Category Archives: Lech L’cha

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.

Leading Idea: Rhetorical Questions

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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)

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

Exercise: Rhetorical Questions

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Exercise: Rhetorical Questions

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?

  1. Do you really want that third cookie?
  2. Have you been listening to what I have been saying?
  3. Aren’t you tired yet?
  4. Did I say that you could go out tonight?
  5. Aren’t you cold?

Are there questions that can only be asked rhetorically?

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.

Activity: Rhetorical Questions – MS, HS

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Activity: Rhetorical Questions

In pairs make up a skit where the dialogue consists solely of rhetorical questions directed at one another. See how long you can sustain the dialogue so it continues to make sense. You can use both forms of rhetorical questions – ones whose intent is either:

  • 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…),
  • to point our attention to something we are already expected to know (e.g.; “Do you really want that third cookie?”).

Discussion Plan: Running from, Running to – UPS, MS

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Discussion Plan: Running from, Running to

  1. When you run away, do your problems run with you?
  2. Is it possible to run away without leaving home?
  3. Is hiding from someone a kind of ‘running away’?
  4. If people know where you are going, are you still running away?
  5. Do we ever have a duty to run away?
  6. If you are running away from something, are you always running to something else?
  7. If you are running to something, are you always running away from something else?
  8. If you see a friend or child and run toward them, are you running from anything?
  9. Can you think of some circumstances when running away would be a sensible thing to do? (if so, what might they be?)
  10. Can you think of some circumstances when running away would be a brave thing to do? (if so, when might that be?)
  11. Can you think of some circumstances when running away would be the wrong thing to do?
  12. Can someone else decide for you that you should run away, or is it only something you can decide for yourself? Why? Why not?

Discussion Plan: Running from, Running to – HS, A

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Discussion Plan: Running from, Running to

  1. When you run away, do your problems run with you?
  2. Is it possible to run away without leaving home?
  3. Is hiding from someone a kind of ‘running away’?
  4. If people know where you are going, are you still running away?
  5. Do we ever have a duty to run away?
  6. Can you ‘run away’ from where you are without moving at all?
  7. Can you ‘go toward’ something without moving at all?
  8. If you are running away from something, are you always running to something else?
  9. If you are running to something, are you always running away from something else?
  10. If you see a friend and run toward them, are you running from anything?
  11. If a parent sees their child and runs toward him/her, are they running from anything?
  12. Can you think of some circumstances when running away would be a sensible thing to do? (if so, what might they be?)
  13. Can you think of some circumstances when running away would be a brave thing to do? (if so, when might that be?)
  14. Can you think of some circumstances when running away would be the wrong thing to do?
  15. Can someone else decide for you that you should run away, or is it only something you can decide for yourself? Why? Why not?

Exercise: Good Reasons for Leaving – UPS, MS

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Exercise: Good Reasons for Leaving

Do you think the following are good reasons for leaving? Explain why or why not.

  1. You leave the room because your brother refuses to give you the video game.
  2. You stop being someone’s friend because you discover she/he stole something from you.
  3. You run away because your brother is constantly making you feel bad about yourself.
  4. You run away because your sister hits you when you do something to annoy her.
  5. You change schools because your teacher tells you that you aren’t bright.
  6. You leave your friend’s sleep-over because some of the kids are drinking alcohol.
  7. You leave home because your mother hits you when you do something that upsets her.
  8. You stop taking swimming classes because the swim instructor insists that you wear a bathing cap.
  9. You leave the softball team because you think your coach treats girls and boys on the team differently.
  10. You leave camp because you are lonely.
  11. You leave camp because you are bored.

Exercise: Good Reasons for Leaving – HS, A

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Exercise: Good Reasons for Leaving

Do you think the following are good reasons for leaving? Explain why or why not.

  1. You leave the room because your brother refuses to give you the video game.
  2. You stop being someone’s friend because you discover she/he stole something from you.
  3. You leave home because people in the house are constantly making you feel bad about yourself.
  4. You leave home because your parent/spouse hit you when you do something to annoy them.
  5. You change schools/jobs because your teacher/employee tells you that you aren’t bright enough to advance to a better level/position.
  6. You leave the party because kids are drinking alcohol and getting drunk.
  7. You leave the local softball team because you think the coach is racist.
  8. You leave the city where your parent’s live to go to college/take a job in another State..
  9. You leave camp/work early because you are bored.