Avodah Lesson 3 How Do We Relate to God?

Transcription

1 Avodah Lesson 3 How Do We Relate to God? INTRODUCTION This lesson is based on the premise that God s presence can be found in human relationships and that by examining the elements of our relationships with others, we can find evidence of God. In one of our Enduring Understandings for the Avodah strand, we say that through avodah, we find sacred connections to God, community, and self. In this lesson, students will explore the idea that a connection to God and a connection to other people in our community can be intertwined in a complicated way. In the CHAI Grade 2 Curriculum Core, students studied that we are all created b tzelem Elohim (in God s image), and that each one of us is, in a way, a reflection of God. In the last lesson, we saw how we can help one another during trying times to find God. Now we see how our human relationships can be a model and a metaphor for a relationship with God. Some people find evidence of God in their relationships and the way that human beings can rise to the occasion, support, teach, guide, and love one another. Our primary text focus in this lesson will be the poem Ki Anu Amecha (We are Your People) from the High Holy Day liturgy. ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS Avodah is the work we do to find sacred connections to God, community, and self. Engaging in the work of avodah can bring order, beauty, meaning, and insight to our lives. Through avodah we can make our lives and the world more kadosh/holy. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS 1. How can I experience moments of connection to God? 2. How is striving for a connection to God, avodah, like work? 3. How can doing the work of avodah make my life, the lives of others, and the world more kadosh/holy? 133

2 134 Avodah Lesson 3 CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life QUESTIONS TO BE ADDRESSED 1. How do our relationships with one another help us have a relationship with God? 2. What kinds of human relationships are metaphors for relationships with God? EVIDENCE OF UNDERSTANDING Students will use metaphors to describe their relationship with God. LESSON OVERVIEW Set Induction (5 minutes) Relationship Activity (30 40 minutes) Text Study (10 minutes) Conclusion (10 minutes) MATERIALS NEEDED Six pieces of poster board or butcher paper with one of each of the following words written in large print in the middle: PARENT, GRANDPARENT, FRIEND, RABBI, TEACHER, COACH Paper Pencils or markers LESSON VOCABULARY metaphor A comparison between two things used to help explain one of them. SET INDUCTION (5 MINUTES) LESSON PLAN The set induction is designed to help students identify the qualities and characteristics of people who are special to them. Later in the lesson, students will make the connection that it is often in our relationships with people who are special to us and who care about us that we experience God s concern for us and see evidence of God s love in our world. 1. Read the following questions out loud to the students and ask them to write their answers on the Special Because sheet on page 25 of their workbooks: Think of someone who is very special to you. Can you name or one or two things this person says or does that makes him or her special to you?

3 CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life How Do We Relate to God? 135 For example, one set of answers could be: My soccer coach is special to me. She is special because she encourages me to do my best. She says to me, Don t give up; keep trying to do better; I know you can. 2. When the students have written their answers, ask them if they can share with the class who they picked who is special to them. 3. Next, invite students to tell the class why they picked the people they did and what those people do that is special. Write their answers on the chalkboard or flip chart. 4. When the students have shared their answers, reflect with the class about the things people do that make them special to us. Point out any consistencies or patterns in the answers. 5. Tell students that we usually think people are special because of the ways in which they care about us and try to help us, just as God cares about us and tries to help us. LEARNING ACTIVITIES Relationship Activity (30 40 minutes) The concept of this first activity is that we relate to God by understanding our relationships with special people in our lives. We can listen for God by listening to people. We can hear God by hearing people. We can relate to God by relating to people. 1. Prior to beginning this activity, post around the room previously prepared posters with the following words as headings: PARENT, GRANDPARENT, FRIEND, RABBI, TEACHER, COACH Make two columns on each poster. Label the first column: Things this person does that are special, and label the second column: Things this person says that make me feel special. Example: RABBI Things this person does that are special Things this person says that make me feel special 2. Ask the students to write their answers on as many of the posters as apply. (Possible answers include: My parent says, I love you or Clean your room. My coach says, Try your hardest; winning isn t everything or Practice makes perfect. My rabbi gives good advice and tells stories.) 3. When all six posters are complete, ask volunteers to read out loud for the class what is written on each poster. 4. Briefly discuss with the students what was written. Ask the students if they could imagine what God would say if God were speaking to them as a parent, grandparent, friend, rabbi, teacher, or coach.

4 136 Avodah Lesson 3 CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life Text Study (10 minutes) 1. Teach the High Holiday song Ki Anu Amecha in Hebrew and English. The text can be found below and in Gates of Repentance: The New Union Prayer Book for the Days of Awe (1978; revised, New York: Central Conference of American Rabbis, 1996), p For a recording of the song see Yamim Noraim Days of Awe: Music for Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur, Transcontinental Music Publications, Discuss the meaning of the poem line by line. Make sure that the students understand the dynamics of the relationships mentioned in each line of the song. Explain that line three can be understood to mean We belong to You and You belong to us. We are Your people, You are our Ruler. We are Your children, You are our Parent. We are Your possession, You are our Portion. We are Your flock, You are our Shepherd. We are Your vineyard, You are our Keeper. We are Your beloved, You are our Friend. 2. Ask these questions for discussion: What do you think this song means? How does this song explain our relationship with God? How does this song relate to the poster activity we just completed? How does using these metaphors help us to do the work of connecting to God? /Ub F k n v T t±u 'W N g Ubẗ h F /Ubh cẗ v T t±u 'Wh b c Ubẗ /Ubh k r«ud v T t±u 'W, k j³b Ubẗ /Ub g«ur v T t±u 'W bt«m Ubẗ /Ub r y«ub v T t±u 'W n r F Ubẗ /Ub s«us v T t±u 'W,²h g r Ubẗ CONCLUSION (10 MINUTES) 1. As a class, write a personal poem to God that parallels Ki Anu Amecha. Write the lines below on the board. Ask the students to fill in the blanks. (Some possible answers are found in parentheses.) Explain that when they think of a metaphor, it should be one that helps them understand their relationship to God; when they think of a noun to fill in the blank, they can think back to the kinds of things they wrote on the posters. Who says things to them that might make them feel special or encourage them to act in the right way? Who or what helps them make the world more kadosh/holy? Students should also record their version of the poem on page 26 of their workbooks. I am Your child, You are my (Parent, Mom, Dad, Helper, Teacher). I am Your athlete, You are my (Strength, Muscles, Energy, Coach). We are Your students, You are our (Teacher, Helper, Tutor). I am Your musician, You are my (Composer, Private Teacher, Music Teacher).

5 CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life How Do We Relate to God? 137 I am Your worker, You are my (Boss, Employer, Manager). I am Your, You are my. 2. Each student can write his/her own metaphor to conclude the poem. 3. Read the class poem together and have a few students share their own ideas.

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