3+-+Spiritual


 * __ S __PIRITUAL**

**What it means for God to be One**
 * ACTIVITY IDEAS: **

1) God is One even though we all have different ideas about God. Bring to class blank puzzle shapes. [This may be done by cutting a piece of butcher paper into different shapes so that they can be fit together again later, or it can be done using a template such as can be found at the following website: []. One creative way to do this would be to draw a block number “1” and then cut it out into pieces so that it can be assembled again to look like a “1.”]

Give each student a piece of the puzzle and ask him or her to fill it in with words or pictures that they think describe God. Then give them a chance to explain why they wrote what they wrote or drew what they drew. After this, have the students assemble the puzzle. When the puzzle is complete, students should notice that even though all of their pieces look different, they fit together to create one single shape/thing. So even though we all have different beliefs about God, all of our different beliefs about God can be merged together into the One God of our people.

The completed puzzle may be hung up on the classroom wall or a bulletin board to remind the class/school about one of the core ideas about Judaism: We have ONE GOD.

**How we serve as a witness (**** עֵד ) to God** In the Background section (see page 13) it was noted that in the Torah, the שְׁמַע is printed with an enlarged ע in the first word  ( שְׁמַ**ע** ) and ד in the last word  ( אֶחָ**ד** ). One explanation for this is that those who made this decision wanted us to notice that together ע and ד spell the Hebrew word עֵד or witness . שְׁמַ ע, יִשְׂרָאֵל: יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ, יְהוָה אֶחָ ד. עֵד We stand as __witnesses__ for God when we, individually and as a people, enter into a relationship with God (“The Eternal //our// God”)//.// We show others the influence God has on our lives when we behave in a way that illustrates the line that immediate follows שְׁמַע in the Torah, that we “love God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our might.”

//Depending on the age of your students, you may choose to introduce (or not) introduce the following//: Another midrashic explanation for the larger letters is that these two could be confused with another letter:

שְׁמַ ע, יִשְׂרָאֵל: יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ, יְהוָה אֶחָ ד.



שְׁמַ א, יִשְׂרָאֵל: יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ, יְהוָה אֶחָ ר.

And actually, each of these words now spelled differently take on a new meaning.

So this line would change to mean: “**Perhaps**, Yisrael, Adonai our God, Adonai is **different**.” In other words, Adonai is not the God we thought about. The letters ע and ד are enlarged so we are clear about the intended meaning. **General**
 * While שְׁמַ ע means “listen,” the word שְׁמַ א means “perhaps”
 * While אֶחָ ד means “one,” the word אֶחָ ר means “different”

2) 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: [])