מתני' ארבעה ראשי שנים הם באחד בניסן ר"ה למלכים ולרגלים באחד באלול ראש השנה למעשר בהמה ר' אלעזר ור"ש אומרים באחד בתשרי באחד בתשרי ראש השנה לשנים ולשמיטין וליובלות לנטיעה ולירקות באחד בשבט ראש השנה לאילן כדברי בית שמאי בית הלל אומרים בחמשה עשר בו:
Mishnah: There are four "beginnings of the year." The first of Nissan is the beginning of the year for kings and holidays. The first of Elul is the beginning of the year for animal tithes..... The first of Tishrei is the beginning of the year for years, for the Sabbatical years, the Jubilees, for planting, and for vegetables. The first of Shevat is the beginning of the year for trees...
LEGO Challenge
Design gifts you would give at each of the above birthdays?
(1) And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy gathering: you shall do no manner of work; it is a day of blowing the horn for you.
LEGO Challenge
Build a working Shofar, a horn that blows
(29) And this shall be to you a law for all time: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall practice self-denial; and you shall do no manner of work, neither the citizen nor the alien who resides among you. (30) For on this day atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you of all your sins; you shall be clean before the LORD.
LEGO Challenge
Design a machine that cleans souls.
(י) אָסוּר לָאָדָם לִהְיוֹת אַכְזָרִי וְלֹא יִתְפַּיֵּס אֶלָּא יְהֵא נוֹחַ לִרְצוֹת וְקָשֶׁה לִכְעֹס וּבְשָׁעָה שֶׁמְּבַקֵּשׁ מִמֶּנּוּ הַחוֹטֵא לִמְחל מוֹחֵל בְּלֵב שָׁלֵם וּבְנֶפֶשׁ חֲפֵצָה. וַאֲפִלּוּ הֵצֵר לוֹ וְחָטָא לוֹ הַרְבֵּה לֹא יִקֹּם וְלֹא יִטֹּר. וְזֶהוּ דַּרְכָּם שֶׁל זֶרַע יִשְׂרָאֵל וְלִבָּם הַנָּכוֹן.
(10) It is forbidden for a person to be cruel and not make amends; instead, a person should forgive easily and get angry slowly. And at the moment when the sinner asks for forgiveness – forgive with a whole heart and a desirous soul. And even if he pained him and sinned against him many times, he should not take revenge or hold a grudge -- that is the way of the Children of Israel and their correct hearts.
LEGO Challenge
How many different faces from the above text can you make?
"Broadly defined, teshuvah is more than just repentance from sin; it is a spiritual reawakening, a desire to strengthen the connection between oneself and the sacred. The effectiveness of teshuvah is thus frequently a function of one's sense of distance from the sacred. The greater the distance, the greater the potential movement towards renewed connectedness. As one Jewish sage put it, A rope that is cut and retied is doubly strong at the point where it was severed.... All forms of teshuvah, however diverse and complex, have a common core: the belief that human beings have it in their power to effect inward change.
-- Adin Steinsaltz, Teshuvah: A Guide for the Newly Observant Jew, ed. and trans. by Michael Swirsky (New York: Free Press, 1987), 3-4.
-
LEGO Challenge
Design a machine that will "wake you up."