Our first unit this year at Makom Community was all about working for tzedek (justice). In Nitzanim (3rd and 4th grade), we worked on a unit long project about how we can use Torah to work for tzedek in our daily lives. At the beginning of the unit we looked at three different issues we could help: voting rights, homelessness, and animal rights. We ultimately decided to go with animal rights, and focused on Morris Animal Refuge and how they help animals get adopted in Philadelphia.
We started working on our project alongside our Torah learning! We first created collages with lots of photos of animals to show how we think they should be treated. A few groups honed in on overhunting and overfishing as a problem that we could educate ourselves and our friends and family on. We created a public service announcement to show our family and the rest of Makom Community, with each table group contributing a minute or two. Click here to see our PSA on YouTube!
After creating our PSA, it was time to start thinking about our Parent Showcase! Each table group created a text study using texts from the unit. We included texts about justice, and also texts that we felt best exemplified animal rights in the Torah. One of our favorites was from Genesis 1:26: And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. They shall rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the cattle, the whole earth, and all the creeping things that creep on earth.” Each group crafted goals that they felt the showcase attendees should understand, and came up with questions to ask.
After a few weeks of practice and presenting in front of each other, it was time to present to parents and special guests! Over 40 people came to our Zoom Showcase, and the Nitzanim were so excited. Each table group joined their parents and other special grownups in a breakout room. They asked questions like “How do you devote yourselves to justice every day?” and “How can humans assume the role of ‘ruler of animals’ in a just way?” It was so inspiring to see the Nitzanim teach a Zoom room full of adults.
We wrote a blessing for animal rights altogether that we then get to share with our parents and family members. “Blessed are you, animals, for providing companionship and comfort, for helping save lives, and for making us smile.”
We’ve learned so much about justice and the connection to animal rights. A bonus skill developed during this unit was leading a text study, too. Stay tuned for more info on our Nitzanim Unit 2 Showcase, all about peace and conflict!
