It’s a Living Torah

Posted on December 1, 2009

Every Tuesday, I will be sharing a resource or activity from Areyvut that rabbis, cantors, educators, and professionals in the community can use in the field. I hope you enjoy and welcome your feedback.

Bring several recent articles from local newspapers or magazines into class. Show the students each article (in the interest of time, it’s not necessary for them to read it), say where and when and where it was published, and give a brief synopsis. Ask students to pick verses from the following list that correlate to each article.

  • “Am I my brother’s keeper?” — Genesis 4:9
  • “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself then what am I? If not now, when?” — Pirkei Avot 1:14
  • “It is not your obligation to complete the task (of perfecting the world), but neither are you free to desist (from doing all you can).” — Pirkei Avot 2:21
  • “All Jews are responsible for one another.” — Shavuot 39a
  • “Whoever saves one life, it is as if he saved the entire world.” — Mishna Sanhedrin 4:5
  • How does the verse you picked tie into this article?
  • Do you think that when these verses were written, they anticipated events like the ones in these articles? Why or why not?
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