Hayei Sarah

In this week's Torah reading we hear the story of how Avraham sends his servant to find a wife for his son Yitzhak.   You can read the whole story in Chapter 24 of the book of B'Reisheet - aka Genesis.  After you read it, try to imagine what was going through Rivka's mind as the story unfolded.  You might also imagine  what was going through the minds of the other characters - Eliezer, Avraham, Lavan, Betuel, Rivka's mother, the nanny.
Become one of the characters in the story and think about how you would be updating your status on Facebook.

• What does your profile look like?
• Who are your "friends"?
• What are you thinking?
• What do you want your friends to know?
• What are you excited about?
• What are you worried about?
• What thoughts might you NOT want to share on your fb page?  Why?

What do you think?

Be sure to share your answers by commenting on this blog

Vayera

This portion begins with a lovely description of Abraham's hospitality to visitors who arrive unannounced at his door.  Of course, in today's world if strangers arrive at our home we would almost certainly NOT invite them in, but there are other ways in which we invite new people into our lives.  According to Will Rogers, a famous American humorist, "A stranger is just a friend I haven't met yet."

1. What do you think Will Rogers meant by that statement?
2. What does that tell you about the kind of person he probably was?
3. Where do you meet most of your friends?
4. How do you decide whether someone you meet will become a friend or not?
5. In what ways do you reach out to make new friends?
6. Is a 'friend' on Facebook the same as a 'friend' in real life?  Explain your answer.
7. How is the internet a good place to meet new people?
8. How is face-to-face a good way to meet people? 

Abraham's guests turned out to be very important.  You never know if the people you meet are going to play a role in your future or not.  It's a good thing Abraham welcomed the strangers to his home - and it can be a good thing for you to welcome new people into your life.

What do you think?

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Lech Lecha

This is the part of the story where God tells Abram to leave his family and go to the place God will show him.  Here's what it might have said if it were being written now:

Now Adonai said to Abram:  Get out of town, leave your friends, your parents, and go to the place I'll show you [but I'm not showing you yet!!  You'll have to trust me on this one]

And if you do what I'm telling you, you'll be successful.  You'll have thousands of friends (on Facebook, at least), everyone will want to 'friend' you, and anyone who isn't nice to you is gonna be in serious trouble.

How does this sound?  Why do you think Abram believed it was God who was talking to him?  Do you think you would have done what Abram did?  Who do you listen to?  Whose advice do you follow?  How do you decide important things?

What do you think?

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Noah

At the end of the story of Noah and the flood, there is a small story about how Noah planted a vineyard, made some wine, got drunk, went into his tent, and was naked.  Pretty embarrassing, but after all, he was inside his own tent, not walking around outside.  One of his sons came in and saw him lying there - then told his brothers about it.  They decided to cover their father up.

Something to think about:  If someone is in his own room, is he entitled to privacy?  If someone is doing something inside his house, is it anyone else's business?  If we know something about another person that might embarrass him or her, do we have the right to tell other people?

Social networks make it easy to share information.  How do we decide if what we share is appropriate?

What do you think?

Be sure to share your answers by commenting on this blog