Rockdale Temple - 6th Grade Class
Study of Jewish Responses to Hunger
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Shifra and Puah were originally Egyptians who embraced Judaism. Otherwise how could Pharoah have ordered them to kill Jews? How could they in the first place have agreed? Surely every Jew is obliged to sacrifice his life rather than commit idolatry, incest or murder! That is why the text observes: "The midwives feared God"- implying that previously when they were still heathens they had not feared Him. Had they not been Egyptians what would have been the point of telling us that they feared God. Surely as Jewesses that was taken for granted. But though Pharoah offered them bribes they refused to accept them. The text would accordingly have to be read not "the Hebrew midwives" with ivriyot (Hebrew) in attributive relation to meyaldot (midwives) but "midwives of the Hebrews" with ivriyot understood as the object of meyaldot, ie they acted as midwives to the Hebrew women.
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1. Does it matter if Shifra and Puah were Hebrews or not?
2. What is the role of righteous gentiles in the Jewish tradition?
3. Does the nature of the midwives' activism shift if they were Hebrews?
עֹשֶׂה מִשְׁפַּט יָתוֹם וְאַלְמָנָה וְאֹהֵב גֵּר לָתֶת לוֹ לֶחֶם וְשִׂמְלָה: וַאֲהַבְתֶּם אֶת הַגֵּר כִּי גֵרִים הֱיִיתֶם בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם:
1. In what ways does this text suggest that we mimic God?
2. What is God's responsibility to us and what is our responsibility to others? What are the different sources of these responsibilities?
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The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And, the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference. Because of indifference one dies before one actually dies.
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1. Why does Wiesel equate indifference to death? Do you agree?
2. According to this text, what is the purpose of living?
3. Can you relate to Wiesel's philosophy? How might you apply this statement?
1. According to this text, who is responsible to feed humanity?
2. How can you reconcile this text with the reality that many people in the world are hungry?
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If the Exodus created an ethnic/tribal consciousness among Jews, it was Sinai that invested in them an understanding of their mission in the world. Jewish existence was to be based on bringing tzedek and mishpat, righteousness and justice, to all God’s children. The covenant forged at Sinai committed the Jewish people to a life of ethics and values. It was the spiritual/moral genesis of the Jewish people, and it was powerfully connected to the Jewish people’s understanding of what God wants of them. The Torah’s teachings about acting with compassion (chesed), protecting the stranger in one’s midst (ahavat ger), and pursuing peace (shalom) and truth (emet) shaped the Jewish notion of how one should live in the world. Sinai consciousness is at the root of the Jewish understanding that to live true to the covenant that God established with the Jewish people at Sinai is to live a life of social responsibility.
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1. According to Rabbi Schwarz, what is the mission of the Jewish people?
2. How should Jews fulfill this mission?
3. How do chesed, ahavat ger, shalom, and emet shape how you understand your role in the world? What is your social responsibility?
1. How does oppressing the poor blaspheme God, diminishing God's name and reputation?
2. Why is God honored by those who are gracious to the needy?
3. What is the relationship between our actions and God? Why is it important?
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The historical experience of the Jewish people has helped to acculturate Jews into the communal ethic of righteousness and justice. The admonition to “care for the stranger, for you were once strangers in the land of Egypt” (Exod, 22:21) was not only about Egypt, just as the Passover seder was not just about Egypt. It was about the persecution of Jews in every era and in almost every place they lived. It developed in Jews a commitment to come to the aid of fellow Jews when circumstances made it possible. It developed in Jews an instinctual sympathy for others who similarly came to experience persecution and oppression.
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1. Why does God tell us to care for the stranger because we were once strangers in the land of Egypt?
2. Why do we have a Passover seder every year? What does this teach us about how we relate to our history of persecution?
3. How does the shared Jewish identity with persecution influence our social justice work?
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| If a person of learning participates in public affairs and serves as judge or arbiter, he gives stability to the land... But if he sits in his home and says to himself, “What have the affairs of society to do with me?... Why should I trouble myself with the people’s voices of protest? Let my soul dwell in peace!”—if he does this, he overthrows the world. [translation by Hazon] | מַלְכָּהּ שֶׁל תּוֹרָה, בְּמִשְׁפָּט שֶׁהוּא עוֹשֵׂה, מַעֲמִיד אֶת הָאָרֶץ... אִם מֵשִׂים אָדָם עַצְמוֹ כִּתְרוּמָה הַזּוּ שְׁמוּשְׁלֶכֵת בְּזָוִיוֹת הַבָּיִת וְאוֹמֵר: מָה לִי בְּטוֹרַח הַצִּבּוּר ?מָה לִי בְּדִינֵיהֶם? מָה לִי לִשְׁמוֹעַ קוֹלָם? שָׁלוֹם עָלֶיךָ נַפְשִׁי! הֲרֵי זֶה מַחֲרִיב אֶת הָעוֹלָם. |
- When do you sit at home when you might stand up and make a difference?
- This text speaks of a person who has the wisdom and the power of being a leader, how might this text apply to everyone?
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| "Above all, the prophets reminded us of the moral state of a people: Few are guilty, but all are responsible." |
What are the implications of this text- what does this text teach us? Can we ever be passive (inactive)?
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| The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And, the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference. Because of indifference one dies before one actually dies. |
Do you agree with Wiesel? How might you apply this statement to your life and/or the world around you?