Adventures in Mama-Land

In historical Judaism, freedom and imprisonment are just two sides of the same möbius strip. Inner and outer freedom is the prime concept of the Torah and of Jewish tradition. Yet in Judaism, freedom is at once freely given and at the same time, never without a price tag. Captivity plays an almost schizophrenic role in the Tanach, and indeed, throughout Jewish history. On one hand, we find the prisonless society described in Exodus. But then, there is the forced captivity of an innocent described in the laws of the “yefes toar” – the beautiful woman taken in battle. And, though Judaism is far from an ascetic tradition, both ancient and modern Judaism have glorified, to an almost grotesque extent, the concept of spiritual redemption through imprisonment. How do these seemingly opposite concepts build upon and complement each other? And of what use are they in the modern world? Our culture is widely assumed to be “Judeo-Christian” in character, but little remains today of the idealistic ...

דְּבָרִים / Devarim / Deuteronomy 21:10–25:19 Click for printable PDF version . Don’t forget to read this week’s Parsha Poem and parsha overview .  Plus… copywork and parsha activities – something for every week of the year! UPDATE:  Now with AWESOME colouring page !!!   פָּרָשָׁת כִּי תֵצֵא Parshas Ki Seitzei דְּבָרִים / Devarim / Deuteronomy 21:10–25:19 [ 1 ] For speaking bad words, this lady got sick With tzara'as and so they all sent her out quick Now we learn this mitzvah straight out of the Torah: To always remember __________'s Loshon Hora. [ 2 ] Some things we can mix and it comes out alright We can wear clothes with threads made of black and of white You can wear checks and plaids, but this parsha says You should never wear clothes made up of __________! [ 3 ] The easiest easy, the hardest of hard Two mitzvos earn you a “long lifetime” card; To honour a parent’s the toughest of tough, But __________…?  Why, that’s such simple stuff! ...

This is a basic overview of the parsha story in a format that can be adapted for a wide range of ages. Sources include parsha text, commentaries and midrash.  When introducing midrash or other non-pshat elements, I  use the words “some people think” or something similar. ( find out why ) Please see the Vayeishev overview for how we use these narratives  in our homeschool.  I also have copywork sheets to go with the weekly parsha… enjoy!  בס״ד Only five more parshiyos in Sefer Devarim – it’s almost Simchas Torah! We already know that bnei Yisrael are going to go in to conquer eretz Cana’an (which would become eretz Yisrael) and destroy idols there. But what if the soldiers see beautiful women there, and decide to marry them? Do you remember the plan of wicked King Balak? He tricked the men of bnei Yisrael into marrying women from Moav and Midyan. Those were not nice women, and when the Jewish men married them, it made bnei Yisrael weak. Pinchas finally ki...

דְּבָרִים / Devarim / Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19: Read it ;  hear it ; colour it . FREE Printable PDF version here .  And don’t forget to read LAST YEAR’S POEM (on a totally different theme) over here . Copywork and parsha activities available at this page – updated weekly. Special thanks to my amazing sister Sara for taking the kids away so I could a) put in laundry, and b) write this poem! To send away a mother bird Oh what a mitzvah!  How absurd! If you could only answer me; What does it matter if a tree, Has a mother bird within – Just tell me so my head won’t spin! Hashem, who’s very great and large, A universe with him in charge, Why should he care very much, Which birds we see, which birds we touch? And yet he cares, that’s plain to see, The Torah says to you and me, To send her off without a pause, And great reward our deeds will cause. Long life comes to those who care, So do the mitzvos, never spare Those which don’t look very great, For all we must ap...

Just wanted to share last week’s parsha copywork, which I don’t usually do, because her English handwriting seems to have  turned a corner in just the last few weeks.  She asked me to not watch while she did Explode the Code today and when I came to check her answers, they were ALL lowercase! These parsha copywork sheets are all downloadable from my Limudei Kodesh printables page , but I haven’t done this week’s yet, in case you’re looking.  Hopefully, later on tonight. This week’s copywork, for Parshas Ki Seitzei, is now available .

devarim/Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19 If you visit a toy store, you’ll see lots of toys; Looking amazing, promising joys. The stuff there’s so shiny, packed up so bright; Lined up on the shelf and crammed in so tight. You might see a toy you want more than the rest, A toy that you’re sure must really be best. This parsha, Ki Teitzei, shows us what to do About wanting a thing that is shiny and new. How do you know that it’s really so fun? How do you know that this toy is the one? Find someone who owns one and ask if you may Borrow their toy for a while to play. Drive it around, or toss it up high; Or dress it in dresses stacked up to the sky. You may notice a few things while you’re there That will help you decide just how much you care. You may start to see that it’s not quite the best If you try out the toy and put it to the test. Is it easy to play with or much, much too tough? Is it sturdy and strong; does it bend if you’re rough? Does it look ol...