Gesher
had an amazing and very busy Sunday!
First we explored similarities and differences between Purim and Passover
such as strong heroic women, redeemers with royal connections, and “they tried
to kill us, we won, let’s eat!” In another Purim-Passover activity, we
looked at 15 similar texts. Some of the
texts were from the Book of Exodus, others were from Megillat Esther and some are attributed to Hitler. Students were tasked with sorting the texts
according to source. Our recognition of a recurring trend in our history was
terrifying!
Pirkei
Avot 2:16, You are not obligated to
complete the work but neither are you free to abandon it had robust
connections for us to other Jewish texts. The Hebrew word, ‘work’ in this mishna is the same used in Genesis
(1:31-2:3) which describes God’s work in creating the world and His abstention
from work on Shabbat. From this we
understand that this text involves partnering with God in the work of
Creation. How do we do that? We recognize that creation is still in
progress and noted that many things need to be fixed in God’s world. Students suggested some things that need fixing:
- Pollution
- The
Middle East conflict
- War
- Terrorism
- Hunger
and starvation
- Global
warming
- Under-age
marriages
- Exploitation
of children
- Rising
sea levels
Then we looked at the word for
‘free’ and found that we know it from the morning blessings in which we thank
God for making us free and from the Haggadah where we note that in the past we
were slaves and now we are free. The
implication is that God has made us free to be God’s partners in tikkun olam, world repair.
Next week we will continue to
explore Megillat Esther and Purim to find new understandings and
personal connections.
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