When I share with other Jewish educators what we teach our students on weeks like this one, they are either jealous or amazed that we take on theology in such a complicated way with such young students. But at the end of the day, this is child-led learning! And your children have asked a lot of questions about God. So we wanted to make space for them to think about those questions. Note: I said think about those questions, not answer them. We may all emerge from this week more confused than clarified, and that’s okay. Part of our intention for this week’s content is to present a nuanced view of God in Jewish tradition so that our students can find room to think, challenge, and see what resonates for them right now and know that there are other models to revisit later when that one no longer resonates.
As we go through this week, our students will have the opportunity to reflect back on the ways God has behaved in a number of moments in Torah that we have studied together. Here is a quick overview for your reference, as these conversations come home:
God at Mt. Sinai
Made a HUGE public presentation of smoke, lightening, shofar blasts, a shaking mountain, and a LONG, private visit with Moses. Only then to get VERY upset and subject some people to the death penalty when they got scared while Moses was away and built a golden calf. God was vengeful and murderous here, and that was hard for us to relate to!
God while Bnai Yisrael wandered in the desert
Carefully set up systems to care for Bnai Yisrael. There was a pillar of fire to lead them through the desert by night and a pillar of cloud by day. Food rained out of the sky in perfect quantity to eat every day. Their clothes and shoes never even wore out! God was kind, compassionate, and loving.
God when Bnai Yisrael entered the Land of Israel
Rescues Bnai Yisrael over and over from their own mistakes, helps them conquer the people already living there, and generally makes sure they have lives of bounty and comfort. Your children reflected that this is how real friends treat each other, with kindness and love.
God when the world was created
Has INCREDIBLE power to create only through speaking. Once the creations are finished though, draws back from the world, admits that people have free will and expects us to use it to take care of the world.
A few questions for you to think about:
- Do any of these God models resonate for me?
- What works or doesn’t work about these God models for me?
- How on earth do all these different models (and lots more!) co-exist in Jewish tradition?
- What from each of these God models do I want to share with my children as they are thinking about God?
We know this can be an especially intimidating conversation to have with our children. Please be in touch if you want to talk with me before or after this comes up while you’re walking home or doing bedtime! I love getting to support our families as they learn and grow together.