The Difficult Jewish Conversations Project
Date: Semester 2, 2021-2022
Teachers: Rabbi Tavi Koslowe
Grade: 11th-12th
Subjects: Beit Midrash
Project Description:
This semester, our students were handed two texts with the hope that each text would deepen their understanding and appreciation of the other. Our primary text was Tanakh. Our supplementary text was Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most, written by Bruce Patton, Douglas Stone, and Sheila Heen. Each week, we would discuss the content and applications of a chapter from Difficult Conversations and then read a selected text from Tanakh where a difficult Jewish conversation took place or should have taken place.
Based on these connections, our 12th grade students published a book of our learning on Amazon. This book is a modest collection of student writing that aims to both create a sense of accountability for the learning and discussions that took place in our Beit Midrash and, more importantly, strives to share our learning outwards with you, the reader. To access their book on Amazon, click here: "The Calf that Aaron Made."
At the same time, our 11th grade students studied the art form of paper engineering and created moveable scenes that reenact some of the complexities of these difficult Jewish conversations. In addition to their paper-engineered scene, students also led a professional development session on navigating difficult conversations in the workplace, based on a conversation between Mordechai and Esther.
Essential Questions:
How can a modern appreciation and understanding of difficult conversations help us understand narratives and conflict in Tanakh?
How might stories of conflict from Tanakh inform our modern understanding of navigating difficult conversations?
Content:
A close and deliberate pairing of chapters from Difficult Conversations with scenes from Tanakh, including:
Project Deliverables:
This semester, our students were handed two texts with the hope that each text would deepen their understanding and appreciation of the other. Our primary text was Tanakh. Our supplementary text was Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most, written by Bruce Patton, Douglas Stone, and Sheila Heen. Each week, we would discuss the content and applications of a chapter from Difficult Conversations and then read a selected text from Tanakh where a difficult Jewish conversation took place or should have taken place.
Based on these connections, our 12th grade students published a book of our learning on Amazon. This book is a modest collection of student writing that aims to both create a sense of accountability for the learning and discussions that took place in our Beit Midrash and, more importantly, strives to share our learning outwards with you, the reader. To access their book on Amazon, click here: "The Calf that Aaron Made."
At the same time, our 11th grade students studied the art form of paper engineering and created moveable scenes that reenact some of the complexities of these difficult Jewish conversations. In addition to their paper-engineered scene, students also led a professional development session on navigating difficult conversations in the workplace, based on a conversation between Mordechai and Esther.
Essential Questions:
How can a modern appreciation and understanding of difficult conversations help us understand narratives and conflict in Tanakh?
How might stories of conflict from Tanakh inform our modern understanding of navigating difficult conversations?
Content:
A close and deliberate pairing of chapters from Difficult Conversations with scenes from Tanakh, including:
- Ch. 1 - Unpacking the Three Conversations paired with God and Moshe discussing his appointment to leadership.
- In what way could Moshe have had a more effective conversation with God based on 1) the "what happened conversation" 2) the "feelings conversation" and 3) the "identity conversation"?
- View the Sefaria sheet here
- Ch. 2 - Explore Each Other's Stories paired with Avraham and Sarah discussing the banishment of Hagar and Yishmael
- What observations/experiences might have led Sarah to have a very different perspecitve on Yishmael and Yitzchak as opposed to Avraham?
- View the Sefaria sheet here
- Ch. 3 - Untangling Intent from Impact paired with the ongoing conflict between Yosef and his brothers
- How might negative assumptions about intent have contributed to the rapidly declining relationship between Yosef and his brothers?
- View the Sefaria sheet here
- Ch. 4 - Move from Blame to Contribution paired with Moshe and Aharon discussing fault for the Golden Calf
- What may have been the various contributing factors that led to the creation and worshiping of the Golden Calf? How might exploring those factors have helped the Jewish people develop? helped Moshe's leadership mature?
- View the Sefaria sheet here
- Utilize the Chavruta [learning in partnership] protocol
- Develop an appreciation for the varied perspectives that commentators can color a Biblical scene with
- Develop the skill of paper-engineering as a story telling art form.
- Develop the writing and publishing skills necessary for the publication of our class' work on Amazon Books.
- Utilize public speaking skills while leading a professional development seminar
- Develop an appreciation for the relevance of Biblical narratives to inform and dialogue with the emotional skills and values of today
Project Deliverables:
- A summative book of our learning on difficult Jewish conversations, called The Calf that Aaron Made, published on Amazon.
- A collection of paper-engineered scenes that depict the multifaceted complexities of the scenes we studied
- A professional development seminar on difficult conversations in the workplace that our students led for the JCC staff and faculty.