Category Archives: HS

Discussion Plan: Telling Lies

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Discussion Plan: Telling Lies

1. Does ‘lying’ have more than one meaning?
2. Can you say something that is false without it being a lie?
3. Are there different sorts of lies?
4. What is the difference between them? Are they equally wrong/right?
5. Is exaggeration a form of lying?
6. Can you lie without meaning to?
7. Can you tell the truth without meaning to?
8. If your lie turns out to be the truth have you still lied?
9. What are some of the likely consequences of lying?
10. Is lying ever justified?

Secondary Sources: Lying – Aaron, Lover and Pursuer of Peace – MS, HS, A

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Secondary Sources: Lying

Aaron, Lover and Pursuer of Peace

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Some Questions you might like to ask:

  • How do you think the friends would react if they found out Aaron had made this up?
  • How do you think Aaron would describe what he did?
  • Do you think Aaron should have done something different?
  • You might like to act out the story in light of these questions.

Leading Idea: Sarah’s Miracle?

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Leading Idea: Sarah’s Miracle?

The text tells us that when Sarah gave birth to Yitzak she was 95 years old. Even if Biblical years are calculated differently, the story tells us she was past childbearing years, and of a ripe old age. Is this, then, a Miracle? If so, what kind of miraculous event is this? Use the resources on Miracles in Parshat Shemot to explore this (and yes I know we need some sources from women here – just having trouble finding some so if you do…..

Note, that the sources are for primary and high school – so pick ones appropriate to your age class if you take up this topic.

Leading Idea: Seeing and Naming God

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Leading Idea: Seeing and Naming God

Hagar’s journey is unique in that she both sees and names God. Both this act of seeing (she seeing God and God seeing her; naming God) are obscurely phrased in Hebrew and open to different understandings and translations. The significance of this is captured in the reading by Rabbi Michal Shekel. Firstly, the difference between hearing and seeing is an important one – both literally and the way we use these terms metaphorically (phrases like “I see what you mean” and the notion of insight). Secondly, we have the significance of seeing another’s face. You might like to explore together why the face has unique status in terms of our access to others.
There are further resources in this booklet for exploring these: see: “Face”, p.45 and on naming and naming God. Relevant exercises and discussion plans can be found in those sections.

Discussion Plan: What counts as a miracle? – MS, HS, A

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Discussion Plan: What counts as a miracle?

1. As I was walking home I was thinking “wouldn’t it be great to have money to buy an ice-cream” – and then I saw a dollar coin in the gutter.
2. In the storm, a bolt of lightning came down and split the tree in half.
3. I fell off my bike speeding down the hill, but came out of it without even a scratch.
4. When the house down the street caught fire, I prayed that everyone would get out of the fire safely and they did.
5. I wake up every morning feeling fresh and ready to start the day.
6. When the forest fire was out of control, the wind turned and the rain came and put it out.
7. The fortune teller told my sister that she would meet someone and fall in love and she did.
8. God created the world in seven days.
9. Jonah was swallowed by a whale/big fish and survived. (Is this the same as no.8?)
10. I prayed that something bad would happen to the boy at school who is always teasing me, and then he broke his arm. (How does your answer here compare to your answer to no. 4?)
11. A standard 747 airplane weighs more than 910,000lbs when it is loaded, and yet it can still get off the ground!

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Leading Idea: When is enough enough?

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Leading Idea: When is enough enough?

Sarai doesn’t do just one thing to Hagar; rather, it seems that she treats her badly time after time. Hagar finally runs away because she decides she has taken enough of Sarai’s harsh treatment. How do we make the decision that enough is enough? There are two things to consider here (i) When to draw the line and say “no more!” and (ii) What constitutes good reasons for leaving a situation or person. Here the question is not only one of quantity, but also a matter of deciding what factors are the relevant ones in the first place. For instance, two people might both ‘draw the line’ at eating one candy bar per day – but the relevant factor to consider for one person might be health, while the relevant factor for the other might be the cost.

Exercise: Drawing Lines

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Exercise: Drawing lines

In each case, how do you decide that enough is enough? In each case, what factors do you take into account in making this decision?

  • Deciding how much homework to do
  • Deciding how much candy to eat before putting the rest away
  • Deciding when you have watched enough television
  • Deciding how late to stay up
  • Deciding when your hair needs cutting
  • Deciding when to stop playing a computer game
  • Deciding whether to continue asking your parents for something after they have said ‘no’
  • Deciding when teasing your brother/sister has gone far enough
  • Deciding how much tzedakah to give
  • Deciding when you need to clean your room

Leading Idea: Consequences and Responsibility

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Leading Idea: Consequences and Responsibility

In verses 4-6 Sara speaks to Avram complaining of Hagar and Avram says to her “do what you want to do” – Sarai then treats her badly. Hagar then runs away.
In this passage Avram seems to take no responsibility for addressing the situation – is he then partly responsible for Hagar’s leaving? Our actions can have consequences we don’t foresee, but does that absolve us from responsibility toward the outcome?
The discussion plan “Consequences and Responsibility” explores the relationship between actions we take, their consequences and our responsibility toward the outcome.

Discussion Plan: Consequences and Responsibility – MS, HS

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Discussion Plan: Consequences and Responsibility

  1. If I give you permission to play ball outside the house and a ball goes through the window, who is responsible for the broken window?
  2. You loosen the wheel on the bike of someone intending to scare them, but they ended up getting hurt. Are you responsible for them being hurt?
  3. You help your friend with their homework. Are you responsible for their good grade?
  4. You introduce two people and they become friends. Are you responsible for their friendship?
  5. Your parents don’t give you permission to go to your friend’s sleepover party and your friend is angry with you. Are your parents responsible for the anger?
  6. You know your friend is shoplifting but don’t say anything to anyone. Later, she gets caught and gets into trouble. Are you at all responsible?
  7. Your sister stays out after curfew . Your parents ask your opinion on what to do, but you tell them to do whatever they want. They ground her for a whole month. Are you responsible for her harsh treatment?
  8. You tell your parents that your brother has started smoking. They ask you to try to get him to stop. Are your parents living up to their responsibility?
  9. You give a beggar a dollar. They buy a lottery ticket and win. Are you responsible for them now being wealthy?
  10. Your friends ask to borrow some money. You think they are going to buy cigarettes. They do. If they get sick, are you responsible for their health?

Leading Idea: Going from – Going to

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Leading Idea: Going from – Going to

When you decide to move, does it make a difference if your reason for making the move is tied to leaving behind the place you are currently in, or tied to the place you heading toward? Sometimes the place we are heading towards is also a place we once chose to leave (coming home after camp, leaving the home town where we grew up, then coming back there later in life). Sometimes that ‘return’ is from a place our ancestors left generations before (Jews going to live in Israel, second or third generation immigrants returning to their parents/grandparents’ country of birth). Is a return to place always motivated by the desire to be there or can there be other reasons to ‘return home’?
Susan Babbitt, writing on American slavery notes that the decision to leave often also involves a bold step of imagination. In going to this involves the capacity to imagine one’s life differently from how it is, and perhaps to imagine yourself capable of things you have not yet done. To have both to desire change and some imagined life that you are moving toward. In going from imagination also comes into play, as it may involve playing out the consequences of staying where we currently are. Of course both might be the matter of implusive action (without much forethought) – but is that the case here?
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. Yet she turns around and returns to the place of conflict – her home with Avram and Sarai (and that doesn’t seem to turn out too well for her!). These discussion plans explore going form and going to and the reasons we might have for making these journeys.