Hi All!
We had a great week this week! So much fun. On
Sunday, our kiddos learned about the traits that make an “unlikely
leader.” They studied the characteristics of: Woody, Shrek, Katniss and
Harry Potter. All of these characters from popular culture were thrown in
– if you will – to leadership positions. The kids found that all of these
characters had the following: an unwavering belief in a higher power, bravery,
a fatal flaw, a clear idea of what they wanted, the ability to sacrifice, and
perseverance. We then related these characteristics to our leader in our
text, Moses. The kids studied text from the Torah in parsha Shemot where Moses
articulates that he is less than what we assume a leader should be. These
texts all can be described as showing a leader who is: scared, uncertain,
angry, and at times he does not claim responsibility. This is one of my
favorite lessons of the year. Because the kids see all of these examples
of Moses as the opposite of what one would expect a leader to be like.
And yet, it is inarguable that Moses was one of the greatest leaders in Jewish
history. Without him, we would never have been delivered from slavery in Egypt.
So, why is this lesson so great for kids? Because this DEEPLY FLAWED man…
this scared, frusterated, uncertain man, rose to the occasion – with God’s help
– and got the job done. Time and time again he cried out to God that HE
WAS NOT THE RIGHT GUY FOR THE JOB… and time and time again, God basically said
“tough luck, pal. You are it, and I’ve got your back.” And indeed,
God did. I think that this lesson shows the kids that they too can be
leaders. Leaders are not all born with charisma, talent and a penchant
for rhetoric. For many of us, it is the simple act of getting up
time and time again and rising to the occasion. We can all be like Moses.
On Tuesday we furthered this lesson with a quick review of
the parsha so far, and then the kids watched a clip from Frozen, and related
the character of Moses to that of Elsa and Anna. We discussed how Moses
was a man of ACTION. There is this great section in the Torah where the
Egyptians are at our backs and closing in, and the Sea of Reeds is in front of
us and the Israelites are complaining (we do this often. We do this
well). Moses prays to God and God basically says “Moses… enough! DO
Something!” Ok, it doesn’t go exactly like that, but God tells Moses to
hold up his rod and yadi yadi yadi…. This text shows us that there is a time
for praying and a time for doing. Jews are people who DO things. We
are a religion of action. We do not fall on our knees. We do not
prostrate ourselves and submit. We wrestle with God. We DO things. I
relayed the midrash of the story of Nachson, the first Jews who walked into the
sea. Ask your child to tell you that story. It is a great one. I
also recounted a great quote I heard from a rabbi. He said “pray to God
AND swim to shore.” To be Jewish is to DO ALL WE CAN DO and when we have
exhausted ourselves of every ounce of our being in the doing, God will meet us
and help us with the rest. One of our little Rabbis in class took this to
heart. Rabbi Giles said “wait! So it is like school. We can’t just pray
to do well on a math test. WE have to study a lot and then pray that God will
help us remember it.” J Wise
words indeed.
My favorite activity was when the kids had to rewrite the
Let it Go song with lyrics that they wrote to highlight the learning we have
done the last few months. A small sampling of this…
“the thornbush, is burning well tonight! (Moses’ point of
view)
Not a shoe to be seen. (I personally love this
line, since Moses took his shoes off at this point in the text)
All the Jews have been captured,
And it’s all up to me!
The bush is burning like God is inside,
Don’t let them in, don’t let them go (note to reader,
this is now from Pharaoh’s point of view)
Be a mean Pharaoh
Conceal, don’t feel don’t let them go!
Please no!”
And with that gem, I wish you a good Shabbos.
Be well,
Morah Leah
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