2+-+Story


 * __ S __TORY**


 * __ BACKGROUND __**

The first word of שְׁמַע asks //Yisrael// (referring to the Jewish people) to pay attention to something very, very special … that God is unique, one, or special. The word שְׁמַע means to hear, or to listen, or to pay attention. In the Torah, Moses, in talking to the Jewish People says, “Pay attention, Israel/Jews: Adonai is our God, Adonai is One.”

**The word** ** שְׁמַע reminds us to really listen, to be “present”** 1) Ask students to sit in a circle that you prepared before class – chairs in the center facing out for half the class, and an equal number of chairs in an outside circle facing those in the center.
 * __ ACTIVITY IDEAS: __**


 * Give students in the center one minute to tell those on the outside of the circle about the people in their family; tell the person on the outside not to say anything or ask any questions, but to listen to the person on the inside. [If you have access to a camera, laptop and digital projector, have a //madrich/ah// take some photos that would show __how__ the person who was asked to listen is sitting and listening.]
 * Reverse roles.
 * Ask the people on the inside of the circle to tell something special about themselves that their partner probably doesn’t know – it could be about a sports game they did well in, a nice thing they did for someone, a trip they went on, etc. Tell the person on the outside of the circle that their job is (without being goofy) to use their bodies to show that they are really listening – ask for some ideas from the group of what this might look like (leaning forward, cocking their head, nodding, etc). If the students have trouble thinking of some of these ideas, feel free to suggest some. Give approximately two minutes for each round of conversation. [Again, if you might have someone take photos of the “listening.” This time, while the lesson moves along, have the //madri__h__/ah// create a short Powerpoint showing the contrast of hearing, and of really listening.]
 * Reverse roles

Ask students to think about the difference between שְׁמַע as hearing, and שְׁמַע as really listening. Use the photos in the Powerpoint to help them consider what it means to listen. Work on the idea of listening as being truly “present.” Did they “listen” more in the last round (where they more “present” to their partners)? How was the way they paid attention different from the first round? The שְׁמַע asks us, as Jews (Yisrael, or People of Israel) to listen or pay attention to the idea that God is One, or one God alone. What thoughts do students have about what this means?

2) //[This activity will probably work better with grades six and higher, though you could play the song, “Listen” or watch the Spielberg video as stand-alone activities.]// Show students a “picture of God” - it could be the image on the top of the Sistine Chapel (watch out for Adam’s “lower parts”) or another one you find and print like this: []). Tell students that there are people who close their eyes and imagine that God is a man in the sky, just like the picture. But there are other people who think about God in other ways.

OPTION A: Pass out the words to Doug Cotler’s song, “Listen” (see **STORY: RESOURCE SHEET C**, or the RESOURCES page of the wikipace). Also pass out a writing implement and a note card. Share the song either with audio, only, or via a video (you’ll need a laptop and digital projector) and ask them to pay attention (to “listen”) to the words – students may read the words as he sings, or they can just “listen.” As the song plays, ask them to think about the God that the song describes … it won’t be an “old man in the sky.” When the song is done, in a soft voice, ask students to “just think for a moment what it means to listen … to God?” Tell them that you’ll play the song one more time, and this time, when it’s done, you want them to think personally about what it means to listen to God. They will write their answer on the notecard – either from their hearts, or a line or phrase copied from the song that speaks to them, or that they especially agree with.
 * [](this is Doug Cotler singing the song with his congregation at a Yom Kippur service)
 * Your cantor or song leader might have the album, //Listen//, which otherwise may be ordered through [] or other online shopping websites

Play the song again and when done, in a soft voice ask students to “think for a moment about what it means to listen … to God. And then write your thoughts on the notecard.” In pairs or in groups of three, ask students to share their thoughts, and then bring the conversation to the entire class. OPTION A1: Before you play the song again, show this very short video of the famous film director, Steven Spielberg as he talks about the שְׁמַע and the importance of “listening to oneself” and the little whispers one should be paying attention to: []

OPTION B: Give students a few minutes to look through the lyrics to find and highlight a line or section that they find interesting, or that reflects how they feel. Replay the song, asking students to raise their hand when they get to the section they highlighted. As they do this, note which lines are the most popular; spend some time talking to the class about this.
 * Why did they choose those words/phrases?
 * What else do they think of when they hear this section?
 * What does Doug Cotler think that listening really means?

As a follow-up, you might
 * Provide collage materials (including a variety of magazines) for students to use to create an illustration of the section of the song that spoke to them. Ask them to write (or glue down) the words that they are illustrating [This could also be done via edu.glogster.com.]
 * Send home the link to the video for families to listen to
 * Ask the cantor or song leader to include the song “Listen” in an all-school t’fillah

**We say the** ** שְׁמַע to assert our faith in the One God of our people**

3) Why is the idea of One God so special? What did people living centuries ago believe about God? Tell children the //midrash// of Abram smashing the idols in his father’s store (as a //midrash//, it is NOT found in the Torah, but in later Jewish literature): Abraham's father, Tera__h__ made idols and had a shop to sell them in. Once he had to travel, so he left Abraham to manage the shop. People would come in and ask to buy idols. Abraham would say, "How old are you?" The person would answer, "Fifty," or "Sixty.” Abraham would say, "Isn't it pathetic that a man of sixty wants to bow down to a one-day-old idol?" The man would feel ashamed and leave. One time a woman came with a basket of bread. She said to Abraham, "Take this and offer it to the gods.” Abraham got up, took a hammer in his hand, broke all the idols to pieces, and then put the hammer in the hand of the biggest idol among them. When his father came back and saw the broken idols, he was appalled. "Who did this?" he cried. "How can I hide anything from you?" replied Abraham calmly. "A woman came with a basket of bread and told me to offer it to these idols. I brought it in front of them, and each one said, "I'm going to eat first." Then the biggest one got up, took the hammer and broke all the others to pieces." "What trick are you trying to pull on me?" asked Tera__h__, "Do they have minds?" Said Abraham: "Listen to what your own mouth is saying: They have no power at all! Why worship idols?" (//Midrash Bereishit// 38:13) Adapted from: []

After making sure that your students understand the plain meaning of the story (i.e., what happened), focus a bit on what people who lived a looooonnnnggg time ago believed about gods.
 * Show a picture of a sun-god (for instance: []) and ask: If the sun is God, is god gone at night? Who would be our protector?
 * Show a picture of a snake-god (for instance: []) and ask: If a snake was God, how many gods would there be? [As many as there are snakes in the world.]
 * Show a picture of a wooden idol (for instance: []) and ask: if a woodcarver makes an idol, why is it silly to think of the idol as God? [People cannot make a god; there could be many gods made by the carver, such a god would be destroyed by fire, etc.]
 * Ask if students have ever been on a team where two or more people wanted to be leader and nobody could agree on who would be the one leader? What happened? Or, what might happen if this was the case? [The children who wanted to be leaders would argue among themselves, and whatever the team was supposed to do might not get done.] What does this have to do with the belief in one or many gods?

We Jews talk about one God, or a “God alone.”
 * If there is one God, who is our protector day and night?
 * If there is “God alone,” how many Gods are there?
 * If people can’t make God, but God is our creator, what are some of the special things about our world?
 * If we agree that there is one God, how might we behave with each other when we have a job to do?

//[This part is for children in sixth grade and above]// There are people who ask, “What is God?” Their answers include: And there are people who ask, “When is God?” Their answers include: God is present in these special moments. Do students think that Doug Cotler, who wrote the song, ”Listen,” believes more in God as “what” or God as “when?”
 * a protector
 * a creator
 * someone who hears our prayers
 * and even “an old man in the sky,” etc.
 * //God is when//a person provides company and holds the hand of someone who is very, very sick.
 * //God is when//a brother helps his sister find a bandage for a scraped knee.
 * //God is when//we see a beautiful scene in nature.
 * //God is when// we give //tz’dakah// to help the victims of a hurricane.

**When we say** ** שְׁמַע we link ourselves to the rest of the People Israel**

4) Give a series of commands that begin with the word שְׁמַע and then a student’s name. For instance: //1)// שְׁמַע Amy – take this book and give it to Joey //(wait for Amy to complete this)// 2) שְׁמַע Joey – take the book and put it on the bookshelf //(wait)// 3) שְׁמַע Aiden – take the pencil that is on my desk and give it to Sami //(wait)//

Continue until every student has had a chance to hear the word attached to their name, along with a command they need to follow. Based on what they just did, what do students think the word שְׁמַע really means? Ask those who respond to explain their answers. What do they imagine that the words שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל mean?

Explain that //Yisrael// can refer to the land or state that is in the Middle East we call Israel in English. But Yisrael was a second name given to the person in the Torah called __Jacob__ (as in: Abraham, Isaac and __Jacob__). The Torah includes a story that Jacob wrestled with an angel who gave Jacob the name “//Yisra-el//”, or someone who wrestled (//Yisra//) with God (//El//). Jacob, or Yisrael, had 12 sons who became known as the “children of Yisrael.” The rest of the Jewish people grew from them. So Jews are also called //Yisrael//, the “People of Israel.” [You might check-in to see if the students “get” this story and name of //Yisrael//.]

Repeat a modified version of what you did earlier – call on each child with the word שְׁמַע in the beginning שְׁמַע Amy שְׁמַע Joey שְׁמַע Aiden and end with “Sh’ma Yisrael (and gesture to indicate the entire class), the Eternal is our God, the Eternal is One.”

How does שְׁמַע connect us to the Jewish people? Create a bulletin board that is titled שְׁמַע. Ask each student to create a paper doll of themselves (the JECC’s Teacher Center has Ellison machine versions of these, or a regular kind of paper doll could be created; it would be great if a student’s head was a photo of the person). Ask students to either to create a t-shirt with the Hebrew word יִשְׂרָאֵל on it, or a balloon that their paper doll can hold in his/her hand. See **STORY: RESOURCE SHEET D** or the RESOURCES page on the wikispace for the Hebrew that you can enlarge or reduce, as needed. Once the board is done ask students how this visual can remind them of what שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל means each time they pray שְׁמַע.

**__ Vocabulary: __****__ יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶחָד __****__ שְׁמַע __** The vocabulary has generally been explored in the other activities in this section on Story (see above). The three words listed above are ones that a young student will find repeated many places and times in Jewish life.

5) Consider introducing a sign language version of שְׁמַע . Note that there are different systems (ASL, etc.) so if your congregation signs during services, teach that version to your students


 * [] The person on this video slowly explains the signs and allows time for the viewers to repeat after her. She explains that when we say “hear” in the שְׁמַע we really mean “listen,” as well as that when we say “one” we mean something like “one and only.” Her translation includes the word “Lord,” a word that fewer people are using in English for “God.” Stop the video by 7:11 as she makes a mistake around then and by this point in the video she is repeating anyway.
 * []The person on this video is deaf and goes “normal speed.” There is no matching sound.
 * //Yad B’Yad (Hand in Hand)//, by E.J. Cohen, is a video that includes a section on signing שְׁמַע . The JECC’s Ratner Media and Technology Center has a copy for local use.

**General**

6) Check with someone in your congregation to see if there is artwork in the building that reflects שְׁמַע . If the art might be of interest to the age of your students, take them to see the item(s) and use the images to explore the ideas of שְׁמַע whether Story or perhaps Spiritual).

Check out this video of teen artwork inspired by Sh'ma: [].