Ozreinu
Torah
Study
for May
Please use
this month’s Torah study at your meeting.
Feel free to use some or all of this lesson plan. It is here as a starting point for your Ozreinu group! (Click
here to download texts to photocopy and share
with the group)
I.
In the coming
weeks Jews
around
the world
will read
the Torah
portion
called “Kedoshim” – Holiness.
In this
portion
are a number
of laws
which,
taken together,
are traditionally
referred
to by scholars
as the “holiness
code”.
(Read the
first passage,
from Leviticus
19:1 – 2)
Questions
for discussion:
What do you think holiness
is?
What does it mean to be kadosh – to be holy?
Is “holy” understood only in a religious/prayerful/ritual
context? Or…
Is God telling us to be or do something specific?
How can we be holy in our everyday lives?
What does it mean to be holy at our jobs? At the
grocery store? With our kids? With our spouses?
What might it mean to be holy in terms of our kids’ school?
In terms of the IEP?
II. On the second side of the sheet are three different
interpretations of what kadosh/holy might mean.
Ask someone to read the first one (Pirkei Avot)
and discuss it.
Questions for discussion:
What is “holiness” according
to this text?
How does one get closer to God according to this
text?
It is essentially proposing asceticism: that the
less you indulge, the holier you are.
What is your response to this? Have you ever lived
this way and what was that like?
How can this commentary be related to our experiences
as parents of our kids?
Ask someone to read the second text (Rabbi Nachman
of Bratslav) and discuss it.
Questions for discussion:
Rabbi Nachman teaches that holiness is very specifically
attained through the use of particular bodily orifices;
look at each specific suggestion. What does each
phrase mean? What is he teaching, metaphorically?
Do you agree with him? Do you agree that “The
holiness you attain will bring you perfect understanding,
and you will have wisdom, which is God's blessing”?
How could you gain wisdom by “guarding your nose
and mouth and ears”?
What might Rebbe Nachman’s ideas translate
into, in our contemporary lives today?
Are these struggles that you share? Have you ever
lived the way that Rebbe Nachman promotes? What
was that like?
Rebbe Nachman’s final comment is about controlling
your anger. How could this lead to holiness?
How can this commentary be related to our experiences
as parents of our kids?
Ask someone to read the third text (the Chatam Sofer)
and discuss it.
Questions for discussion:
This is a significantly different comment than the
previous one. What makes it different?
In what way can community bring about kedusha? Have
you ever experienced this in your life…?
How so?
Which of these three interpretations makes most
sense to you?
If holiness means being closer to God, which comment
speaks most powerfully to your experiences?
How can this commentary be related to our experiences
as parents of our kids? Have you found that kedusha
has come through connecting with others in a community?
Which community? Why? How?
|
Archive
3/2006
2/2006
1/2006
12/2005
|
