We looked at a new שורש (shoresh, root) this week, and it happens to also be the foundation of our new theme. The שורש (shoresh, root) is ק.ד.ש (the letters kuf, daled, shin). See how it’s the backbone of the name of our new theme, קדושה (kedusha, holiness; spelled kuf, daled, vav, shin, heh)?
So what is ק.ד.ש about?
It didn’t take long for connections to start forming: Isn’t that the (shoresh) in קידוש (kiddush, the blessing Jews might make over wine or grape juice on Shabbat or another holiday?) Does it have something to do with שבת (Shabbat)? Doesn’t the related word קודש (kodesh) mean “holy?”
How else might we explore ק.ד.ש and holiness?
“Can we look for it in a siddur?”
Yes!
How about you teach the class what you knows about things that have a name related to ק.ד.ש?
“Can we build a 3-d model of an ארון קודש (aron kodesh, the special ark where the Torah is kept)?
Yes!
“Well, we just happened do be using a dictionary at school today, so I looked up ‘holy,’ and now I know what it means! Look: ‘Holy: To do with or belonging to God or a higher [power].”
Awesome! But that’s just one source of information. Does holiness have to be about God? How many different ideas can we come up with?
A selection of ideas we’ve had so far:
-Holy is peace, calm, happiness
-Your home is holy
-Everyone is holy
-No-one is holy
-Some people are holy
-Running is holy
-Things can become holy over time
-God is holy
-Holy is special, unique, feeling different (but not in a bad way)
-Love is holy
-Holiness is caring for/being cared for
-Holiness is part of religion
-Holiness doesn’t have to be part of religions or God
-Other religions besides Judaism have holiness, and it’s similar and different too
-An unbelievable/amazing experience like visiting canyons is holy
…and keep in mind, that’s all before we’ve even looked at the first Torah text of this theme. I wonder, what new dimensions will that add to our (already huge) range of ideas?
