The Shape and Purpose of Jewish Time

We began a new unit of study in our Edot class yesterday. This unit will focus on the early history of the Israelite nation, with an emphasis on the Egyptian and Mesopotamian influences on its developing culture, as well as on the prophetic teachings and how they developed into the Rabbinic understanding of "tikkun olam" (repairing the world). It was this Rabbinic belief that we are partners with God in Creation, helping to create a just and "balanced" world, that gave the edot a sense of purpose - a reason for maintaining their Jewish identity.

We discussed the definition of history as "recorded past events," and talked about how important it was to be able to compare various recorded sources to determine if what was written actually  happened. The role of archaeology was introduced and examples were shared of how historians and archaeologists can work in tandem to determine if recorded events actually occurred or not.

I introduced the students to the terms B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) and C.E. (the Common Era) and then had each student create a simple timeline. As we continue our studies of Jewish history, we'll be noting down important events and periods that we learn about on these timelines.

I used the final 15 minutes of our session to review Hebrew Through Movement vocabulary, and to introduce new vocabulary relating to Shabbat.

Morrie, l'hareem challah (Morrie, lift up challah bread)

Aaron, l'hareem kos ya'een (Aaron, lift up a cup of wine)

Zach, l'hareem bakbook shel ya'een (Zach, lift up a bottle of wine)

Zach, la'seem bakbook ya'een al ha' rosh shel Jake (Zach put a bottle of wine on Jake's head)

Koolam l'varech (Everyone say a blessing)