Mishpacha! - FTL #6

WELCOME

Have people in the family take turns reading one of the lines of this introduction:

• When we were together in March we spent our time thinking about how grandparents, parents and children interact and affect one another. 
• In Hebrew we name the way we interact as L’dor Vador - From Generation to Generation. Dor is the Hebrew word for Generation.
• You are about to spend some time studying more about how the Jewish tradition teaches us about how we should think about the generations that come before us.Generations impact us and us them ... 
• Before we do that learning, let’s have some fun and play a game with the Dorot/Generations from that come from our sacred stories.

Follow these instructions to play Biblical Family Tree Bingo:

• Print out this sheet of the family tree of Abraham and Sarah.
• Print out this sheet that lists the same family tree without most of the names.
• Print out and cut up these cards of the missing names.
• As a family study and review Abraham and Sarah’s family tree.
•       Who are the grandparents? Great-grandparents? 
•        Do you have any of the same names in your family?
•        Which names are you familiar with because your know their stories in the Torah?
• Then, take turns (in teams or on your own) seeing if you can fill in the family tree without looking at the sheet. See who can do it the fastest.

THINKING ABOUT OUR OLDEST GENERATION

A Jewish Text Encounter:

• Print out this sheet that has 4 teachings from the Jewish tradition that say something about how we might think about people in the oldest generation. 
• Split these teachings up among your family group. 
• Each person should read her or his teaching to the rest of the family group. 
• Each person should explain what she or he thinks the message or teaching is about someone who reaches the 'oldest generation'.

After sharing these teachings and your interpretations of them:

• Which one do you find most accurate?
• Which one is the most important teaching to remember?
• Which one would you change and how would you change it?

GIFTS, BLESSINGS AND CHALLENGES

Have people in the family take turns reading these following lines:

• The Jewish tradition wants us to know that there are gifts, blessings and sometime challenges that generations can give to one another.
• This sharing goes both ways -- it is not only the older generations who share these things with the younger generations, but the younger generations who give the older ones.
• In Hebrew we use the phrase: L’dor Vador - which means: From Generation To Generation - to describe this sharing.

Follow these instructions to do the L’dor Vador - From Generation to Generation Exercise:

• Grab two blank sheets of paper and draw a line down the middle of each sheet.
• On the top of one sheet write: What The Younger Generation Shares with the Older.
• On the top of the other sheet write: What The Older Generation Shares with the Younger.
• Take the first sheet and list as many Gifts and Blessings you can think of that the Younger shares with the Older on one side of the sheet and on the other side write down as many challenges you can think of that the Younger Shares with the Older.
• Now do the same things for the second sheet.

Questions to ask one another:

• Compare the Blessings and Gifts AND the Challenges for each sheet. What is similar and different?
• What Challenges would you like to change the most? How would you change them?
• What Blessings and Gifts are most important to you?

TELLING OUR STORIES

MUSIC FROM THE HEART FOR THE HEART

• Wrap things up by listening to this song by Josh Nelson (that was playing during our closing ritual) about L’dor Vador. You can find the lyrics here if you want to read them as he performs the song.

Mishpacha! - FTL #5

Mishpacha!

Family Time Learning

Session #5

1) Welcome from Rabbi Mo

Here is the the story of the Tower of Babel from the book of Genesis if you want to use it to remember and review.

2) Stories About The Story
One of the ways that our Sages would interact with the stories in the Torah would be to respond with their own stories. These stories are called MIDRASH. These midrashim might fill answer questions they found in the text or fills gaps where the Torah seems to leave out details. All of the midrashim tell us something about what those Sages were thinking, feeling or cared about in their lives. Here you will find three midrashim about the story of Tower of Babel.

• Print out the pages of these midrashim.
• Read the three midrashim together and make sure you all understand them.
• Have each family choose one of the midrashim and draw picture that tells about that midrash.
• Work together to see of you can agree on the what each Sage was thinking or feeling about when they wrote their midrash. (Hint: They all seem to think that there was something wrong with the way the people thought about the tower -- but what?)

3) The 'Towers' in Our House?
The Sages who wrote these midrashim seem to think that tower was something that got in the way of the people acting justly, compassionately and peacefully. The tower itself may have been something very helpful to the people, instead it became hurtful. We have many things (they are kinda like towers) in our lives that can be helpful, but sometimes being hurtful. A great example of these kinds of towers in our houses are technology (phones, televisions, computers, etc.).

• Go on a scavenger around your home and find the items of technology that people in your family use.
• Examine each item together and talk about the ways each of you may use it and the situations or times that using it may help and the ones that may hurt.
• Print this sheet for you to list the items, their uses and the ways that they help or hurt.

4) Technology Etiquette
Do you know what ‘etiquette’ means? If someone in your family cannot explain it -- look it up together. Thinking our technology and the ways that they may help or hurt us, take some time together and decide what your family’s Tech Etiquette should be.

• Print out the Tech Etiquette worksheet.
• Think about what rules should guide your family’s use of technology.
• You might consider questions like:
• Are there times when certain technologies should not be used? (meals, car, etc.)
• What are the rules of behavior we expect when someone is using a piece of technology? 
• Should we have limits on the amount of time we use technology?
• Write out your family’s rules for Tech Etiquette

Mishpacha! - FTL #4

MISHPACHA!

FAMILY TIME LEARNING 

SESSION #4

Use the following steps to guide you through some on-your-own Family Time Learning.

1) Hello From Rabbi Mo

2) Give Me A Break! - Part 1 - Shmitah and Yovel

There is actually an expectation (some would even see it as a law) that every SEVEN years we conserve the LAND and let it rest. Then after seven Sabbatical (Shmitah) years (which is 49 years) there is another year - called Jubilee (or Yovel) that we are expected to do some real crazy things with the stuff we own. Check out this explanation of the Sabbatical and the Jubilee years. It is a video about the Torah portion called Behar (which is from the book of Leviticus).

3) My Sabbatical Year?
Since we are NOT farmers (that garden you have over the spring and summer does not count!) It is difficult for us to imagine what having a Sabbatical year would be like. Still, we all have ‘jobs’ - something that is our main responsibility and focus. What is it for each of you? What would it be like if you took a whole year off from your ‘job’? What if you did not have to worry about making money or getting behind in your work and you had the opportunity to take a Sabbatical year? Considering these questions, here is something for all of you to do:

1. Print out a copy of the My Shmitah (Sabbatical) Worksheet for each family member.
2. Each person in the family should fill out the My Shmitah (Sabbatical) Worksheet.
3. Once you have all completed the work sheet - share your Sabbatical Worksheets with one another.

Some questions for Sicha (Discussion):

• How do your worksheets compare with one another? 
• On a scale of 1 to 10 - with 1 being EASY and 10 being DIFFICULT - rate how you think it would be to try and do what is on your worksheet.
• How do you think you would feel after the Sabbatical year?
• What do you expect would be similar or different when you returned to ‘work’?
• What would be the benefits for you and your family to have this Sabbatical time?
• How do you think the world would be affected if everyone took Sabbatical time?

4) Give Me a Break! - Part 2 - Shabbat

5) No Work For You!!
Did you know that the most repeated commandment in the Torah is about observing Shabbat!?! Our Sages took this very seriously - they wanted to understand and explain what kind of things were work and what kinds of things were rest. So, they actually made of list of 39 kinds of work! 

Here is something to do as a family to learn more about our Sages idea of work:

1. Follow this link and look over the list together - making sure that you all try and understand the things on the list. 
2. Print out this list of the 39 kinds of work
3. Cut the 39 kinds of work into 39 ‘flashcards’. (Cut a few blank flashcards, as well)
4. Once you have your flashcards:
1. Separate the flash cards into two groups - kinds of work that you someone in your family does and kinds of work that no one in your family does.
2. Discard the cards of the work that you do not do.
3. Pretend you are a group of Sages - which flashcards in this group would you not consider 'work'?
4. Each of you Sages take a blank flash card - add another kind of work that you think is missing from the Sages original list.
5. From the group of cards that you as a family still do ... which would be the 3 easiest to stop doing for a day. 
6. From the group of cards that you as a family still do ... which would be the 3 most difficult to stop doing for a day. 

Some Questions for Sicha (Discussion):

• Each family member take a turn to finish the following sentence: I think work is ________. Ask one another to explain or talk more about their answers.
• Do you think work is a bad thing? Why?
• Why do you think the Sages went to the trouble of making such a long list?
• Why do you think the Torah and the Sages made such a big deal about Shabbat and not working?

6) Your Shabbat Style
There is a movement today to try and think about how people can make time to conserve or preserve themselves and their families -- it is called the Sabbath Manifesto. Basically, it is a list of 10 things to think about doing to help make some Shabbat time during the week.

1. Look at the Sabbath Manifesto list together. 
2. Click the links on the page if you want more information on each item.
3. Think and talk about if your family would like to try to make Shabbat together - using the items on this list.
4. Pick a day in the coming weeks for your family to try to make Shabbat. Choose what items on the list that you will follow during that day. 
5. After you take the day - comment on the blog to share your experience.

Resources:

• Perspective on Shmitah (Sabbatical Year) from chabad.org
• Sabbatical Year - Shmitah
• Shmitah - Economic Justice
• Jubilee - Economic Justice
• Shabbat Basics
• A Jewish Concept of Time
• Observing and Understanding Shabbat Resources from the Union for Reform Judaism
• More about the Sabbath Manifesto
• Shabbat Observance Ideas
• Shabbat as a State of Being

Mishpacha! - FTL #3

MISHPACHA!

FAMILY TIME LEARNING 

SESSION #3

Use the following steps to guide you through some on-your-own Family Time Learning.

1) HELLO FROM RABBI MO

2) THE GOLDEN CALF - A VIDEO REVIEW
Watch these three videos who all - in their own creative way - try and show or explain how the 

GOLDEN CALF got in the way of the BRIT (Covenant) between God and the Israelites. After you watch each one -- explain it to one another to make sure that you all understand what is happening in the video clip -- and then respond to the questions for each clip.

The Story of the Golden Calf

• Even though building the Golden Calf is a bad thing, how does seeing it make the people feel?
• Why does God get so angry when the people celebrate the Golden Calf?
• Why does Moses get so angry when the people celebrate the Golden Calf?
• What does the Golden Calf take the place of in the story?
• What are some of the things the get in the way of SHALOM BAYIT (of having peaceful and loving relationships in your family)?

A More Goofy Video Clip

• Why did the people even want or need a picture of God?
• Why do you think that Judaism has NO pictures of God?
• How would the wrong picture (or statue) of God get in the way of the BRIT?
• How would having a picture of God make the BRIT between the people and God harder or easier?

An Old School Golden Calf Clip

• How does Moses think the Golden Calf gets in the way of the BRIT between God and the people?
• What do you think of the way he decides to deal with the Golden Calf? 
• What are the best ways to deal with the things that get in the way of SHALOM BAYIT (of having peaceful and loving relationships in your family))? 

3) THE HEART OF THE BRIT
If the CALF is all about the things that get in the way, then what is at the heart of it all? AHAVA - LOVE! As a family read this teaching that our Rabbis in the Talmud teach us. Talk about what you think it means together and respond to the following questions:

• After you talk about its plain meaning together, each person in the family take a turn to rate this teaching from 1 - 10. Give it a 1 if you think it is FALSE and a 10 if you think it is TRUE or somewhere in between. Explain your ratings to one another.
• How can God be ‘elevated’? (Isn’t God pretty high to begin with?)
• Even if the teaching is not true, why would the rabbis make such an incredible statement?
• The rabbis are talking about parents and children. Compare this idea and how it may work between parents? Between brothers and sisters? With people outside our family?

4) STORYTIME WITH RABBI MO

5) KETUBAH?! - I HARDLY KNEW YA?
A Ketubah is the written form of the BRIT that a wedding couple makes to one another.  This BRIT often becomes the beginning of a family and the actual Ketubah is something that reminds a couple of the BRIT they make, the AHAVA that is behind it and the goal of SHALOM BAYIT they share.

Check out some of the Ketubot out there ... See which ones you all like or do not like ... and share your reasons. (Parents, if you have a ketubah from your wedding - examine it more closely with your kids.)

Some Ketubot sites to explore:

• http://www.ketubah.com/ketubah-gallery/all-ketubahs/
• http://www.modernketubah.com/ketubahs_all.php
• http://www.mpartworks.com/product.php?cat=248&sg=yes&productid=aloversembrace1&orderby=&sortby=&xid=d270c45a9885c043b30a2ca17a63151d

Families do not have Ketubot and it may be a bit weird for you to make a Ketubah as a family ... but talking about and looking a Ketubot may bring about some questions:

• What reminds your whole family of the BRIT you have with one another.
• Is there a special family object?
• Is there a special picture or collection of pictures?
• Is there something intangible (that you cannot see or touch) that reminds you?
• What can you do you -- especially in those Golden Calf moments (when things get in the way) to remind you all of your family’s BRIT?

6) B.Y.O.C. - (BUILD YOUR OWN CALF)
Take out your Family Mountain and the Model Magic Clay that you received at the retreat and tear it up into small pieces. Make sure everyone in the family has 3 equal sized pieces. Each family member must think of three things that get in the way of YOUR family living up to your BRIT. Each family member must take a turn, say the thing that gets in the way and throw one piece of clay in the middle. Once all the clay has been tossed - take the clay and build yourselves a CALF! (Okay - it’s not Golden, you will have to use your imagination!)

This Calf will be made up of all of the things that get in the way of your family’s BRIT with one another. When you are done - place the calf next to your Mountain - to remind you of your family’s BRIT, your desire for SHALOM BAYIT and those things that get in the way.

At least for a few days - put your mountain and your calf some place where everyone in your family will see it ... and think about AHAVA, BRIT and SHALOM BAYIT.

Mishpacha! - FTL #2

MISHPACHA!

FAMILY TIME LEARNING 

SESSION #2

Use the following steps to guide you through some on-your-own Family Time Learning.

Part I

1) Graffiti Time!

Print out these sheets and hang them up in a room in the house (one where you will be able to write on the sheets of paper.) Take a few minutes to go around the room and have each family member write or draw what each Graffiti sheet asks. Turn on Kosher Bacon by Dan Nichols (or from the Mishpacha! playlist) and listen to it while you write your graffiti.. Compare what you wrote on each Grafitti sheet.

2) Hello From Rabbi Mo

3) Our Family’s Food Audit
Take some time to test and see how FIT your family is when it comes to choosing, preparing and eating food. 

• Together - look over these Jewish values, that I am calling: Jewish Food Metrics. (Metrics are things that help us measure things, like in this case the FITNESS of our food.) Read through them - saying out loud the Hebrew terms and making sure everyone understands what they mean and the questions that each value asks of your food.
• Once you have looked at these five Jewish Food Metrics you can begin your self-test or audit. Print out these audit sheets. You can make notes on the back of your sheets and tally up your scores, too.
• First take some time to examine the food you have in your house. You do not need to look at ALL of it, but take some food out of the pantry and the fridge use each Jewish Food Metric to assess its FITNESS. 
• Second, do the same for your average family meal. Think of one this past week and ask the same questions about how you chose, made and ate the meal.
• Some questions to think about:
• Which ones of the Jewish Food Metrics are the HARDEST to follow? Which ones are the EASIEST to follow?
• Which of these Jewish Food Metrics is MOST important to you? Which is LEAST important to you?
• Which results from your self-test or audit do you want to change? Why? What would that change look like?

4) The Food FITNESS Challenge
Talk more about what food FITNESS would like for your family.

• What would it look like if you choose, prepared and ate food that:
• Is better for the earth?
• Follows the Jewish Dietary laws?
• Promoted fairness in the people and companies who grew and made the food?
• Was good for the body?
• Gave the family a chance to connect with one another (or people in our lives)?
• As a family, take the Food FITNESS challenge. 
• Choose an amount of time - a day, a week, etc.
• Agree on how (for that amount of time) you will choose, prepare and eat your food according to each of the Jewish Food Metrics. (Check out some ideas to get you going.) 
• Fill out the Food FITNESS Challenge commitment and go for it.
• Once you have completed your Food Fitness Challenge, you will be ready to complete Part II of this month’s FLT.

Part II

1) Storytime with Rabbi Mo

2) Food FITNESS Challenge - Review
As a family discuss the experience of the Food FITNESS Challenge

• What was the best part about the Food FITNESS Challenge?
• What was the hardest part about the Food FITNESS Challenge?
• What feelings did you have when you were doing some of the challenges you set?
• What were the things (if any) that you did not try that you would want to do?
• What things that you did would you want to try and continue?

3) Something to Remember
Choose one or more of the following projects (or think of your own) to make as a family to create a reminder of the values you have been discussing, learning and doing:

• Write a blessing/bracha that your family could say before a meal. 
• Make placemats - begin on blank sheets of paper. Put on them a blessing - that you wrote, the Jewish Food Metrics that are meaningful to your family or anything that reminds you about food FITNESS. Have the sheets laminated and use them as placemats.
• Make place cards for each member of the family. The place cards can have names, blessings (from tradition) or one you write, or anything that reminds you about food FITNESS.

Resources:

• Kashrut Basics - compiled by Tia Austion
• More Kashrut Basics
• Kashrut Hekhsher Symbols
• Hazon - Jewish Sustainability movement
• Eco Kashrut
• Rabbi Mo’s Rosh Hashanah Sermon on Food
• Blessing Cards - Traditional Jewish Blessings Over Food

Mishpacha! - FTL #1

MISHPACHA!
FAMILY TIME LEARNING 
SESSION #1 

Use the following steps to guide you through some on-your-own Family Time Learning.

1) Hello from Rabbi Mo!

2) The Rest of the Story - Watch this explanation of Joseph and His Brothers: Part II (a.k.a. The Rest of the Story).  Pay attention to how Joseph and his Brothers' idea of their RESPONSIBILITIES may have changed from the 1st part of the story.

3) Sicha (Discussion):
First, make sure that everyone understands what is happening in the story.  Review the 5 W's (Who, What, Where, When and Why).  You can find some resources below on Joseph.

Then, Take some time as a family to respond to these questions:

• Magic Circle:  Begin by having each family member fill in the blank to the following statements:
• The brothers decision to protect Benjamin made me feel _______________.
• Try and explain your responses to each other.
• Why do you think the brothers felt responsible to Benjamin?
• Why do you think they did not feel responsible to Joseph when they threw him into the pit?
• How do you think Joseph felt when he saw the brothers taking responsibility for Benjamin?

4) A Little Theme Music

Listen to this music from the Yom Kippur service for one minute (start it at about :56 into the video). 

• Everyone in the family rate what they think of the music on a scale of 1 to 10:
• 1 - Sad, 10 - Happy
• 1 - Upsetting, 10 - Calming
• 1 - Ugly, 10 - Beautiful
• Someone in the family explain about this prayer ... It is a prayer called Kol Nidrei that is sung at the beginning of the day.  The prayer tell us we made many promises to be responsible for all kinds of things.  And, it says that we can start fresh with those promises and responsibilities in the New Year.   When we listen to this prayer we think about the responsibilities we kept and those we did not - about our good choices and our bad choices.  (You can find the link to the translation below.)

5) Our Responsibilities

As a family brainstorm and write down a list of your responsibilities: (examples to get you going: brushing teeth, listening to others, taking care of a pet, speaking up for yourself, etc.)

• Which ones are hard for you?  Why?
• Which ones are easy for you? Why?
• Which ones were you good at?  How did it make you feel?  How did it make others around you feel?
• Which ones were you not so good at?
• How will you improve on these?
• Determine which ones are the 3, 5 (you chose the number) that are most important responsibilities to keep.
• Think of a few examples when someone else was responsible for you.  How did you feel when this happened?
• Think of a few examples when you took responsibility for yourself or someone else

Listen to the Kol Nidrei music again (starting at the same place)  ... and while you do think about all of the things on your list ... which ones you were good at, which ones you need to work at; which ones are hard and which ones are easy.)

Make a nicer version of the list (or use the one you made) and hang it somewhere in the house for everyone to see during the High Holydays.

5) Storytime

Listen to this story from Rabbi Mo about a specific kind of responsibility.

6) A Little More Theme Music

Listen to this song, Responsibility by Naomi Less, and read the lyrics while you listen.  You can find the song in your Mishpacha! play list or here on the web.  You can find the lyrics here.

• Compare the song to Kol Nidrei - What is different?  What is similar?
• Noaomi Less uses the Hebrew phrase: "Kulanu arevim zeh ba-zeh".  From the rest of the song can you guess what it means?  (It means: we are all responsible for one another)
• End the lesson by having each person try and say aloud this Jewish value sung in the song: Koo-lah-nu ah-reh-veem zeh bah-zeh. First individually and then together.

Some Helpful Resources on:
Joseph and His Brothers:

• From the Torah - Genesis 
• Some Joseph Background
• Andrew Lloyd Weber's Theatrical Take This Part of The Story

Kol Nidrei:

• English Translation
• Background
• Teshvah - the process of repentance