Category Archives: PS Lower

Exercise: Metaphor and Meaning

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Exercise: Metaphor and Meaning

Capturing meaning through metaphor
What qualities do you think are being described in the following sentences?

  1. He had a mountain of troubles
  2. Her words were pearls of wisdom
  3. He felt a wave of emotions
  4. Her bark was worse than her bite
  5. He had a sharp mind

The difference a metaphor makes
Which image do you think is better? Why?

  1. To see a person as a tree or to see them as a rock?
  2. To think of your life as a journey or to think of it as a story?
  3. To think of the test you have tomorrow as a hurdle or to think of it as a game?

Leading Idea: Tree as Metaphor

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Leading Idea: Tree as Metaphor

Metaphors capture the qualities of one thing through the imagery of another (“He gave a lion’s roar”). It is more than a comparison (“His scream was like a lions roar”) becomes it suggests that the object (the lion) – or some quality of the object – is part of what he is (and expressed in the sound he made). The tree has been an important metaphor in Judaism for both describing the Torah and describing a person.

Leading Idea: Establishing, remembering, and remembering in the future

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 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 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.

Lech L’cha (Bereshit 12:1-5) בְּרֵאשִׁית

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Bereshit 12:1-5   בְּרֵאשִׁית יב :א-ה
1. God said to Avram, “Go, take yourself
from your land
and from where you were born,
and from your father’s house
to the land that I will let you see:		 א  וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-אַבְרָם, לֶךְ-לְךָ
מֵאַרְצְךָ
וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ
,וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ 
.אֶל-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ 
 2.   I will make you a great nation
And I will bless you,
I will make your name great.
And be a blessing.		  ,ב  וְאֶעֶשְׂךָ, לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל
,וַאֲבָרֶכְךָ
וַאֲגַדְּלָה שְׁמֶךָ
וֶהְיֵה, בְּרָכָה
3. I will bless those people who bless you
And those that curse you, I will curse;
And all the families of the earth shall find
blessing through you [by way of you.”		 ,ג  וַאֲבָרְכָה, מְבָרְכֶיךָ
;וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ, אָאֹר
.וְנִבְרְכוּ בְךָ, כֹּל מִשְׁפְּחֹת הָאֲדָמָה
4. Avram went, as God had told him,
and Lot went with him.
And Avram was seventy-five years old
when he went out of Haran.		 ,ד  וַיֵּלֶךְ אַבְרָם, כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר אֵלָיו יְהוָה
;וַיֵּלֶךְ אִתּוֹ, לוֹט
,וְאַבְרָם, בֶּן-חָמֵשׁ שָׁנִים וְשִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה
.בְּצֵאתוֹ, מֵחָרָן
5. Avram took Sarai, his wife,
and Lot, his brother’s son,
and all their belongings that they had gained,
and the people they had made their own in Haran;
and they went to go to the land of Canaan.		 ה וַיִּקַּח אַבְרָם אֶת-שָׂרַי אִשְׁתּוֹ
,וְאֶת-לוֹט בֶּן-אָחִיו
,וְאֶת-כָּל-רְכוּשָׁם אֲשֶׁר רָכָשׁוּ
,וְאֶת-הַנֶּפֶשׁ, אֲשֶׁר-עָשׂוּ בְחָרָן; וַיֵּצְאוּ
.לָלֶכֶת אַרְצָה כְּנַעַן, וַיָּבֹאוּ, אַרְצָה כְּנָעַן 
Lech-Lcha-map

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.