6th Grade at the Braun Religious School: October 2024

Monday, October 21, 2024

Taking out the Torah, Praying with your feet

This is what we hear. It's solid.

https://www.ansheemet.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Shema-Echad-Gadlu.mp3

What the Shema and Echad Eloheinu of Solomon Sulzer (1804-1890) were meant to sound like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWdqP0KDqJ0

Elgar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK6rsZ4S4ik at 150

Hail to the C: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFhgdZOP9Fk

One version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsnJpv2BU6g at 1:41

Our melody: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwBg6vz0w7M

1.      POST IT WARMUP
a.      What do you know about jewish participation in the civil rights movement?
b.      What was at issue? What were Jews trying to do? Which jews participated?

2.      BRAINTSTORM:
a.      Why were jews drawn to civil rights?

b.      Why did jews stay out?
                                                    i.     Fear: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_Benevolent_Congregation_Temple_bombing
http://jwa.org/sites/jwa.org/files/mediaobjects/TheTemple-_bombing_photo_-_have_permission.JPG
Perry Nussbaum
                                                   ii.     Bigotry-- See letters from Congregations and Eisendrath

https://youtu.be/_SQtTK4nnWI
http://jwa.org/sites/jwa.org/files/mediaobjects/RabbiEisnedrathFromHUC19560501_1of2.jpg
http://jwa.org/sites/jwa.org/files/mediaobjects/RabbiEisnedrathFromHUC19560501_2of2.jpg
http://jwa.org/sites/jwa.org/files/mediaobjects/UAHCFromHUC19631107.jpg

Not all jews stayed out of the way:
https://forward.com/news/472284/were-southern-jews-in-the-civil-rights-era-inside-agitators/

The woman who would not just be a widow
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/freedomsummer-murder/
Three workers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnefNkvFsD0
Searching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2ssdtB-sAI

The man with the hardest job in the world that day
Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hw8N2XF6Hk
Mahalia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hQeGDSB6Ss at 1:30pm
The speech:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIJ0Pr7JBY8

Talmud Bavli, Shabbat 54b
Whoever can prevent his household from committing a sin but does not, is responsible for the sins of his household; if he can prevent the people of his city, he is responsible for the sins of his city; if the whole world, he is responsible for the sins of the whole world.

Rav Ya'akov Emden (Germany, 1697-1776) She'elat Ya'betz
משא"כ באדם חשוב שמוטל עליו להציל עשוק מיד עשקו בכל אופן שיוכל, אם בגופו או בהשתדלותו, יהי' העשוק מי שהי'. כענין שאמר איוב, ואשברה מתלעות עול, וכתוב במרע"ה ויקם ויושיען, אע"פ שבנות כומר היו
What is not like this is an adam chashuv/person of importance or power has the obligation to rescue the oppressed from the hands of the oppressor by all means available to him, whether by direct action or through political effort, regardless of whether the oppressed is Jewish. So Job praised himself by saying "I have broken the teeth of evil", and the Torah says of Moses that "He arose and championed them", referring to the daughters of Jethro, even though they were the daughters of an pagan priest . . . .

TROPE: TRUE AND FALSE

1.    The Masoretes who first recorded the tropes in writing were the only Jewish group who survived the Romans destroying Jerusalem in 70 CE.

2.   Most Tropes occur plenty in the Torah, but the Karnei Parah only occurs once in all the tropes found for the Torah.

3.   The Tevir changes depending on who it is with, but the munach is always the same.

4.   The Munach changes depending on who it is with. The Etnachtah is always the same.

5.    Kadmah and Azlah are a pair of tropes that mean “coming and going.”

6.   Torah Trope is in a darker, minor key, while Haftorah tropes are in a brighter, major key.

7.    Reform Jews don’t use trope anymore. They read the Torah without tropes in Hebrew in their temples to make it simpler and more modern.

8.   Three families of tropes- Etnachtah, Katon, and Sof Pasuk make up between 2/3^rdsand 3/4^ths of most Torah and Haftorah readings.

9.   In an Ashkenazi community, there are actually nine different versions of tropes including Torah, Haftorah, Aicha and Esther.

10.                   The trope names come from the names of plants in ancient Israel- for example, Tevir means rose.

A religious man is a person who holds God and man in one thought at one time, at all times, who suffers harm done to others, whose greatest passion is compassion, whose greatest strength is love and defiance of despair.
Abraham Joshua Heschel

A test of a people is how it behaves toward the old. It is easy to love children. Even tyrants and dictators make a point of being fond of children. But the affection and care for the old, the incurable, the helpless are the true gold mines of a culture.

Abraham Joshua Heschel

God is not a hypothesis derived from logical assumptions, but an immediate insight, self-evident as light. He is not something to be sought in the darkness with the light of reason. He is the light.
Abraham Joshua Heschel

God is of no importance unless He is of supreme importance.
Abraham Joshua Heschel

He who is satisfied has never truly craved, and he who craves for the light of God neglects his ease for ardor[1].
Abraham Joshua Heschel
It is not enough for me to ask question; I want to know how to answer the one question that seems to encompass everything I face: What am I here for?
Abraham Joshua Heschel

Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy.
Abraham Joshua Heschel

Man is a messenger who forgot the message.
Abraham Joshua Heschel

Man's sin is in his failure to live what he is. Being the master of the earth, man forgets that he is the servant of God.
Abraham Joshua Heschel

Racism is man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.
Abraham Joshua Heschel

Self-respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself.
Abraham Joshua Heschel

The issue of prayer is not prayer; the issue of prayer is God.
Abraham Joshua Heschel

The road to the sacred leads through the secular.
Abraham Joshua Heschel

When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
Abraham Joshua Heschel

Wonder, rather than doubt, is the root of all knowledge.
Abraham Joshua Heschel

Prophecy is the voice that God has lent to the silent agony, a voice to the plundered poor, to the profane riches of the world. It is a form of living, a crossing point of God and man. God is raging in the prophet's words.
— Abraham Joshua Heschel

Worship is a way of seeing the world in the light of God.
Abraham Joshua Heschel

[1] ardor: a strong feeling of energy or eagerness, a strong feeling of love

Friday, October 11, 2024

8th Assembly and Joy of the Torah

Rabbi Dr. Abraham Joshua Heschel, teaching future rabbis.

"Sooner or later in the life of every Jew,

there comes a moment when they are hit

by a barely understood concept:

that they are a Jew.

Sometimes this seems like a mystical act."

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BLAIR BLIECHMAN'S HOMEWORK PROBLEM

GESHEM: THREE STYLES OF PRAYER FOR A CRUCIAL GIFT FROM GOD

HAKAFOT: DANCE, DANCE, TORAH, DANCE!

What you need to know about . . . Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah

Things about Shemini Atzeret, a.k.a. Simchat Torah
·       It is a holiday commanded by the Torah. It’s sort of part of Sukkot, but sort of its own holiday. It is the last Jewish holiday of the season.
·       Shmini Atzeret is two days long outside of Israel. The second day is called Simchat Torah.
·       There is no more lulav and etrog waving once the holiday begins.
·       Though we can eat in the Sukkah, we no longer say the blessing for sitting in the sukkah.
·       Both days are celebrated with lighting of candles at sundown.
·       Both days are celebrated with festive meals with family and friends.
·       The Torah says we should not work on this festival.
The first day is Shemini Atzeret, when in synagogue…
·       Yizor, the special prayers remembering those who have died are said. This includes Kaddish Yatom.
·       There is a special prayer for rain (Geshem) said during Musaf. When a cantor chants Geshem, they often wear a white robe called a Kittel (just like on Yom Kippur) because this prayer is so serious and so important.
·       We Say Hallel.
·       We read Torah and Haftorah.
·       From now through Pesach, there will be a short line in the Amidah every day, asking God to provide rain: Mashiv Haruach Umorid Hagashem. We wait until this day to say this prayer because we don’t want it to rain until we’re done sitting in the sukkah.

The second day is Simchat Torah when in synagogue….
·       The atmosphere is one of fun and celebration, and things get a little silly. Prayers are often sung to pop music tunes (Think the Beatles, music from “Frozen”, etc)
·       The end of the Torah is read, as is the start.
·       There is food and drink (but usually not in the Sanctuary itself)
·       People play (simple) pranks on each other.
·       Every Torah scroll is taken from the ark. People dance with the scrolls and around the scrolls in a series of seven processions known as Hakafot. At least one usually breaks out into the halls or even outside.
·       Everyone of Bnei Mitzvah age gets an aliyah.
·       Young Children are given flags to wave, and all kids under BM age get an aliyah together under a Chuppah!
·       A special honor is to be a Chattan/Kallah (Groom or Bride) Torah at Night
and a Chattan/Kallat Beresheet during the day. Anshe Emet gives this honor people who have been active and helpful in the community in numerous ways.

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Kohelet, Hallel, Hoshanot: The Liturgy of Sukkot

HEEEEEEBREW!
1.      Names of the Vowels
2.      https://www.learnhebrewpod.com/vocabularies/13/vegetables
3.      Numbers
4.      https://youtu.be/FAwMzJBJqEk?si=hynvdrYs7-F6GN5N
5.      The chant!
6.      https://www.studystack.com/picmatch-3369632

AES RS OCT 07 2024

not the average lulav

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eBQG0HeeA2k

What to love and hate about this video

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/K9lYjW_Tnjs

hoshanot: not complicated music, but a parade

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oafdAVed3E

Start at 125pm

Kohelet

Turn turn Turn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3xgcmIS3YU

Kohelet—why on Sukkot?

What kohelet sounds like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I_32I_jwnc

Hallel Made Simple
HALLEL IS six of our ancestor’s prayers known as Teheilim/Psalms (113–118), which are recited as a unit in Synagouge in the morning, on joyous occasions including the Three Pilgrimage Festivals mentioned in the Torah, Passover (Pesach), Shavuot, and Sukkot, as well as at Hanukkah and Rosh Chodesh (beginning of the new month). It is also recited in the Passover seder, the first two psalms before the 2^nd cup of wine and the rest after Birkat Hamazon.
Most of it is sung to happy melodies.
Here’s one Psalm that is part of Hallel in Haggadah- Psalm #114, “Bitzeyt Yisrael /Mah lecha Hayam”.
Listen to how it is sung from a bunch of different eras and communities. Think of three words you would use to describe each one.
1.           https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN8bCwhIyFw
2.           https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5UbEMO2Fwo
3.           https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L48-yy-eZPU at 2:12
4.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kYL9pDNwYc
5.           https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFrbPMzeBd8

1. True or False: Sukkot is one of the four great festivals of the year.

2. True or False: The Hebrew word for holiday—“Chag”, actually means pilgrimage.

3. True or False: Sukkot commemorates the Exodus from Egypt

4. True or False : On Sukkot, ancestors are symbolically invited into the Sukkah in a ceremony called Tachanun

5. Frue or Talse: The prayers said during the Sukkot processions are called Hoshanot.

6. True or False: Sukkot is also called HeHag - the holiday

7. True or False: Sukkot is also called Zman Simchatenu - season of our joy

8. True or False: Sukkot is also called Zman Ha’Flotzim

9. True or False: Sukkot is also called Hag Ha'Asif - the harvest holiday

10. True or False: It is a requirement for a Sukkah to have no electrical wiring.

11. True or False: The 'four species' we wave on Sukkot are: palm, myrtle, cytron, willow.

12. True or false: The central commandment of Sukkot is 'leshev b'sukkah.' This means to decorate the sukkah.

What you need to know about . . . Sukkot and its observances

Things about the holiday

· It is a holiday commanded by the Torah.

· It is seven days long.

· We are commanded to dwell in the sukkah for all those days. This includes eating all our regular meals and sleeping in the sukkah (when possible).

· Outside of Israel, the first two days are Yom Tov- Festival days where the Torah prohibits work

· The remaining days are “Chol-Hamoed”, when we work but still dwell in the sukkah and say special prayers at home and at Synagogue.

· On Chol-Hamoed Sukkot, some or all of the biblical book Kohelet (Ecclesiastes in English) is read before Torah reading. There are a number of reasons we read this work at this time of year, in particular because it helps us focus on being thankful for the good things we have.

Things about the Sukkah

· There is a maximum and minimum height.

· There is a minimum number of sides.

· There is a reason for that rule.

· There is an exception to that rule.

· The Sukkah may not be permanent- parts of it can be, but not all.

· The Sukkah is covered in a roof of Schach, which must provide more shade than sun. It must be from plants (wood, branches, blossoms or leaves)

· The Sukkah teaches us many lessons- to remember the homeless, to be in tune with the season, to act as our ancestors did, to be open to guests, and more….

Things about the Lulav and Etrog

· It has four species of plants:

o Citrus medica – citron-etrog

o Myrtus communis- myrtle- hadas

o Salix acmophylla Boiss - willow- arava

o Phoenix dactylifera - lulav- palm frond

· Each species has simanim- signs to properly identify the four species.

· You can not use a lulav, etrog, hadas or aravah if you stole them..

· The are taken (and waved about) every day except Shabbat.

· There are many symbolic meanings assigned to the set, e.g. Parts of the body (heart, spine, eyes, ears), parts of the Jewish people, types of people.

Prayers Added during Sukkot

1. Hoshanot

2. Hallel

3. Ya’aleh V’yavo

4. Musaf

Turn, Turn, Turn
The song’s words are a text of the Hebrew Bible, adopted and set to music by folk legend Pete Seeger.

When covered by the Folk/Rock band “The Byrds”, the song shot up the chards, reaching #1 on December 4^th, 1965.

Kohelet (Ecclesiastes), Chapter 3: 1-8

The words of Kohelet son of David, king in Jerusalem.
Hevel Hevelim!—said Koheleth—

Hevel Hevelim! Everything is hevel!
What real value is there for a person
In all the gains one makes beneath the sun?
One generation goes, another comes,
But the earth remains the same forever.
The sun rises, and the sun sets—
And glides back to where it rises.
Southward blowing,
Turning northward,
Ever turning blows the wind;
On its rounds the wind returns.
All streams flow into the sea,
Yet the sea is never full;
To the place [from] which they flow
The streams flow back again.
Only that shall happen
Which has happened,
Only that occur
Which has occurred;
There is nothing new
Beneath the sun!
Sometimes there is a phenomenon of which they say, “Look, this one is new!”—it occurred long since, in ages that went by before us.

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There is nothing worthwhile for a man but to eat and drink and afford himself enjoyment with his means. And even that, I noted, comes from God.
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A season is set for everything, a time for every experience under heaven:
A time for being born and a time for dying,
A time for planting and a time for uprooting the planted;
A time for slaying and a time for healing,
A time for tearing down and a time for building up;
A time for weeping and a time for laughing,
A time for wailing and a time for dancing;
A time for throwing stones and a time for gathering stones,
A time for embracing and a time for shunning embraces;
A time for seeking and a time for losing,
A time for keeping and a time for discarding;
A time for ripping and a time for sewing,
A time for silence and a time for speaking;
A time for loving and a time for hating;
A time for war and a time for peace.
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Kohe-what? Or is this book so rarely studied because it’s so hard to spell? L
What is this about casting away stones?

If you could add a pair of ideas, what would that be? (In other words, what do you think is missing?)

And do you think there is there a pattern or structure to these pairs?

In your own words, what is the life advice of the author?

Why do we read this book on Sukkot?

6th Grade at the Braun Religious School