Torah Lesson 2 Adam and Eve INTRODUCTION As you may be aware, our Torah text actually contains two stories of Creation. The first (Genesis 1:1–2:3) is the more general story and shows God creating the entire world in seven days. The second (Genesis 2:4–24) focuses primarily on the creation of human beings and their life in the Garden of Eden, the first home for people. For the purposes of this curriculum, we are not focusing on how things that are described in the Torah happened, but we are, instead, searching out the lessons that each story has to teach us. When we use this lens, myriad lessons reach out to us across the generations. Though you may want to explain to your students that there are two stories of Creation from our tradi- tion (the “seven-day” one and the “Garden of Eden” one), this lesson will focus on God’s decision to cre- ate both male and female, enabling boys and girls alike to see themselves in the story of Torah and the Jewish people. The text tells us, “God Eternal considered, ‘It is not good that the man be alone—I will make him a help- mate’” (Genesis 2:18). God brings before Adam all of the creatures God has created, but none are a fit- ting helpmate for Adam. Eventually, God creates Eve, because even with all of the animals, “Adam found no helpmate” (Genesis 2:20). (Chava is the Hebrew translation for the first woman and comes from the root “life.” The name “Eve,” as many of us are used to, actually comes from the Greek translation. In this lesson we will use Eve.) Human beings were placed on this earth for more than just caring for the earth: they were placed here to care for one another—to be “helpmates” to each other. ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS • Torah is an ongoing dialogue between the text and its students. • Torah is real in our daily lives; it goes with us wherever we are. • Developing the skills to study Torah is essential to integrating Torah into our lives. • I am part of the ongoing story of Torah and the Jewish people. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS 1. What does the Torah have to say to me and my world? 2. How can Torah study help me in my everyday life? 17 18 Torah Lesson 2 CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life 3. Why is the Torah different from other books? 4. What is the story of Torah? 5. What does it mean to be part of the story of Torah and the Jewish people? 6. How can I play an active role in the story of Torah? QUESTIONS TO BE ADDRESSED 1. Who was the first person that God created? 2. Why did God create a second person? EVIDENCE OF UNDERSTANDING • Students will play a game to indicate the things that they can and cannot do alone. • Students will decorate an image of a tree with an image or a sentence describing someone who is a help- mate to them. They will affix an image of a tree to their Genesis Traveler. LESSON OVERVIEW • Set Induction (10 minutes) • Music and Text Study (15 minutes) • What Adam Needed (5–10 minutes) • Alone/Together Game (10 minutes) • Conclusion (10 minutes) MATERIALS NEEDED • CHAI Level 1 CD, track 4, “The Very First People.” • Image of a tree, one per student (in student workbook) • Glue/glue sticks. • Letter to parents (page 24). READING RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS Genesis 2:4–24 (p. 23) Arkus, Elaine Posner. Torah Alive! An Early Childhood Torah Curriculum. New York: URJ Press, 2004. “The Very First People.” Torah Alive! Music Connection: Torah Songs for Kids (CD). Available from Transcontinental Music (www.transcontinentalmusic.com). CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life Adam and Eve 19 LESSON VOCABULARY Eve The first woman. Adam The first man. matriarch A woman who holds a leadership role in a family. In Judaism, there are four Matriarchs in the Bible: Sarah, Rebekah, Leah, and Rachel. patriarch A man who holds a leadership role in a family. In Judaism, there are three Patriarchs in the Bible: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. LESSON PLAN SET INDUCTION (10 MINUTES) 1. Sing or play the class welcome song. 2. Recite the blessing for Torah study together. 3. Create a visual on the board or on a chart that contains a circle in the middle and a larger circle sur- rounding it (like a donut). In the center circle, write the word “You.” In the outside circle, write: par- ents, friend, teacher, rabbi, bus driver, sister, brother, doctor, and babysitter. Read the words in the outer circle to the students. Babysitter Doctor Parent Brother Friend You Sister Teacher Bus driver Rabbi 4. Explain to the students that the outer circle contains many of the people who help them. Ask the stu- dents what would happen if we took away all the people who help in the outer circle.1 (Possible answers: There would be no one to help me do the things I can’t do myself, I would be lonely, I wouldn’t be able to get to school, etc.) 5. Explain to the students that in this Torah lesson, they will learn why God created more than one per- son so that no one had to be alone. 1If a student mentions or suggests that someone no longer helps them because that person died, affirm the sadness of loss and speak to the child privately later in the class to determine if the help of the rabbi or a mental health professional is needed. 20 Torah Lesson 2 CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life LEARNING ACTIVITIES Music and Text Study (15 minutes) 1. Look together at the Genesis Journey Map and have students find the story you are going to study today—the very first story. 2. Tell the students you are going to play a song for them. Ask the students to listen carefully to learn the names of the first two people that God created. Play the song “The Very First People.” 3. Read the following story of Adam and Eve. Have the students follow along in their workbooks (pages 2–3). They can either read the words or look at the pictures (or both). The Story of Adam and Eve (Adapted from Genesis 2:1–24) When God finished creating the heavens and the earth, there were no people to care for the land. So God created Adam from the dust of the earth and made him alive. God planted a beautiful garden, called the Garden of Eden, and gave it to Adam to live in and care for. God filled the trees with fruit for Adam to eat. God told him, “You may eat all you like of every tree in the garden—but of the Tree of All Knowledge [eitz daat] you may not eat, for the moment you eat of it you shall be doomed to die.” God watched Adam as the days passed and saw that he was not happy being alone. “I will make him a helpmate,” God said. So God created all the cattle and all the wild beasts and all the birds of the sky and brought them to Adam to give them names. Adam named them all, but none of them were a good helpmate for him. God put Adam into a deep sleep, and God created woman. Adam awoke and saw that she was a perfect helpmate, and he said, “Let this one be called woman.” And so God created the first two people—Adam and Eve—who would be the mother and father of the entire world. What Adam Needed (5–10 minutes) 1. Explain to the students that we are now going to look at one reason that God created people. Read again to the students the section of the text where God looks for a helpmate for Adam. Stop reading at “but none of them were a good helpmate for him.” 2. Explain that in the part of the story that the class just read, God had created many animals so Adam would have everything he needed. Tell the students to turn to page 4 in their workbooks, “What Adam Needed,” and to look at the pictures of animals in the first column (on the left). Ask the students to work alone or with the person sitting next to them to draw a line between the animal in the column on the left and the thing that animal could give Adam, in the column on the right. (Answers: bees offer Adam honey, cow offers Adam milk, chicken offers Adam eggs, sheep offers Adam a woolly coat.) 3. When the students are finished, ask volunteers to answer the question of what each animal could give Adam. Point out that even with these things, Adam still had a problem, something he needed that the animals could not give him. Invite volunteers to guess what Adam needed. (Answer: Even with all of the animals, Adam is lonely being the only human. He needed love and friendship.) CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life Adam and Eve 21 Alone/Together Game (10 minutes) 1. Line the children up in a row or in a circle and say, “There are some things we cannot do alone. When I name something that you can do alone, sit down. When I name something you need someone else in order to do, stand up.” Read the following list: • Play hide and seek • Go to the doctor if you are sick • Play on a teeter-totter (seesaw) • Play a video game • Look at a storybook with pictures • Play ping-pong • Play on the computer • Have a tug of war • Get a hug when you are sad or scared • Build with LEGO bricks • Run in the yard • Buy groceries for dinner • Play catch 2.