Category Archives: Parshiot

Discussion Plan: Journeys and Journeying

Discussion Plan:  Journeys and Journeying

  1. Does a journey need to have a place of departure? Explain
  2. Does a journey need to have a set destination? Explain
  3. Are there different kinds of journeys? What makes them different?
  4. If I start walking but end up back where I started from, have I taken a journey
  5. Can I end up in a different place without taking a journey?
  6.  Can I take a journey without moving at all?
  7. Can I take a journey while sleeping?
  8. What is the difference between going on a vacation and going on a journey?
  9. Can a journey be both exciting and scary at the same time?
  10. Can a journey be both boring and worthwhile?
  11. Can journeys be good or bad, or is it the things that happen on them that are good or bad?
  12. Could a trip to the end of the street become a journey?
  13. Is there a difference between a journey I take on my own and a journey I take with others? If so, what are some of the differences?
  14. In what ways might a journey change you?
  15. In what ways might a journey surprise you?
  16. Is there a difference between a journey someone instructs you to take, and a journey you choose to take? If so, what are some of the differences?

 

Activity: Handmade Midrash upper PS-HS

 Activity: Hand-Torn Midrash:

Make a ‘torn-paper Midrash’that draws on how you understand the term אות in light of one of the distinctions you explored in your community of inquiry .

 

Note:

Tearing paper to make collages that express our interpretation of text was developed by Jo Milgrom.  Collages can be abstract or representational, they might use different coloured papers to convey emotions and movement…. in short, anything goes as long as one basic rule is observed – the paper cannot be cut. Some people like to glue the end product down, others leave it without any adhesive. It is up to you. A variety of papers  can be used, including printed paper.

The meaning of ‘אות’ in the Torah

Inter-textual exploration

Using a Tanach, Look up the following references. Is there any difference between the meaning of  ( אות ) in these passages? What do you think the function of the ( אות ) is in each case?  (to show? tell? remind? something else?)

  • Bereshit 4:15  (Cain and Abel)
  • Shemot 31:13 (Shabbat)
  • Shemot  31: 17 (Shabbat)
  • Shemot  8:18-19  (Plagues)
  • Shemot 12:13 (Blood on the doorposts)

Exercise: Showing and Reminding

What is the difference between…

  • Putting a sign on the door to show visitors that they can’t enter without knocking.
  • Putting a sign on the door to remind visitors that they can’t enter without knocking.
  • Putting a sign on the door to remind yourself that you shouldn’t let visitors in unless they have knocked on the door first.

When might you need to post each of these signs?

Exercise: Setting something up vs. Maintaining it

 

Exercise: Establishing something and Maintaining it

Is there a difference between these things, if so, what is the difference?

  • Setting up (establishing) a rule that says “do not enter the room without knocking”
  • Maintaining the rule the says “do not enter the room without knocking”
  • Forming (Establishing) a friendship
  • Maintaining that person as a friend
  • Forming (Establishing) a reputation for fairness
  • Maintaining a reputation for fairness

Leading Idea: Setting Up and Maintaining

Leading Idea: Setting Up and Maintaining

Establishing (מֵקִים ), remembering (לִזְכֹּר) and remembering in the future (זָכַרְתִּי)
In Verses 9:8-17 God turns his attention from Noah to himself. “As for me…”  Within this passage he reflects on the act of setting up or establishing a covenant and remembering it – that is maintaining a covenant (keeping it over time), and the intention to keep it in the future (I will remember).

God also reflects on the ‘sign’ (אות) , or rainbow, as representing the covenant (as a sign of the covenant), as a way of showing us of his intentions (it stands as a sign between me and you), and as a way of reminding himself of his covenant. These exercises and discussion plans explore these subtle yet very powerful distinctions.

Noach (Bereshit-9:8-9:17) – בְּרֵאשִׁית

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Noach (Bereshit 9:8 -9:17) – בְּרֵאשִׁית

8 And God said to Noach, and to his sons with him, saying: ח  וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים אֶל-נֹחַ, וְאֶל-בָּנָיו אִתּוֹ לֵאמֹר.
9 ‘As for Me, here, I now set up [establish] my covenant with you, and with your seed [children] after you; ט  וַאֲנִי, הִנְנִי מֵקִים אֶת-בְּרִיתִי אִתְּכֶם, וְאֶת-זַרְעֲכֶם, אַחֲרֵיכֶם.
10 and with all living creatures that are with you, the fowl, herd-animals, and all the wildlife of the earth with you;  with all those going out of the Ark, of all the living things on the earth.

י  וְאֵת כָּל-נֶפֶשׁ הַחַיָּה אֲשֶׁר אִתְּכֶם, בָּעוֹף בַּבְּהֵמָה וּבְכָל-חַיַּת הָאָרֶץ אִתְּכֶם; מִכֹּל יֹצְאֵי הַתֵּבָה, לְכֹל חַיַּת הָאָרֶץ.

11  I will establish my covenant with you; never again shall all flesh be cut off again by waters of a flood; never again shall there be a flood, to destroy the earth!

יא  וַהֲקִמֹתִי אֶת-בְּרִיתִי אִתְּכֶם, וְלֹא-יִכָּרֵת כָּל-בָּשָׂר עוֹד מִמֵּי הַמַּבּוּל; וְלֹא-יִהְיֶה עוֹד מַבּוּל, לְשַׁחֵת הָאָרֶץ.

12 And God said: ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I set between me and you and all living creatures that are with you, for all ages to come:

יב  וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, זֹאת אוֹת-הַבְּרִית אֲשֶׁר-אֲנִי נֹתֵן בֵּינִי וּבֵינֵיכֶם, וּבֵין כָּל-נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה, אֲשֶׁר אִתְּכֶם–לְדֹרֹת, עוֹלָם.

13 My bow, I set in the cloud, so that it shall serve as a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.

יג  אֶת-קַשְׁתִּי, נָתַתִּי בֶּעָנָן; וְהָיְתָה לְאוֹת בְּרִית, בֵּינִי וּבֵין הָאָרֶץ.

14 And when I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow is seen, in the clouds

יד  וְהָיָה, בְּעַנְנִי עָנָן עַל-הָאָרֶץ, וְנִרְאֲתָה הַקֶּשֶׁת, בֶּעָנָן.

15  I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and all living creatures of all flesh; so the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

טו  וְזָכַרְתִּי אֶת-בְּרִיתִי, אֲשֶׁר בֵּינִי וּבֵינֵיכֶם, וּבֵין כָּל-נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה, בְּכָל-בָּשָׂר; וְלֹא-יִהְיֶה עוֹד הַמַּיִם לְמַבּוּל, לְשַׁחֵת כָּל-בָּשָׂר.

16 When the bow will be, in the cloud; I will see it, and remember the covenant between God and all living creatures – all flesh that is on the earth

טז  וְהָיְתָה הַקֶּשֶׁת, בֶּעָנָן; וּרְאִיתִיהָ, לִזְכֹּר בְּרִית עוֹלָם, בֵּין אֱלֹהִים, וּבֵין כָּל-נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה בְּכָל-בָּשָׂר אֲשֶׁר עַל-הָאָרֶץ.

17 And God said to Noach: ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.’

יז  וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, אֶל-נֹחַ:  זֹאת אוֹת-הַבְּרִית, אֲשֶׁר הֲקִמֹתִי, בֵּינִי, וּבֵין כָּל-בָּשָׂר אֲשֶׁר עַל-הָאָרֶץ.

18 And the sons of Noach, that went out from the Ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth; and Ham is the father of Canaan.

יח  וַיִּהְיוּ בְנֵי-נֹחַ, הַיֹּצְאִים מִן-הַתֵּבָה–שֵׁם, וְחָם וָיָפֶת; וְחָם, הוּא אֲבִי כְנָעַן.

Exercise: What do we eat and why / why not? – HS

Exercise: What do we eat and why / why not?

 


 
I eat this Someone else in my family eats this Other people in my culture eat this In the Torah it says we shouldn’t eat it People from other cultures I know of do eat it I don’t think anyone eats this – but it wouldn’t be wrong if they did No-one should eat this– it is morally wrong
Fish              
Dried  Pineapple              
Mushrooms              
Beef              
Golf  balls              
Raw eggs              
Lamb              
Animal Hair              
Blood sausage              
Monkeys              
Cats              
Gum              
Pork              
Elephants              
Leftovers              
Strawberries              
Ants              
Human Beings              
A leather shoe              
Dolphins              
Mice              
Paper              
Someone elses half eaten sandwich              
A pen              

 

Exercise: What do we eat and why / why not? -PS

Exercise: What do we eat and why / why not?


 
I eat this Someone else in my family eats this Other people in my culture eat this In the Torah it says we shouldn’t eat it People from other cultures I know of do eat it I don’t think anyone eats this – but it wouldn’t be wrong if they did No-one should eat this– it is morally wrong
Fish              
Dried  Pineapple              
Mushrooms              
Beef              
Buttons              
Raw eggs              
Lamb              
Animal Hair              
Blood sausage              
Cats              
Gum              
Pork              
Leftovers              
Strawberries              
Ants              
Human Beings              
Dolphins              
Mice              
Paper              
Someone else’s half eaten sandwich              
A pen              
             
             

 

 

Discussion Plan: Deciding what we should eat- PS

Deciding what we should eat

  1. Do you think parents should decide what food their pre-school child should eat?
  2. Do you think your family should decide what you eat now?
  3. Are there food you can eat too much of?
  4. Are there foods you can eat too little of?
  5. Are their kinds of food that it is hard to stop eating once you start?
  6. If a species is endangered, should people continue to eat it? (even if it acceptable to eat it)
  7. Are there animals you don’t think we should eat because it is wrong to kill them?
  8. If you raise an animal and look after it – would it be wrong to eat it? (Would this be the same if you lived on a farm?)
  9. In many ways, animals are like people – is that a reason not to kill them?
  10. Think of eating an animal’s eye – disgusting? Why does this disgust you?
  11. To what extent do you think that your culture decides what it is possible for you to eat?