Some of you may know that Congregation Kneseth Israel was the recipient of a grant from Sinai and Synapses to explore Science in the Synagogue. Our task has been to take each parsha and provide a summary, some table discussion topics and a hands-on lab. Tomorrow, July 20th, our education director, Heather Weiser and I will be speaking about this grant and how it has energized our community at NewCAJE, a professional development conference for Jewish educators. We are one of four organizations in the country in this round of funding.
Let us know how these are meaningful to you. We will keep you posted on how tomorrow’s presentation goes.
Devarim, Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22
Parsha Summary:
This week we begin a new book of the Torah, Deuteronomy. In Hebrew it is called Devarim, Words. These are the words…These are Moses’s last words. It is his swan song or his ethical will. It is a retelling of the history of the Israelites. This portion recounts the journey from Egypt to the steppes of Moab, as the Israelites are ready to enter the Promised Land. Moses tells the Israelites that “The LORD your God has multiplied you until you are today as numerous as the stars in the sky.” (Deuteronomy 1:10) This is the promise that was given by G-d to Abraham and it seems to be coming to fruition. Yet, in the original text of G-d speaking to Abraham, G-d promises to make his descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sands of the sea. What happened here? Here is another example: Moses tells the Israelites about how he delegated his authority. He leaves out that he learned this from his father-in-law Jethro. What happened here?
It seems that memories change over time. Remember that Moses is talking to the next generation. The ones that did not live through the Exodus from Egypt. While we are told that we are each to think of ourselves as though we were freed from Egypt and we each stood at Sinai, our memories of those events are not so realistic, dare I say. There has been much research on the neuroscience of memory in the last 30 years. Northwestern Medicine published an article about how memory is like a game of telephone. Once, when going over my own family history lovingly preserved in a family cookbook, my mother exclaimed, “That simply isn’t true.” My daughter and I looked at each other stunned. We grew up with the story of my grandmother who was Irish. What happened to my mother’s own memory?
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2012/09/your-memory-is-like-the-telephone-game
Table Topics:
- How does memory change? What does that mean for us?
- Why does Moses change his repetition of the promise to Abraham to become as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sands of the sea?
- Learn the blessing for a shooting star:
Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech Ha’olam, Oseh Ma’aseh Bereshit, Blessed are You, Lord our G-d, Ruler of the Universe, who does the work of Creation. This blessing also is recited for lightening (the first time during a storm), comet, earthquake, volcano, tornado, hurricane, ocean or mountain. When have you experienced awe? Has it drawn you closer to G-d? - What values do you want to pass down to your children and grandchildren? What would you say in an ethical will?
Labs at Home:
Go outside late at night and look for a shooting star or more! We are entering the height of the Peresid Meteor Shower. As EarthSjy has said:
“2021 is a great year for the Perseids! The waxing crescent moon will set at early evening, providing dark skies. Start watching for these meteors in early August. Their numbers will gradually increase. Predicted peak in 2021: the night of August 11-12, but try the nights before and after, too, from late night until dawn. The Perseid meteor shower is perhaps the most beloved meteor shower of the year for the Northern Hemisphere. It’s a rich meteor shower, and it’s steady. These swift and bright meteors radiate from a point in the constellation Perseus the Hero. As with all meteor shower radiant points, you don’t need to know Perseus to watch the shower. Instead, the meteors appear in all parts of the sky. These meteors frequently leave persistent trains. Perseid meteors tend to strengthen in number as late night deepens into midnight. The shower typically produces the most meteors in the wee hours before dawn.”
And apparently, it has begun earlier than usual on July 14th and continuing through August 24th. So go outside and look. Late at night. As far away from light pollution as possible. We will be trying a corn field or just a soccer field sometime after 10PM and before first light. Remember bug spray. Sit back, look back and count. See how many you can spy in an hour. Then report back. I always find the thrilling to see and I feel deeply connected to my ancestors who must have had the same sense of awe watching in the desert skies.
Act of Kindness:
Sit down with an older person, a parent or grandparent, and ask them to tell a story of their earlier years. Ask them how that experience made a difference in their lives. Ask them if they know if anyone else tells the story differently, a sibling, a child. See if you can figure out how the differences happened.
Song:
A while ago there was an animated movie, “An American Tale” about Fievel the Mouse who came to America to find freedom. The hit song from it was “Somewhere Out There.” Somewhere Out There – Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram(with lyrics)