions – is this the same as the rainbow?)
Drama Activities: The meaning of אות
Divide into small groups – half the groups will work with the Exodus text (Shemot 12:13) and half the groups with the in the rainbow text – they should create a skit that shows what they think putting the sign up (on the door, in the sky) is about in light of their discussion.
Divide into small groups – create a skit that shows how you understand the rainbow text in light of some of the distinctions you explored in your community of inquiry / in these discussion plans
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