Hello all!
We
had a snowy and small day on Sunday! Most of the class was in the Bnai
Mitzvah meeting, but 6 of us got some serious learning done! We put our
lesson for the day aside, so that 75% of the class would not miss the
information, and instead, we focused one last day on our topic of discrimination
and antisemitism.
I
read the kids an article that Rabbi Jonathon Sacks wrote in the Wall
Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/print/WSJ_-C001-20150131.pdf
The kids were phenomenal; despite the GIANT
vocabulary of Rabbi Sacks, the kids worked through the article with me and they
were engaged and interested in what Sacks said. Much like Martin Luther
King Jr, Rabbi Sacks advocates for a "peaceful fight against hatred."
He urges us to not hate, and to join with others in solving the problem
of antisemitism. This was hard for the kids to understand. They
wanted to know, how can we not hate: Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Osama etc…
Rabbi Sacks response is that if we hate, we end up creating more victims,
and if we allow ourselves to be defined by the bad that happens to us, we
become victims, and we can never rise. Take a look at the article above -
it is interesting.
We then talked at length about discrimination
and stereotypes and we discussed the stereotypes amongst Jews: Reform,
Conservative, Orthodox. We then moved to more specifics: CSZ, TI etc…
What do people "think" about Jews in these shuls? How are we
perceived? We had a lot of laughs, because clearly we all are wearing fur
coats and have lots of money and plastic surgery, BUT … what is the reality?
Why do we isolate? Why do we alienate? Why do we hate? Why are we
jealous? Where do these stereotypes come from?
It was a great discussion.
Looking forward to next week, when we delve into
slavery and a little "Lego Movie Action." I have a killer
costume to wear.: Because you know I always have had a brick head…
Enjoy the snow,
Morah Leah
No comments:
Post a Comment