Shabbat Curriculum
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Shabbat Curriculum By Rabbi Gideon Sylvester Esti Moskovitz-Kalman, Project and Educational Director Rabbi Tamir Nir Edited by Yael Feinblum Keren Hendin and Keren Hendin Project TEN Identity Design, Presentation I Project TEN Identity Design, Presentation I Their Saturday, Your Day of Rest, Their Saturday, Your Day of Rest, Our Shabbat Goals: ¸¸ Participants will learn about the origins of Shabbat. ¸¸ Participants will be exposed to various aspects of Shabbat, approaching it from different perspectives. ¸¸ Participants will explore the idea that Shabbat embodies the core cultural values of Judaism, including the commitment to social equality and the environment. ¸¸ Participants will use biblical and contemporary texts to consider how the central ideas of Shabbat have developed through the generations. ¸¸ Participants will explore the intersection of their own Jewish identities with Shabbat. 3 ¸¸ In light of all of the above, participants will consider their own Shabbat practice, and how they would like to observe Shabbat as a group. ”To set apart one day a week for freedom, a day on which we would not use the instruments which have been so easily turned into weapons of destruction, a day for being with ourselves....is there any institution that holds out greater hope for man’s progress...” A.J. Heschel, The Sabbath, p. 28 Project TEN Identity Design, Presentation I Project TEN Identity Design, Presentation I Our Shabbat Introduction: In the following sessions, we will examine Jewish, Zionist and Western approaches to work, rest, and Shabbat. As we engage with the sources, with each other, and with the reality around us, we will explore our personal perspectives as well as develop a shared group approach to the core values essential to Shabbat. In each session, we will examine the attitudes of several different writers, some Jewish, some non-Jewish, some religious, and some secular. We are each likely to feel more comfortable with some outlooks than with others, but each view has been chosen because it represents others’ perspectives. All of these views are worthy of consideration. We are challenged to explore new vistas and approaches, as we apply our critical faculties. Our investigation begins today with our own Jewish identities and how we are perceived by the rest of the group and by the people in our new home. 1. ”Every Person Has a Name”: What’s in a Name? 4 Read Source 1: “Every Person Has a Name” by Zelda. Discuss: How do we acquire different “names” for ourselves in different surroundings? Why do we? Members of the group should introduce themselves using their given (first) names, explaining what their names mean, who named them, etc. (The facilitator may also choose to discuss the significance of given names in local culture.) Project TEN Identity Design, Presentation I Project TEN Identity Design, Presentation I Our Shabbat Source 1 – לכל איש יש שם ”Every Person Has a Name“ זלדה Zelda לכלאישיששם Every man has a name שנתןלואלוקים Given him by God ונתנולואביוואמו And given by his father and his mother לכלאישיששם Every man has a name שנתנולוקומתו Given him by his stature and his way of ואופןחיוכו ,smiling ונתןלוהאריג .And given him by his clothes לכלאישיששם Every man has a name שנתנולוההרים Given him by the mountains ונתנולוכתליו And given him by his walls לכלאישיששם Every man has a name שנתנולוהמזלות Given him by the planets 5 ונתנולושכניו And given him by his neighbors לכלאישיששם Every man has a name שנתנולוחטאיו Given him by his sins ונתנהלוכמיהתו And given him by his longing לכלאישיששם Every man has a name given him by שנתנולושונאיו those who hate him ונתנהלואהבתו And given him by his love לכלאישיששם Every man has a name שנתנולוחגיו Given him by his holidays ונתנהלומלאכתו And given him by his handiwork לכלאישיששם Every man has a name שנתנולועונותהשנה Given him by the seasons of the year ונתןלועיוורונו And given him by his blindness לכלאישיששם Every man has a name שנתןלוהים Given him by the sea ונתןלו And given him מותו. .By his death Project TEN Identity Design, Presentation I Project TEN Identity Design, Presentation I Our Shabbat Zelda (Shneurson Mishkowsky) (1914-1984) was born in the Ukraine. Her work, which began to appear in 1968, gained many faithful readers from all sectors of Israeli society. Zelda published six volumes of poetry altogether and was awarded the prestigious Bialik Prize. She died at age 70, in Jerusalem. Group discussion: My name - as I call (or create for) myself My name - as I am called or as is given to me by others (i.e., my reputation). Consider your different identities as an individual with different “names” (student, employee, athlete, citizen, Jew etc.), and consider those identities within the context of the greater community. Suggested Activity to be completed before Shabbat: Masks 6 Make masks, decorated on both sides. The inside is how you see yourself, and the outside is how you believe you are seen by others. Share your mask with your peers and discuss the points below. Project TEN Identity Design, Presentation I Project TEN Identity Design, Presentation I Our Shabbat Discussion points: My “name” as a Jew / Israeli / Citizen of another country How much does being a Jew affect your daily life at home? What (Jewish) activities do you take part in on a communal, national level? Do you care about safeguarding the names that you acquire for yourself? Why or why not? If you do care, what do you do to safeguard them? Do you think about creating a “legacy”? How do your “names” reflect your values? Does that align with your experience of identity within your community (school, neighborhood, religious, national etc.)? If so, how so? If not, why not? How do individuals and communities perpetuate their values? In many ways the names that we are given later on in life represent our essence. In these sessions, we focus on Shabbat as a core Jewish value that fundamentally embodies core human values such as equality, freedom, and sustainability. We begin by exploring the different “names” of Shabbat (i.e., they depict the essence of Shabbat). 7 Project TEN Identity Design, Presentation I Project TEN Identity Design, Presentation I Our Shabbat ראובן ושמעון ) יסודותיו – Source 2 של הבין-אנושי( Reuven and Shimon מרטין בובר Pillars of the) Interpersonal) ” נתאר לנו עתה שני בני אדם מסוג הדימוי, Martin Buber היושביםזהעלידזהומסיחיםזהעםזה-ראובן ושמעון-ונמנהאתמספרהפרצופיםהמשחקים במחזהזה . ,Let us imagine two human beings ראשית:הנהראובןכפישהוארוצהלהראותבעיני sitting one beside the other, having a שמעון , ושמעוןכפירוצהלהראותבעיניראובן ; - conversation ראובן כפי שהוא נראה באמת לשמעון, לומר Reuven and Shimon - see if we can count דמותושלשמעוןבעיניראובן,שבדרךכללאינה .the number of faces acting in this play זההעםהדמותהרצויהלשמעוןולהפך ; הוסףלכךאתראובןכפישהואנראהבעיניעצמו Firstly - here is Reuven the way he ואתשמעוןכפישהואנראהבעיניעצמו , wishes to be seen by Shimon, and Shimon ולאחרונהראובןעלרמ”חושס”השלו .the way he wishes to be seen by Reuven ושמעוןעלרמ”חושס”השלו . ,Reuven as he really appears to Shimon 8 שנייצוריםחייםוששדמויותמדומות , ,that is Shimon’s image in Reuven’s eyes קהלרפאיםממש , that usually isn’t the same with the image המעורביםתכופותבשיחתהשניים ! .wanted by Shimon, and vice versa אםכן,מהמקוםהנחת Add to this Reuven as he is in his own בשבילאמיתותושלהבין-אנושי " .eyes and Shimon as he is in his own eyes Lastly, Reuven and his inner world, and Shimon’s inner world. Martin Buber (1878-1965) was Two living human beings, six imaginary born in Austria to a religious family, characters. breaking with tradition when he A truly spooky crowd. studied philosophy in university. Often involved in a conversation of two! A Zionist, who eventually moved If so, what is really real in human to Jerusalem with an academic dialogue? position at Hebrew University, Buber’s philosophy of dialogue was existentialist, and his writing style evocative. He is known for his tales of the Hasidim and biblical commentary as well. Project TEN Identity Design, Presentation I Project TEN Identity Design, Presentation I Our Shabbat 2. Every Shabbat Has a Name: What’s in a Name? ”שמור וזכור בדיבור אחד נאמרו” )מכילתא דר' ישמעאל( Just as every person inherently has an incomplete perception of every other person, meeting parts of a person’s identity in their encounter, Shabbat also is viewed from a variety of perspectives, which focus on different aspects of the identities of Shabbat. In this section, we explore various aspects of Shabbat and its different ”names,” through various multi-vocal texts. In pairs, read Sources 3-14 , and discuss the following: 1. Shabbat has various names in tradition: a Day of Sanctity; a Day of Rest; a Day of Sabbatical; Completion; Pleasure; Rejoicing from Sorrow; Eternal Covenent; Queen; Whiff of the World-to-Come; Eternal Sign; the Seventh Day; Sabbath; a Day of יום קדושה, יום מנוחה, יום שבתון, כלה, עונג, משוש ) Cessation from Creative Labor; Rest מעין עולם הבא, אות היא נוגים, ברית עולם, מלכה, היום שביעי, שבת, יום הפסק ממלאכה, As you read the texts, summarize the name/ essence of Shabbat .( לעולם, יום מנוחה that is portrayed through the text. How you would define Shabbat’s identity, based 9 on the portrayal of Shabbat in the text. 2. Can you relate to this identity of Shabbat? define the type of connection (a fond memory, a sense of distant connection, etc.). 3. If you were to write your own story of Shabbat, portraying Shabbat from your own perspective, what would that story include? 4. Which one of Shabbat’s identities did you connect to most? Have them pinpoint the underlying values that you found to speak to you from the text. 5. After reading the texts, please refer to the statement made by Asher Ginsburg (Ahad HaAm) on the following page. Project TEN Identity Design, Presentation I Project TEN Identity Design, Presentation I Our Shabbat By beginning our investigation of Shabbat with cooperative study of Jewish texts, we have the opportunity to clarify the essence of Shabbat from within Judaism: "Remember and guard." That is, we focus on the plain sense of the text: to guard the commandment of Shabbat, and to remember the Sabbath.