Kayin and Hevel: Collective Class Chavrutah Q's

1. What does Kayin say to hevel? in passuk chet there is no convo recorded!
2. How did the embarrassment so quickly turn to sexual relations?
3. Why would HaShem put the first birth and the first murder all in the same pessukim? Its a lot in once! And theres no explanation behind their lives, their childhood, it just skips all of it.
4. Was the pregnancy hard? We just heard about her sin, tell us more! It seems so smooth.
5. One passuk theyre born and the next theyre adults. What else do we know about them? What assumptions can we make?
6. What does it mean, “I have acquired a man with HaShem?” Why call him an ish and not a child?
7. Are they twins or not? It seems repetitive when they’re born. Mila mancha of “brothers”. Foreshadowing?
8. Does the Torah support incest?  Who are the other people in this word? Who are their wives? Whos the geneology that comes rigth after?
9. Why is this classic younger child sydrom? Why favor the younger when Kayin was the one to give the first korban!!
10. What caused Kayin to give a korban in the first place?
11. Whats Kayins response? Its so rude and and how can he speak to God that way?
12. What happened to Adam and Chava? Why isn’t he included in births of the children?
13. Is Yaakov and Eisav and also Moshe and Aharon a reincarnation of Kayon and Hevel?
14. Is there a connection here between the focus on Adama and Adam?
15. Why was Hevel a shepheard? And whyu worker of land? Who gave them those jobs and why those lands?
16. Isn’t being a shepherd working the land? Its the same thing!
17. Why does Kayin build a city for himself? What was the purpose of a city? Who lived in the city? What is a city?
18. Where did they get things to build things?
19. Is na v’nad a hapaxlegomenon and ...what does it mean?
20. How will Kayin adn Hevel reproduce? Who else is in the world?
21. You’d expect Kayin to be similar to ADam and follow after his father who also took care of the land?
22. Is Kayin Jealous of Hevel?
23. What really caused Kayin to kill Hevel?
24. Is this story here JUST to show that God brought death into the world? Is it just a sequel to us having desires?
25. What is God saying to Kayin “the blood of your brother is calling to me from the ground”
26. What days it “miketz” referring to?
27. “et” - grammar question? what’s it teaching us?
28. Was Kayin merely acting on instinct, like the snake, or was it well thought out?
29. If Adam and Chava suffered so much, why did they have to go through the death of their sin?
30. WHY are adam and chava missing? Did they teach them poorly? Is this a story about bad parenting?
31. Did Kayin bury Hevel?
32. Where does pregnancy of 9 months come from? Why so long?
33. What was Kayins punishment? Was it a punishment or something else?
34. Whats the message for mankind today?
35. Was this experience that Kayin  went through a way for him to gain emet/sheker or something like that?
36. Why is it that HaShem accepted Hevels gift if Kayin was the first one?
37. Did Kayin know what he was doing?
38. Adam sinned by taking fruit and Kayin takes fruit from the land? Is there a connection there?

Tanach: Mid-Year Unit Project

Tanach: Mid-Year Unit Project

Presentations: Friday Dec 4th

• You will have an opportunity to represent your profound understanding of the Adam and Chava story in a variety of different ways. What you choose is entirely up to you!

• Each assignment will have a written and oral component. You can do your assignment individually or in pairs.

• Choose an article and/or topic from the the articles below. Begin by reading the articles and gaining more knowledge/learning a new perspective on a facet of the story.

Project Options:

1. Missing Storyline: Is there a part of the story untold that you wish had been elaborated? A conversation that never occurred? A conversation that was not developed? This is your chance to write and perform just such a scene.

2. Essay: Write a formal essay (3-4 pages) in which you offer an insightful reading to your chosen question/text. You will present the essence of your argument to the class.

3. Playlist assignment: Create a playlist for your character/scene. Design an album cover with a unique title and image which represent this character’s internal landscape. Choose one song from the playlist and write an analysis of the lyrics which illustrates how this particular song relates to your main ideas.

4. Wild Card: A super-creative assignment of your own devising that shows your profound understanding of your question/text and can be shared with the class.

Article Options: Any article from vbm-torah.org is acceptable to use. Here are a few chosen articles I know are good!

1. The Snake
1. http://etzion.org.il/en/snakes-sin-and-its-punishment
2. Creation of Man
1. http://etzion.org.il/en/let-us-make-man-0
2. http://etzion.org.il/en/creation-man
3. http://etzion.org.il/en/let-us-make-man
3. Tree of Knowledge
1. http://etzion.org.il/en/tree-knowledge-part-1
4. General cool articles
1. http://etzion.org.il/en/garden
2. http://etzion.org.il/en/decline-man (click on link)
3. http://etzion.org.il/en/toldot-ha-shamayim-ve-haaretz-mans-sins-transform-world

Tanach Test Outline: Nov 18th

Hi Talmidot!

This test will focus on the material we have learned since the last quest.  Everything we have learned in class/discussed since the last quest will be covered.That being said, the material is cumulative in that you will only understand this material if you did well on the last quest/understood that material.

1. ספרי התנ''ך!
2. Theories of Knowledge and how do we gain it? Rambam
3. Moral Dillemas אמת/שקר vs טוב/רע
4. Analysis of Chava's character/sin, discrepancies in the text
5. What unanswered questions do you have?


Looking forward to finishing the pieces to the puzzle in this story with you!

Ms. Reinstein

Rambam Reflection: What would happen if we had no desire?

We now understand how according to Rambam the עץ הדעת טוב ורע did not give them moral awareness where they had none before. Rather it transformed this awareness from one kind into another where our own subjective desires come into play.

Is desire more a good thing or a bad thing? What would life look like without your desires?

Due Monday, Nov 16th, 9am.

ערום: Naked or Cunning? Depends who you ask!

According to Rav Hirsch, the snake wanted Chava to follow her instinctual desires because that's what he, as an animal, knew to be honest and true. As a human, with an understanding of the difference between our instincts vs Gods words, was meant to recognize the snake as cunning. 

Can you think of a time when you or a friend actively chose to follow what you/they were told to do rather than follow your/their instincts and/or desires? What guides our decisions, our instincts or what we're told is right? When do you trust your instincts and when do you trust what you're told?

Quiz Tuesday October 27th

Name and Email!

Please fill out this form by Thursday Oct 22nd 9am so we can effectively communicate this year!
http://goo.gl/forms/2he2LgD59A

The First Rashi of the Torah

Assignment Due Monday night October 19th 11:59pm.
How important is the land of Israel really? Why should a religion be tied to a land? Do you agree with David Clines conclusion of the place of Israel in Tanach?

Read the article below and answer the questions above in the comments!
http://www.rabbisacks.org/bereishit-5771-the-g-d-of-creation-and-the-land-of-israel/

Collective Class Chavrutah Questions! Adam and Chava ב:ז–ג:כד

Here's the google doc to view our classes questions! Which ones most interest you? https://docs.google.com/document/d/1K-_IqY1G-vahOcsD0pK6wr3NNoj-J9ubH2A24F71v-o/edit?usp=sharing

Critical Questions Homework Due Monday October 12th

Spend Monday in chavrutah learning. At some point after class, fill out this form http://goo.gl/forms/CVbWAWy2eX and send it in by Monday night 12am.

Syllabus: Tanach Period 2, 2015-2016!

Click on the link below to view our class syllabus!

https://docs.google.com/a/kushneracademy.org/document/d/1dquI0iFc5Mmtga8Vp6_qnwXsiqzgmeoxXGhojfY_av8/edit?usp=sharing