What better way to start the secular new year than with a journey of discovery? The Shira students kicked off 2016 by learning what it is to truly be a mensch. What, exactly, is a mensch, you ask? According to dictionary.com, a mensch is a "decent, upright, respectable person." Okay, fair enough. Most of us think we qualify. But what does our Jewish tradition say about how one becomes a mensch? That's the question we have been tackling, and the students have learned that to be a mensch, one must study the middot, or Jewish virtues (values).
Each of the middot expresses a way in which we, as Jews, can interact kindly with others, and create a positive environment. There are actually 48 different middot, and each middah (sing.) can guide our actions. For a complete list of the middot, see: Reform Judaism - Study the Mitzvot
Our recent Middot activities have included games like Pictionary, In the Manner of the Word and Three Headed Professor...
We have also been watching music videos from various artists, and determining which of the Middot each song represents. An interesting example is Tim McGraw's "Humble and Kind," which we had a great discussion about. The students were split as to whether it was a "Jewish" song, but they all agreed that it represented the universality of the Middot!
Finally, the Shira students led a reader's theater production of a short skit with the other classes, illustrating how we all have a Yetzer Tov (good inclination) and a Yetzer Hara (bad inclination) that influence our decision to do the right thing.
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