Teaching our students ashreinu- how lucky we are to be yidde

amother

OP ↓

Mon, Jan 24 2022, 5:46 pm

Hi!
Does anyone have prepared lessons, stories, activities or songs on the theme of ashreinu mah tov chelkeinu?

Age level makes no difference as I can adapt most things to my needs. English and Hebrew best,

Any and all help would be appreciated.

I already searched chinuch.org and didn’t find much.

Tia

amother

↑ OP ↓

Mon, Jan 24 2022, 6:47 pm

To be honest… that never even entered my mind.

I literally never even thought of that until you posted that comment.

I guess it’s hard to know who you’re speaking to on here especially when we re anonymous.

I’ll present a few of my thoughts so you understand the angle I plan to take.

Discussing mitzvos we do and how they make us feel… which mitzva you enjoy most and why.

Hashem chose us his his am segula and has faith in us that we can and do rise to the challenge. How lucky we are to be yidden and have the Torah as our guide. It’s a road map so we’re not “stuck on the road of life” trying to guess our next step.

What makes you proud to be a yid!

Simcha shel mitzva . Torah true joy

bobeli

Mon, Jan 24 2022, 8:05 pm

There is that story of the ice pops on the bus and then the cancellation of a boys trip (I can’t remember if its on living emuna, r yoel gold or where) which if the students don’t know it it brings the point home in a nice way.
You can suggest they think/share there ashreinu moments

amother

Scarlet

Mon, Jan 24 2022, 8:42 pm

bigsis144 wrote:

Please please don’t base your curriculum around how bad/depraved/lost/meaningless/etc non-Jews are.

we were actually just discussing this with our kids at the shabbos table this week. how there's two ways to build yourself up, and be happy that you are jewish, one is by putting other people aka non jews down but that's not the way that actually works, better to appreciate how lucky you are.

amother

DarkOrange ↓

Mon, Jan 24 2022, 9:39 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Please watch how you speak about the people without a road map. What if there's a child in your class who comes from a family of gerim?

I'm kind of baffled at a class aimed at telling kids how to feel. Teach them Torah with joy and they'll get the message.

amother

Amaryllis ↓

Mon, Jan 24 2022, 10:27 pm

Probably not relevant for a lesson, but maybe it'll help you think of stuff.

I was expecting, living in an oot community. Toward the end of the pregnancy my dr told me that she always asks her patients if they have logistics and help figured out. But that she doesn't have to ask me because "you have an amazing community, I know you'll be taken care of".

There's also a story about a non jew whose car broke down, and he calmly put on a yarmulka and waited for a jew to pull over to help. And they did. (Iirc he confessed and of course they helped him anyway)

The achdus we have, the inborn sense of one-ness. It may get stronger during times of extremes, but it's always there.

How everyone was paralyzed and devastated because of meiron. How, on a totally different plane, everyone was dancing and happy when rubashkin was released.

That Jews will come out at all hours of day and night to save people. Because they want to. That, 30 minutes before yt, I called chaveirim and they helped me get my car started. And it was a totally normal thing for me to expect someone to be willing to help me then!

Or maybe that's totally not the path you wanted to take. But when I think about what makes me lucky to be a jew that's my first reaction.

Maybe start off the whole topic by having the girls write what THEY think about the concept. What makes them feel lucky. Without any preparation, and not to be marked. Just to get the juices moving and ideas out there. I don't think there can be wrong answers about this. We really are so lucky!

amother

↑ Amaryllis ↓

Mon, Jan 24 2022, 10:30 pm

amother [ DarkOrange ] wrote:

Can you explain the issue? Wouldn't someone who actually chose to be Jewish understand the privilege even more clearly? How can that be offensive?

I'm asking this seriously, and would love to understand what bothers you about discussing something so beautiful.

amother

↑ DarkOrange

Mon, Jan 24 2022, 10:36 pm

amother [ Amaryllis ] wrote:

If there are good kind non-Jewish people who this child loves (grandparents, aunts and uncles etc) and you're painting them in a negative light, as clueless wanderers, the child will feel bad.

And to the above poster, as much as the tight knit Jewish community helps its own, there are plenty of selfless non-Jews out in the world. We may specialize in chessed, but we don't have a monopoly on it. Teaching, if only by implication, that others don't know how to be kind increases a sort of disdain for others.

amother

↑ Amaryllis ↓

Mon, Jan 24 2022, 10:45 pm

amother [ DarkOrange ] wrote:

I hear that. I wouldn't have thought to put non Jews down. But yes, we do have a clear roadmap. I don't think there's anything wrong with saying that.

Someone came to our door collecting tzedakah tonight. My 6 year old asked me if he's poor. I told her I don't know, but we can help him so we will.

I think it's a similar thing. We don't need to put down A to say that B is lucky to have something A doesn't have.

And no. We don't have a monopoly on chesed. But it's something ingrained in us and I think comes more naturally, all the way from avraham avinu. (And yes, he had other kids too. And yes, they do chesed too.)

Is being lucky a contest? Can't we focus on our strengths without discussing what others do and don't have?

I'm pretty and smart does not mean that you're ugly and stupid. I can be pretty and smart and you can also be pretty and smart. But I'm still lucky that I'm pretty and smart.

LovesHashem

Mon, Jan 24 2022, 10:50 pm

I don't think it's putting down non jews to talk about how amazing the Torah is.

Anyone can become a jew. As long as she focuses on how amazing the Torah is and doesn't say anything like "nebach to those who don't have it" I think this is a wonderful class.

Instead of saying a. Bunch of stories make it interactive.

Ask your students what makes them feel proud to be Jewish. If it's little kids they can draw it out even. Turn it into a discussion of what their favorite mitzvos are or favorite parts of the Torah are.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Jan 25 2022, 12:27 am

Wow! Thanks so much to all who provide stories, songs, thoughts etc.

And yes… I don’t plan on comparing us to them. No need to step on others as we focus on all we do have and how wonderful to be part of such a nation/community.

Please keep the ideas coming.
Thank you

amother

Snowflake

Tue, Jan 25 2022, 12:38 am

Maybe this shiur could help

Mrs. Esther Wein
Intro to Judaism Take 2: Why did I never learn this before?

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I'm not sure it's exactly what you are looking for, but this speaker talks about this topic all the time. I'll try to find the best example if possible.

PinkFridge ↓

Tue, Jan 25 2022, 5:32 am

amother [ DarkOrange ] wrote:

Please watch how you speak about the people without a road map. What if there's a child in your class who comes from a family of gerim?

.

Why shouldn't they be glad that this is what their parents or grandparents chose? They can still appreciate their extended family. I think of Ahuva Gray who projects so often that she made this journey not in spite of her family but because of them.

I do think that a curriculum, e.g. with a workbook and scheduled times, might not be effective. But t, say, work this in to other subjects, or some nice stories and discussion at the end of the day? Sounds lovely to me.

ETA re working into other subjects: When I was in seminary a teacher spoke about permeating goals. Ideas that we should try to work in whenever possible. Obviously subtlety is often the best way to go vs. hammering it in.

↑ PinkFridge ↓

Tue, Jan 25 2022, 5:35 am

amother [ DarkOrange ] wrote:

But we have a Torah that gives us specific details on how to do it. Of course gentiles don't like gossip either. But we have books on it. (Once while waiting in a drugstore I perused a stand they have of inspirational - Christian - books and I saw a book on speech. It was actually pretty good. But this is by no means a widespread communal movement.)

If I had time I'd look up Rabbi Gottlieb on exceptionalism. It's a shiur he gave probably at least 25+ years ago, written up in IIRC The Informed Soul.