Today in Nitzanim we returned to our “Shema Research”. We took with us a piece of paper to write our notes and conclusions on; we also had copies of the Sh’ma as it appears in the klaf in the mezuzah. Each Nitzanimer had a turn to read along as we sang the Sh’ma, using a yad (or pointer) to follow along on the parchment of the Torah. Meanwhile, his or her partner read along on the klaf.
- Boy 1 (red shirt) reads the Sh’ma in the Torah while Boy 2 (green shirt) reads the Sh’ma inside the Mezuzah
We discovered that the Sh’ma appears differently on the klaf than it does in the Torah–in the klaf there are three paragraphs, while in the Torah there are two. By directly engaging with the Torah in this way, the Nitzanimers form a concrete relationship with the Torah as an object and as a text.
