TOOLBOX OF FAITH
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Children
SESSION 16: RESILIENCY (HARD HAT)
BY KATE TWEEDIE COVEY
© Copyright 2008 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 11/8/2014 7:30:43 PM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
SESSION OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and dancing. — Hebrew scripture (Exodus 15:20)
The hard hat symbolizes resiliency. In this session, there are opportunities to reflect about how we use our faith to help us bounce back from hard times. Discussion may include the challenges we face and the qualities of faith we can use when enduring difficult times. Allow time for participants to share bounce back strategies they have tried and strategies they want to try.
In Miriam, the sister of Moses, the session's central story presents a prophetic woman from Hebrew scripture, with a focus on her resiliency. Through challenges and set-backs, Miriam played an important role in her people's escape from slavery. As a girl, her actions helped to save the baby who would grow up to be the leader, Moses. As a woman, her leadership in celebration and gratitude inspired others along their journey into uncertainty in search of a better life. Emphasize that under stress and in difficult times, even prophetic women and men have had to take small steps to reach a larger benefit. As you explore Miriam's role in the Hebrew people's exodus from Egypt, encourage the children to find their own interpretations and wisdom in the classic stories.
As part of this session, the children will explore biblical text using a variety of different Bibles. Whenever sharing stories from scripture, be thoughtful and inclusive in how you present them. The biblical Exodus story attributes many key events to willful actions of God. It is likely that participants, their parents, and program co-leaders find biblical stories true or meaningful in a variety of individual ways. You may like to set a context before you begin. You might say:
The story we will hear today comes from Hebrew scripture and Jewish tradition. Hebrew scripture means the Torah, a book from thousands of years ago that tells the story of the Jewish people. Jesus came from the Jewish people, so faiths that follow the teachings of Jesus also share the faith heritage of Hebrew scripture.
Many stories in Hebrew scripture are about the Hebrew people's relationship with God. You might or might not believe in God, that is something up to you. But, God is an important character in the story we will hear today.
Miriam's faith in God was a source for her resilience. Whether your faith is in God, in the Eternal with a different name, or in the human potential for goodness, faith can be a powerful source of resilience. It can help you bounce back.
Before the session, obtain the recorded music you want to use. See "Find Out More" for ideas and sources for the traditional song, "Hava Nagila"; the contemporary song, "Miriam and the Women"; and klezmer music.
Activity 3: Making Tambourines and Activity 4: Jewish Celebration in Song and Dance may be used in either order. You may wish to teach a song and dance first, and then have participants make tambourines and use them to sing and dance again. Or, bring tambourines for the group to use, and spend more time in song and dance together.
GOALS
This session will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
SESSION-AT-A-GLANCE
ACTIVITY | MINUTES |
Welcoming and Entering | |
Opening | 15 |
Activity 1: Bible Word Search | 10 |
Activity 2: Story — Miriam: Sister, Prophet, Dancer | 10 |
Activity 3: Making Tambourines | 15 |
Activity 4: Jewish Celebration in Song and Dance | 15 |
Activity 5: Council Circle | 10 |
Faith In Action: Ideas | |
Alternate Activity 1: Red Sea Name Game | 5 |
Alternate Activity 2: Watch "The Prince of Egypt" | 15 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
Take a moment and let your body and mind settle. If you are comfortable doing so, spend a few moments in peaceful meditation. In preparation for this session, you may wish to reflect on times when you have had to be resilient in the face of life's difficulties and stress. How naturally resilient are you? Do you have to work at it? When do you wish you could have been more resilient? Where do you, or could you, find the strength or faith to bounce or bend when you need to?
As an adult leader, your opinion may have more influence than those of participants. Therefore, your personal disclosure should not become part of the discussion unless participants ask you a question directly. In that case, be sure to preface your opinion by setting the context that each of us, adults and children, has different opinions, and yours is one among many. Then guide the conversation away from your own opinion and allow participants to reflect on their own thoughts.
SESSION PLAN
WELCOMING AND ENTERING
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This section is intended for the time before the beginning of a session when participants arrive individually over a period of time (that is, "straggle in").
Welcome participants as they arrive. If you have displayed the Tool of the Day, invite them to speculate about what it is used for and how it might represent a tool of Unitarian Universalist faith.
Invite participants to explore the Bibles you have provided and to look for the passages you have listed on the newsprint. You will probably need to show children how to locate text by chapter and verse. After you have shown a few children, they can help one another. Ask them to read what they can about Miriam. Tell them the group will learn more about her during the session.
Optional: Provide copies of the handout, Miriam Word Search Puzzle, and pencils.
OPENING (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Life is sometimes difficult. We all need a "hardhat," or resiliency, to help us through. Participants will learn to define resiliency as bouncing back from problems.
Invite participants to sit in a circle in your Council Circle space. Light the chalice. Indicate where the opening words are posted for any children who are unfamiliar with them. Lead the group in reciting:
We are Unitarian Universalists
with minds that think,
hearts that love,
and hands that are ready to serve.
Introduce the Tool of the Day — a hard hat. You might ask, "What do you think makes this a Unitarian Universalist tool?" Allow participants to share ideas. Affirm that there truly is no one answer. You may say:
The hard hat represents resiliency. Resiliency means bouncing back from problems. Unitarian Universalism is a faith that values each person's search for meaning and search for truth. One of our Principles says that we value a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. Among other things, this means finding out how to bounce back from the hard times. Everyone's hard times are different, and the ways people can get though hard times and bounce back afterward are also different. But for all of us, resiliency is a key part of growing in faith and deepening in religious understanding.
Tell the group, in your own words:
One Source of our faith is the "words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love." These prophetic women and men had to learn how to be resilient. One such story is about the prophet, Miriam, sister of Moses.
Ask participants what they already know about Moses and the story of the Exodus. Tell them that the Book of Exodus comes after the Book of Genesis and before the Book of Leviticus in Hebrew scripture.
Encourage participants to share what they may have discovered, if they had time to browse the Bibles before the session. Provide the context as needed; some may not know that the Israelites (Hebrews) were enslaved in Egypt for a number of generations.
ACTIVITY 1: BIBLE WORD SEARCH (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Participants will become familiar with Miriam, sister of Moses, in preparation for hearing a story focused on Miriam's resiliency. At the same time, the children will explore the structure of biblical text and discover variety among the translations as they search for specific passages in a variety of versions.
Distribute pencils and copies of Handout 1, Miriam Word Search Puzzle. Invite participants to try to complete the puzzle.
Indicate the bible passages you have listed on the newsprint. Ask participants to use the Bibles you have provided to find and read the references to Miriam.
Encourage participants to "prowl" through the Bibles, compare versions of Miriam's story, and see what they notice about the structure and language of the books. You will probably need to show children how to locate text by chapter and verse. After you have shown a few children, they can help one another.
During this activity, you can add a word search handout to the Toolbox of Our Faith poster, to represent resiliency. Or, wait and add a tambourine once the crafts are done.
ACTIVITY 2: STORY — MIRIAM: SISTER, PROPHET, DANCER (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Participants will hear a story about Miriam, a prophetic woman who faced difficult times with resiliency.
Gather participants to hear a story. To introduce the story, you might say:
As you can see from searching for the original mention of Miriam in the Bible, there isn't much to go on. Women's deeds aren't mentioned much in the Bible, probably because of the culture at that time. However, women's roles are often expanded in Jewish "midrash," a body of stories about the stories in the Bible. Some midrash stories date from ancient days. Jewish writers and scholars continue to provide midrash in modern times. From midrash, Bible scholarship, archaeology, and anthropology, we can create a story of what it might have been like to be with Miriam and her people.
Read or tell the story. Afterward, invite participants to share their reflections and initial thoughts about the story.
ACTIVITY 3: MAKING TAMBOURINES (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Miriam's symbol is the tambourine, or timbrel. Make one of these versions to accompany the dancing and as a reminder of resiliency. You may invite the children to paint their tambourines.
Paper Plate and Jingle Bells Tambourines
Punch holes all around a paper plate. Push the base of a jingle bell through some of the holes, stringing a piece of yarn through each and tying in place. You can also tie some jingle bells onto longer pieces of yarn, and secure the yarn to the paper plate. Tie on curling ribbon and curl with scissors.
Plastic Lid and Washers Tambourines
Punch holes around the plastic lid. String two or three steel or brass washers onto a pipe cleaner and twist one end. Insert the other end of the pipe cleaner through a hole in the plastic lid, and secure by twisting. Place decals or stickers on the tops of the lids.
ACTIVITY 4: JEWISH CELEBRATION IN SONG AND DANCE (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Jewish tradition combines piety, Torah study, and the duty to do God's mitzvot (commandments) with festive and joyous occasions celebrating the pleasures of being human. The story of Miriam provides a good example of how, through history, the Jewish people have expressed their resiliency in music. By dancing the hora — a simple, popular Jewish dance — participants embody the joy that Miriam felt upon the Hebrews' escape from Pharaoh's chariots and their release from slavery.
Teach the group the Hebrew words to "Hava Nagila" which they can sing while they dance the hora — and join in the spirit of rejoicing. You can just sing the first words of "Hava Nagila" and hum the rest of the song. Or, dance to a recorded version of the song, and invite participants to hum or sing along as they wish.
You can also teach the group the song, "Miriam and the Women," by Debbie Friedman. You can dance a hora to this song, too. The chorus words are:
And the women dancing with their timbrels
Followed Miriam as she sang her song.
Sing a song to the One whom we've exalted.
Miriam and the women danced and danced
The whole night long.
Including All Participants
Movement-challenged participants can tap a tambourine in time to the music, or add other musical accompaniment, such as a shaker, a drum, or perhaps a “klezmer” kazoo (the wail of a clarinet in klezmer music might go very well with a kazoo!)
ACTIVITY 5: COUNCIL CIRCLE (10 MINUTES)
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Each session closes with a Council Circle. The goal of the Council Circle is to share our stories, listen to each other, and grow in faith together. Listening to each other is a religious act. The Council Circle includes three rituals: Reflection, Sharing of Joys and Concerns, and a Closing.
Reflection
Gather the group in the Council Circle. Light the chalice. Offer words spoken routinely in your congregational worship, or these:
We are Unitarian Universalists
with minds that think,
hearts that love,
and hands that are ready to serve.
Invite participants to reflect about the story of this session as they pass the Tool of the Day as a talking stick. You might offer this summary and these questions:
Miriam's baby brother faced execution. She bounced back from this horror with quick thinking about how to save him. Later, her people faced recapture by Pharaohs' soldiers at the shore of the Red Sea. Upon their escape across the water, she proved her resiliency by initiating a dance to celebrate. And later, Miriam was stricken with a skin disease after she questioned her brother's standing and power. She endured and returned to her people, cured.
Have there been difficult times when you have been able to bounce back? How?
What ways of being resilient might you like to try that you haven't tried yet?
Sharing of Joys and Concerns
After discussion has closed, invite participants to share important things in their lives. What they share may or may not be related to the session topic and discussion.
Invite participants to light a council candle from the chalice flame as they share. If there are not enough candles, it is OK to snuff out and re-light a candle. Save the candle of a different color for last. When all who want to share joys and concerns have done so, light this candle with the words, "For all the joys and concerns that remain unspoken."
If you are using a glass bowl, water, and stones instead of council candles, invite participants to drop a stone into the bowl when they share. End the sharing by adding one, last stone for unspoken joys and concerns.
Closing
Extinguish the council candles. Gather participants around the chalice; if it has been extinguished, re-light it.
Close with an element (meditation, benediction, song) commonly used in your congregational worship, or use one or more of the suggestions below. Base your choice(s) on the needs and energy level of your group. With your co-leaders, you may elect to use the same ritual to close every session.
Share this reading from W Mitchell. You may tell the group that W. Mitchell is a man who uses a wheelchair and travels around giving talks about resiliency. He is scarred with burns over more than half his body and paralyzed, from two separate incidents, a motorcycle accident and an airplane crash. This comes from his essay, "The 9,000 Things":
My body used to be a prison... The stubs of my fingers, my burned skin — my outward appearance used to be a prison that kept me confined to the world inside myself.
But now, my body and my wheelchair form the platform that supports me. They are the vehicles that have helped me grow beyond myself and travel the world, helping others. I've learned that our bodies are just a thin veneer that can never hide the remarkable gifts that live inside each and every one of us. And I've also learned that even if you can't do some of the things you used to do, there are always 9,000 things you can do.
A. Lead the group in singing "Meditation on Breathing," Hymn 1009 in Singing the Journey: A Hymnbook Supplement to Singing the Living Tradition. Hear the simple tune online (at www.uua.org/publications/singingjourney/52328.shtml).
B. Have the group read in unison Reading 452 by Marjorie Montgomery in Singing the Living Tradition:
Life is a gift for which we are grateful.
We gather in community to celebrate
the glories
and mysteries
of this great gift.
C. Sing or say the words to "From You I Receive," Hymn 402 in Singing the Living Tradition. Teach the group the accompanying movements.
From you I receive | Scoop the air by reaching toward other participants, then bringing air toward yourself at chest level, that is, receiving it. |
To you I give | Opposite from above — scoop the air at chest level and push it outward to "give" to other participants. |
Together we share | All grasp hands. |
By this we live | Make fist of strength with each hand and stack one hand on top of the other at belly button level. |
D. Go around the circle — using the Tool of the Day as a talking stick again, if you like —and invite each participant to say one thing they will do this week that relates to resiliency. A higher-energy version of the above could involve the group repeating back, chant-style, the statement of each participant, and adding, "Go out into the world and be resilient!"
E. Sing a familiar song. Suggestions: "Thula Klizeo," Hymn 1056 in Singing the Journey; "I Know This Rose Will Open," Hymn 402 in Singing the Living Tradition; or "Rejoice in Love," Hymn 380 in Singing the Living Tradition.
F. Use this team spirit chant, "Pump It Up!"
Leader: Pump, pump, pump it up!
Group: Pump, pump, pump it up!
Leader: Pump that UU spirit up!
Group: Pump that UU spirit up!
Instead of "Pump it up!" you may use "Fire it up!" or "Keep it up!"
Pass the Tool of the Day around the circle and invite participants, one at a time, to voice a way they plan to use the quality of faith that was explored today. Guide them to say:
With my (quality of faith, e.g., resiliency), I will...
Lead the group in responding to each participant's contribution:
Group: Go, UU, go!
If you have not yet done so, invite a participant to tape a picture of a hardhat (or a paper tambourine) to the Toolbox of Our Faith poster. Write "Resiliency" on the poster.
Extinguish the chalice. Distribute Taking It Home handouts. Thank and dismiss participants.
FAITH IN ACTION: IDEAS
Description of Activity
Resiliency around Us
In local, national, or international events or history, find specific examples of an individual or a community being resilient. Bring these to the group to explore and discuss. Examples might be individuals who have relocated or are rebuilding their homes after the Gulf Coast hurricanes, Katrina and Rita, or political refugees from other countries who may have settled in your community. Help children examine how and speculate about why the people you've chosen are resilient. What strategies do the people use to act with resilience? Does faith help power the people's resiliency? Faith in whom, or faith in what?
Encourage the group to think of ways they could affirm or support another person or community in their resiliency. Make a plan to do one or more of the actions the group suggests.
Resiliency through Celebration in Jewish Tradition
Extend the group's encounter with Miriam's resiliency into an experience of contemporary Jewish celebration. If it is the time of year for Purim (usually in March), celebrate with a Jewish congregation in your area and learn about another resilient woman from Hebrew scripture, Queen Esther. Or, you may be able to attend a klezmer concert in your area.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Reflect on these questions and discuss them with your co-leaders:
TAKING IT HOME
Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and dancing. — Hebrew scripture (Exodus 15:20)
IN TODAY'S SESSION. . .
Today, we used a hardhat to symbolize the quality of resiliency. The children talked about how we bounce back from hard times, including the difficulty in enduring challenging times and how resiliency helps us. We allowed time for participants to share bounce-back strategies they have tried and strategies they want to try. We emphasized that under stress and in difficult times, even prophetic women and men had to take small steps to reach a larger benefit. We explored Miriam, the resilient prophet in Hebrew scripture who was the sister of Moses, in biblical text and in a shared story, to encourage Unitarian Universalist children to seek their own interpretations and wisdom from classic stories.
EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about. . .
Miriam's baby brother faced execution. She bounced back from this horror with quick thinking about how to save him. Later, her people faced recapture by Pharaoh's chariots and soldiers at the border of the Red Sea. Upon their escape across the water, she demonstrated her resiliency by initiating a dance of celebration upon their rescue.
Ask your child to tell you about Miriam's resiliency. Invite everyone in the family to share their answers to these questions:
EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Try...
A FAMILY GAME
The story of Miriam has many variations. Read together a few different children's books about Miriam, Moses, and the Hebrews' exodus from Egypt. Or, have each family member read a different version. Then, compare the versions you have read.
In many versions, Miriam plays a minor role, with Moses the "star" of the story. Miriam is the protagonist in the picture book, Miriam and Her Brother Moses: A Bible Story, retold and illustrated by Jean Marzollo (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2003). The book includes some cute questions and answers, in the voice of a little fish, which run along the bottom of every page.
In Miriam's Cup: A Passover Story, written by Fran Manushkin and illustrated by Bob Dacey (New York: Scholastic Press, 1998), a modern little girl named Miriam hears the story of Passover, and Miriam's role. Her mother tells how Miriam foretold Moses' birth to lead their people to freedom, helped ensure Moses' safety as he floated along in a basket, and later led a singing celebration of freedom and was considered responsible for a well of clear spring water that followed the Hebrews through their wanderings in the desert. The author cites Hebrew scripture as well as Jewish commentary, legend, and tradition and includes (on the book jacket) the music and lyrics to "Miriam's Song," by composer Debbie Friedman.
For another version, watch the 1998 animated DreamWorks film, The Prince of Egypt. Before you do, you may like to read a sermon by Rabbi Barry H. Block (at www.beth-elsa.org/be_s0115.htm), given January 15, 1999. He illuminates the difference between the actual text of Hebrew scripture (the Torah) and the layers of stories upon stories that make up midrash, added to tradition by subsequent generations. As midrash stories often amplify the voices of the women mentioned in the Bible, in The Prince of Egypt both Moses' sister, Miriam, and his wife, Zipporah, play significant roles.
FAMILY DISCOVERY
Adults and older children in your family may like to take a "Resiliency Quiz" online (at www.resiliency.com/htm/resiliencyquiz.htm) and read about ways to help oneself or another become more resilient. The Resiliency in Action website of Nancy Henderson, MSW offers insights into the qualities that help people bounce back from a significant trauma or crisis. One of these qualities is patience.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: RED SEA NAME GAME (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Description of Activity
Sit in a circle with participants, and pass Bibles around. Invite participants to browse the Bible for a noun that begins with the same letter as their name. A child named Carl might choose "camel," and Angie might find "angels."
Once all have had a chance to find a noun, the first person says, "My name is Angie and I crossed the Red Sea with angels." The next person introduces Angie and him/herself, saying "This is Angie, who crossed the Red Sea with angels, and I am Carl and I crossed the Red Sea with a camel." The third person introduces Angie and Carl and adds what he/she crossed the Red Sea with; for example, "This is Angie, who went with angels. This is Carl, who carried a camel, and I am Travis and I crossed the Red Sea with a tent." The introductions go around the circle with each person repeating all the other names and the items from the Bible before adding their own. Finally, ask the person who went first to repeat everyone's name and item from the beginning.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: WATCH "THE PRINCE OF EGYPT" (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
The children will watch pertinent excerpts from the animated film, The Prince of Egypt, to enrich their understanding of Miriam's role in the Exodus story and her resiliency as a quality of her faith.
This activity also helps you guide the children to notice embellishments and interpretations that later generations continue to layer onto the stories of ancient scripture. After showing an excerpt that features Miriam, pause the film and ask participants to identify the differences between this version of the story and others they have read or heard.
In the Jewish faith, stories about biblical stories are called "midrash." Rabbi Barry H. Block has this to say about the film and its portrayal of women in the story:
One of the most important functions of modern Midrash is to find and hear the voices of women, too often silent in the Bible and in ancient interpretations. In The Prince of Egypt, both Moses' sister, Miriam, and his wife, Zipporah, play more significant roles than they do in the Torah... The Prince of Egypt offers us a Miriam who remains consistently active.
TOOLBOX OF FAITH: SESSION 16:
STORY: MIRIAM: SISTER, PROPHET, DANCER
This story is based on references to Miriam in Hebrew scripture.
Read or tell the story.
It is said that for many years, the Hebrew people were slaves in Egypt. A slave works hard for no pay. A slave is not allowed to say or do what they want. A slave is a person, owned by someone else.
In Egypt, a young Hebrew girl named Miriam was a slave. Her mother, father, and brother were all slaves, too. The Hebrews were not happy being slaves, but they did not have a plan to change their situation. It did not seem possible. But, escaping from slavery was possible. It would happen soon, and Miriam's family would be right in the middle of it.
The Egyptian king, the Pharoah, was getting worried about the Hebrew slaves. He needed their hard work as builders and farmers, to do things for the Egyptian people, working for free. He was afraid the Hebrews might try to escape. He was especially worried about the young Hebrew boys. Soon enough, they would grow up to be strong men who could fight for their people's freedom.
The Pharoah made a rule that the Hebrew boy babies must be killed. He sent Egyptian soldiers to the slaves' small homes near the river, to take their boy babies away from them.
Around this time, Miriam's mother gave birth to a baby boy. Miriam's mother was very frightened, and of course she wanted to protect her son. She wove a basket out of some grasses, placed the baby carefully inside it, and sent the basket floating down the river. Maybe someone kind, an Egyptian, would find the basket, discover the baby, and take him into their home where he would be safe. It was hard to let her little baby go, but it seemed like the only way to save his life.
Miriam was frightened, too, seeing her mother do this. She watched as her little baby brother floated along, his basket hidden by the long reeds that poked above the water. Miriam tried to act as if nothing was wrong, nothing strange. If an Egyptian soldier walked by and glanced at her, she just looked down and kept silent, as a slave girl was supposed to do.
Miriam saw some women in the water, up ahead, washing their clothes. Her brother's basket was floating right toward them. Miriam crept closer. She saw it was Pharoah's daughter, with her maids. Miriam held her breath in fear, as the women noticed the basket.
"Look, a baby!"
"How lovingly someone has wrapped the baby!"
"This must be a little Hebrew boy!"
Miriam was sure Pharoah's daughter would pick up her brother and deliver him to the Egyptian soldiers to be killed. But, that is not what happened.
"What a beautiful baby!" Pharoah's daughter cried. Her voice was full of compassion, and defiance. "I'll raise him myself, as a prince of Egypt."
"Your father will be angry," one of her maids said.
"All the Hebrew baby boys are supposed to be killed," said another.
"I don't care," said Pharoah's daughter, and she picked up Miriam's brother and held him in her arms.
Miriam had a brave idea. She stepped toward the Egyptian women. "I can find a Hebrew woman to take care of this baby for you," she said. Of course, she was thinking of her own mother!
Pharoah's daughter thought Miriam's idea was a good one. She sent Miriam to get a Hebrew nursemaid for the baby, and Miriam ran to get her own mother. That is how Miriam's brother survived Pharoah's terrible rule, and got to live with his own family, at least for a little while.
When Miriam's brother was beginning to walk and talk, Pharoah's daughter took him back again. She named him Moses and he grew up in Pharoah's palace, as an Egyptian prince. Miriam, too was growing up. She would see her brother, from time to time. She believed he remembered her. She believed he knew he was really a Hebrew, but she was not really sure.
Miriam's family lost track of Moses for some years. Moses had killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave. Then he ran away from Egypt, became a sheepherder, and got married. One day Moses saw a bush on fire, which he understood to bring a message from the God of the Hebrew people. The message let Moses know that he was not an Egyptian prince, but a Hebrew whose family were all slaves. A Hebrew with a special duty to return to Egypt, and lead the Hebrew people out of slavery, to a new land where they would be free.
Moses returned to Egypt. His adopted grandfather, the old Pharoah, had died. Moses asked the new Pharoah for the Hebrews' freedom, but the Pharoah refused. Moses asked again and again, and the Pharoah still refused. Then a series of disasters occurred. A disease killed the Egyptians' cattle. Frogs rained down from the sky. Swarms of locusts ate the Egyptian's crops. Finally Pharoah changed his mind. He wanted the Hebrews gone.
Miriam and her family rushed to pack. They hurried to leave before the Pharoah changed his mind again. Sure enough, as they gathered their belongings, the Pharoah did change his mind. The Hebrews left Egypt, the children, the women and the men, with the Egyptian soldiers in pursuit.
Miriam had helped to rescue her brother when he was a baby. Now, with her brothers Moses and Aaron, she would help to rescue the Hebrew people and other slaves from their hard life in Egypt. At this moment of great fear, she had faith that the Hebrews would escape. With Moses and Aaron, she led the others, keeping steps ahead of the Egyptians. When they came to a large sea, the Red Sea, the Hebrews bravely crossed the water, finding to their great surprise a dry path through it. As the Egyptians came after them, the dry path became covered in water, and the Egyptians could not reach the Hebrews on the other side.
Miriam's people would face many hard years of wandering before they found a land where they could settle down and build their community in freedom. There would be more challenges ahead. But, they kept believing that they would find a new home, and from each disaster, they bounced back.
After the Hebrews crossed the Red Sea, leaving Egypt and slavery forever, Miriam lifted a tambourine high in the air and led the people in a song and a dance. Yes, an uncertain road lay ahead, and terrible things behind. But there was great joy to feel now, and deep gratitude to express.
TOOLBOX OF FAITH: SESSION 16:
HANDOUT 1: MIRIAM WORD SEARCH PUZZLE
Circle the words that are related to the biblical prophet, Miriam. Words may run up, down, sideways or diagonally.
N | S | O | E | M | A | M | K | K | Z | R | T | T | F | V | A | B | N | T | T |
B | U | S | A | Z | I | U | L | H | O | X | B | E | G | Y | A | T | G | O | D |
R | I | N | E | O | M | G | N | U | T | A | U | G | K | B | R | L | D | J | H |
I | N | B | G | C | I | A | X | I | S | C | C | Y | Y | Y | O | V | E | E | D |
A | B | Y | L | V | N | N | I | K | M | S | N | P | L | X | N | P | W | L | N |
F | V | L | J | E | Y | I | E | X | R | L | L | T | I | A | A | H | Z | U | A |
S | U | D | O | X | E | T | R | A | W | B | K | W | J | S | A | B | H | D | L |
P | C | P | T | K | W | R | B | P | A | E | L | A | F | Y | H | G | M | A | D |
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AARON
BABY
BASKET
BIBLE
EGYPT
EXODUS
HEBREW
MANNA
MIRIAM
MOSES
PHAROAH
PROMISED LAND
PRINCESS
TIMBREL
YAHWEH
TOOLBOX OF FAITH: SESSION 16:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: FINDING MIRIAM IN HEBREW SCRIPTURE
List the book, chapter, and verse for these bible references to Miriam on newsprint and post.
Book and Chapter: Verse(s) | Description |
Exodus 2:1-10 | Moses in the bulrushes. While Moses in his basket floats on the river, Miriam watches from a hiding place to see that the baby is safe (Exodus 2:4). Miriam sees the Pharaoh's daughter take Moses. She offers to find a Hebrew woman (having in mind their own mother) to take care of Moses for Pharoah's daughter until he is older (Ex. 2:7-9). |
Exodus 15:20-21 | Miriam's victory song. Miriam led the women of Israel in a song and dance of celebration after the Pharaoh's men were drowned in the Red Sea (Ex. 15:20-21). |
Numbers 12:1-12 | Miriam complains about Moses' choice of a wife from another tribe, and then speaks out that Moses does not have a monopoly on conversations with God. Then she is stricken with tzaaris, or leprosy (Num. 12:10). When Aaron pleads on her behalf, she is cured (Num. 12:11). |
Numbers 20:1 | Miriam dies in the desert before the people reach the Promised Land. |
Micah 6:4 | Miriam, with her brothers Moses and Aaron, is named as one of the leaders of the exodus. |
In Jewish midrash (post-biblical interpretations and embellishments of stories in Hebrew Scripture), Miriam is said to be the ancestor of other creative geniuses in Israel's history: Bezalel, the architect of the mishkan (the portable sanctuary used in the desert) (Ex. 31:1-3) and King David.
According to Jewish tradition, because of Miriam's righteousness, a well followed the people through the desert throughout their wanderings, and that well remained with them until the day of Miriam's death.
TOOLBOX OF FAITH: SESSION 16:
LEADER RESOURCE 2: HAVA NAGILA AND THE HORA
The song "Hava Nagila" and the simple dance called the hora are common at traditional Jewish weddings, bar and bat mitzvah celebrations, and other festive occasions.
Sing "Hava Nagila"
Learn how to pronounce the Hebrew words. Teach the song by singing each line, one at a time, and having participants repeat it. (Note: "CH" is pronounced as in "LOCH.")
Transcripted Hebrew | Translation |
Hava nagila, | Let's rejoice, |
Hava nagila, | " |
Hava nagila venismecha. | Let's rejoice and be happy. |
Hava neranena, | Let's sing, |
Hava neranena, | " |
Hava neranena venismecha. | Sing and be happy. |
Uru, uru achim! | Awake, awake, brothers! |
Uru achim b'lev sa-me-ach. | Awake, brothers, with a happy heart. |
Uru achim b'lev sa-me-ach. | " |
Uru achim b'lev sa-me-ach. | " |
Uru achim b'lev sa-me-ach. | " |
Uru achim! Uru achim! | Awake, brothers! Awake, brothers! |
B'lev sa-me-ach. | With a happy heart. |
Dance the Hora
Teach the movements without music and repeat several times. Once everyone has had a chance to try the steps, start the music.
Form a circle, and all hold hands.
On "Hava nagila... ," step to the side, passing your left foot behind your right.
Move the right foot beside the left foot.
Step to the side again, passing your left foot in front of your right this time. Continue rotating the circle with these steps, adding a little hop to your steps as you go faster.
On "Uru, uru achim!" move toward the center of the circle and throw your hands up in the air, still holding to the hands of the people beside you.
Once together in the center, when you throw your hands in the air let out a yip, or beat the tambourines.
Lower your hands, move backward, and resume moving the circle around together.
FIND OUT MORE
"Hava Nagila" and the Hora
The song, "Hava Nagila," and the dance, the hora, are common at Jewish wedding receptions and other celebrations. Often played in the klezmer style of music, which originated among Jews of Eastern Europe, "Hava Nagila" also appears across musical genres including surf rock, punk rock, and Caribbean music. Tapes and/or CDs including this song are usually available from a public library.
You can hear "Hava Nagila," (at www.geocities.com/josephnow3/hava/1.htm) read a bit of its history, and see sheet music and transliterated Hebrew lyrics online. On another website, hear Harry Belafonte (at toekyi.myip.org/musics/English/Jewish/Harry Belafonte - Hava Nagila (Israeli harvest song).mp3) sing "Hava Nagila." Hear "Hava Nagila" and see a group of people dancing a hora on the YouTube website ("Israeli Dance Hava Nagila" (at www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewFLSBJ8NkA&feature=related))
"Miriam's Song"
The chorus to "Miriam's Song" by composer Debbie Friedman begins with these words:
And the women dancing with their timbrels
Followed Miriam as she sang her song
Find the complete lyrics (at www.ritualwell.org/holidays/passover/partsoftheseder/honoringmiriam/primaryobject.2005-06-15.3904904973/) and hear "Miriam's Song" (at www.ritualwell.org/holidays/passover/partsoftheseder/honoringmiriam/file.2005-06-27.1260090386) online, on the Ritualwell.org website.
Klezmer and Other Jewish Music
Originating during the Jewish diaspora in Eastern Europe, klezmer was the traditional music played for dancing at weddings and other celebrations. Modern klezmer music is characterized by violin, flute, clarinet and percussion blended with a certain amount of dissonant tones and minor chords.
Hear clips of the band, Dobe Ressler and Di Bostoner Klezmer (at cdbaby.com/cd/yiddishmusic) online. Another band is the award-winning Klezmatics. There is good dance music on most of their releases. The track, "Makht Oyf (Open Up)," on the CD, Rise Up, is features a bit of silliness with pops, squeaks and repetitions which would appeal to children. Another fast tune on that CD is "Kats Un Moyz (Cat and Mouse)."
The Fiddler on the Roof soundtrack might be another source for Jewish dance music, particularly the song "L'Chaim (To Life!)" or the wedding music.
Assess Your Own Resiliency
On the Resiliency in Action (at www.resiliency.com/index.htm) website, take a quiz to assess the resiliency-building conditions present in your life. From the website:
Resiliency is the ability to spring back from and successfully adapt to adversity. An increasing body of research from the fields of psychology, psychiatry, and sociology is showing that most people—including young people—can bounce back from risks, stress, crises, and trauma and experience life success.
Our favorite definition of resiliency, in fact, was given by a 15-year-old high school student who, after a semester of resiliency training, described resiliency as "Bouncing back from problems and stuff with more power and more smarts."
The Prince of Egypt — the Movie
A 1998 animated DreamWorks film, The Prince of Egypt, tells the Biblical story of Moses and the Hebrews' exodus from Egypt. In a sermon given January 15, 1999, Rabbi Barry H. Block analyzes the film's version of the story, including its portrayal of Miriam and other women. Read Rabbi Block's sermon (at www.beth-elsa.org/be_s0115.htm) on the website of Temple Beth-El, San Antonio, Texas.
Miriam the Prophet
The website, Judaism 101, offers concise descriptions of the siblings Miriam, Aaron and Moses (at www.jewfaq.org/moshe.htm), based on information about them in Hebrew scripture and a variety of sometimes contradictory stories that have been added since.
Online, watch a Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly (PBS) episode from April 11, 2003. Reporter Kim Lawton visited a feminist Passover seder (at www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week632/calendar.html), where particular attention was paid to Miriam's role in the Exodus story. You will also hear a bit of the Debbie Friedman song, "Miriam and the Women." Here is an excerpt from the segment transcript:
Rabbi Joy Levitt: She [Miriam] was a source of great energy, power, comfort, and nourishment to the Israelites as they made their way out of Egypt.
Kim Lawton: In the traditional Seder, there is a cup of wine for the Prophet Elijah, who many Jews believe will herald the Messianic Age. In this meal, there's also Miriam's Cup, which is filled with water.
Rabbi Levitt: I like to think of Elijah's cup as the cup that symbolizes the future, whereas I think Miriam's cup really symbolizes the present. We wait for Elijah, but we work with Miriam.
Kim Lawton: According to the Bible story, Miriam celebrated the exodus from Egypt with singing, dancing, and tambourine playing — a hallmark of every feminist Seder.
W Mitchell
"It's not what happens to you. It's what you do about it." That is the message of W Mitchell (at www.wmitchell.com), an inspirational speaker. Mitchell had a motorcycle accident that left him burned over 65% of his body, including his face and fingers. After four years of recovery, he was in a plane crash and became paralyzed from the waist down. Visit his website to learn more and find quotations from him. You may wish to start with a newspaper article (at www.wmitchell.com/art_making_themost.html)about a 2002 presentation he gave at a Santa Barbara, California, school.