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Jewish Law
(613 Commandments)
A group Activity
Religion: Judaism
Purpose: to
familiarize students with the kinds of issues covered by the laws of Torah
and to see how the 613 commandments of Jewish law relate to the more
familiar ten commandments (which are a part of the 613). Cognitive
Skills: analysis
Learning Styles: active,
global
Intelligences: interpersonal,
logical-mathematical Use: in
classroom For:
pairs, small groups Estimated
time: 25 - 40 minutes Materials
needed: list of the 613 commandments provided by teacher (available
online, see Web resources below) and the familiar
ten commandments from the Bible Note:
This activity uses "jigsaw" grouping, wherein students work
together in one group and then groups are shuffled so all students benefit
from the work done by all groups. The
Activity:
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Teacher
introduces the idea of 613 commandments that Jews observe
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Provide a list
of the familiar ten commandments on the board or overhead for groups
to reference. Suggest that the ten commandments are sort of an
"outline" or summary of the more specific 613 commandments
that Jews obey. The ten may be interpreted somewhat loosely and
creatively to relate to the 613 (e.g., "honor the Sabbath"
can be interpreted as relating to honoring any holy day - thus
associating it with any of the laws related to observing Jewish
festivals and holidays).
The ten
commandments are found in the Bible at:
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Divide class
into ten groups and distribute to each group a list of the 613
commandments; each list will be given a heading related to one or
another of the ten commandments (a different heading for each list)
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Students in
groups are tasked with identifying which of the 613 commandments
relate best to the commandment on their list from the list of ten
(i.e., one group will look for commandments related to honoring the
Sabbath, another group will look for commandments related to honoring
one's parents, a third group will look for commandments related to not
committing adultery [or other improper sexual relations], etc.)
While the groups
are working, the teacher should circulate and help the students
interpret questionable commandments.
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After 15 - 20
minutes or so (groups need not be finished with their work, but just
done enough to get the idea), regroup the students so that each new
group has a representative from the original groups (this is best done
by counting off, all one's are in one group, all two's in another, all
three's in a third group).
In this second
grouping, each student is an "expert" on the commandment
they were focused on in the first group.
In a class of 30
students, the first grouping will have ten groups of three each, the
second grouping will have three groups of ten each. In the case of an
odd numbering, some groups may have more than one student from the
first grouping. Just make sure that in the second set of groups, each
group has at least one person from each of the first groups so that
all ten commandments are represented.
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Have students in
the second grouping go around and share their group's analysis,
indicating which of the 613 commandments relate to which of the ten.
To make sure that there is enough time for all ten to be discussed in
this grouping, have each student just identify a few at a time and go
around the circle as many times as time allows until all have shared
their original group's identifications.
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If
identifications are not completed in time available, the students can
complete the identifications on their own as homework, now that they
have an idea of how to do it.
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Closure/debriefing:
after regrouping the class, discuss any questionable
identifications (some groups may have identified the same commandment
with two different ones from the list of ten, or some may have been
stumped by one or another commandment).
Web resources:
Alternative
possibilities: any topic that lends itself to categorizing a large
number of examples: a biology class that asks students to classify various
animals or plants into genus; a history class that asks students to
classify events of US or world history into centuries or countries
associated with the events, an art or music class where students might be
asked to identify various pieces or art of musical compositions with the
artist/composer or with the century of their creation, etc... (these
examples can test student knowledge and understanding)
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