5th Grade Family Kesher - Isaiah and Social Justice

Read through the quotations with your grownup and pick your favorite.

What does the text mean?
Does it relate to modern day social justice issues?
Does your text inspire you to get involved?
Does that text give you advice on how you should get involved/what you should do to help?

Mishna, Pirkei Avot, 4:15

משנה אבות ד׳:י״ב

רבי אליעזר בן שמוע אומר: יהי כבוד תלמידך חביב עליך כשלך, וכבוד חברך חמורא רבך, ומורא רבך חמורא שמים.

Pirkei Avot 4:12

Rabbi Eliezer ben Shamua taught: The dignity of your student should be as precious to you as your reverence for your teacher. The reverence for your teacher should be as great as your reverence for God. [CAJE translation]

Suggested Discussion Questions 1. What does it mean to have dignity for someone?
2. Why should the dignity of your student be as precious to you as your reverence for your teacher?
3. Why should our reverence for our teachers be as great as our reverence for God?

Isaiah 1:17

לִמְדוּ הֵיטֵב דִּרְשׁוּ מִשְׁפָּט אַשְּׁרוּ חָמוֹץ שִׁפְטוּ יָתוֹם רִיבוּ אַלְמָנָה:

Isaiah.1.17

Learn to do good. Devote yourselves to justice; aid the wronged. Uphold the rights of the orphan; defend the cause of the widow. [JPS translation]

Genesis Rabbah 11:6

כל מה שנברא בששת ימי בראשית צריכין עשייה, כגון החרדל צריך למתוק, התורמוסים צריך למתוק, החיטין צריכין להטחן, אפילו אדם צריך תיקון.

Bereishit_Rabbah.11.6

All that was created during the six days of creation requires improvement. For example, the mustard seed needs to be sweetened and the lupine need to be sweetened, the wheat needs to be ground, and even a person needs improvement. [AJWS translation]

Suggested Discussion Questions 1. According to this text, what is our role in the world?
2. How can we improve God's creations?

Mishna, Pirkei Avot, 1:6

יהושע בן פרחיה אומר עשה לך רב וקנה לך חבר והוי דן את כל האדם לכף זכות

Pirkei_Avot.1.6

Joshua ben Perahia would say: Make for yourself a Rav (teacher), and acquire for yourself a colleague, and give all individuals the benefit of the doubt. [Translation by CAJE]

Suggested Discussion Questions 1. Why are we told to make for ourselves a Rav? How is a Rav different than a colleague?
2. What is the connection between these two and giving all individuals the benefit of the doubt?

Isaiah 54:14

בִּצְדָקָה תִּכּוֹנָנִי רַחֲקִי מֵעֹשֶׁק כִּי לֹא תִירָאִי וּמִמְּחִתָּה כִּי לֹא תִקְרַב אֵלָיִךְ:

Isaiah.54.14

You shall be established through righteousness. You shall be safe from oppression, and shall have no fear; from ruin, and it shall not come near you. [JPS translation]

Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 10a

שבת י׳ א:ה׳

כל דיין שדן דין אמת לאמיתו אפילו שעה אחת - מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו נעשה שותף להקדוש ברוך הוא במעשה בראשית.

Shabbat 10a:5

Every judge who judges with complete fairness, even for a single hour, tradition gives that judge credit as though they had become a partner to the Holy Blessed One in the creation. [AJWS translation]

Suggested Discussion Questions 1. What does it mean to judge with complete fairness? Why is this such a noble act?
2. Why does this judge become a partner in creation? What does this teach us about the importance of judging people fairly?

Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Torah Study 1:2

כשם שחייב אדם ללמד את בנו, כך הוא חייב ללמד את בן בנו, שנאמר: והודעתם לבניך ולבני בניך. ולא בנו ובן בנו בלבד, אלא מצוה על כל חכם וחכם מישראל ללמד את כל התלמידים אף על פי שאינם בניו, שנאמר: ושננתם לבניך – מפי השמועה למדו, "בניך" אלו תלמידיך, שהתלמידים קרוים בנים, שנאמר: ויצאו בני הנביאים.

Mishneh_Torah,_Torah_Study.1.2

Just as it is a person’s duty to teach their child, so it is their duty to teach their grandchild, as it is written: “Make them known to your children and your children’s children” (Deuteronomy 4:9). This obligation does not refer only to one’s child and grandchild, but it is a duty resting upon every Jewish scholar to teach all those who seek to be their students, even though they are not that scholar’s own children, for it is written: “You shall teach them diligently to your children” (Deuteronomy 6:7). On traditional authority, the term “your children” in this verse has been interpreted to mean that your pupils are likewise called children, for it is written: “And the sons of the prophets came out” (II Kings 2:3). [CAJE translation. Edited for gender neutrality]

Suggested Discussion Questions 1. According to the Rambam, who is a teacher?
2. What is the obligation of a teacher?
3. How does treating your students as your children transform your responsibility to them?

Ramban, Genesis 2:3

ודע, כי נכלל עוד במלת "לעשות" כי ששת ימי בראשית הם כל ימות עולם

Genesis.2.3

And know that there is more encompassed in the words “to do,” for the six days of creation are akin to the days of the existence of the world. [AJWS translation]

Suggested Discussion Questions 1. According to Ramban, the creation of the world is not completed, but in the continual process of creation. Based on this thinking, what is the role of humanity in building a just and equitable world?

Isaiah 58:7-11

(ז)הֲלוֹא פָרֹס לָרָעֵב לַחְמֶךָ וַעֲנִיִּים מְרוּדִים תָּבִיא בָיִת כִּי תִרְאֶה עָרֹם וְכִסִּיתוֹ וּמִבְּשָׂרְךָ לֹא תִתְעַלָּם: ח) אָז יִבָּקַע כַּשַּׁחַר אוֹרֶךָ וַאֲרֻכָתְךָ מְהֵרָה תִצְמָח וְהָלַךְ לְפָנֶיךָ צִדְקֶךָ כְּבוֹד יְקֹוָק יַאַסְפֶךָ: (ט)אָז תִּקְרָא וַיקֹוָק יַעֲנֶה תְּשַׁוַּע וְיֹאמַר הִנֵּנִי אִם תָּסִיר מִתּוֹכְךָ מוֹטָה שְׁלַח אֶצְבַּע וְדַבֶּר אָוֶן: (י)וְתָפֵק לָרָעֵב נַפְשֶׁךָ וְנֶפֶשׁ נַעֲנָה תַּשְׂבִּיעַ וְזָרַח בַּחֹשֶׁךְ אוֹרֶךָ וַאֲפֵלָתְךָ כַּצָּהֳרָיִם: (יא)וְנָחֲךָ יְקֹוָק תָּמִיד וְהִשְׂבִּיעַ בְּצַחְצָחוֹת נַפְשֶׁךָ וְעַצְמֹתֶיךָ יַחֲלִיץ וְהָיִיתָ כְּגַן רָוֶה וּכְמוֹצָא מַיִם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יְכַזְּבוּ מֵימָיו:

Isaiah.58.7-11

It is to share your bread with the hungry, and to take the wretched poor into your home; When you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to ignore your own kin. Then shall your light burst through like the dawn and your healing spring up quickly; Your vindicator shall march before you, the presence of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then, when you call, the Lord will answer; When you cry, the Lord will say: Here I am. If you banish your yoke from your midst, The menacing hand and evil speech, and you offer your compassion to the hungry and satisfy the famished creature- then shall your light shine in darkness, and your gloom shall be like noonday. The Lord will guide you always; the Lord will slake your thirst in parched places and give strength to your bones. You shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose waters do not fail. [[JPS translation] Edited for gender neutrality]

Abraham Joshua Heschel, I Asked for Wonder: A Spiritual Anthology

Original
Everything depends on the person who stands in front of the classroom. The teacher is not an automatic fountain from which intellectual beverages may be obtained. The teacher is either a witness or a stranger. To guide a pupil into the promised land, the teacher must have been there themselves. When asking themselves: Do I stand for what I teach? Do I believe what I say?, the teacher must be able to answer in the affirmative. What we need more than anything else is not textbooks, but textpeople. It is the personality of the teacher which is the text that the pupils read: the text that they will never forget. [Edited for gender neutrality]

Original

Everything depends on the person who stands in front of the classroom. The teacher is not an automatic fountain from which intellectual beverages may be obtained. The teacher is either a witness or a stranger. To guide a pupil into the promised land, the teacher must have been there themselves. When asking themselves: Do I stand for what I teach? Do I believe what I say?, the teacher must be able to answer in the affirmative. What we need more than anything else is not textbooks, but textpeople. It is the personality of the teacher which is the text that the pupils read: the text that they will never forget. [Edited for gender neutrality]

Suggested Discussion Questions 1. According to Heschel, what are the most effective means of education?
2. Who is the ideal teacher? Why?
3. What is the goal of education?

Genesis 1:1

בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹקִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ:

Genesis.1.1

In the beginning of God's creation of the heavens and the earth [translation by Judaica Press].

Suggested Discussion Questions What difference does it make to know that the world and heavens were created by G-d?

Abraham Joshua Heschel, I Asked for Wonder: A Spiritual Anthology

Original
Everything depends on the person who stands in front of the classroom. The teacher is not an automatic fountain from which intellectual beverages may be obtained. The teacher is either a witness or a stranger. To guide a pupil into the promised land, the teacher must have been there themselves. When asking themselves: Do I stand for what I teach? Do I believe what I say?, the teacher must be able to answer in the affirmative. What we need more than anything else is not textbooks, but textpeople. It is the personality of the teacher which is the text that the pupils read: the text that they will never forget. [Edited for gender neutrality]

Original

Suggested Discussion Questions 1. According to Heschel, what are the most effective means of education?
2. Who is the ideal teacher? Why?
3. What is the goal of education?

Midrash Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:13

Translation	Original
When God created the first human beings, God led them around all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said: “Look at My works! See how beautiful they are—how excellent! For your sake I created them all. See to it that you do not spoil and destroy My world; for if you do, there will be no one else to repair it.” [Translation by AJWS]	בשעה שברא הקב"ה את אדם הראשון נטלו והחזירו על כל אילני גן עדן ואמר לו ראה מעשי כמה נאים ומשובחין הן וכל מה שבראתי בשבילך בראתי, תן דעתך שלא תקלקל ותחריב את עולמי, שאם קלקלת אין מי שיתקן אחריך

Suggested Discussion Questions 1. What does this text teach us about the earth?
2. What is our responsibility to the environment? What is God's responsibility to the environment?
3. Have humans heeded God’s warning? Who will repair our mistakes?