Congregation Rodeph Sholom
8th Grade #NOLA Trip
Shabbat Morning Text Study: Parashat Yitro
1. Why are we commanded to rest from work on the 7th day? Why is this important?
2. To whom does this command apply?
3. Do we allow others to rest today? How are we in violation of this commandment? How can we improve?
4) What do we need in our lives in order to have complete rest?
1. Why did some people gather much and some little? How else could the manna have been distributed?
2. What are we supposed to learn from this passage?
3. With 'food mountains' (http://ow.ly/5EtqK) in the West, how can we apply the message in this text to our current consumption of food?
Translation | Original |
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Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said: “Even Adam did not taste food until he had performed work, as it is said, ‘Adonai God took the human and placed him in the garden of Eden to till it and preserve it’ (Gen. 2:15). Only then do we read, ‘From every tree of the Garden you may eat’ (Gen. 2:16).” [This text was compiled by Rabbis J. Rolando Matalon, Marcelo Bronstein and Felicia Sol of Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in New York, NY, for Rabbi Matalon’s teaching on the American Jewish World Service Rabbinical Student Delegation. Their work was based on and inspired by The Dignity of Difference by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.] | רבי שמעון בן אלעזר אומר אף אדם הראשון לא טעם כלום עד שעשה מלאכה שנאמר ויניחהו בגן עדן לעבדה ולשמרה וגו' מכל עץ הגן אכול תאכל (בראשית ב' ט"ו וט"ז |
1. Why did Adam have to work before he could eat? How can we put that value into our everyday lives?
2. Does everyone in the world receive food in proportion to the work that they do? What might this text teach us about our responsibility towards those people?
3. What does Adam's command to "preserve it" teach us about our relationship to the earth and the food we eat?