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Student Work
Students in Mrs. Nancy Levitt's fifth grade class are studying Jewish Life Cycle events. They were asked to write a D'var Torah, based on a familiar Bible story, as if they were celebrating their Bar or Bat Mitzvah. Here are three examples of what the students composed:
"The Tower of Babel," by Tracie Dossick
I have chosen the story of the Tower of Babel because I think it connects to our world today. In the story, the Tower of Babel, it shows that when people all spoke the same language they thought they were so powerful that they could do anything, so they tried to build a tower up to God. God got upset when He saw the tower in His heavens because he thought that the people thought that they were as powerful as Him. Then God thought that if they spoke different languages then they couldn't communicate with each other. Then the people went off in their own groups to different places.
I think this is like today's ways of communicating. Even though it is very good and exciting that we can easily talk to people all around the world by phone, computer, television and letters. I think people have used this for bad and good things. People send false information, trick people into buying things, put viruses on people's computers, write things that are not nice or proper, and some groups eventry to cause hate toward other groups. I hope that there is a way that we, ourselves, or with God's help, can learn to use our communication for all good things so we don't have to be punished like the people of Babel.
"David and Goliath," by Lucas Wexler
The Bible story I picked was David and Goliath. The story was about a guy named Goliath who was like a giant and no one could beat him up. Then a kid named David said that he could beat him. Everybody laughed at him. so one day he went up to Goliath and beat him with one tool. The tool was a rock. He picked up the rock and threw it at him and killed him.
Now that story relates to me because I have one hand and nobody thought that I could play sports. I showed them that I could. I am on the travel team for soccer. I am in the majors division for baseball. I also made the district all-star team. I also play basketball.
My all-star coach did not believe in me very much. He would never start me and he would not let me hit very often. I know one day that I am going to prove to him that I can play, just like David showed all the people that did not have faith in him.
"Noah's Ark," by Michelle Gollan
The Torah portion I shose was Noah's Ark. I chose that portion because it teaches many, many things. It teaches: Don't do evil things, it's wrong if you do. I teaches that you should stay away from who does wrong.
Noah and his family were the only faithful people in his time, so God picked Noah and his family to save from the flood. Everyone else was so violent, corrupt, evil and harsh He didn't have a choice. He had to destroy everything. He destroyed all the bad and the good, but He started all over again. He had to make a better, new world. But one lesson is that after the flood God realized that he had destroyed all the good along with the evil to make a better world. He thought this was one of His biggest mistakes. So even if you have regrets that you can't take back, look for the good that you can always learn a lesson. So learn from your mistakes so you don't do wrong again.
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