Ha'azinu . Middah/ Jewish Value Activity Early Years & Foundation Stage 0 - 5 When the Bnei Yisrael left Egypt they lived in the Midbar/desert in huts. We build our own sukkot to remind us of this time - Celebrating the Festival of Sukkot We eat in our sukkah and try and 'live' in our sukkah for the seven days of Sukkot. We decorate the sukkah and invite guests to join us in it. The top of the sukkah is covered with 'sechach' or covering, made of leaves and branches, or sometimes bamboo. Tell the story 'Gideon goes to get the Sechach' on Resource Pages 1 and 2. It would be useful to have a picture of each of the different trees, so that after telling the story you could show the pictures and familiarise the children with trees that grow in Israel and are part of the 'Shivat Haminim' or 'Seven Kinds'. Key Stage 1 5 - 8 Moshe speaks to the people and tells them to remember their history and ask the older generation about their heritage - Knowing our Jewish history At which times of the year do we remember different times in our Jewish history? With the children sitting in a circle have a discussion by asking what our festivals commemorate. Do any of the children have a relative or older friend who tells them about different stories or experiences of Jewish life? Key Stage 2 8 - 11 Moshe speaks to the people shortly before he dies. He speaks in the form of a poem, and it is mainly a prophecy of what will happen to the Bnei Yisrael in the future, depending on whether they keep Hashem's commandments or not - Living our lives according to the values of the Torah Most of this parashah which is a poem or song which Moshe says to the people, is written in a special way in the Torah. If you look you will see it is written in two columns. Moshe tells the people to remember their history and ask the older generation about their heritage (Chapter 32 Verse 7), and later on in the parashah is a reference to the duty of telling the next generation to keep the laws of the torah (Chapter 32 Verse 46). From this we see the importance of passing on values from the Torah in our own families. Can members of the group think of examples of good traits or values that have been passed on to them from their family members? Are there ways of doing things or projects that they would like to get involved in because of the example that has been set to them by, for example, a grandparent, or other family member?