GESHER-Grade 7 IS AMAZING!
Posted on April 16, 2017
Gesher is amazing! Imagine seeing the stones that made up the breastplate of the Kohayn haGadol! And then Rabbi Liben came in to wish us a ‘happy Passover’ and having learned that the prophet Elijah will herald the coming of the messiah, we had the opportunity to ask him about what the messiah is.
Our study of Passover ventured into the four children as we looked at the traditional four children; one wise, one wicked, one simple and one who does not know how to ask and then some of the personality types described by the rabbis in Pirkei Avot: the funnel, the sponge, the sieve and the sifter or the rabbis’ questions: Who is wise? Who is mighty? Who is rich? Who is worthy of honor? And finally, a modern collection of four children from the American Jewish World Service Haggadah: the activist child, the skeptical child, the indifferent child and the uninformed child who does not know how to ask. Our study of the rabbi’s preoccupation with four temperaments (Pirkei Avot 5: 10-14) gave us new insights into the rasha (wicked child) as each of their discussions included a personality type labeled rasha; a person who is quick to anger and slow to appease, a person who neither wants to give tzedakah nor wants others to give, a person who neither learns Torah nor engages in mitzvot, and a person who believes that what is yours is mine and what is mine is mine.
We learned about anti-Semitism from a guest facilitator from the ADL and examined our possibilities for responses when confronted with anti-Semitic behaviors with their GOAL approach: goals, range of options, allies and likely outcomes. She ended the program with a thought provoking expression attributed to Pastor Martin Niemoller (1892-1984),
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Following the ADL program, we made and sampled three different kinds of charoset: New England charoset, California charoset and Persian charoset.
Please remember that Prozdor is hosting an open house on Sunday, April 30 from 10:00-12:00 at Hebrew College (160 Herrick Road, Newton). Kindly inform us about your plans for attendance so that we can plan accordingly.
Best wishes for wonderful remaining days of Passover and a fantastic spring break.
Hag Sameach!
HaMorah Margalit (aka Gretchen Marks Brandt)
