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Connection to Our Daily Lives

On the walls of our classroom we have 4 big post-it notes that explain the mission of our class. Respect, Active Participation, Intellectual Pursuit, and Connection to our Daily Lives. Often in class when one of the students says something that fits in with one of the missions, the student gets up, grabs a post-it note and writes down how they took part in the mission of the class. This process often results in students randomly jumping out of their seats, and calling out one of the mission statements and going to the wall to write on the post-it notes. 

Yesterday in class, when we were learning about the story of Rachav protecting the spies in Yericho, we learned the pasuk where Rachav asked the spies to repay her kindness that she did for them by saving her family when they invade the land. The pasuk says: (Joshua 2:12) 

 “יבוְעַתָּה הִשָּׁבְעוּ נָא לִי בַּיהוָה כִּי עָשִֹיתִי עִמָּכֶם חָסֶד וַעֲשִׂיתֶם גַּם אַתֶּם עִם בֵּית אָבִי חֶסֶד וּנְתַתֶּם לִי אוֹת אֱמֶת:”

“And now, I pray, swear to me by the Lord, since I have showed you kindness, that you will also show kindness to my father's house, and give me a true token.

We studied the deeper insights in this pasuk and read the commentary of the Vilna Gaon who pointed out a problem in the verse. Rachav asked the spies to make a swear that just like she did a chesed (a kindness) for her they should do a chesed (kindness) for her father’s house and give her a true (emet) sign. The Vilna Gaon asked, why does Rachav ask for a chesed (kindness) for her father’s house, shouldn't she have asked for a chesed (kindness) for herself. Like, I did a chesed for you so you should do a  chesed for me! 

The Vilna Gaon explains that emet (truth) is an obligation, whereas chesed is a voluntary action. Rachav does not ask the spies for a chesed to save her life. Because the spies have an obligation to save her life because she saved their lives. That is why she asked for a true sign for herself and not a chesed. But she also reminded them about how she went out of their way for them by protecting them, so she is asking them to go our of their way for her to protect her family.

As I was studying this lesson I connected it to my daily life by sharing with the class an event that occurred in the popular book Divergent.  In the book, Peter, one of the antagonists helps his enemy, Tris. What would drive Peter to such an action? Peter admits to Tris that he helped her because she once did a kindness for him and he felt like he owed it to her. He did not help her because he wanted to do something nice for her. He helped her because he felt that he was indebted to her and that he was obligated to help her because she once helped him. 

This was just like what Rachav was telling the spies in the story of Yericho!

Connection with our daily lives!!

- Bella 

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Chavruta Time

Chavruta time is something that adds so much to our understanding of the Navi. Chavruta time is when we are given time in class to work with a group of students to read and analyze the text on our own before we go over the matieral in class. It is a great to have the opportunity to learn and talk out what we are studying, and not just write down and take notes of what the teacher is saying. 

We can read the pasukim and try and figure out what we think the text is saying. We also have the opportunity to ask questions on the text and act like one of the commentaries. Chavruta time is something that is really impactful because we get to hear the ideas of our fellow classmates and share our questions with them.  

- Rachel 

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Gaga Games!!

Which character from tanach are you?

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Gaga Games

Today was Lag Baomer and in navi class we went outside and journeyed to the gaga pit of Westchester Day School. We chose to play gaga in honor of the place where Rachav hid the spies from Israel, when they came to spy on the land of Jericho. The pasuk in Joshua Chapter 2, verse, 6 says:

 ,ווְהִיא הֶעֱלָתַם הַגָּגָה וַתִּטְמְנֵם בְּפִשְׁתֵּי הָעֵץ הָעֲרֻכוֹת לָהּ עַל הַגָּג: 

6: And she had brought them up to the roof, and she hid them with the stalks of flax, that she had laid arranged upon the roof.

Translated loosely, this means that Rachav hid the spies on the roof, and in hebrew the word for roof is Gaag.  

Also, before we started playing each student in the class chose their favorite characters from tanach or people in Judaism who inspire us and explained to the class why we choose them.  (I choose Yona because he was a man of truth!)  Then we played the game to see which prophet or prophetess would be the champion. By the end of the period Yonah was victorious! (or so I said,) But in classic Navi camp attitude, we all walked out of the court feeling like we won. (see the post on Navi camp motto!) . We all had a fun time while relating our game to Navi, and spending time getting to know our chavrutahs (partners we learn with).

P.S. Jake come up with a joke: 

Question: What is Rachav’s favorite childhood game?

Answer: Gaga

- Sean Herzfeld 

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Our class enjoying the beautiful day!

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Our Creative Understanding of וטתמנם ותצפנו

This morning, we went around school, finding places that would cover the two forms of hiding in Jericho: טמנם. וטתמנם ותצפנו means to hide under a covering, while תצפנו means hiding in plain sight. We collected pictures of us posing in the hiding positions, then created a presentation (ours can be found below). Afterwards, we shared our presentations, and wrote sticky notes, detailing what we like and learned from our classmates’ presentations. Many people found my interpretation of טמנם as hiding under a car to be funny. It was a great day and a great activity, one that helped us explore our community, connect our learning to our daily lives, and enjoy the beautiful day.

-Naomi

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Our Haiku Deck from today. We explained the concepts of hiding in plain sight and hiding under a covering, according to the Malbim.

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Navi Camp Motto 

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Julie’s Bat Mitzvah!

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Julies Bat Mitzvah montage!!

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Why We Love Navi

When most people think about Navi, they think about hours of boring learning about Jewish topics that don’t apply to them. Our class at Westchester Hebrew High School is different. Why? Because of our teacher, Ms. Pianko. She teaches us the material in a way that enables us to learn through kinesthetic, visual, and auditory means. But her class is more than that. Ms. Pianko inspires us to not only find new ways to learn, but also enrich our community at large. With her, we have created collages relating to what we have learned, planned a Bat Mitzvah for a classmate who hadn’t had one previously, and wrote a song parody.