BoomdeYada

Boom-de-Yada Project

Based on the Discovery Channel’s “The World is so Awesome” videos, we will be making short videos of our own. They will feature the good, the bad, and the just plain crazy things found in the created universe.

You will be graded on two components in equal measure – the lyrics and the finished project’s artistry.

The project will be due the Monday we return from break.

The lyrics must be based on the video – but absolutely cannot be the lyrics of the video. This is a personalized project. I encourage you to use the chorus form, “God made the whole world, and all the ____________ things,” but you need not. You must have three verses and three choruses, making roughly 1 minute of video. You may go over, but should not be more than 5 seconds under.

You may find your images online, or create and upload yourself. However, both American and Jewish laws prohibit the use of images that are not in the public domain. Any watermarked or copyrighted images are disqualified.


You can use any of several video makers to create your movie. You may use:
o PowerPoint
o www.animoto.com
o www.slideroll.com
o Windows Movie Maker
o iMovie

Please remember that my tech skills are limited, so choose something you are comfortable with.

You also have a choice of ways to incorporate the lyrics – you may either record and upload you singing them (or a helpful friend or loved one singing them) as a musical track, or you may have the lyrics appear on the screen.

Finally, all of the things you feature in the video must be God-made, not man-made. Sports teams, the great wall of China, iPhones, and all other very cool but human-created things are prohibited.

Have Fun!

Cool Things

If you like Matt's music, more can be found at two websites.

www.bibleraps.com

www.biblerapsnation.com

In terms of all the cool things you do:

The quote of the day is "If you want to help G-d, help other people." - Ethan Hertz

The excellent example of the day is, "Don't give Reese's to people who are allergic to peanut butter." - Meredith Galanti

Hanukkah Bonus Point Bonanza

In honor of Hanukkah, which begins tonight, here is an gift for all of you - an opportunity to earn Bonus Points. Follow the link to one of my favorite Hanukkah songs - Light is in the Air, by Matt Bar. You may remember Matt from his Lech Lecha song, which inspired us to write our Lech Lecha songs.

If before the end of Hanukkah, you come to me at the start of the day and sing me the chorus, it is worth 8 points.

If you can sing the whole song, with the words in front of you, it is worth 13 points.

If you can sing the whole song, without the words in fron of you, it is worth 20 points.

Happy Hanukkah!

A Survey of God Names

Please take the survey located at

Click here to take survey

The top vote-getter will be part of the curriculum.

Ms. Schwartz

Akedah Art Project

Final Project
Akedah Art

We have spent three weeks looking at the Akedah from a variety of perspectives, and the best part of a quarter examining the character of Abraham. This final project will give you a chance to express your feelings on the narrative in a unique and creative way.
This project will have three components – a prospectus, an art project, and an accompanying narrative.
The art project will be an original representation of the Akedah. You may use any medium you like – drawing with any materials, clay, paper, photography, found objects, or anything else you feel you can use well. In constructing the art project, you must consider the following questions:
1. Who is in the scene? Who has been left out?
2. What moment is this?
3. How old is Isaac?
4. Is Isaac willing or unwilling?
5. Is Abraham eager, upset, or some combination thereof?
6. Do you (as the artist) approve or disapprove of God’s command?
7. Do you (as the artist) approve or disapprove of Abraham’s action?
8. What should the viewer understand that is uniquely yours?


The project should be accompanied by a written narrative of the work that makes your artistic decisions clear – just as works of art in museums are.
Before you construct your art project, you will submit a short prospectus of what you are planning to do. This will give me enough time to make sure you are on the right path.
The prospectus is due on Thursday, November 11th. The final project and narrative will be due on Monday, November 22nd.
The grades will be based not on artistic talent, but on how well you have used art to create interpretation, how thoroughly you have answered the questions in both art and narrative, and the effort displayed by the final project.

A Vocab Question

A question, because I am feeling quizzical. In Georgia, do you call fizzy beverages soda or pop?

Useful Vocabulary to Know

Targum - a translation of the Tanach into Aramaic

meturgeman - the person who translates the Tanach into Aramaic

Targum Onkelos - the first widely distributed, published, Targum

Ba'al Koreh - the person who chants from the Torah

vernacular - the day-to-day language of the people

Mishnah - the first compendium of Jewish law. Compiled by R. Judah ha-Nasi c. 200CE

Tonights Homework

Please write Abraham's prayer on Mt. Moriah. You can choose any moment (on the way, before he ties Isaac up, while Isaac is tied up, after he is stopped) and use your own opinion and best judgement as to content. My requirements are:

1. It must be written in the 1st person.

2. It should be 5-10 well written sentences long.

You will be marked on reasonableness, clarity, and beauty of writing. It is due tomorrow, November 2nd.

Homework

Please finish whatever open letters we did not finish in class, grading them according to the "Abraham scale."

For those who were interested, the full text of J'accuse can be found at

www.chameleon-translations.com/sample-Zola.shtml

Be well!

Story Time

Here is today's story...how does it relate to Abraham? Only we know.

www.story-lovers.com/listsmonkeystories.html

It is story #8

A Song of Abraham and Myself

Your homework over this long Sukkot weekend is to write a song about "Lech Lecha" in your own life. I have linked the song we listened to in class as a model. You may use whatever style of song you like. You may submit the material to me either as a recording with a printed lyric sheet, or exclusively as a lyrics sheet with notations as to what melody you are using. This assignment is due on MONDAY and will count as a HOMEWORK grade.

Your song must be: 1. unique
2. personal
3. at least 1 minute long
4. related to one or more of the themes of Lech Lecha we have studied (isolation, finding your roots, fulfilling your potential, doing difficult things for your own good, recreating yourself, journey etc.)



http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl4sfl9DNCg

Good luck!

Ms. Schwartz

Photos From Today's Trust Walk

Tests

You all worked very hard today, and regardless of how well you did, I am very proud of you. This was a challenge, and you rose to meet it. Thank you for your effort and committment.

Types of Parshanut you should be familiar with

Vowel

Pronoun and Antecedent

Definition

Intertextuality

Gaps- before

Gaps- After

Gaps- backstory

Feldstern Midrash - aggadah, halacha, outside knowledge, modern ideas


Also, know and be familiar with the graph of idea + text = commentary.

Words to Know

Parshan

Parshanut

Bet Midrash

Chevruta

Aggada

Halacha

Midrash (2 definitions)

Homework and Useful Resources

Tonight's homework is due on Monday, August 30th. It has two parts.

Part A - Choose a verse that you see as central to Tanach, and justify your choice. You may not choose either Rabbi Hillel's favorite (Lev. 19:6) or Ben Azzai's favorite (Gen. 5:1). Everything else is open to you.

Part B - Explain how you found that verse.

Some useful sites are:

www.mechon-mamre.org This site has full Hebrew/English Tanach and is searchable in either language. It is completely reliable.

www.biblegateway.com This site is also fully searchable, but is a Christian site. Make sure you are searching using the New International Version (NIV) and are only looking in the Jewish books.

If your Hebrew is up to it, try www.tanakhml.org. You can read in parallel Hebrew/English. Click on a Hebrew word you like, and it will find you all the times it appears. Hypertext Torah!

Good luck!

Welcome!

Hello 7th graders (and families!)

Welcome to our class blog. I will post here, and I hope you will all check in regularly. From time to time, I will ask you to respond to a post as a homework assignment, as a fun way of having a class discussion. Parents, I want you to feel free to check in, and share a thought if one occurs to you. Education involves all of us.

I am so excited to get to know all of you.

Ms. Schwartz