Chapter 5, Exercise 6

Chapter 5, Exercise 4

Yodio & Google Voice Links

Yodio:
Tutorial: Yodio’s instructions – several chapters
Video: How to register cell phone on Yodio. This user has several videos on how to use Yodio.
Review: Explanation with examples of how to use in classes


Google Voice:
Overview: Google Voice explanation page
Video: How to add a Google Voice widget to your website
Blog: Ideas for using Google Voice in your Classroom

What does it mean to be a Reform Jew?

It was great to teach in the adult education class last night on what it means to be a Reform Jew. Really enjoyed how students answered the question BEFORE we got into our discussion!

What does it mean to be a Reform Jew?

• I can live Jewishly without certain restrictions – a more modern lifestyle.
• Have the ability to choose which mitzvot are most meaningful to me – and perform those.
• That I can form my own opinions about theological matters.
• Choose the personal way of practicing
• To be able to express my Judaism in my own way.
• Believe that the Torah was written by man based on his experiences with God
• To be progressive and accepting
• To be able to experience my Jewish beliefs in a liberal environment that allows freedom of thought
• To be proud of the culture but free to raise questions.
• Willing to question the rituals of tradition
• Willing to question if God wrote/created the Tanach and so how “binding” is it?
• Question everything
• I can experience accessible worship – easier to understand
• I am happy to come to minyan almost every Saturday both for the service, the music, the camaraderie, and the great baked goods.
• It means that I enjoy going to High Holiday service and understand what it means
• It means that I can feel comfortable in a synagogue
• It means I have found a place to be peaceful with my higher power
• That I am more concerned about doing justice to others than about rules which confine me.
• That the substance of my religion, i,e, social justice is more important than the form – i.e. sitting apart from men in temple.
• I have the right to participate equally in religious discussions
• I can sit with my husband in services.

Let us descend...

The question was raised in Torah study of other occurances in the Bible when God "descends".
Here is a partial listing:

Exodus 3:8 "I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians and to bring them out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey..."
Exodus 19:11 "Let them be ready for the third day; for on the third day the Lord will come down, in the sight of all the people, on Mount Sinai."
Numbers 11:17 "I will come down and speak with you there..."
II Samuel 22:10 "He bent the sky and came down, thick cloud beneath His feet."
Isaiah 31:4 "...So the Lord of Hosts will descend to make war agains the mount and the hill of Zion."

Tower of Babel - A Literary Approach

Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9)

Structure:

• Exposition (11:1-2) - Introduce characters
• Balance (11:3-4) - Introduce situation
• Problem (11:5-6)
• Solution (11:7-8)
• Conclusion (11:9)

Other Literary Devices:

• Leading words (build, language, face)
• Parallelism (havah..., building up/going down)
• Dramatic irony (lest we be scattered)
• Working within a confined language (similar sounding words)

From Genesis by Robert Alter:

"As many commentators have noted, the story exhibits an intricate antithetical symmetry that embodies the idea of "man proposes, God disposes." The builders say, "Come, let us bake bricks, " God says, "Come let us go down"; they are concerned "lest we be scattered," and God responds by scattering them. The story is an extreme example of the stylistic predisposition of biblical narrative to exploit interechoing words and to work with a deliberately restricted vocabulary. The word "language" occurs five times in this brief text as does the phrase "all the earth." The prose turns language itself into a game of mirrors." (page 47)

From New Studies in Genesis by Nechama Leibowitz:

"Benno Jacob in his commentary to Genesis points out that the Torah demonstrates to us in this verse (Gen. 11:2-3) how technical advances freed man from the fetters of his natural environment, enabled him to overcome natural difficulties...This technical mastery gives rise to overweening pride and self-confidence. Does it say there, "Let us build for ourselves a house as a refuge from the rain"? Or "Let us build for ourselves cities for our little ones and folds for our flock"? On the contrary, the achievements of human skill are transformed from being a means, to an end in themselves." (page 102)

Resources:
The Art of Biblical Narrative, by Robert Alter