King Shlomo was well known for a few things: he built the Temple, he was super wise, and he wrote a lot of songs and poems. Last week we took a deep dive into the wisdom Shlomo exhibited in his leadership style in order to get the Temple built. Here are some of the discoveries we made, and some of…
Category: Weekly Learning
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Honoring Those Who Matter (Spoiler: It’s Everyone)
Who remembers what commentary is? We do! It’s when someone asks a question about a text or a story and then creates an answer to it. We learned a lot of commentaries about Migdal Bavel (the Tower of Babel), and last week we were at it again. We unpacked three commentaries about David. They all deal with noticing and appreciating…
Choosing Family with Unconditional Love
Our story this week zooms in on the unique relationship between Shaul’s son Yehonatan and David. They meet after David defeats Goliath, and the text tells us that Yehonatan’s soul becomes bound up with David’s soul. Yehonatan loves David like himself. The two of them make a brit (two-way promise) together. Yehonatan gifts his cloak, sword, belt, and bow to…
Dear David: 3000 Year-Old Relationship Advice
Our story this week is a tumultuous one. Shaul is convinced that David is trying to steal the throne from him, so he sets out with 3000 men to hunt David down. Shaul coincidentally wanders into the cave where David is hiding, and David has an opportunity to kill him. Instead, he cuts off the corner of Shaul’s cloak. David…
Our Case for Hebrew Literacy
Why do we bother learning Hebrew here at Makom Community? Why is it important? How does Hebrew help us access the Jewish text and tradition that forms the foundation of our learning? One answer, provided to me by one of the Garinim (preK and K kiddos), is that it’s about Tefilah: Prayer, Music, and Movement. We sing a lot of…
Putting People First: The Makom Community Brit
Way back in September, our learners started exploring the text of Migdal Bavel (the Tower of Babel). Over the course of the last three months we really dug into that text and pulled it apart. We looked to the people in the story for examples of some great ways to treat each other and some not-so-great ways to treat each…