Rivka Schafer's Beit Midrash Projects
In Beit Midrash we learned Sefer Nechemia and made several projects for each chapter that we learned. Here are some of my projects, in chronological order.
The Soldier who Lit the Flames Story
This story was based on chapter one of Sefer Nechemia. In chapter one, a messenger from Jerusalem arrives and tells everyone in Sushan that the Jews in Jerusalem are being attacked and their walls are being torched. When Nechemia heard about the attacks, he cried, fasted, and prayed to God for several days. When we were reading this chapter and I heard about the walls of Jerusalem being burned down, I wondered who lit the fire and what impact that must have had on them to knowingly sentence thousands of people to death. I wrote this story as my thoughts on what that would do to a person.
The Walls of Jerusalem Stop Motion Video
In chapter four of Sefer Nechemia, we learned about the attack on the walls of Jerusalem as they were being built by Sanbalat and other nations. We were then told to create a stop motion video where we had to pick one of three scenes to make a video on. I chose the scene where Nechemia learns about the incoming ambush and prepares his troops because I felt it had a lot of action. I then made popsicle stick people and drew scenes out on a whiteboard.
The Many Faces of Nechemia
When learning chapter six of Sefer Nechemia, we examined the different strengths and personalities of Nechemia that played throughout the previous chapters. We then made a table, comparing sides of Nechemia to famous characters in TV, movies, and shows. I picked characters that weren't necessarily famous, but were meaningful to me.
Animated Video on Jewish History
In chapter nine in Sefer Nechemia, the Jews gather to fast, repent, and read the Torah. In this chapter, a summary of Jewish history is noted. In class we were told to create an animated video that reflected this summary in Sefer Nechemia. I found images online and uploaded them to create a video.
Jewish Conviction Document
In chapter eleven of Sefer Nechemia, it lists people who volunteered to help repopulate the city of Jerusalem. To connect with their experience we were told to write a story about our connection to Judaism and a time when we needed Jewish conviction. I wrote a story about my struggle with Orthodox Judaism.
Nechemia's Celebration Route
In chapter twelve in Sefer Nechemia, it describes the ceremony that was done to re-establish the sanctity of Jerusalem. It goes into great detail describing the path that the Jews took as they celebrated, heading to the temple. In class, we were told to draw the paths the groups of people took, and label the gates of Jerusalem that they passed by. I copied a map of Jerusalem from online and added the paths of the groups.
Sefer Nechemia Poster
At the end of learning about Sefer Nechemia, we were tasked with creating a poster that summed up the essence of the Sefer. What struck me the most when learning about Nechemia was his arrogance and savior complex that permeated the entire book, so as a reflection of that I decided to make my poster a wanted poster, as if we were trying to find Nechemia's sense of humility. I made the reward for finding Nechemia to be his name as the title of the sefer because we learned in class that Sefer Nechemia used to not be named after Nechemia because of his arrogance.