Monday, October 28, 2013

How did we get here? Another Jeremiah Project


No one lives in a vacuum. Everyone is a product of the historical time period they lived in. If you recall, we began the Book of Jeremiah with no introduction. We went right to the initial prophecy and ignored the historical background in the first 3 verses of the Book of Jeremiah quoted below.

ירמיהו פרק א
א דִּבְרֵי יִרְמְיָהוּ, בֶּן-חִלְקִיָּהוּ, מִן-הַכֹּהֲנִים אֲשֶׁר בַּעֲנָתוֹת, בְּאֶרֶץ בִּנְיָמִן. ב אֲשֶׁר הָיָה דְבַר-יְהוָה אֵלָיו, בִּימֵי יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ בֶן-אָמוֹן מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָה, בִּשְׁלֹשׁ-עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה, לְמָלְכוֹ. ג וַיְהִי, בִּימֵי יְהוֹיָקִים בֶּן-יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָה, עַד-תֹּם עַשְׁתֵּי עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה, לְצִדְקִיָּהוּ בֶן-יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָה--עַד-גְּלוֹת יְרוּשָׁלִַם, בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַחֲמִישִׁי.

Three kings are mentioned in theses verses alone, יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ בֶן-אָמוֹן, יְהוֹיָקִים בֶּן-יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ, and צִדְקִיָּהוּ בֶן-יֹאשִׁיָּהוּ. This doesn't even include the 2 most important kings who preceded Jeremiah who were חזקיהו בן אחז and מנשה בן חזקיהו and the other lesser kings during this time period. See the chart below for a full list of the kings.



Your project will be to research these kings so we can answer the big question, how did we get here? What events shaped the time period immediately preceding Jeremiah and what events shaped the career of Jeremiah while he was a prophet in Judea?

Here are some project details:
  • You may work in groups of 2 or 3. Each group will research one king. 
  • You will collaboratively write a 2 page paper (double spaced, New Times Roman, Size 12 font, with proper citation of all sources) about your king using Google Docs. (I expect EVERY student's footprints to be all over the doc.) 
  • You will then create something to represent the king you have studied based on your research. This can be a fake artifact from his reign, a painting, a drawing, a mock newspaper front page, a video, a Prezi. The list goes on. The key is that your item must be creative and must represent an important aspect about your king or episode in his life. 
  • ALL projects must ultimately be converted to digital form and uploaded to a public website like Flickr or YouTube. 
  • We will then be converting each paper and artifact into its own unique QR code that we can hang up on the wall of our classroom to create a physical timeline of all the kings that we are studying with links to the rich content that we have created.  
There is a dearth of websites available for serious study of Tanach. Therefore, we will be working in the library where each group is expected to use several books for the main portion of your research. (Mrs. Geller will help you out.)

Here are a few websites that might help in your research. (You may also use Wikipedia but only as a starting point to discover where in Tanach and other sources to look and not as your main research source.)

You will be graded based on the following rubric.

Now fill out the Google Form below to choose your partners and topic, confirm with me, and get to work!

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Essay questions

Video: do you have a choice of wether to be Jewish or not? D you have the free will of brew ish or not? Are we brainwashed to think what we believe in Judaism and are living in a false reality?
1. If yirmihayu was already appointed a navi before he was born does he have free will over wether to become a navi or not?
2.what does he mean he is "just a boy"?
3. Where have we seen this done before? To who?
4. Who touches yishiyahus lips and with what?
5. How does Ezekiel get "anointment" as a navi?
6.what does this mean and what is the Chiastic structure?
7. Why is it important that he sees a almond branch? Where else do we see an almond branch in the Torah?
8. What direction does the boiling pot come from? What does it represent?
9.what will the boiling pot do?
10.what evil did Israel do?
11. What is this pasuk in reference to? What was one of yirmihayus worries that this resolves?



Jonah F

Bronx poetry slam essay question

Watch the video below and then answer the following question.



Do we have free will of whether we are Jewish or not? Do we have a choice to be Jewish or not?

Jonah F

Kate and Jared essay question

1. What's the significance of Hashem sending an angel to touch Yirmiyahus lips and where else do we see this.
2. Explain what a chaistic structure is and describe why this phrase is one.
3. What's the reasoning for Hashem showing an almond branch In the first vision and a boiling pot in the second.

by Kate and Jared

Essay questions by Zach H



1) come up with an argument to argue about the Rambams approach of free will. Use other sources.

2) what other Neviiim connect to yermiahu and how?

3) what a Chiantis structure? What are the phrases that relate to it here, and how? Explain them.

4) do you have free will or do your parents decide what your future can come about?

 by Zach H

Essay Questions by Matthew K

1. Do have a free will or did our parents and the environment around us shape who we are?
2. Based on what we learned do you deal that Yirmiyahu had free will or not?
3. What connection do Yirmiyahu and Aron had with the almond branch, and how are Yimiyahu and Aron similar because of this?
4. What relation does an almond branch have to Yirmiyahu?
5. Describe the 2 visions of Yirmiyahu and explain what they mean and include what Hashem said.
6. What is a Chaiastic structure and give an example from this pasuk. (Give them a pasuk)
7. What were the reasons Yirmiyahu thought he couldn't be a navi and why?
8. To uproot, to pull down, to build, to plant, to destroy. What is this an example of and what meaning does it have.

by Matthew K

Max, Orren, Shmuel

Does Ezra Mettzinger (person who wrote poem) believe that Judaism was his fate or free will? According to him if it is fate and almost forced upon him is that really a bad thing? What is your opinion on fate and free will connecting to Ezra.
-orren, shmuel, max

Essay Questions by Richie and Jacob

1. Do we have free will explain according to theses rabbi's, Rabbi Dressler, Rambam, Elisha ben aboya and Viktor Frankl?

2. Were you "brainwashed" throughout your childhood to be religious according to the video?

3. Do your parents control your choice to have free will?


Richie Y
Jacob W