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 * __ ACTIVITY IDEAS: __**

**We** **say** ** וְאָהַבְתָּ ** **to remind us we are supposed to love God** 1) Often, the name given to a prayer gives us a clue as to its main idea. This prayer is called, וְאָהַבְתָּ, meaning “you shall love God.” Give each student a 3x5 card and ask them, without thinking about God, to brainstorm the many ways we can show our love for someone. After they’ve had a chance to make a list, go around the classroom, asking each person to share just one idea (and if possible, an idea not shared by anyone else, yet.] Then, ask students to put aside their list while you look at the words of וְאָהַבְתָּ to see how it says we should show our love for God.

2) An easy-enough way to help students think about the meaning of the various commands embedded in וְאָהַבְתָּ is to provide each with a marker (or a set of markers) and a long strip of paper (perhaps a sheet of construction paper cut into thirds, and then taped together end-to-end; a //madrich/ah// can prepare this for you). Ask students to __sketch__ out the meaning of each phrase as you read וְאָהַבְתָּ aloud. They should sketch each idea separately, moving along their strip as they go, rather than creating one coherent picture. If someone doesn’t understand a phrase/section, s/he should leave the area blank; the class will help with that later. Read the prayer slowly, pausing after each phrase, noting when most students seem to have finished. When you finish reading, ask students to review their sketches as you go through the prayer one more time, this time slowly but without pauses. They can use the time to add to a picture or simply think overall about the prayer’s ideas. [Adapted from URJ’s CHAI Level 4, Avodah, page 158]

In your class discussion, ask students: What do students think about this kind of connection to God? 3) OPTION: With the students’ help, create a bulletin board with a translation of the וְאָהַבְתָּ on it, inserting visual representations of some of the words or phrases. There are at least two good ways to do this:
 * What section of the prayer was easiest to sketch?
 * Were there sections that some students did not understand? Which ones? [Where possible, have classmates offer explanations before you do. Also, it would be helpful if you had a //m’zuzzah// and //t’fillin// available for demonstration purposes.]
 * What seems to be the most important idea in this prayer? [You shall love God] //How// do the words of the וְאָהַבְתָּ tell us that we should show our love for God? How does this list for showing our love for God, compare with the list that students created on their file cards?
 * Why would teaching these words to our children show our love for God?
 * Why would putting a //m’zuzzah// on our doors show our love for God?


 * With this option, the students will be the ones to create the visual representations. To get started, have a translation of the וְאָהַבְתָּ displayed/written on the board. (Consider using the translation out of the //siddur// used at the synagogue.) Go through the text with the students, asking them to look for words that can be visualized through artwork or photography. Underline those words or write them as a list beside the translation. Then assign each word underlined or in the list to a student (or small group of students if there are too many students and not enough words). Ask each student to find a way to visually represent his or her word with art supplies provided to them (such as construction paper, fabric, glue, markers, sequins, cut-outs from magazines, stickers). Write out the rest of the prayer on strips of paper and hang those up between the pictures. As a class, read through the prayer as constructed on the board.


 * With this option, the teacher will be the one to create the visual representations and the students will figure out, together, where they belong. This option would take less classroom-time. Before class, make pictures for the most visual words of וְאָהַבְתָּ, and write out the words-in-between on strips of paper. Below is a version from Nachama Skolnik Moskowitz’s, //Original Bulletin Boards on Jewish Themes//, Denver: Alternatives in Religious Education, Inc., 1986. Pages 14-15: