Lisa Bernstein

Fifth Grade Teacher,
Hebrew Day School of Ann Arbor, MI

Activities

1. Practice the ritual of “dressing” the Torah with the students, taking turns with the two separate rolls.  When the Torah is “dressed,” it looks like the clothing worn by the High Priest.  During a synagogue service, two people are invited to dress the Torah – one to close the scroll and the other to adorn it with its covering and ornaments.  

2. Print out a copy of the full Shema prayer with all three parts.  Have students find and highlight each time the word tzitzit is found in the prayer. 

Discussion Questions:

1. We are told to look at the tzitzit and remember the mitzvot (commandments or prescribed practices mentioned in the Bible).  What is your favorite commandment and why?  

2. Moses met with God in the Tent of Meeting.  We can have private moments with God when wrapped in a talit.  

   1. When else might we have special time or create a special place to meet with God?  Is this the same for everyone?  

   2. What other special activities are best done at a unique time or special place? 

3. The words of the prayer Ma Tovu (How good!) were recited by the prophet when he stood on a hill overlooking the Israelite tent community.  

   1. What do you think made the Israelite tent community “good”?

   2. What makes our homes “good?”

   3. We often say the Ma Tovu prayer in the synagogue.  What make a synagogue “good”?

4. The book If My Talit Could Talk…? mentions that the talit is sometimes taken along on trips and when travelers think they might need it for prayer services.  

   1. Read the Traveler’s Prayer, Tefillat HaDerech.  What are the main ideas in the prayer? 

   2. Is there a connection between the ideas of the prayer and the ideas in the book about the talit?

5. The book mentions the use of the talit as a chupah, a wedding canopy that resembles a home.  Can a home be Jewish?  How so?    

6. The book mentions being buried in a talit.  What are other traditions are there around burial?  

7. The book explains how the sets of tzitzit remind us to be like a priest and act “holy.”  What are ways in which we can act holy?

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