MLK, Joseph’s Journey, and more
Jewish Studies
Andrew’s Class
We wrapped up our section about Joseph this week with the students acting out the final scene we learned from the previous week: the brother’s return with Benjamin and Joseph’s reveal of who he is to his brothers. We have some mighty fine performers in our class! The students were also introduced to the next person we will be exploring in our journey: Moses! Finally, as a surprise, the class shared two special uglifruits and learned about its orange, tangerine and grapefruit origins in honor of Tu B’Shevat!
Lee’s Class
After our regular review trivia, we started our class by talking about justice and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We discussed what we think of when we think of justice, and talked a bit about the continued relevance of Dr. King’s fight for justice. From these thoughts about justice we launched into the planning of our mock trial/debate about Jacob and Esau. Each group took some time to plan out an argument for the innocence of their defendant, and then each team appointed one member to give an opening statement. With our bailiff helping to keep time, the teams started their arguments, with each member getting a turn to offer a further argument or rebuttal. Finally, the teams each had an appointed member give a closing statement. The jury is still out, but we heard some very interesting and thought-provoking arguments about who was guilty and who was innocent in the case of Jacob and Esau.
David’s Class
This week we discussed the story of Jacob and his love for Rachel and Leah. We spoke about Jacob’s problematic behavior, which did not always adhere to the truth, and the related punishment he received when he was deceived himself [Laban, his father-in-law sneakily gave him Leah instead of Rachel as wife, just as he pretended to be his brother, Eisav, when he stole his father’s blessing].
We also explored the family unit and its development in our stories. We looked into the theme of showing favoritism and preferential treatment and discussed the idea of not living in this way for the sake of shalom bayit (שלום בית peace in the home), to avoid unpleasant tension and jealousy.
We also spoke of the verse -“As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man” – Proverbs 27 (כמים הפנים לפנים כן לב האדם לאדם). In other words, how a person carries him or herself in the world is a reflection of who the person truly is and will influence how people respond to them.
We saw a short film about events going on between Jacob and his wives, and we also played identity exchange games. Have a week full of buds and sweet fruits in honor of Tu B’Shevat!
Lee/Marna’s Class
We started by talking about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and discussing how we each can try to make our world a better place. Students offered some great ideas of things they or others have done to help the world. We then quickly revisited the story about Abraham and Sarah, with students working in groups to read through and discuss the story. We learned about how they particularly wanted to make the world a better place through chesed (kindness) and hachnasat orchim (welcoming guests), as when Abraham ran out from his tent to invite in three wanderers. Students asked thought-provoking questions and discussed whether this was a strange thing to do. We then transitioned to the story of Jacob and Esau, which we read together with each student taking a part.
Richard’s Class
This week we spent time wrapping up the story of Joseph. Covering Joseph’s position as the right-hand man of Pharaoh and what he did when his brothers beseeched his help against the upcoming famine. We engaged in an exciting conversation about forgiveness — Should everything be forgiven? How did forgiveness play out in our story? Should Joseph have forgiven his brothers or not? As an activity the students broke into 4 groups of 3 to continue mapping Joseph’s journey to Egypt. I am excited to invite you to please view your children’s work on the Tuesday/Saturday board inside the classroom!
Hebrew through Movement
Monday/Wednesday
Students learned the following words and incorporated them into previous vocabulary through different games.
Pencil – Iparon – עיפרון
Marker – Tush – טוש
Book – Sefer – ספר
Tuesday/Saturday
This week we learned about Tu-Bishvat -ט”וּ בִּשְׁבָט ! We discussed the holiday’s customs, such as planting trees and eating fruits typically grown in Israel. In addition, we learned the following words:
Tree – Etz – עֵץ
Fruit – Pri – פְּרִי
Apple – Tapuach – תפוח
Lemon – Limon – לימון
Pomegranate – Rimon – רימון
Date – Tamar – תמר
We also tried the Tu Bishvat vocabulary to the Hebrew vocabulary of the blessing over fruits (of trees) – “borei pri ha’etz” before eating apples and dates. Try to say these fruits in Hebrew with your children at home!
Announcements
URJ Camps Info Session & Lunch
On February 9th the Director of URJ Crane Lake Camp, Debbie Shriber, will be coming to CBE to tell us all about Eisner, Crane Lake, and Sci-Tech! This is a great opportunity for students and parents to ask questions and learn about the URJ camping system. We will be providing lunch as the presentation will be directly after Yachad on Saturday February 9th in the Ballroom. Please email Hannah Isaacs (hisaacs@cbebk.org) by Feb 5 to let her know you’re attending!
