4th Grade Scholars write the Brooklyn Talmud

At the start of the year, 4th Grade made our Brit, our class agreement of rules.  Today, our 4th Graders decided that we could use our Brit to think like the brilliant scholars who wrote the Talmud, thousands of years ago. 

We read our Brit, and we wrote one Brit law in the middle of a page. Then, on the left side of the page, our scholars wrote an interpretation of that law.  Finally, on the right side, they wrote an interpretation of the interpretation.  This is a lot like when Talmudic scholars read the Torah, and interpreted it (in the Mishna) — and then other scholars interpreted the interpretations (in the Gemarrah).

When you put Mishna and Gemarrah together, that’s the Talmud. So, we call our finished piece The Brooklyn Talmud.

If you read some of our scholars’ words, you’ll find that they connected many ideas together.  Often, they elaborated on the rules. Sometimes they wrote stories, reactions, or funny jokes. Sometimes they even had questions and debates for each other — all of which is exactly like in the real Talmud!  Some students chose to illustrate our Talmud, because we saw an illuminated manuscript, which was set up just this way, too.

The scholars are rightfully proud of their thought processes and their work. I hope these thumbnails work, too. Enjoy!