Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide

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The Two Brothers: A Story of G’milut Chasadim (acts of loving kindness) A very long time ago there lived a farmer with two sons. They lived on top of a hill where they grew wheat for many years. ' ! ' 0 !)' %0! !2 When the farmer became very old and died, he left one side of the hill to his elder son, and the other side of the hill to his younger son. As time went on the younger son got married and had children, but his older brother lived alone. Each year, when the harvest began, the brothers cut the wheat and bundled it into sheaves so they could sell it at the market. They worked very hard each day and were quite tired by sunset. One 0!/12 )!%!4 0!0 2/56!!7 1 night, the older brother lay awake in his bed thinking, “My younger brother has such a big family to feed. I live by myself. He needs so much more than I do.” So he got out of bed and went to his fields and carried several sheaves of wheat from his side of the hill to a field on his brother’s side. He returned home and went to bed happy, knowing he gave his brother some more wheat to sell. That very same night, his brother lay awake in his bed on the other side of the hill thinking, “I am so lucky. I have a wonderful family and a good life. My children will help take care of me when I am old. But my brother lives all by himself. Who is there to take care of him?” So he got out of bed and went to his fields and carried several sheaves of wheat from his side of the hill to a field on his brother’s side. He returned home and went to bed happy, knowing he gave his brother some more wheat to sell. ' !8!2 &-/ !!1! 0!' !2 The next morning, the brothers rushed to their fields waiting to see the other brother’s surprise. They couldn’t understand why the piles of sheaves of wheat were exactly the same as they had been the day before! So that night, the older brother got up again and carried several sheaves of wheat across the top of the hill to his brother’s field. The younger brother also got up again and carried several sheaves of wheat across the top of the hill to his brother’s field. The next morning they were very surprised to see piles of sheaves of wheat exactly the same, as they had been the day before! On the third night the brothers each got up again and carried wheat across the hill to his brother’s field. This time, they went at just the same time and bumped right into each other at the top of the hill! “What are you doing here?” they asked at exactly the same time. They realized they had the same idea and started to laugh and hug each other. From that time on, Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide USCJ Department of Education Maxine Handelman Handelman@uscj.org 13
they shared the wheat equally each harvest and didn’t worry any more, because they knew they would always take care of each other. A long time later, when King Solomon heard this story, he knew he had found the perfect place to build God’s Holy Temple. What place would be better than the exact spot where the brothers met and hugged and knew they could count on each other always? For class discussion: 1. What are some examples of g’milut chasadim (acts of loving kindness) that happen in this story? 2. Do you think these brothers get along? 3. Do you think they help each other with the harvest, or does each brother harvest his side of the hill by himself? 4. Why would the brothers’ actions make this spot special enough for King Solomon to build God’s Holy Temple? For class life: 1. Instead of a mitzvah tree or mitzvah notes, consider an opportunity for children to report on acts of g’milut chasadim they do or see their friends do. 2. Find the spot of extraordinary love or kindness in your classroom, and dedicate that as a holy place. If possible, have tefillah in that spot. This can connect children’s behaviors concretely with God. 3. Act out this story and other stories of g’milut chasadim, such as Bagels from Benny by Aubrey Davis or Gittel’s Hands by Erica Silverman. 4. When you read books in class, give characters who do acts of g’milut chasadim a mitzvah award or note them as a g’milut chasadim hero with a special sticker on the cover of the book. This story is also told in a picture book, One City, Two Brothers by Chris Smith. Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide USCJ Department of Education Maxine Handelman Handelman@uscj.org 14
Page 1 and 2: Vision for Conservative Early Child
Page 3 and 4: Vision for Conservative Early Child
Page 5 and 6: Introduction Early childhood educat
Page 7 and 8: clergy and other synagogue professi
Page 9 and 10: Ethical Behavior “Justice, justic
Page 11 and 12: How to Use This Section Jewish valu
Page 13: “I would like to have a drink of
Page 17 and 18: For class discussion: 1. How could
Page 19 and 20: Then one day, Jacob was walking nea
Page 21 and 22: Dima ben Netina and the Ruby: A Sto
Page 23 and 24: Made with Love: A Story of Ma’ach
Page 25 and 26: Aaron and the fighting friends: A S
Page 27 and 28: That night, when the sun disappeare
Page 29 and 30: The next morning King Solomon woke
Page 31 and 32: So Abba and Ima went back to their
Page 33 and 34: All the other parts of the body lau
Page 35 and 36: For class discussion: 1. Why couldn
Page 37 and 38: Impatient Abraham: A Story of Teshu
Page 39 and 40: Stone Soup: A Story of Tikkun Olam
Page 41 and 42: Rabbi Zusya and the Birds Who Would
Page 43 and 44: The Holy Miser - a story of Tzedaka
Page 45 and 46: “Almost perfect?” questioned th
Page 47 and 48: Jules, Jacqueline, The Hardest Word
Page 49 and 50: Values by story - grid 1 continued
Page 51 and 52: God and Spirituality Among the most
Page 53 and 54: Preparing Yourself for Wrestling wi
Page 55 and 56: their questions. Do not avoid the c
Page 57 and 58: • Celebrate and acknowledge life-
Page 59 and 60: 5. We are thankful for God’s gift
Page 61 and 62: • Morning Brachot The rabbis tell
Page 63 and 64: • Shabbat Tefillot Fridays are an
Page 65 and 66:
Barchu Barchu et Adonai ha-m’vora
Page 67 and 68:
Informal Ways to Invite God into th
Page 69 and 70:
Bibliography and References Coles,
Page 71 and 72:
Jewish Learning Raise up a child in
Page 73 and 74:
Children’s Learning The goals for
Page 75 and 76:
Low-impact strategies: • Post pho
Page 77 and 78:
Expanding Knowledge The literature
Page 79 and 80:
Low-impact strategies: • Suggest
Page 81 and 82:
what we teach in class with real li
Page 83 and 84:
Low-impact strategies: • Offer ti
Page 85 and 86:
Low-impact strategies: • Provide
Page 87 and 88:
Continuity The most valuable early
Page 89 and 90:
Ritual Observance and Halachah Ritu
Page 91 and 92:
Kipot A kipah, also known in Yiddis
Page 93 and 94:
There are many ways to explain the
Page 95 and 96:
Kashrut - Dietary Laws The dietary
Page 97 and 98:
Netilat Yada’yim -Ritual Hand Was
Page 99 and 100:
Food Blessings In the words of the
Page 101 and 102:
Cakes , Crackers And Cookies - Bore
Page 103 and 104:
Birkat ha’Mazon- the Blessing aft
Page 105 and 106:
Bringing Shabbat into the Early Chi
Page 107 and 108:
Challah On Shabbat, we put two loav
Page 109 and 110:
Havdalah Havdalah is the second sid
Page 111 and 112:
3. Spices We lift the spice box and
Page 113 and 114:
Rosh Chodesh - The New Month Young
Page 115 and 116:
Bibliography and Resources Dosick,
Page 117 and 118:
Appendix A - More Kashrut Details B
Page 119 and 120:
Appendix B - Sample Letter from the
Page 121 and 122:
Staff Handbook one example Our scho
Page 123 and 124:
Working With Clergy (and Other Key
Page 125 and 126:
Rabbi Jonathan Lubliner of the Jack
Page 127 and 128:
Creating a Jewish Environment The e
Page 129 and 130:
• Hebrew labels transform a print
Page 131:
Conclusion In the summer of 2007, e
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