The Story of Jacob and Esau: Tension Between Siblings

Today we read a story, called Sibling Rivalry, from the Torah.

There are several stories in the Jewish sacred texts that explain complicated relationships between siblings. In truth, many religions include stories and teachings that provide people with guidance about how to get along with their family members.

I asked the students to summarize Sibling Rivalry in two or three sentences.

I want to share five summaries that I think are especially well done. During tomorrow's class, we will talk about why these five students effectively summarized the characters and plot of the story.

Caroline: This story explains how Jacob and Esau got their names. It talks about how Esau liked to go hunting with Abraham and how much Jacob liked to stay home with his mom and the sheep. Lastly, it talks about how Jacob tricked Issac into giving him the blessing and how Esau was very upset.

Juliet: Isaac and Rebekah had twin boys named Esau and Jacob. Esau was older and got more privileges than Jacob, including the birthright to inherit Isaac's wealth. But Jacob was Rebekah's favorite son, so when Isaac was about to die she put Jacob in Esau's clothes and Jacob was blessed instead.

Axel: Rebekah gave birth to twins that had opposite hobbies. Esau was most like his father. He loved hunting. Jacob was like his mother, tending sheep etc. One day Jacob traded Esau for his birthright. When Isaac blessed Jacob, Esau was very mad and Jacob had to run away.

Grace W.: In Sibling Rivalry, Jacob and Esau were born. Esau came out first and Jacob came out second, holding onto his brother's foot. Since Jacob was born second, he would not get his father's blessing. When the time came, Rebekah disguised Jacob to look like Esau, and he did get his father's blessing. Esau was furious, so Jacob had to flee to Luz.

Timmy: Jacob and Esau got into a fight about who would get the family money, even though the first born son usually got the birth rights back then. Also, Jacob and Esau were different in pretty much every way.

My Life, My Religion: Judaism

Here's the link for tonight's video (remember that you only need to watch the first fifteen minutes):

https://safeYouTube.net/w/tnot

Yesterday we read the story of Adam and Eve, which describes the creation of the first humans by YHWH/God.

Ella Grace asked a series of fantastic questions about the Garden of Eden, while Olivia T. wondered about the end of the story: Why, she asked, was Eve's punishment worse than Adam's punishment? 

Thinking About Judaism With Art

Thanks to Kate C., Carter K. and Palmer for their thoughtful and creative (and beautiful!) images inspired by Judaism.

YHWH and the Creation of the Universe

Jews believe in one god, whom they refer to as YHWH, God, or Adonai. He knows everything and can do anything. In Judaism, humans are instructed to worship him and obey his commandments.

Some Jews believe that YHWH is so sacred, and so awesome, that they do not write his name.

Jews believe that YHWH/God created the universe in seven days. The story of the creation of the universe is located at the very beginning of the Torah. We learned that many Jews believe that the seven "days" are a metaphor -- they do not refer to seven 24-hour periods, because God's sense of time is different than humans' sense of time.

Here's a helpful image that summarizes the story of creation:

Questions About Judaism

As we learn about Judaism, I have been impressed with the variety of questions the students are asking. For example, Ashton asked a wonderful question about the ten plagues and God's decision-making process, while Ginny focused on Jewish marriage rituals.

Dante, meanwhile, asked us to consider the perspective of a Torah scribe and how it feels to painstakingly handwrite a sacred text.

These are fantastic questions!!

Landon: How long has Judaism been around? How did it get its name?

Axel: Why did God talk to Abraham? Was there something special about Abraham?

Ashton: When God sent the ten plagues against Egypt, how did he decide which things to choose? Did God go all out with the plagues, or did he hold back and not do everything in his power?

Phoebe: If you could change the Ten Commandments, would you? If so, which commandments would you change?

Ginny: If a Jewish couple decides to get married outside, and it rains, does that mean bad luck or good luck? Or is it just something that happens?

Dante: Does a Jewish scribe like to rewrite the Torah by hand? Because some people like to do things repeatedly, but some don't. So how does the scribe feel?

Religion Video: The Ten Commandments

Judaism: The Covenant Between God and Abraham

This week we began our study of Judaism by learning about the Jewish belief in a covenant between God and Abraham. 

According to the Torah, God told Abraham that his descendants would be the Chosen People, and that they would be as plentiful as the stars in the sky, if they followed the one true God and if they obeyed his commandments.

Here is a part of the story, from the Torah:

And God took Abraham outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." 

And He said to Abraham, "So shall your descendants be."

A couple of students asked whether Jews believe that they have broken the covenant with God.

The answer is yes: Jews believe that all people have broken the covenant with God, and they believe that God's messiah will eventually come to Earth in order to save believers from their wrongdoing.

Religion Video: Goals for Sixth Grade

I wanted to share this very thoughtful sketch by Carson. I asked him to describe what's happening in the sketch.

Carson told me that his sketch shows the way that "aum" is everywhere. Its life force is helping the flowers and trees to grow.

Meanwhile, the person in the corner of the sketch is contributing to the positive energy by repeating the phrase "aum."

------------

In addition to lots of good sketches, you are continuing to ask fascinating questions about Hinduism, such as:

Porter: What did Arjuna think about when he was deciding whether or not to fight against his cousins?

Alex B.: Is it better for your parents to choose who you marry, or is better for you to choose yourself?

Charlotte: Are some scriptures more sacred than others?

Jacob and Olivia K.: Why do Hindus believe the Ganges River is sacred?

[Great job, Charlotte, Jacob, and Olivia, of using the vocabulary word "sacred" in your questions!!]

I hope that you enjoy tonight's video. I am very inspired by your goals!

Thanks to Juliet, Hadley and Dante for these creative and beautiful sketches inspired by our readings about Hinduism.

Rituals That Use Fire

Today we learned that candles and fire are an important part of many Hindu rituals.

In truth, fire is used in the rituals of many religions. I asked the students to think about the reasons that many religions use fire as a part of their rituals.

The students' answers were fantastic:

• Fire is powerful, so it helps people to sense or feel the power of their god(s)
• Fire (especially candles) can be peaceful, so it helps people feel a sense of sacred peacefulness
• Fire is a natural element, so it symbolizes a connection between people and nature
• Fire can be seen as a way of burning away bad things, or sins

Spelling Tips for Thursday's Quiz

Here are some of the vocabulary words that can be tricky to spell, along with some tips and suggestions:

belief: Some people misspell this word as beleif. Remember this famous spelling rule "i before e, except after c; or when sounding as "A", as in neighbor and weigh."

soul: Some people misspell this word as sole. Sole is also a word ("soul" and "soul" are homonyms), but it refers to the bottom of a person's foot (along with several additional meanings), rather than the spiritual part of a human or animal.

pilgrimage (no cutting in line, please!): The common mistake with this word is flipping the "A" with the "I", so that it looks like this: pilgramige. If the "A" tries to boss the "I" and cut in front, please remind him to wait his turn, until the end of this important word.

theist / monotheist / polytheist / atheist: Sometimes, students forget to include the "S" as part of the "ist" at the end of these words; this causes the words to be incorrectly spelled as theit / monotheit / polytheit / atheit.

Core 2 came up with an excellent memory aid for the words "scrutinize" and "scriptures": they are going to visualize Sam, diligently studying the sacred texts of Hinduism or another religion. 

Thanks, Sam, for helping your classmates to learn these important words!

Questions About Hinduism

Miller and Daniel: In Hinduism, why do people think the rituals make them have a better life and good karma? Also, how were the rituals first created? Which ritual do Hindus believe is the most important?

Noah: A question about reincarnation: If you are good for some of your life and bad for another part of your life, what would you become in your next life?

Keegan, Hadley, and Casner: Why do Hindus cremate the bodies of people who have died? Why do they throw the ashes in the Ganges River? Who decided this was the correct way to treat the body of a deceased person?

--------------

In addition to asking thoughtful questions about Hinduism, the students made sketches today, inspired by the religion's ideas and concepts. It was such a treat to see the creativity and skills of students like Kate and Durland (and many others!).

Religion Video: The Bhagavad Gita

Monotheism / Polytheism

What does a monocle have to do with studying religion?!

Last week we learned the words monotheism and polytheism.

-----------

Theism is the belief in the existence of god or gods. There is more than one type of theism:

• Monotheism is the specific belief in one god.
• Polytheism is the specific belief in many gods.

Some religions are monotheistic, whereas other religions are polytheistic.

-----------

The prefixes "mono" (one) and "poly" (many) are part of various words. Some of these words can help us remember the definitions of monotheism and polytheism:

• Monocle (a single eyeglass)
• Monopoly (a single person or business that controls an entire industry)
• Monotonous (a single toned style of speech (often considered boring))
• Polygon (a many-sided shape)
• Polyglot (a person who speaks more than one language)

The famous civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome (which you may have studied in earlier grades) followed polytheistic belief systems. This year, we will study both polytheistic and monotheistic religions.