Rabbi Ettedgui taught students about god and revelation. They got the chance to reveal themselves to the class dressed up in fun or funny outfits.
Shalom Kitah Vav (6th grade) Families!
Etgar Torah Service Unit:
Why is the Torah Service so central to the Shabbat morning experience? Well, it essentially re-creates the Revelation at Mt. Sinai, and so we’ve been working on defining the word “Revelation” i.e.
an awe-inspiring event
a meeting between people and the unknown
an act of making known through divine inspiration
something that is revealed by God to humans
An Unknown that is suddenly Known
The students have taken a look at Exodus chapter 19 and the beginning of chapter 20, it’s the narrative of our ancestors’ revelatory encounter with God at Mt. Sinai.
Following that, we will cover Seder K’riat HaTorah (the sequence of the Torah reading service) and contemplate how it memorializes the revelatory experience at Sinai. The goal is to underscore the ongoing relationship every Jew has with the Torah. Through liturgy and choreography, we remember the moment of Revelation at Sinai and that it is for each and every one of us.
Here is the sequence:
Taking out the Torah
Reading the Torah
Reading the Haftarah
Prayers for the Community
Returning the Torah to the Ark
In TaNaKh (Biblical Studies): We are presently studying about the leadership of Joshua and the conquest of the Promised Land. The Battle of the City of Jericho and the City of Ai.
Themes of these 2 Battles are:
Trusting in God
Trusting in Leadership
Collective Punishment
Building Alliances
Ethics in War
What’s Ahead For Us in TaNakh: Understanding the Repeating Cycle in the Book of Judges (Shoftim) which is a turbulent time-period after Joshua died, and before establishing the Monarchy in Israel.
Israelite Sinning
God sends a foreign power to punish Israelites
Israelites repent
God forgives and sends a Judge to save the day
And the cycle repeats
You should also receive a separate communication about the Yad LaTorah Program Date Change!
DATE CHANGE INFORMATION for our Vav “Yad LaTorah" Family Program. The date has been moved to a later date in our school year. Please change it on your calendars as it is no longer scheduled on Thursday, December 3rd, 2020; instead, it will be on Thursday, February 18th, 2021.
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Rabbi Daniel (Danny) Ettedgui
Please feel at ease to contact me dettedgui@talmudtorahmpls.org