Our students just finished exploring the next from Bamidbar, Numbers, where Bnai Yisrael, the Jewish People, have wandered in the desert, received Torah, and have to decide together whether to go in to the Land of Israel. These are the same people who were slaves and saw all ten terrible, horrible, no good, very bad plagues. These are the same people who crossed the Sea of Reeds with Pharoah’s army chasing them. These are the same people who built the Golden Calf when they thought Moses had abandoned them. They have had QUITE a journey, and so have our students imagining what decisions they might have made while standing in the desert.
They sent 12 spies into the land of Israel to check it out in advance of going into the land. 10 spies came back with awful reports– “Yes, all the good stuff God told us about is there, BUT the people are GIANTS. The cities have huge walls, and the land gobbles up the people. I’m not going, and I don’t think you should either.” Only Joshua and Caleb came back saying, “Yes! It’s wonderful. Let’s go! Right now! No, don’t finish the page of that book first. No, don’t eat one more bite of lunch, let’s GO!”
Plot spoiler: They don’t get into the land of Israel. They have to keep wandering, and the next generation, who weren’t slaves get to go into the land of Israel. From this generation, only Caleb and Joshua (who gave good reports) get to go into the land of Israel.
We asked LOTS of questions about this text:
What did the spies feel while they were on their mission?
What did the spies feel when they gave Bnai Yisrael their report?
How did the spies feel when they saw Bnai Yisrael‘s reaction?
If I saw what the spies saw, what would I advise?
What do I do when I feel unsure?
How do I react when I’m disappointed?
How could I react better when I’m disapointed?
We also imagined the perspective of a number of people from the story:
One of the 10 spies who gave a negative report
Joshua or Caleb, who gave a positive report
Moses
Miriam
Aaron
A child hearing the reports
And more!
Read below the first edition of the Makom Community TImes to hear what our students imaginged from those perspectives.
Enjoy!
