Visit
our resource collections:
Check
our schedules:
Symbols, Places, and Jewish Space
Goal: The goal of this lesson is to get the students to think about what makes
space Jewish space and how they make decisions about making their lives Jewish.
Objectives:
The students will clarify how they value being Jewish.
The students will list their most valuable Jewish possession and their most valuable personal possession if they differ.
The students will learn some traditions about the significance of a mezuzah.
The students will decide the personal significance of a mezuzah.
Procedure:
PART 1: Personal
Priorities
Step 1
Have the students write down on an index card or a piece of paper torn in half their most prized possession.
On the other half of the paper, have the students write down the most important Jewish object that they or their family possess.
Step 2
Shuffle all of these responses.
Step 3
Divide the class into groups of four. Divide the number of responses equally between the groups.
Step 4
Tell them to prioritize their list of items from most important at the top, to least important at the bottom. Have them tape them on the wall with scotch tape or a big piece of butcher-block paper from the art room.
Step 5
Have each group present their list to the other groups with an explanation as to why they put things in that order.
Step 6
After each group presents
ASK
What was difficult about making putting your list in priority order?
How did you come to your decisions?
How did your Judaism influence your answers?
How was compromise involved in this process?
PART 2: History
and Tradition
List on the board Jewish ritual objects
Discuss the list and the feelings, emotions, and thoughts the class about the objects.
EXPLAIN
Objects and places help us to focus our thoughts and energies in a certain direction. They can tie us to specific occasions, trigger our memories, and helps us to celebrate living. Objects and places can also act as reminders for us as to how to behave or what to do in certain situations. Think of the idea tying a string around your finger as to not to forget a certain task you were supposed to do that day.
ASK
Why is it important to have a Synagogue? Explain that another name for a synagogue is a “house of gathering.”
What is the significance of this day of re-dedicating our Temple?
EXPLAIN
One of the important objects we use to dedicate and designate a room or a house as Jewish space, as you know, is a mezuzah.
Who can tell me what text is in the mezuzah?
The scroll
contains the first two paragraphs of the "Shema" prayer, declaring
the oneness of God, and commanding us "to write [these words] on
the doorpost of your house and on your gates" (Deut. 6:4-9). The
second passage (Deut. 11:13-21) teaches that Jewish destiny, both individually
and nationally, depends upon fulfilling God's will.
EXPLAIN (this
section only was taken from the UAHC website, http://www.uahc.org/small/pdfdl/mezuzah.pdf)
There is some disagreement among scholars and
rabbis from the past over the significance of the mezuzah.
a. Some thought of it as an amulet. An amulet
is an object whose owner believes that it has some type of magical power
to protect the owner from harm.
b. Others, especially Rambam, the famous 12th-century
Jewish scholar, were very opposed to the idea of a mezuzah as an amulet.
He stated that calling a mezuzah an amulet meant ignoring the duty to
proclaim that God is One and that we are obligated to love God with all
our heart, soul, and might.
c. Many Jews today think of a mezuzah as something
that does not so much protect us from outside or external harm but rather
from internal harm. In this way of thinking, a mezuzah reminds us of God’s
commandments and helps us to stay away from doing wrong.
ASK
Which of these explanations do you like best?
If none, what explanation would you give?
If mezuzot were amulets, from what would they protect us? What additional words would be included on the parchment?