Juniors Winter 2017 Advisor Copy
Advisor Copy Before we begin, I would like to highlight a few points: 1. It is VERY IMPORTANT for you as an educator to put your effort in and prepare this session well. If you don’t prepare, it will show. Kids will be able to tell if you don’t know what you’re talking about. 2. The goal of this session is purposefully open-ended. By giving this session, we are not trying to get specific points across. The goal is to make the NCSYers think and ask questions. 3. That being said, there is a lot of material here. It’s totally ok if you don’t get through all of it. It’s possible you get caught up on a discussion of one of the sources. That’s just as good if not better than getting through all the sources. Goal: To help the NCSYers think about the importance and value of the journey of life and not just its destination. Content of the Session:
II.
Welcome the NCSYers to your session. Feel free to try a quick icebreaker to learn their names. A.
Let’s get right into the session: 1. Ask the NCSYers: Who’s familiar with Pokemon or Pokemon Go? Pick someone that knows about it and have them explain what the basic idea of Pokemon is. (Shouldn’t take more than a minute or so) 2. The idea of Pokemon is that the trainers try to collect as many Pokemon as possible. “Gotta catch ‘em all”. The trainer can do battle with his Pokemon and if he wins, he/she can gain points or even “level up”. There are also PokeGyms where you can train your pokemon as well as do battle with them. The whole point is to catch more and more Pokemon and to continue improving them as well as yourself as a trainer.
B. Now that we understand a bit about Pokemon and Pokemon Go itself, let’s understand it through the lens of Torah. III.
When thinking about the game of Pokemon, it’s kind of hard to pinpoint its end goal. A. Is there any part of the Torah that seems similar to this idea? A place where we don’t really see the end goal of our actions. 1. See what the group has to say. Validate their answers! (This will encourage them to continue to participate in the future)
B.
Pass out the source sheets and have someone read source 1. 1. Ask the group: Why do you think Hashem withheld the destination from Avraham? Why wouldn’t He just tell him where to go? a)
C.
Discuss and remember to validate their answers.
Have a volunteer read source 2. 1. When taking Bnei Yisrael out of Mitzrayim, He led them through the desert for 40 years when He could’ve led them straight to Israel. It could’ve been a three day journey instead of 40 years! a) What was the point of this? Why did Bnei Yisrael need to spend 40 years in the desert when they could’ve gotten to where they were going in three days?
IV.
b)
Discuss and hear their thoughts
c) itself
It must be there is something inherently valuable about the journey
Let’s look at source 3 for an example of someone that understood this concept. A. When David Hamelech found out that he was supposed to die on Shabbos, he spent every Shabbos from that moment on studying Torah the entire day! 1. If you knew you were going to die on a specific day, what would you spend your time doing? Discuss. 2. David didn’t waste any time! He knew he was alive for a reason and recognized the value of the time he had left on this earth. B. We just saw someone that saw the value of every moment. But sometimes it is hard to recognize the importance or purpose of the journey. 1.
Have an NCSYer read source 4.
2. Yaakov had a hard life. His brother wanted to kill him, he ran away from him to his uncle’s house. His uncle tricked him many times. His daughter was kidnapped from him. Two of his sons killed all the men of a whole city. Finally, when Yaakov though he was finished with all these difficult episodes of his life, he wanted to just sit and relax. But it was then that the brothers decided to sell Yosef, and Yaakov was given more challenges. a) Why do you think Hashem didn’t let Yaakov relax? Was Yaakov wrong for not wanting to face these challenges? Discuss.
b) There’s a difference between being stagnant and not wanting to face so many challenges. Hashem showed Yaakov that we should always be moving and improving ourselves in this world. V.
There is a central concept in Judaism that is never clearly mentioned in the written Torah. A.
Can anyone guess what this idea is? 1. The concept of Olam Haba isn’t really mentioned in the Torah! But how could it be that something that we believe in, something as big as Olam Haba isn’t spoken about? a) Why do you think it’s not mentioned? Discuss and remember to validate their answers
B.
To answer our question, let’s look at source 5 1.
What does it mean that life is a journey and not a destination? a) Life itself is meant to be lived and experienced. We are here for a reason. It can’t just be about living. It’s what we do with our lives.
2.
This could be a reason why the Torah doesn’t mention Olam Haba. a) Maybe it’s not about the next world, the destination. It’s all about this world and our journey through it.
VI. This is a great spot to add in a story or game to highlight the points we’ve been discussing up until now. (Feel free to share ideas with each other. Remember you’re not the only ones giving this session) VII.
Wrap up. A. We saw that Pokemon is all about collecting all the Pokemon possible and developing them and yourself as a trainer. To be ready to win battles and gain points or even level up. 1. We can think about these pokemon as mitzvot or character traits. We live our lives trying to “collect” all the mitzvot as possible, developing our character traits to become the best people we can become. 2. We also make use of our own kind of “PokeGyms” or Yeshivas/our relationships with our parents, teachers, advisors and Rabbis that help us develop ourselves as Jews and People.
3. By doing mitzvot and developing ourselves, we hope we will be ready for our battles, when we face challenges in our lives. When we pass these tests, we can also “level up”. B. We saw that Hashem told Avraham to leave on his journey, but didn’t tell him where to go. And that when He could’ve led Bnei Yisrael straight to the land of Israel in just three days, He instead chose to lead them through the desert for 40 years. How David Hamelech was able to recognize the value of the journey. As well as how Yaakov was taught that this world isn’t for relaxing, but for moving forward and overcoming. And lastly that maybe the reason the Torah doesn’t discuss Olam Haba is because “life is a journey, not a destination”. C.
Thank the NCSYers for their participation! And walk them to the next program.
II.
Welcome the NCSYers to your session. Feel free to try a quick icebreaker to learn their names. A.
Let’s get right into the session: 1. Ask the NCSYers: Who’s familiar with Pokemon or Pokemon Go? Pick someone that knows about it and have them explain what the basic idea of Pokemon is. (Shouldn’t take more than a minute or so) 2. The idea of Pokemon is that the trainers try to collect as many Pokemon as possible. “Gotta catch ‘em all”. The trainer can do battle with his Pokemon and if he wins, he/she can gain points or even “level up”. There are also PokeGyms where you can train your pokemon as well as do battle with them. The whole point is to catch more and more Pokemon and to continue improving them as well as yourself as a trainer.
B. Now that we understand a bit about Pokemon and Pokemon Go itself, let’s understand it through the lens of Torah. III.
When thinking about the game of Pokemon, it’s kind of hard to pinpoint its end goal. A. Is there any part of the Torah that seems similar to this idea? A place where we don’t really see the end goal of our actions. 1. See what the group has to say. Validate their answers! (This will encourage them to continue to participate in the future)
B.
Pass out the source sheets and have someone read source 1. 1. Ask the group: Why do you think Hashem withheld the destination from Avraham? Why wouldn’t He just tell him where to go? a)
C.
Discuss and remember to validate their answers.
Have a volunteer read source 2. 1. When taking Bnei Yisrael out of Mitzrayim, He led them through the desert for 40 years when He could’ve led them straight to Israel. It could’ve been a three day journey instead of 40 years! a) What was the point of this? Why did Bnei Yisrael need to spend 40 years in the desert when they could’ve gotten to where they were going in three days?
IV.
b)
Discuss and hear their thoughts
c) itself
It must be there is something inherently valuable about the journey
Let’s look at source 3 for an example of someone that understood this concept. A. When David Hamelech found out that he was supposed to die on Shabbos, he spent every Shabbos from that moment on studying Torah the entire day! 1. If you knew you were going to die on a specific day, what would you spend your time doing? Discuss. 2. David didn’t waste any time! He knew he was alive for a reason and recognized the value of the time he had left on this earth. B. We just saw someone that saw the value of every moment. But sometimes it is hard to recognize the importance or purpose of the journey. 1.
Have an NCSYer read source 4.
2. Yaakov had a hard life. His brother wanted to kill him, he ran away from him to his uncle’s house. His uncle tricked him many times. His daughter was kidnapped from him. Two of his sons killed all the men of a whole city. Finally, when Yaakov though he was finished with all these difficult episodes of his life, he wanted to just sit and relax. But it was then that the brothers decided to sell Yosef, and Yaakov was given more challenges. a) Why do you think Hashem didn’t let Yaakov relax? Was Yaakov wrong for not wanting to face these challenges? Discuss.
b) There’s a difference between being stagnant and not wanting to face so many challenges. Hashem showed Yaakov that we should always be moving and improving ourselves in this world. V.
There is a central concept in Judaism that is never clearly mentioned in the written Torah. A.
Can anyone guess what this idea is? 1. The concept of Olam Haba isn’t really mentioned in the Torah! But how could it be that something that we believe in, something as big as Olam Haba isn’t spoken about? a) Why do you think it’s not mentioned? Discuss and remember to validate their answers
B.
To answer our question, let’s look at source 5 1.
What does it mean that life is a journey and not a destination? a) Life itself is meant to be lived and experienced. We are here for a reason. It can’t just be about living. It’s what we do with our lives.
2.
This could be a reason why the Torah doesn’t mention Olam Haba. a) Maybe it’s not about the next world, the destination. It’s all about this world and our journey through it.
VI. This is a great spot to add in a story or game to highlight the points we’ve been discussing up until now. (Feel free to share ideas with each other. Remember you’re not the only ones giving this session) VII.
Wrap up. A. We saw that Pokemon is all about collecting all the Pokemon possible and developing them and yourself as a trainer. To be ready to win battles and gain points or even level up. 1. We can think about these pokemon as mitzvot or character traits. We live our lives trying to “collect” all the mitzvot as possible, developing our character traits to become the best people we can become. 2. We also make use of our own kind of “PokeGyms” or Yeshivas/our relationships with our parents, teachers, advisors and Rabbis that help us develop ourselves as Jews and People.
3. By doing mitzvot and developing ourselves, we hope we will be ready for our battles, when we face challenges in our lives. When we pass these tests, we can also “level up”. B. We saw that Hashem told Avraham to leave on his journey, but didn’t tell him where to go. And that when He could’ve led Bnei Yisrael straight to the land of Israel in just three days, He instead chose to lead them through the desert for 40 years. How David Hamelech was able to recognize the value of the journey. As well as how Yaakov was taught that this world isn’t for relaxing, but for moving forward and overcoming. And lastly that maybe the reason the Torah doesn’t discuss Olam Haba is because “life is a journey, not a destination”. C.
Thank the NCSYers for their participation! And walk them to the next program.
