SAVE THE DATE
GESHER SIYYUM (COMMENCEMENT)
TUESDAY, MAY 31 (5:40-7:15pm)
If
it’s Tuesday, it must be Parashat
haShavua! In the past few weeks we have
explored Parashiot Tzav, Shemini and Tazriya. Since Gesher is the eldest class, it is their
honor to develop our community Torah study questions, which are then discussed
in younger classes on Sunday mornings, and they also select a breakfast
cereal. While learning to develop
discussion questions has been challenging, students enjoy the challenge of finding
a breakfast cereal that they can connect to the parasha and/or the Jewish calendar.
For Tzav, Gesher students selected Cocoa
Puffs, since in this Torah portion, prior to their ordination as
priests, Aaron and his sons bathed and are transformed by the water. Similarly,
the milk is transformed by the Cocoa Puffs. Shemini
presents a list of kosher and not-kosher animals, birds and fish. Students selected Special K because some foods are marked with a ‘K’ to indicate that they are kosher. Today was our final Sunday prior to
Passover. We embraced the responsibility
of eating up our chametz and no
cereal was requested.
A
few weeks ago, the prophet Amos provided us opportunities to look at a bit of
his prophecy and to review the map of Israel.
We began a study of the Amidah focusing
on the first bracha. Sunday, March 27th ended with some
soul-searching regarding each student’s signature mitzvah and, moving forward,
his/her plans to nourish their Jewish neshamah.
Last
Sunday, we continued our study of the Amidah
with the Gevurah blessing in which we
recognize God’s awesome power and today we discussed the Kedushah blessing. We
counted 10 words within this blessing that share the shoresh (root) kuf-daled-shin.
Since Kedushah is only recited with a minyan, one student said, so a minyan says some form of the word ‘holy’
100 or more times during a sharcharit
or mincha service—an interesting insight! We met with Rabbi Liben to discuss Jewish
marriage, divorce and our laundry list of questions that we have accumulated
during our various studies.
Today,
we met with Cantor Ken to sing some songs based on Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Sages).
We are learning these songs as both text and music in order to share
them with you at our Siyyum
(Commencement).
Yesterday,
in his d’var Torah, Rabbi Liben
mentioned the AJWS website’s Passover Seder resources (https://ajws.org/who-we-are/resources/holiday-resources/passover/)
The AJWS Four Children intrigued our inquisitive Gesher students.
THE
AWJS FOUR CHILDREN: A Passover reading designed to transform questions into action
- What does the Activist Child ask?
The Torah tells me, “Justice, justice you shall pursue,”
but how can I pursue justice?
Empower her always to seek
pathways to advocate for the vulnerable. As Proverbs teaches, “Speak up for the
mute, for the rights of the unfortunate. Speak up, judge righteously, champion
the poor and the needy.”
- What does the Skeptical Child ask?
How can I solve problems of such enormity?
Encourage him by explaining
that he need not solve the problems, he must only do what his is capable of
doing. As we read in Pirkei Avot, “It is not your
responsibility to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from
it.”
- What does the INDIFFERENT
Child say?
It’s not my responsibility.
Persuade her that
responsibility cannot be shirked. As
Abraham Joshua writes, “The opposite of good is not evil, the opposite of good
is indifference. In a free society where
terrible wrongs exist, some are guilty, but all are responsible.”
- And the UNINFORMED CHILD
WHO DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO ASK…
Prompt him to see himself as
an inheritor of our people’s legacy. As
it says in Deuteronomy, “You must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers
in the Land of Egypt.”
At
this season of liberation, let us work toward the liberation of all people.
Let
us respond to our children’s questions with action and justice.
This alternative Four Children reading provided a
wonderful opportunity to talk about values and vocabulary and was a meaningful
introduction to our special program on Fair Trade Chocolate.
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