Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide

The king asked Rabbi Zusya, “What can I do to make the birds sing?” Rabbi Zusya
thought about the birds he had seen on his journey. He thought he knew the answer to the
king’s question, but Rabbi Zusya wasn’t sure the
king was going to like his advice. He was even a bit
nervous about telling him – but he did. Rabbi Zusya
told the king, “Let the birds go free.”
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The king did not want to do this. “If I let the birds go
free, they might all fly away,” he worried. Rabbi Zusya said, “Yes, that might happen.”
The king thought for a few minutes. Then he opened the cage just a little bit. A few birds
flew out and they started to sing! The king opened the cage a little more and a few more
birds flew out and they started to sing as well. The king opened the cage all the way. All
the birds flew out. There was the most beautiful singing throughout the palace. Some
birds did decide to fly away but others decided to stay. Birds from throughout the
kingdom began to come to the palace to sing. They knew this was a place birds could be
free.
The king was so happy! He gave Rabbi Zusya a special reward of lots of money for
helping him. When Rabbi Zusya went back to his tiny village, he used the reward to help
the poor people in his village. As time went on, Rabbi Zusya and the king remained
friends. Each time Rabbi Zusya went to visit the king, he made sure he went a different
way so that he could see new sights and learn new things on each journey.
For class discussion:
1. Who does tza’ar ba’alay cha’yim in this story? What do they do?
2. Why did asking questions help Rabbi Zusya become wise?
3. How might have Rabbi Zusya found answers to all his questions?
4. What had Rabbi Zusya seen with the birds on his journey that made him think the
king should let his birds go free?
5. What do you think happened other times when Rabbi Zusya went to visit the
king?
For class life:
1. Jewish law tells us it is a mitzvah to feed our animals before we feed ourselves.
That is an important part of tza’ar ba’alay cha’yim. Make sure children feed the
classroom pet before snack each day.
2. Act out this story – the king can have as many birds as you have children in the
class!
3. Encourage children to ask lots of questions. Help them find answers from adults,
other children, books, and the internet.
4. When you travel outside the classroom (whether you go down the hall, outside in
the neighborhood, or beyond), encourage children to ask about things they see.
Create a system for recording the children’s observations so you can come back to
them later (like a clipboard or small notebook).
Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide
USCJ Department of Education
Maxine Handelman
Handelman@uscj.org
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