How Are Sacred Words Part of Jewish Life? 7-9

How are sacred words part of Jewish life? 7-9

Background knowledge for teachers Assessment for Learning

This unit focuses on sacred words in Judaism. It This section shows some of the outcomes achievable by pupils of different abilities in the 7-9 age range. starts off by looking at the name of G-d. Although many words are used for G-d in Jewish prayers and Level Description of achievement: I can ... the Torah (Jewish holy book), the divine name for G- d is treated with great respect and is never spoken. 2  Recognise that Jews believe in 1 G-d

Pupils move onto looking at Jewish beliefs about G-d  Collect examples of ways in which Jewish Some further through analysing part of the Shema – a people remember the words of the pupils in Shema prayer that states the central Jewish belief in 1 G-d. this age The Shema can be found in the Torah, in the book of group Deuteronomy (6:4-9). 3  Describe the importance of the words in Pupils are then encouraged to question and research the Shema and identify the impact of how the important words of the Shema are Many sacred words on Jewish life pupils in incorporated into Jewish life. For example, many  Ask questions and investigate answers this age Jews put a mezuzah on the doorposts of most rooms about the importance of sacred words in group in their houses and say the Shema twice daily – both Judaism actions are linked to commandments in the prayer. 4  Show good understanding of the

importance of the words in the Shema for Pupils also look at why the words of the Torah are The most Jews and make clear links between Jewish sacred and how they are treated in the synagogue. able sacred words and the actions and beliefs pupils in As pupils’ research will show, there is a strong link that they inspire. this age between the Torah and G-d. Traditionally, Jewish  Communicate thoughtful ideas of my own group people believe that the Torah was given to Moses by about the impact of sacred words on G-d. In more modern times, some Jewish people Jewish life. have moved away from this belief, but still feel that This unit could help pupils in Scotland to achieve RME 1-06a, RME 2-06a, RME 3-06a and RME 2-06c. the Torah is divinely inspired. Web support: As this unit is based on enquiry and research, pupils take on the role of ‘Effective Detectives’ throughout For more information on ‘chat stations’, please visit: their work. This is used as a vehicle to capture their http://www.cultofpedagogy.com/chat -stations/ imagination, provoke questions, spark discussion, BBC Pathways of Belief clip on the Shema: use a range of sources, physically move around and http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zqkq6sg find out answers for themselves. However, if teachers wish, activities from this unit can be carried My Life, My Religion Judaism (accessed via the BBC out perfectly well without using the detective website) has 3 sections that may be especially helpful for Essential Knowledge for pupils analogy. this work: ‘Charlie’, ‘What is Judaism?’ and ‘The Torah’ Pupils should know Links Across the Curriculum

English: Pupils will use books and texts that are structured in  Jewish people believe in 1 G-d – this is stated in

the first sentence of the Shema. different ways for the purposes of research, including retrieving relevant information from non-fiction texts. This unit provides  The link between the Shema, mezuzah and plenty of opportunities for speaking and listening – pupils tefillin should work in pairs and groups to explain and discuss ideas.  A number of ways in which sacred words are part Pupils can be given the opportunity to present their findings in of Jewish life and the reasons for this. Including: written or oral form. the name of G-d, the words of the Shema and

the words of the Torah. Activity 6 has scope for links with Art and Design.

Pre-learning Activity: Words all around us

Prior to learning about sacred words in Judaism, set pupils the task of looking for and noting words of wisdom, help and encouragement that they see around them on a day to day basis. These might be in school (eg rules, school motto, encouraging slogans on posters, signs on room doors etc) or outside the school environment. Pupils should report back, describing what words were found and where they were displayed.

Activity 1: What’s in a name?

Explain that pupils are going to become ‘Effective Detectives’. They have already searched for words around them. Their next task is to seek out information about sacred words in Judaism, how they are part of Jewish life and why they are treated in certain ways. Pupils can be provided with detective pads on clipboards.

Detective game: To start honing their detective skills, pupils play a simple game based on ‘Articulate’. Put several words in a hat. Pupils pick a word and describe it to the class without saying the word itself. Discuss how easy it was to detect which words were being described and whether the ‘describer’ did anything to make identification of words easier.

The teacher should then take a turn at the game, trying to describe the word ‘G-d’. Some names used for G-d in the Jewish holy book (Torah) and Jewish prayers should be built into the description. Names could include

‘Creator’, ‘Almighty’, ‘Our Father Our King’, ‘Judge’, ‘Merciful’, ‘L-rd’, ‘the Powerful’, ‘Truth’, ‘Shepherd of Israel’, ‘King of Kings’, ‘Eternal’. Consider how easily pupils could distinguish what the teacher was describing. Explain how many Jews treat the sacred name of G-d with the greatest of respect and never pronounce it – the real pronunciation is unknown. Names used for G-d in the Torah and prayers often describe characteristics. To many Jews, no one word or name can sum up everything that G-d is, so they do not try to limit G-d in this way. Due to this, G-d is often simply referred to as ‘Hashem’ (meaning ‘the name’) by Jewish people when not praying. Some Jewish people do not write the word ‘G-d’, but substitute the ‘o’ with a dash.

Chat stations: Put 8 ‘clues’ around the room for the detectives to examine. Each should be a name used for G- d in the Torah or prayers. Divide pupils into groups of no more than 4. It is useful if each group has a recording sheet with 8 spaces on (this could be part of the detective pads). At each clue, groups should discuss what they think the name shows about the nature of G-d. Record thoughts on the sheet/in the detective pads. Once finished, conduct a whole class discussion on what pupils have found out about G-d in Judaism. Pupils can use their recordings to help inform their responses and teachers can use dialogic talk to extend the class’ thinking.

Activity 2: What’s in a prayer?

Explain that the class of super sleuths are going to examine 1 crucial piece of evidence: some words that are incredibly important for many Jewish people. Introduce the Shema, a Jewish prayer containing principal Jewish beliefs about G-d. Listen to a recording of the Shema in Hebrew and see at the Hebrew text. In pairs, look at this translation of 2 sentences from the Shema:

Hear O Israel, the L-rd is our G-d, the L-rd is one. Love the L-rd your G-d with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength.

Pupils use ‘think, pair, share’ to identify 5 key words from the translation. Discuss these with the class, clarifying good choices of key words. Pupils use these words to form their own oral explanations of what Jewish beliefs about G-d can be found in the Shema. The class can decide upon who gives good explanations.

The opening sentence of the Shema sums up a belief central to Judaism (the belief in 1 G-d) in twelve words. Challenge pupils to declare their most important belief in 12 words. This does not have to be a religious belief.

Activity 3: Essential Evidence

Give groups of pupils 6 pictorial clues to look at that are related to sacred words in Judaism:

1) A picture of the Shema text in Hebrew 2) A Jewish person saying the Shema with the right hand over his or her eyes 3) A mezuzah 4) A Sefer Torah with its mantle, breastplate, bells and yad on 5) Tefillin 6) A yad

Children should place these into 3 categories depending on how much they already know about the picture:

Green (for pictures that pupils know quite a lot about) Yellow (for pictures that pupils have some idea about) Red (for pictures that pupils do not know about at all)

Extra clues: Once pupils have categorised their pictures, the teacher should give them the first of 4 extra clues, ‘drip feeding’ clues to pupils 1 at a time. Give pupils time to consider what they find on the new clue, categorise it as green, yellow or red and change the categories of any other clues in light of what they have found out. Extra clues should include:

1) A mezuzah on a doorpost 2) A Sefer Torah in an ark 3) A person wearing tefillin 1) A child friendly translation of the whole of the first paragraph of the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

Continue until pupils have categorised all 10 clues.

Helpful questions

In the same groups, children write one question for at least 6 of the 10 clues to find out more about it. Pupils might like to write naming questions to help them identify what the clue is (especially if it is in the red category), understanding questions to help them explore more about the clue and viewpoint questions to help them find out the points of view and feelings of people in the pictures. When writing their questions, children should bear in mind that each clue is connected with sacred words and how they are treated in Judaism – questions should reflect this.

Activity 4: Extensive Evidence

Detective Stations: Facilitate pupils’ research into their questions by having 5 or 6 different Detective Stations around the classroom. Suggested stations: 1) Mezuzah 2) Tefillin 3) What’s in the Torah? (including the link between the Torah and G-d) 4) Sefer Torah 5) Shema 6) if possible, a Jewish visitor.

Ensure that information is put on each station in order to help pupils answer any relevant questions they formulated when looking at the clues. Once they have managed to answer their initial questions, pupils can take the opportunity to collect more evidence about sacred words in Judaism and how they are treated.

Pupils should be provided with different types of information for their research. For example, pictures, books, short films etc. Some helpful websites for pupils’ detective work are listed in the ‘helpful web resources for pupils’ research’ section on page 6.

Working in groups: Support pupils to approach their research in their group/team of effective detectives in a way that will be most helpful. Questions to think about might be: Will pupils have different designated roles within the group? Will every pupil from the group visit every station? Will pupils themselves decide who visits which station? Will stations be set up as a carousel with all pupils visiting each? Will groups have a designated ambassador to visit other teams and see if they have discovered anything helpful?

If pupils find they have asked a question that seems impossible to answer through the research facilities in class, they could e-mail a believer under the teacher’s guidance, using RE:online’s resource: http://pof.reonline.org.uk/

Activity 5: What have we found out?

Ask pupils to share a really good resource/clue (whether book, website, video, human or other!) that helped them to find out lots about sacred words in Judaism and the way in which they are treated.

Discuss pupils’ findings. Ensure discussion covers: that the Shema can be found inside both mezuzah and tefillin, how having a mezuzah on doorposts and wearing tefillin can be linked to words found in the Shema, other actions that Jewish people might do to show that the words of the Shema are important, what is in the Torah, why the Torah is important for Jewish people, how the Torah scrolls are treated in the synagogue to show their importance.

Together create a bank of ways in which Jewish people treat their sacred words. Although not an exhaustive list, examples of some ideas pupils might choose to put in this bank can be found on page 6.

Activity 6: Sacred words – a part of daily life

Recap where pupils found important words in the ‘Words All Around Us’ activity. Which words were found and where? Which words do pupils think are especially helpful or memorable? Which do they like to wonder about? Explain that pupils will be doing some more detective work about sacred words in Judaism, but this time they will be making the clues for themselves.

Our important words: Discuss and decide upon words that are the most important for the class to remember – perhaps an essential class rule, school motto or words that pupils themselves write for this activity. Ask pupils in pairs to consider what the class could do to show that these words are special and keep the words in their minds. S ome ideas may be closely related to pupils’ learning in this unit eg putting the words in a box to be displayed near the doorpost or saying the words at certain points in the day. However, ideas might be completely different eg each making and using a bookmark with the words on or displaying the words on paper bunting around the classroom. A snowballing discussion can be used here to help pupils discuss and refine thoughts. As a class, choose and carry out some examples – pupils may need to produce creative work to set their ideas into action!

The reminders of the words should be left up for around a week and any actions relating to them (eg using the bookmarks) should be carried out every day for the week too. At the end of the week, reflect with pupils on how it felt and what it meant to all be remembering the special words each day for a week in a variety of ways.

What might it mean?: Explain that pupils’ ways of remembering their own important words were actually their final clues about words in Judaism. Pupils had reminders of their important words every single day for 1 week. Compare this with how many Jews have reminders of their sacred words and beliefs about G-d every single day through saying the words of the Shema, not saying G-d’s name, seeing the mezuzah and so on. This is not just for a week, but in many cases for a whole lifetime. Pupils can finish sentence starters orally or in writing: ‘I was helped to remember the words by…’, ‘Having lots of reminders about the words made me feel…’, ‘If we carried on this activity for a longer period of time…’, ‘A Jewish person might think about sacred words many times a day, every day of their life. That might mean…’.

Activity 7: Presenting the Evidence! Using ideas from Activity 6, alongside research and learning in the previous activities, the class detectives should

finally present their evidence on which words are sacred in Judaism, how they are part of Jewish life and why they are treated in certain ways. This could be done simply by showing information collected in detective pads, but

could be extended by presenting main findings in the form of an information poster/oral presentation etc.

Helpful web resources for pupils’ research: Ways of treating sacred words:

 Jewish Way of Life Resource Sacred Words Actions http://www.reonline.org.uk/specials/jw Name of G-d Not said. Sacred/Respect ol/ or Words in Torah Sefer Torah kissed in synagogue http://www.scojec.org/resources/jwol/j Name of G-d Not written wol.html Words of Shema Spoken about. Shema says to do  BBC: Bitesize, Pathways of Belief and this. My Life, My Religion clips are useful Words of Shema Remembered every time a room is  Images and some information from the entered/left because of mezuzah. University of Strathclyde’s RE Artefacts Shema says to put words on resource doorposts and gates. http://www.strath.ac.uk/redb/reartefac Words of Shema Remembered by saying twice a day ts/jewish/ (with hand covering eyes for  New South Wales Board of Jewish concentration) Education http://www.bje.org.au/ Words in Torah Try not to drop the Sefer Torah! (using the search facility is helpful) Words of Shema Wearing tefillin on head and heart  Jewish Museum London’s ‘Objects In Words in Torah Words in Sefer Torah not touched Focus’ resource with hands – too sacred.

Chat Stations

Clue 1 Clue 2

Clue 3 Clue 4

Clue 5 Clue 6

Clue 7 Clue 8