Ilustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Devash is a weekly parashah magazine that makes Torah learning sweet. By engaging directly with texts and taking kids seriously as Jews, Devash helps children and grownups discover new ideas, values, and sweet morsels in the weekly Torah portion. Devash is designed for kids ages 7 and up to read independently, or together with families and teachers.
Learn more at https://www.hadar.org/torah-tefillah/devash
CONTENTS
- Midrash / מִדְרָשׁ
- God commands us to do and think and feel things all the time. Why then does the parashah introduce a list of things that God is asking us?
- "Ve-atah (and now), Israel, what does God your Lord ask of you?" What is that “and” connecting to?
- Why does God love the ger (a person from another nation who chooses to live among Benei Yisrael) and give them extra support?
- Commentary / פַּרְשָׁנוּת
- The concept of דְּבֵקוּת (deveikut) describes being so close to God, it’s like you’re stuck to God. But what does it mean to be close to God?
- Our parashah is named for a strange word. What is the meaning of “eikev”?
- What does it mean for that we cannot live on bread alone, and that God’s words give life?
- Halakhah / הֲלָכָה
- Explore the halakhah around the mitzvah to say בִּרְכַּת הַמָּזוֹן (Grace after Meals), which comes from these words in our parashah.
- We generally say Birkat Ha-Mazon after meals that include bread. What about when you eat something that isn’t bread? How should you thank God after that?
- A Moment of Hebrew / רֶגַע שֶׁל עִבְרִית
