Dear Vav (6th-grade) Families,
Shannah Tovah! Here are some of the amazing things we have covered in our first 4 Lessons!
Kashrut Unit: Thinking about what Kashrut/Jewish Dietary laws have to do with being disciplined in life. Garden of Eden Kashrut to Noah Times Kashrut (10 generations and what changed).
Kashrut and Holiness/Rambam's Ta'amei Mitzvot (other benefits of doing Mitzvot) and a little background on who Rambam was, Torah source texts for not consuming blood, where the word Treif comes from (the Torah!).
Kashrut: Torah Text Sources on not consuming blood, which land animals are kosher (including fish and fowl), as well as the separation of meat and dairy.
Kashrut: Why don't Jews eat the nerve/ligament area of the hip? Jacob narrative from the Torah when he wrestled with a Man/Angel.
16 Questions/Kashrut Quiz--students emailed their responses to me
Yom Kippur general overview/themes and the Book of Jonah.
Jonah receives a call from God to go to Nineveh and announce to the city’s population that because of their great sins, the city will be destroyed. Jonah flees in a ship.
A storm besieges the ship. The sailors cast lots, discover that the storm is Jonah’s fault, and throw him overboard.
A big fish swallowed Jonah, who spends three days and nights inside.
Jonah offers a prayer of praise to God, and the fish spits him out onto dry land.
Jonah travels to Nineveh and tells the people that God is going to punish them. They react with extreme acts of repentance. God retracts the punishment.
This displeases Jonah. He leaves the city and waits to see what will happen.
God creates a plant to comfort Jonah. Then God sends a worm to attack the plant. Though Jonah is depressed, God explains the rationale for forgiving Nineveh.
Yom Kippur and its relationship to Kashrut/Kindness to Animals (Tza'ar Ba'alei Chayim): two Torah sources and two Talmud texts to think about as we bridge our two main subjects.
G’mar Chatimah Tovah! May You be Written and Sealed in the Book of Life for a Good and Healthy Year!
Rabbi Daniel Ettedgui
dettedgui@talmudtorahmpls.org