8th Grade Siyyum, Unit 1 (Ve-Ahavta) Course Pack

Unit 1, Lesson 1

Self Reflection

Instructions: Please answer the following questions in the space below. We will revisit these questions throughout the year.

​1. Who are you?

2. Who are you as a Jew?

3. What do you believe?

4. Why do you believe?

5. How has Hillel Day School shaped you?

Unit 1, Lesson 2

Your Heart

Instructions: Imagine the heart below is a visual representation of your own heart. Please fill the heart with the names of the people that you love.

Text Study – I Kings 19: 8-14

Instructions: Please read the text below and answer the questions.

Questions

1. According to pasuk 9, where is Elijah?

2. According to Elijah, why is he at this location?

3. Based on pesukim 11-12, what does God do?

4. In pasuk 13 God asks Elijah a question for the second time. How does Elijah's response change?

5. In your opinion, what is this text trying to teach us?

Unit 1 - Essential Question

Unit 1, Lesson 3

Instructions: This is a listening activity. Please listen to the teacher's reading and answer the relevant question.

Opening Activity:

Questions

1. Think about your daily תפילה. What is the theme of the ברכה before the שמע? What is the theme of the ברכה right after the שמע?

2. Consider your previous answer. What might we learn from this?

3. Examine the paragraphs of the שמע. How does the שמע help us create and/or strengthen our relationship with God?

4. How might we best translate שמע? Explain your reasoning.

http://www.hillelday.org/Page/Discover-Hillel/Mission--Core-Values

“Ve-Ahavta”—A Personal Relationship with God—"וְאָהַבְתָּ"

We believe in the value of forging a loving, personal relationship with God.

When we pray, we speak to God; when we study, God speaks to us.

Through prayer that is spirited and meaningful, and study in an atmosphere that encourages deep and honest questions, students begin to develop their own lifelong relationship with God.

Unit 1, Lesson 4

Class Notes:

_______________________ & _________________________

because...

_______________________ & _________________________

because...

CLASS NOTES: A Piyyut is....

Instructions: Please answer the questions below.

1. Examine the language of this prayer. Why do you think it is written in this manner?

2. In your opinion, why is this prayer recited on Yom Kippur?

Unit 1 – Big Idea #1

Unit 1, Lesson 5

Class Notes:

“The opposite of love isn’t hate. It is indifference.” - Elie Weisel

In my own words, this quote means...

Instructions: Please read the following passage and answer the questions below.

‎Gen. 18:17 וַֽה׳ אָמָ֑ר הַֽמְכַסֶּ֤ה אֲנִי֙ מֵֽאַבְרָהָ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֖ר אֲנִ֥י עֹשֶֽׂה׃

Gen. 18:18 since Abraham is to become a great and populous nation and all the nations of the earth are to bless themselves by him?

Gen. 18:19 For I have singled him out, that he may instruct his children and his posterity to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is just and right, in order that the LORD may bring about for Abraham what He has promised him.”

Gen. 18:20 Then the LORD said, “The outrage of Sodom and Gomorrah is so great, and their sin so grave!

Gen. 18:21 I will go down to see whether they have acted altogether according to the outcry that has reached Me; if not, I will take note.”

Gen. 18:22 The men went on from there to Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the LORD.

Gen. 18:23‏ וַיִּגַּ֥שׁ אַבְרָהָ֖ם וַיֹּאמַ֑ר הַאַ֣ף תִּסְפֶּ֔ה צַדִּ֖יק עִם־רָשָֽׁע׃

Gen. 18:24 What if there should be fifty innocent within the city; will You then wipe out the place and not forgive it for the sake of the innocent fifty who are in it?

Gen. 18:25 Far be it from You to do such a thing, to bring death upon the innocent as well as the guilty, so that innocent and guilty fare alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?”

Gen. 18:26 And the LORD answered, “If I find within the city of Sodom fifty innocent ones, I will forgive the whole place for their sake.”

Gen. 18:27 Abraham spoke up, saying, “Here I venture to speak to my Lord, I who am but dust and ashes:

Gen. 18:28 What if the fifty innocent should lack five? Will You destroy the whole city for want of the five?” And He answered, “I will not destroy if I find forty-five there.”

Gen. 18:29 But he spoke to Him again, and said, “What if forty should be found there?” And He answered, “I will not do it, for the sake of the forty.”

Gen. 18:30 And he said, “Let not my Lord be angry if I go on: What if thirty should be found there?” And He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

Gen. 18:31 And he said, “I venture again to speak to my Lord: What if twenty should be found there?” And He answered, “I will not destroy, for the sake of the twenty.”

Gen. 18:32 And he said, “Let not my Lord be angry if I speak but this last time: What if ten should be found there?” And He answered, “I will not destroy, for the sake of the ten.”

Gen. 18:33 וַיֵּ֣לֶךְ ה׳ כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר כִּלָּ֔ה לְדַבֵּ֖ר אֶל־אַבְרָהָ֑ם וְאַבְרָהָ֖ם שָׁ֥ב לִמְקֹמֽוֹ׃

Questions

1. With whom is God speaking in pasuk 17?

2. In your own words, describe Avraham’s location based on pasuk 23.

3. God answers Avraham's question in pasuk 32. Immediately following his answer, what does God do in pasuk 33?

4.What does Avraham subsequently do?

5. Consider this passage as a whole. What is odd or striking about this passage?

6. In your opinion, what lesson should we learn from this text?

Unit 1 – Big Idea #2

Unit 1, Lesson 6

Instructions: Below is a map of Hillel Day School and its surrounding area. Imagine you are located at the intersection of 14 Mile Road and Middlebelt. Please draw identity two different paths you could take to reach our school. Then, fill in the table below.

Instructions: Please read the text below and answer the relevant questions.

‎

Unit 1, Lesson 7

In the space available, please write your nickname:

From this we learn that....

Questions

1. According to pasuk 25, what happens to Yaakov when he is alone?

2. What does the man do to Yaakov?

3. According to pasuk 27, what does Yaakov demand?

4. How does the man respond? Be as specific as possible.

5. Write down one question that you have about these pesukim.

Unit 1, Lesson 7

Genesis 28:13

וְהִנֵּ֨ה ה׳ נִצָּ֣ב עָלָיו֮ וַיֹּאמַר֒ אֲנִ֣י ה׳ אֱלֹהֵי֙ אַבְרָהָ֣ם אָבִ֔יךָ וֵאלֹהֵ֖י יִצְחָ֑ק הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֤ר אַתָּה֙ שֹׁכֵ֣ב עָלֶ֔יהָ לְךָ֥ אֶתְּנֶ֖נָּה וּלְזַרְעֶֽךָ׃

1. In this pasuk, God introduces himself to Yaakov as:

Genesis 31:42

לוּלֵ֡י אֱלֹהֵ֣י אָבִי֩ אֱלֹהֵ֨י אַבְרָהָ֜ם וּפַ֤חַד יִצְחָק֙ הָ֣יָה לִ֔י כִּ֥י עַתָּ֖ה רֵיקָ֣ם שִׁלַּחְתָּ֑נִי אֶת־עָנְיִ֞י וְאֶת־יְגִ֧יעַ כַּפַּ֛י רָאָ֥ה אֱלֹהִ֖ים וַיּ֥וֹכַח אָֽמֶשׁ׃

2. In this pasuk, Yaakov is speaking to his father-in-law Lavan. He is explaining to Lavan that if God was not on his side, he would not have his awesome possessions. Yaakov refers to God as:

Genesis 32:10

וַיֹּאמֶר֮ יַעֲקֹב֒ אֱלֹהֵי֙ אָבִ֣י אַבְרָהָ֔ם וֵאלֹהֵ֖י אָבִ֣י יִצְחָ֑ק ה׳ הָאֹמֵ֣ר אֵלַ֗י שׁ֧וּב לְאַרְצְךָ֛ וּלְמוֹלַדְתְּךָ֖ וְאֵיטִ֥יבָה עִמָּֽךְ׃

3. This pasuk takes place right before Yaakov wrestles with the angel. In this pasuk, Yaakov speaks to God and refers to God as:

Genesis 32:20

וַיַּצֶּב־שָׁ֖ם מִזְבֵּ֑חַ וַיִּ֨קְרָא־ל֔וֹ אֵ֖ל אֱלֹהֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

4. This pasuk is about Yaakov building an altar to God. He names it:

5. What important lesson emerges from these pesukim?

Unit 1, Lesson 8

My Question for God:

Shema / Primo Levi

You who live secure

In your warm houses,

Who return at evening to find

Hot food and friendly faces:

Consider whether this is a man,

Who labors in the mud

Who knows no peace

Who fights for a crust of bread

Who dies at a yes or a no.

Consider whether this is a woman,

Without hair or name

With no more strength to remember

Eyes empty and womb cold

As a frog in winter.

Consider that this has been:

I commend these words to you.

Engrave them on your hearts

When you are in your house, when you walk on your way,

When you go to bed, when you rise.

Repeat them to your children.

Or may your house crumble,

Disease render you powerless,

Your offspring avert their faces from you.

Questions

1. In your opinion, what message is Primo Levi trying to communicate through this poem?

2. What are some similarities between our traditional prayer and Levi’s poem?

3. In your opinion, why is this poem called Shema? What connection is he trying to make to themes of the prayer? How, besides the title, does he connect the poem and the prayer?

4. How do you think, for this poem, Levi would translate “Shema”: hear, listen, witness? Who is witnessing? What are they witnessing?

5. Based on this poem, what do you it means for Levi to have a personal relationship with God?