This lesson is intended for students in Grades 4-8. Please note this sheet uses a particular text as a jumping-off point, but is mainly concerned with an activity component- mainly, designing a t-shirt to demonstrate knowledge!
Lesson Plan
1. Choose a particular segment of the Seder upon which to focus (I will provide an example below)
2. Present the text to the students- have them learn it on their own, בחברותא, or with your help. Make sure to check for understanding!
3. Ask the students to go to CustomInk.com and click Design Lab
4. There, have the students create a t-shirt that demonstrates their understanding of the text or segment which you learned together. It could be that they include artwork that is symbolic of the section that they learned or the experience that the Hebrews had at that juncture at time. It is also possible that the shirt itself includes snarky sayings such as those found on shirts at SnorgTees.com. The possibilities are endless!
5. When the student has completed their t-shirt design, have them save it. They will need to put in an email to do this, so if they do not have their own email address, have them use your teacher email or ask them to insert a parent's email (with permission). They will then be able to view their t-shirt. Have them take a screenshot of it. Then, you can have the class each add the screenshot of their t-shirt to a shared Sefaria document (with the texts the shirts are based on at the top) or a shared Google Slides presentation - and have the students present their work to one another!
SAMPLE TEXTS & EXAMPLE OF T-SHIRT
אָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן־עֲזַרְיָה הֲרֵי אֲנִי כְּבֶן שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה וְלֹא זָכִיתִי שֶׁתֵּאָמֵר יְצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם בַּלֵּילוֹת עַד שֶׁדְּרָשָׁהּ בֶּן זוֹמָא, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר, לְמַעַן תִּזְכֹּר אֶת יוֹם צֵאתְךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם כֹּל יְמֵי חַיֶּיךָ. יְמֵי חַיֶּיךָ הַיָּמִים. כֹּל יְמֵי חַיֶּיךָ הַלֵּילוֹת. וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים יְמֵי חַיֶּיךָ הָעוֹלָם הַזֶּה. כֹּל יְמֵי חַיֶּיךָ לְהָבִיא לִימוֹת הַמָּשִׁיחַ:
Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah said, "Behold I am like a man of seventy years and I have not merited [to understand why] the exodus from Egypt should be said at night until Ben Zoma explicated it, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 16:3), 'In order that you remember the day of your going out from the land of Egypt all the days of your life;' 'the days of your life' [indicates that the remembrance be invoked during] the days, 'all the days of your life' [indicates that the remembrance be invoked also during] the nights." But the Sages say, "'the days of your life' [indicates that the remembrance be invoked in] this world, 'all the days of your life' [indicates that the remembrance be invoked also] in the days of the Messiah."
Questions to Consider
1. Why does Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah say he is LIKE a man of 70 years old instead of saying he IS 70 years old?
2. What did Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah learn from Ben Zoma?
Excerpt from "Bnei Brak Wise Men" on Aish.com
Rabbi Shlomo Kluger offers a fascinating explanation:
Notice how Rabbi Elazar says "I am LIKE a man of 70 years." He said that because he was actually a very young man. He was 18 years old and then suddenly became head of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court. He had tremendous wisdom for his youth, but he was afraid that people wouldn't respect him. So he prayed to God and his hair miraculously turned white overnight. So he says, "I'm only like a 70-year-old man."
Excerpt from "Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah" on Chabad.org
The head of the Yeshivah, who was also the head of the Sanhedrin (the Supreme Court of seventy-one Sages) and the Prince of all the people, was, as we mentioned earlier, Rabban Gamliel, a descendant of the royal family of King David. Rabban Gamliel was a very great scholar, but he was very strict with his colleagues and students. It was the time immediately after the Destruction, and it was a hard time for the Jews. Rabban Gamliel thought it neccessary to keep a strict discipline in order to preserve the unity of the people through the authority of his office. In his strictness and search for the highest degree of sincerity and truth, he had kept many would-be students from the Yeshivah. A point was reached when the leading scholars of that time, despite their great respect for Rabban Gamliel, decided to depose him and elect another man in his place. Looking around for the most suitable candidate for the exalted office, the choice fell on Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah. He was a great scholar; he came from a great family; he was a man of great wealth, and therefore could be quite independent of others, while, at the same time, it gave him additional prestige. He had every thing to qualify him for the highest office; everything except age. For Rabbi Elazar was then but eighteen years old (according to another source, he was only sixteen at that time). It was then that the miracle happened: overnight he grew a long beard, and he became gray, so that all the Sages saw in him a hoary and venerable Sage.
The day Rabbi Elazar took office was remarkable also in many other ways. It became known as "That Day." On "that day" the doors of the Academy in Yavneh, were thrown open, and four hundred new benches were added for new students who hastened to be admitted into the Academy. On "that day" many important decisions were made on matters of law which had been in doubt, etc.
Rabbi Elazar did not hold the office of President, or Nassi, very long. Rabban Gamliel took the punishment in good grace; he attended the Academy as just another student and humbly participated in the debates. Seeing how Rabban Gamliel was so humble and obviously had learnt his lesson, he was soon reinstated, but on condition that Rabbi Elazar share in the, office and preside over the Academy one week in the month.
Questions to Consider
1. Who was Rabban Gamliel?
2. Who was Rabbi Elazar?
3. Why was Rabban Gamliel deposed?
4. Why was Rabbi Elazar instated as head of the Yeshivah?
5. What was the reason that Rabbi Elazar needed his hair to turn white/ grey overnight?
And voila...based on all this, my t-shirt design!
