Tuesday, September 13, 2016

FTL #2 - Beruria & The World of Our Sages - October 2016

Things To Talk About:
  1. Thankfully, Beruria gets some attention in the Talmudic discussions. Unfortunately, most of the women did not.  How fairly do you think women are treated today ... in our world?  in our country?  in your family?  What other groups of people do you think get treated unfairly today>  What can we do about it?
  2. The Talmud shows a very successful way of disagreeing about different ideas and opinions.  How can you disagree with someone in a successful manner?  Do you think this is difficult to do?  Why?
  3. The Rabbis in the Talmud were trying figure out what Jewish practice should look like (how we celebrate holidays, life cycle moments and hoe we behave throughout the year.)  If you could change, add or subtract something about Jewish practice today, what would it be and why?

Things To Do:
  1. Watch this video (kinda goofy, but cute) about a Talmudic disagreement regarding lighting the Chanukah menorah.  Whose argument do we follow today?  Why?  What defense would you make for the other argument?
  2. Hold a family Talmudic discussion session.  Choose something that the family needs to decide together.  Take turns having everyone get to share what they think about the decision and why.  After the discussion, see if any of the ideas has the most agreement.
Things to Read, Watch or Listen to Learn More:
  1. Jewish Law/Halacha
  2. As A Driven Leaf by Milton Steinberg
  3. More on Beruriah
  4. Reform Responsa
  5. Mezzuzah Blessing