STAB 2019

The Thunderstorm of Hail and Fire Before Thanksgiving, we watched excerpts from  The Ten Commandments , the famous movie that depicts one of the most important stories from the  Torah : Moses's leadership of the Jews out of slavery in Egypt. ------------- Several students asked for a complete list of the ten plagues that befell Egypt while Moses was demanding that the Jews be freed. Here's the list: Water turned to blood Frogs Lice Flies The death of Egyptian cattle Boils Thunderstorms of hail and fire Locusts Darkness Death of all firstborns And here is more artwork inspired by our study of Judaism, starting with Case's representation of the important Jewish prayer known as the Shema :

We tried several yoga poses at the end of today's class. The students reminded me that, for Hindus, yoga refers to a union between one's body and one's soul ... and a union between your atman (individual soul) and the brahman (universal soul). Greer ,  Willow ,  Eden  and Jack M. demonstrated some fantastic yogic skills!

While learning about Judaism, we have studied the Jewish belief in a  covenant  between God and Abraham.  According to the  Torah , God told Abraham that his descendants would be the Chosen People, and that they would be as plentiful as the stars in the sky,  if  they followed the one true God and  if  they obeyed his commandments. Here is a part of the story, from the  Torah : And God took Abraham outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them."  And He said to Abraham, "So shall your descendants be." A couple of students asked whether Jews believe that they have broken the covenant with God. The answer is  yes : Jews believe that all people have broken the covenant with God, and they believe that God's  messiah  will eventually come to Earth in order to save believers from their wrongdoing.

This week we began to study Judaism , the world's first monotheistic religion. The students have asked some excellent initial questions: Questions About Abraham's Meeting with Yahweh... Sean : According to this religion, Abraham met God. How would you feel if you met God? Berra (after being inspired by Sean's question) : If we are always under God's presence, would it feel any different to meet him (because he is always there)? Reese, James A.  and  Case : Why did God choose Abraham to talk to, instead of someone else? Malcolm : Did Abraham hesitate at all, when making the covenant  with Yahweh? Liam J. : Why did Abraham decide to worship Yahweh instead of continuing to follow his current religion? Burke : Is every Jewish person a descendant of Abraham? Questions About The Different Kinds of Judaism... Caroline : How do you figure out if you are an Orthodox Jew or not? Kemper : Why do men and women sit apart in Orthodox Jewish synagogues? Austin  and  Eliza : ...

Today some of the sixth graders had the opportunity to talk with their Chapel Buddies about kindness. Mr. Passmore read to the group a beautiful (and quite sad) book called Each Kindness , then the students reflected with their second grade friend about an occasion when they wish they had showed more kindness. Next, the students came up with concrete ways that they can change their behavior in the future. Shout outs to Eliza ,  Marin  and  Justin  for the particularly supportive way that they interacted with the little ones.

Today we discussed the idea of a  pilgrimage : a religious journey to a sacred place.  Several students pointed out that a pilgrimage is a  physical  way for religious believers to experience the long, difficult,  spiritual  struggle of religious belief. In Hinduism, many believers take a pilgrimage to the  Ganges River .  Hindus believe that the water in the Ganges helps to cleanse a person's spirit. The pilgrims bathe in the river, and they also put the ashes of the deceased into the river. And here are some more of the beautiful sketches that the students have made about Hinduism:

A big thank you to Travis and Austin for their help today with teaching me about the concept of karma . Karma is the idea that our actions -- whether good or bad -- have consequences . And in case you have never seen their skills: these two boys are  AMAZING  actors!! Thanks to  Jack A.  and  Cabria  for these wonderful illustrations to represent Brahma (the Creator God) and Brahma n (the universal soul). For those of you who are interested in learning more about Hindu gods and goddesses, I recommend watching the video that I posted on a new page, here .

What does a  monocle  have to do with studying religion?! Last week we talked about the differences between monotheism and polytheism. ----------- Theism  is the belief in the existence of god or gods. There is more than one type of theism: Monotheism  is the specific belief in one god. Polytheism  is the specific belief in many gods. Some religions are monotheistic, whereas other religions are polytheistic. ----------- We talked about the prefixes "mono" (one) and "poly" (many), and we discussed other words that can help us remember the definitions of monotheism and polytheism: Mono cle (a single eyeglass) Mono poly (a single person or business that controls an entire industry) Mono tonous (a single toned style of speech (often considered boring)) Poly gon (a many-sided shape) Poly glot (a person who speaks more than one language) ----------- The civilizations that we have studied so far (in particular,  Egypt  and  Mespotamia ) had polytheistic ...

Here are some of our initial questions about Hinduism... Travis  and  Bella : Which Hindu gods or goddesses are the most popular to pray to? Jack A. : Do Hindus believe that you can be reincarnated into a follower of a different religion ? If that does happen, do you remember any of your Hindu beliefs? Caden : Can anyone become a Hindu, or is there some ceremony that is required to welcome them? Austin : Why do Hindus believe that when you get released from the wheel of life, you become part of the universe? Hannah : What is the most effective way to get to moksha ? Eden : Why do Hindu weddings last for so long (12 days!)? Justin : Do you think a 12 day wedding is better for a couple than a traditional American wedding? Griffin : At the festival of Dassehra , what happens if Rama misses ?! Xavier : What does "aum" mean, and why is it such a holy word for Hindus?

I will ask the students to create an image for each religion we study. The image may be representational or abstract. The goal is to communicate an idea or belief for each religion using art. These initial images of Hinduism, by Layla, Dylan, Nicole  and  Caroline , are stunning!!