November 8th, Asking the Tough Questions

Though the sun went down a bit earlier, our Seekers classrooms were full of brightness on this Monday evening. This week, our students confronted one of the most difficult topics in Jewish learning: God. Each class dove into the topic enthusiastically, as they tried to piece together their own understandings of God.

Grace's class walked through a gallery of images of people connecting to holiness and the divine. The students had the chance to stand near the images that resonated most with them and share their thoughts with the class. Scarlett and Theo connected with a picture of a group of people hugging. Scarlett said that she feels connected and holy when she is surrounded by people she loves who make her laugh. Clara connected with an image of a beautiful forest scene. Clara said that she feels connected and holy when she is in a beautiful place by herself. When she is alone, she has thoughts that no one else has and can say the things that don't come out when she is with other people. Charlie connected with an image of a group of happy people outside. Romy connected with an image of someone reading a book.

The class then had an epic song session with much dancing. Songs we sang included "We Are Good, We Are Flawed" by Batya Levine and "B'tzelem Elohim" by Dan Nichols.

Adira's class explored the idea of "belief" by making little pocket cards on which they listed people, places, and things in which they believe. Harlowe and Julianna both wrote "Today I believe in myself."

Tali's class started their conversation about God by thinking about the different names that God has. They also discussed how God is talked about in Judaism, and unpacked their own confusion on the topic. Each student drew about the ways that they felt personally connected to the idea of "God." We are so impressed with the way our students can articulate their beliefs about such an abstract idea.

In Arielle's class, the students sculpted ideas of what God meant to them using Play-Doh. They also created a list of words that they associated with God and attributes of the divine. Isaac came up with over 50 words that he associated with God, and he shared them all with the class. Lark was incredibly thoughtful about the different attributes of the divine, and she debated those attributes with Cyrus, Sam, and Isaac. Next, the class went to different sides of the room to indicate whether they agreed or disagreed with different statements about God such as "God is old" and "God only refers to Jewish people."

Thank you to all of our wonderful students for making this, yet again, another incredible week at Seekers! We cannot wait to continue our conversations in our Jewish Theology unit next week.

L'hitraot!