This lesson plan is intended to empower students to apply this week’s Torah lesson to their daily life. Ideally, it should be started on during the week and then completed on Shabbat with a youth group, or at a Shabbat table. (It is designed for ages 12 and up.)
Weekday Research:
These action steps can be done solo or with a partner
⇒ Review the Torah portion and present highlights.
⇒ Identify materials used in the construction of the Tabernacle.
⇒ Fill in the attached Google doc to print or share electronically. CLICK HERE
⇒ Be aware of the origin of your sources.
⇒ Start to question whether the source is authentic to the intentions of the Torah.
⇒ Jot down notes about your thoughts about the sources.
Shabbat Activity:
Participants will choose a role, read through the materials, and present.
Participants take different roles, study their parts, and present to the other participants. If you have more than four participants, divide into partners or small groups. Although the text is presented as a script, rather than reading it out loud, please study it and use your own words.
Enduring Understanding: The purpose of the Mishkan (Tabernacle) is to internalize the symbols as lessons in life.
Essential Question: How might this apply to me personally to take action in my life?
Roles to Choose:
⇒ Facilitator
⇒ Scholar
⇒ Editorial Commentator
⇒ Storyteller
Provide the Following:
⇒ Sources: prepare usable sources
⇒ Costumes: or at least specific hats that indicate the roles of the particular participants
⇒ Clock: to time each portion of the activity
Choose a Time Keeper:
⇒ 15 minutes (for preparation)
⇒ 10 minutes (for each presentation)
⇒ 15 minutes (for the reflection)
Procedure
Facilitators:
⇒ Make sure the participants are divided into four groups
⇒ Ask the groups to appoint roles
⇒ 1. Reporter to represent the group in whole group discussion
⇒ 2. Coach to encourage and keep the group on task
⇒ 3. Reader
⇒ 4. Manager for any supplies, etc.
⇒ Have each group report out their findings of the materials that were used in building the Mishkan.
Scholars: Literal overview:
⇒ Provide a summary of the portion
⇒ What are the main topics?
Editorial Commentator:
- The materials for the Mishkan have symbolic meaning. Here are some of the meanings:
⇒ According to the Meam Loez: The Exiles that the Jews have endured
⇒ Gold stands for the Babylonian exile
⇒ Silver stands for the Median/Persian exile
⇒ Copper stands for the Greek exile
⇒ Red-dyed ram’s skins stands for the Edomite exile
⇒ Oil stands for the Messianic times. It was used for lighting and spices
⇒ God said to the Jews: Even though you are enslaved under these four kingdoms, do not lose hope. Be assured that the end will be good.
- According to Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson:
⇒ The Jews build a sanctuary for God, and God dwells inside each and every one of us.
⇒ Three types of metals were used: Gold, silver, and copper.
⇒ Gold stands for God’s dwelling place, it makes sense that we choose the finest of metals.
⇒ Silver stands for Jews who work on themselves to return to their spiritual selves, and live a life of Jewish values.
⇒ Copper stands for Jews who haven’t connected with their spiritual selves. They are led by their impulses.
⇒ All types of Jews are expected to participate in building the Mishkan. Through this collaboration, we will merit to have God’s Presence among us.
Storyteller:
⇒ “Patience for the Imperfect”
⇒ And they shall make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them: The Torah does not say “within it,” but – “within them.” (Shlah) (Shmot 25:8)
After the passing of Reb Menachem Mendel of Kotsk, his Chassidim took upon themselves the leadership of Reb Yitzchak Meir of Ger, who lived at the time in Warsaw. After a few years there he thought it preferable that he move to a small town, because the numbers of disciples coming to visit him and to hear his teachings snowballed from hundreds to thousands, and he did not think it advisable that the younger scholars should spend long periods in a big city.
The word spread like wildfire, and from all directions came requests from representatives of communities that he becomes their spiritual leader. None of these were accepted until an invitation came from the small town of Ger (Gora Kalwaria) near Warsaw, and this the rebbe accepted at once. When the good news arrived, many of the townsfolk accompanied their communal leaders to Warsaw to hand the rebbe the traditional letter of rabbinic appointment, and he promised to move to their township within a short time. This he did, despite the repeated requests of the communal leaders of Warsaw that he remain in their city. At first, he lived in the house which the people of Ger kept for the local Rav, and his Chassidim studies and prayed in the community’s House of Study (Beis Midrash). Seeing, however, that this building could not accommodate the thousands of disciples who streamed there from all parts of Poland, the more prosperous amongst them undertook to build a fitting residence for the rebbe, and next to it a spacious Beis Midrash for his Chassidim.
At the festive dedication of the House of Study, the Rebbe entered the grand edifice for the first time, surrounded by huge crowds of Chassidim, and his joy at the completion of the mitzvah was beautiful to see. His address for the occasion spoke of what entering a Beis Midrash can do for a man.
He began with the text of a Mishnah: “On that day (that Rabban Gamliel was deposed from the office of Nasi), they removed the guard from the door of the House of Study, and permission was granted to all scholars to enter. For Rabban Gamliel had been wont to announce: ‘That student whose internal integrity does not match his external appearance – let him not enter the House of Study.’ On that day many benches were added in the House of Study, and Rabban Gamliel was in distress.”
“Rashi,” continued Reb Yitzchak Meir of Ger, “explains this last phrase by saying that Rabban Gamliel was apprehensive lest he is punished for not having allowed those scholars to enter while he was in authority. The question, though, still stands: what changed Rabban Gamliel’s thinking? What made him relent from his earlier policy of refusing admission to scholars who were not inwardly as they appeared outwardly? And the answer is as follows. He watched what happened to these latter scholars as they entered the Beis Midrash: their very entry there made them rectify their moral inconsistencies at once. And this explains his distress. He regretted not having admitted them earlier, for then they might have undergone this moral metamorphosis long ago.”
Facilitators:
⇒ Give the groups 5-10 minutes to reflect on the learning.
⇒ Have them use these prompts:
⇒ What did I like?
⇒ What do I wish?
⇒ What do I wonder?
⇒ Have each group’s reporter share out a summary of their reflections.
Resources
“The Common Thread Uniting Our Jewish Past, Present and Future.” Ptil Tekhelet. Ptil Tekhelet, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2017. <http://tekhelet.com/>. “Exodus 25:1-27:19 | Sefaria.” Sefaria: A Living Library of Jewish Texts Online. Sefaria, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2017. <https://www.sefaria.org/Exodus.25.1-27.19?lang=bi>. Kaploun, Uri, and Shelomoh Yosef Zevin. “Terumah.” A Treasury of Chassidic Tales. Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah Publ., n.d. 264-65. Print. Kuli, Yaaqov. The Torah Anthology: Yalkut Me’am Lo’ez. Vol. 3. Jerusalem: Ohr Chadash, 1977. Print. Shmot. “Mikdash Educational Center.” Mikdash Resources – Mikdash Educational Center. Mikdash Educational Center, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2017. <http://en.hamikdash.org.il/mikdash-resources/>. “Parshat Terumah: The Mishkan: Some Assembly Required.”YouTube. Ed. Sarah Lifton. BimBam, 25 Jan. 2010. Web. 28 Feb. 2017. <https://youtu.be/PUK2eCzSxLg>.Schneerson, Menachem Mendel. “Volume 2 Shemot.” Maayan Hai: On the Book of Shmot. Vol. 2. Brooklyn: Kehot, 5754. 90-97. Print. “The Tabernacle and It’s Utensils.” דעת לימודי יהדות ורוח. Hertzog College. Web. 27 Feb. 2017. <http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/tanach/mishkan/mishkan.htm>. “המשכן וכליו.” The Tabernacle and Its Utensils. Machad Torani Lemadaim. Web. 27 Feb. 2017. <https://sites.google.com/a/madaimas.org.il/hmshken/>. “כלי המשכן מצגת מדהימה ומוחשית – המשכן וכליו.” YouTube. Yahadutiyuv, 08 May 2015. Web. 27 Feb. 2017. <https://youtu.be/0g-kUjcA7DE>.
Featured image is Creative Commons Copyright: https://www.flickr.com/photos/midnightcomm/369204819