This week we’ve been learning about commentary. Commentary, as one of our students put it, is the story of what you think about a (typically missing) detail in a text. We learned some commentary written by a well-known, medieval, French rabbi named Rashi. Looking at his work allowed us gain a different perspective and a deeper understanding of our text. It also provided us with practice for our own interpretation and story-making skills.
We took advantage of one of the half-day camps to dig deeper into this commentary work. First of all, I want to say how impressed I am with the engagement and attentiveness with which your kiddos attacked our extra projects! Half days are always a challenge for them with the changed schedule, but these excellent students listened so respectfully to us and each other, and worked together so well. I am so grateful for getting to teach and learn with these impressive kiddos!
For the project, each group got just one sentence of text to work with. First they brainstormed as many questions about it as they could. Then they chose one or two of their questions and came up with as many answers for them as possible. Finally, they chose their favorite answer and made either a popsicle stick puppet show or a comic strip to tell their story.
Here are some of the questions and answers your kiddos came up with that would have made Rashi proud:
- Question: The text says Yosef’s brothers took the sheep to graze at Shechem. Why did they have to take them there?
- Answer: Because they needed to eat, and that’s where there was food.
- Question: The text says Yosef has two dreams that his family interprets as predicting the future. How does Yosef have the power of prophetic dreams?
- Answer 1: Because he’s a superhero.
- Answer 2: Because his father was a literal star.
- Question: Yaakov sends Yosef to find his brothers at Shechem. By the time Yosef gets there, his brothers are gone. A man comes up to Yosef and tells him where his brothers went. Who is this guy?
- Answer 1: One of the brothers in disguise.
- Answer 2: A spy one of the brothers hired to wait for Yosef.
- Answer 3: A poor man who was looking for wheat or other food in the field to eat and overheard the brothers talking about where they were going.
- Question: Yaakov gave Yosef a rainbow striped coat because Yosef was his favorite. Why rainbow striped? Why a coat?
- Answer: It was the only thing in the store Yaakov could afford.
- Question: The text says that in one of Yosef’s dreams 11 sheaves of wheat “gathered round” to bow down to his sheaf. What does it mean that they “gathered round”?
- Answer: They literally stood in a circle around him.