Category Archives: The Jewish Year

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.

Activity: Neighborhood Trail-MS, HS

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Activity: Neighborhood Trail

  1. Walk around your neighborhood block.
  2. Photograph all the different types of things you can see that grow bigger as they grow older
  3. Photograph all the different types of things that you see that grow up as they grow older
  4. Photograph all the kinds of trees you see that bear fruit that we can eat.

Pick one interesting example of each. Tell us why you chose that object to photograph as an interesting example of growth and upload it with the photograph.

Secondary Source: Six Jewish Strategies for Spiritual Growth-MS, HS

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Secondary Source: Six Jewish Strategies for Spiritual Growth:

A daily regimen for building your spiritual muscles
by Sara Debbie Gutfreund

  1. Make gratitude a habit. Tu-BiShvat-Growth-SS-Strategies Picture
  2. Elevate the physical world.
  3. Be kind to others.
  4. Count each day. Every day has a purpose make it count.
  5. Pick yourself up often.
  6. Prioritize Rest.
Sara Debbie Gutfreund


Sara Debbie Gutfreund received her BA in English from the University of Pennsylvania and her MA in Family Therapy from the University of North Texas.

Source: http://www.aish.com/sp/pg/Six-Jewish-Strategies-for-Spiritual-Growth.html