Beshalach

This week's Torah reading brings the Israelites out of Egypt, finally, and through Yam Suf, the Sea of Reeds.  After that miraculous event, you would have thought everyone would have been grateful to God for at least a while.  But according to the very next chapter, chapter 16 of Exodus, that's not what happened:

 2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness; 3 and the children of Israel said to them: 'I wish we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, ...where we at least had enough bread to eat; Instead you have brought us out into this wilderness, to kill this whole people with hunger.' 

What were the people complaining about?
Why do you think they were complaining?
Do you think they had a good reason to complain?
What would you have said to them if you were Moses?

Read the rest of the chapter 16  to find out what happened.

Are you satisfied with the outcome?
Explain what you would have done if you had been there.

Imagine you were there and had a Facebook page.  Post an update to your status to tell everyone what has happened to you.

Bo

You all know the story - we tell it every year at our Passover seder.   What is your favorite part of the story?  What do you think would have been your favorite part if you were in the story?

Today there are Jews who live in countries where there is a lot of anti-Jewish activity.  Jews living there may feel they have to hide the fact that they are Jewish.  Some of the Jews in these countries choose to leave, while other decide to stay.  It may seem like a simple choice to you, but think about the fact that leaving means going somewhere you don't know anyone, have to go to a new school with no friends, might never see your old home and friends again .  Not so simple after all.

• Some commentators believe that only a small percentage of the Hebrews living in Egypt left during the Exodus. 
• Would you have been part of the group that left? 
• Or would you have stayed in Egypt? 

Explain your answer.

Shemot

When the family of Yaakov first came to Egypt, they were greeted warmly by the Par'o - the ruler.  In fact, they were given choice grazing land for their animals and treated in some ways better than the native Egyptians at the time.

They were lucky enough to thrive in this new country - their numbers increased and the wealth also.  In fact, after some 400 years they were so numerous and powerful that the Par'o at the time began to get nervous.  He began to see them as a threat.

• Why do you think he felt that way?

When a new family moves into a community, what usually happens?  Does it matter who the new people are?  Who the established residents are?

• Were you ever the 'new kid' in a school?  
• What was it like?  
• Were there a lot of other Jewish kids in the school?  
• Did that make any difference to you?
• How do you act when a 'new kid' moves in to your neighborhood?  Why?

VaYechi

This week's Torah portion tells about the move of the family of Yaakov - the family that would become the Jewish people in the future - from Canaan to Egypt.  Quite a big change for them, and probably for the Egyptians as well.

There is a big change in the population on Long Island - more and more people from different countries and backgrounds are living here, and bringing their customs and traditions to this part of the country.  In particular, there is a growth in the Asian population, as you can see from this flyer about a celebration held at Stony Brook University:  Asian/American Cultural Festival of Long Island.
There is also a growth in the Latino population, as you can see in this publicity for an art festival highlighting Latino culture:  Projecting Art.

Imagine that you are part of the family of Yaakov coming to live in Goshen.  What would you do to honor your culture?  Share your ideas here, please.

VaYechi

This is the final weekly portion of the book of Breisheet, the first of the five books of the Torah.  In it we reach the point in the story in which the entire family of the descendants of Yaakov (who is also known as Yisrael) have come to live in the land of Egypt, in the neighborhood of Goshen.

Why do you think they all stayed in the same neighborhood and didn't move in with the rest of the Egyptians who lived in other places in the country?

• When you, or your parents, or your grandparents, or your great-grandparents came to live in the United States, did they expect to stay forever or did they plan to return to their country of birth?
• Why did they come to the United States?
• Once here, did they stay separate from other groups of people?  
• Did they continue to speak the language of their former country, or did they immediately begin to speak English?  
• Did they think of themselves as "Jews", as "Americans", or did they have some other identity?
• How is the story of the family of Yaakov in Egypt the same as the story of your family in the United States?  How is it different?

Miketz

Joseph is the first Jewish fellow who lives outside the land of Israel and seems to forget he's Jewish.  He dresses like an Egyptian, talks like an Egyptian, marries an Egyptian woman, and even gives his first child a name that means, in the Egyptian language, "the person who makes me forget my past."  In fact, I bet if he lived in your city today he would probably have been celebrating Christmas with his friends.

In spite of this, Joseph is called a tzadik, a wise man.  How can this be?  After all, we are reading this during the week of Hanukkah, the holiday that is all about safeguarding the Jewish religion when Antiochus wanted to force us to give it up.

Click here to Read this article about Hanukkah and you may find out some things that you didn't know before, even though you have been celebrating Hanukkah your whole life.

• What surprised you about what you read?
• What bothered you about what you read?
• What do you want to know more about?
• How has your thinking about Hanukkah changed as a result of reading this article?
• What do you think is the connection between the story of Joseph and story of Hanukkah?

What do you think?

Be sure to share your answers by commenting on this blog

VaYeshev

In this section of the Torah there is a long and detailed story about Yosef and his brothers that you have probably read and talked about many times before.  We all know the story - Yosef is his father's favorite child, his father Yaacov treats him better than the other brothers, they hate him, they sell him to a caravan, his father thinks he's dead, yadda, yadda, yadda.
When the caravan gets to Egypt Yosef is sold to a wealthy man and serves in the household as a slave until Potifar's wife accuses him of behaving badly and is sent to jail.  There he interprets dreams and eventually is freed (but that doesn't happen until next week's installment)

This is the longest story about an individual in the entire Torah (except for Moshe, and that's a different story, since Moshe is traditionally understood to be telling the whole thing).  It lasts through four parashot, four weekly Torah readings, and has much more detail than most stories.

Here's the question:  What's so important about Yosef that he gets such a long story?

• Is it about how bad it is to be jealous of your siblings?
• Is it about how important it is for parents to treat their kids fairly?
• Is it about how a kid who is pretty spoiled can turn out OK?
• Is it about how sometimes bad things can turn out to have good endings?

What do you think?

Be sure to share your answers by commenting on this blog