4th Grade Torah Blog

Dear Families,

Torah Study is underway and we have just escaped Egypt during a great Exodus!  Well...WE haven’t, but the Israelites (our ancestors) have during our current section of study. We are reading the Book of Exodus - also commonly referred to as “The Story of Passover”, the Israelites begin as slaves in Egypt. We talked about being a slave, how we would feel, and things that make us feel like slaves nowadays. We read about Moses seeing G-d in a burning bush, and how we see G-d in everyday, ordinary things. Next, after Moses asks Pharoah to set the Israelites free and he refuses, we encounter the 10 Plagues. We performed skits in small groups as the rest of the class had to guess which plague we were re-enacting. Eventually, Pharaoh tells the Israelites they can leave Egypt, however he quickly changes his mind and sends his army after the Israelites. We pretended to be the Israelites standing at the overwhelming and large Sea of Reeds, with all of our belongings, children, animals and families. Finally, a miracle! Moses lifted his staph and the Sea parted, leading the Isrealites to freedom. We talked about how their choice to wait for a miracle was braver than just drowning or returning to Egypt. We also talked about what we would do in the same situation. 

Next week, we begin learning of the problems that face Moses and the Israelites once they become free. Please contact me at elise.lipman@beth-tikvah.org with any questions or concerns!