FTL #1 - Our History - September 2016

Things To Talk About:

1. Respond to the question Rabbi Mo asked us to think about at our 1st session: If you could create a dinner party of 3-6 people from history, who would you invite and why?
2. One of the most famous quotes about history is attribute to a philosopher George Santayana: "“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” What do you think he meant by what he said? Do you agree with him? Can you think of some examples to support your opinion?
3. For Jews there are 3 moments that we talk and hear a lot about ... (1) the Creation of the World; (2) the Exodus from Egypt and (3) the Giving of Torah at Mt. Sinai. Do you think that the stories of these moments are true stories? Which one of them would be the one you would want to experience in person?

Things To Do:

1. Listen to this song about history by Billy Joel. (And here are the lyrics, too) See what people or moments in history you might have heard about.
2. Here is a Jewish parody of that Billy Joel song ... listen to it (here are the lyrics) and see what is familiar.
3. Ask someone in your family to tell the history of how your family arrived in the United States.
4. Ask someone in your family to tell the history of your family's name.

Things to Read, Watch or Listen to Learn More:

1. Source sheet on a Jewish perspective of History vs. Memory
2. Thinking about the way Jews study Jewish History
3. Timelines of Jewish History