About 2,000 years ago, Yehuda haNasi
codified the Mishna, part of the Oral Torah, which was intended to transform
the Torah into a set of guidelines for Jewish living. Pirkei
Avot, Ethics of the Sages, is the only tractate of the Mishna that does not
include Jewish laws. It has been compared
to Bartletts Familiar Quotations and
contains famous rabbinic expressions. In
the Gesher class, our goal is to learn some of these rabbinic expressions and
then to develop personal meanings and connections through the creation of
i-movie trailer on our i-pads.
Last week, we learned about the
rabbis’ set of 14 stages of a Jewish life.
This week, we looked at the first verse of Pirkei Avot in which they trace the transmission of Torah from
Moses to Joshua to the Prophets, etc. with the suggestion that ultimately that
Torah has been transmitted to each of us.
The rabbis then teach us that the transmission of Torah requires three
things: “Be deliberate in judgment, raise up many students and put a fence around
the Torah.” Then we looked at the second
mishna in Pirkei Avot, “On three things the world stands; on the Torah, on
worship and on acts of loving kindness.”
This mishna was then compared
to the 18th mishna in the
first chapter, “On three things the world stands; on judgment, on truth, and on
peace.” We wondered if these statements
are somehow equivalent. And students
suggested that the second statement feels more like universal values to them
where the first statement feels like it applies specifically to the Jewish
people. Next week, we’ll create our first
videos with one of these mishnayot as
a foundation.
Our tefillah experience focused on Ashrei
since Gesher students often lead
this prayer at Monday or Thursday morning minyanim
and at each other’s b’nei mitzvah.
As part of our study of the Jewish
Life Cycle, next week, we will have our first special guest, an expert, to talk
with us about birth in the lives of Jewish people.
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