(True story! It really happened this way on Tuesday!)
If you give a kid a סדור (siddur – prayerbook), he’s going to want to read it. A lot.
When he reads it with his friends, they’ll discover that the very same ברכות (berakhot – blessings) we have listed on the wall, are in the siddur.
on our wall
When they read the list of berakhot in the siddur, they’ll notice that the lists are in different orders. They’ll say that the list on the wall makes more sense, because that’s how we do things בבקר (baboker – in the morning): we open our eyes, stretch, and then we get dressed, and then we start walking through our day.
in a siddur (prayerbook)
After they say that the list on the wall makes more sense, they’ll wonder why the list in the siddur has the order that it does. They’ll suggest, “Maybe that’s how the rabbis thought of it, because they’re really smart. It might make sense to them, but not to us.” They’ll say,
CAN WE ASK THE RABBIS?
And when she hears their question, Rabbi Rebecca will pull out the Talmud (Berachot 60b, to be exact), and say, “YES! WE CAN ASK THE RABBIS!”
She’ll hand out a page from the Talmud (on Sunday!).
And chances are, when you give a kid a page from the Talmud, he’s going to want to read it.
1 comment
Unreal!