What could happen in a person’s life to make them just want to give up? “Watch a whole city NOT get destroyed” and “lose a new plant they had just received the day before” might not be the first answers you come up with. But that’s what happens for Yonah in the final chapter of his story. After watching God…
Tag: resilience
Forgiveness and Second Chances
Sefer Yonah (the Book of Yonah) is all about second chances. Both Yonah and the whole city of Ninveh get a chance to try again – Yonah gets a second chance to do the prophecy work God instructs him to do; Nineveh gets a chance to fix its mistakes and survive another day. How do we view second chances at…
Giving and Getting Feedback
It’s easy to respond defensively when someone comes to you with criticism! But that’s not what the people of Ninveh did when Yonah showed up prophesying their destruction. They did an impressive job of listening to Yonah’s criticism and using it to improve themselves. What is constructive feedback? Giving feedback in a helpful way, not just being mean. Criticism is…
Leading by Example
How can our leaders help guide us through challenges resiliently? In the third chapter of Sefer Yonah (the Book of Yonah), Yonah finally goes to Ninveh and warns the people that God will flip their city upside down in 40 days. The whole city, from the king all the way down the animals, dresses in sackcloth, sits down in ashes,…
Bouncing Back from the Narrow Places
Say you find yourself at the lowest point in your life, literally (or figuratively) deep under the ocean, in the belly of a big fish. How would you respond? What would you do to help you bounce back from an experience like that? This is the exact scenario Yonah finds himself in, stuck in a fish. And Yonah chooses to…
Does Avoidance = Resilience?
Last week, we met a new character in Jewish text, and a new perspective on resilience. Sefer Yonah (the Book of Jonah) opens with God instructing Yonah to go to the big city of Ninveh and tell the people there to shape up their act, or else. But instead, Yonah tries to run away. He ends up on a boat…
Finding Strength in Tradition and Resilience in Memories
Esther saves the day! Mordechai becomes the second most powerful person in the kingdom! The Jewish people get a new holiday to joyfully celebrate every year! Last week, we finally reached the end of Megillat Esther (The Book of Esther). We noticed that unlike most other stories we’ve learned about the Jewish people (ex: the leaving Egypt story, the Chanukah…
What Do We Want? Good Advice!
Weeks ago we learned that Esther decided she would approach Achashverosh in order to save her people. But instead, she invited him and Haman to a feast. And then she invited them to a second feast! Why did Esther feel she had to build rapport with King Achashverosh before she made her request? Because she was worried that she was…
Purim Power and How NOT to Be Resilient
When we last left our heroes, Mordechai had finally convinced Esther to risk her own life by approaching Achashverosh uninvited and asking him to save her people. But when Esther visits the king, she asks instead for him and Haman to join her for a feast. Huh? What’s with that? And at the feast, she asks them to come to…
New Unit, New You
We report to you on last week from the beginning of a brand new curriculum unit at Makom Community! To kick off this unit, we’ll unpack the story in Megillat Esther (the Book of Esther). We’ll notice the ways that challenging experiences that we and the characters in text face are temporary, but the strength we take from them impacts our…