Ne’arim video podcasts

One of the projects undertaken by our 5th through 7th grade Hebrew school class this fall was a series of short video podcasts, exploring themes of Judaism and civil rights through the lenses of some of their favorite pop culture stories.

Here are their four short videos, ranging in duration from about two minutes to about five minutes. The password for watching the videos is the name of that class (capitalized, no punctuation) followed by the current Jewish year.

(If you are a CBI member but can’t make the password work for you, email Rabbi Rachel for help.)

Enjoy!

Nearim Video Podcast 5774: Civil Rights and Doctor Who

 

Nearim Video Podcast 5774: Oppression, Privilege, and Harry Potter

 

Nearim Video Podcast 5774: Oppression, Privilege and the Hobbit:

 

Nearim Video Podcast 5774: Star Wars and Civil Rights:

Ne’arim Podcast Episode 2: The Scroll of Esther

Episode Two: Teen Takes on The Book of Esther
15.9 MB / 16 minutes 32 seconds

– click on the small triangle to listen:

or, download the file: NearimPodcast-Esther (mp3)

Just in time for Purim (which will begin this coming Saturday at sundown), here’s the second episode of our Ne’arim podcast, in which our 5th through 7th graders offer their own unique take on the Megillat Esther in advance of Purim.

Act 1: The students retell the basic story of the megillah in their own words. (Well, at least that was the plan.)

Act 2: A news broadcast featuring interviews with the characters from the megillah.

Act 3: Given the opportunity to respond creatively to the story, some of the class opts to set Esther in a contemporary junior high school, while the others retell Esther using figures and iconography from the video game Minecraft. Also, there’s a bit of discussion about casting Harry Potter characters as Esther characters.

And Act 4: a bit of closing discussion about Esther and what we’ve learned. The podcast wraps up with a few closing words and a couple of bloopers.

Happy Purim, and enjoy!

The First CBI Ne’arim Podcast: on Joseph

Introducing…

21.1 MB / 22 minutes

– click on the small triangle to listen
or, download the file: NearimJosephPodcast (mp3)

You can read a little bit about how this podcast came to be in the post Beginning a Torah podcast…with my students.

Here are a few words from the opening of the podcast:

The Joseph novella is one of the richest stories in Torah. We read it every year as we approach the darkest days of winter. I like to teach it as a narrative about descent for the sake of ascent. What goes up, in other words, has to start out by going down.

But rabbinic opinions and teachings about Torah are a dime a dozen. How might the next generation of young minds understand this story? What implications might they tease out through a combination of bibliodrama, midrash, and improvisational theatre? Enter the CBI Ne’arim Podcast.

Act one: the Torah story, narrated by the students in their own words.

Act two: a taste of bibliodrama. We’ll hear segments of an interview with the Biblical characters.

Act three: going further afield. What if the Joseph story took place in outer space, or featured modern political personalities, or happened on a planet full of nothing but cows? Our young scholars will take us into some of these possible realities.

Act four: epilogue. A roundtable conversation with the students. What was this journey like for them? What, if anything, did they learn? Do they experience the Joseph story differently now than they did before?

My thanks are due to the Ne’arim students for entering into this adventure with such enthusiasm. I hope y’all enjoy!

New Velveteen Rabbi Podcast – on Elul and Teshuvah

For those who are interested, there’s a new episode of the Velveteen Rabbi Podcast available at Reb Rachel’s blog.

A podcast is like a radio show, released over the internet, to which one can listen anytime. You can subscribe to podcasts, or you can listen to them online, or you can download them for later listening.

In this episode of the VR Podcast I talk about the lunar month of Elul, explore some ideas about teshuvah (repentance / return), share Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s translation of Psalm 27, and close with a blessing for you for the month to come.

You can listen online, or download it for later listening, or subscribe via iTunes, at Velveteen Rabbi here: VR Podcast 4: Elul and Teshuvah. Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

New Velveteen Rabbi Podcast – recorded at CBI!

For those who are interested, there’s a new episode of the Velveteen Rabbi Podcast available at Reb Rachel’s blog.

A podcast is like a radio show, released over the internet, to which one can listen anytime. You can subscribe to podcasts, or you can listen to them online, or you can download them for later listening.

This episode of the VR Podcast is an experimental one — rather than featuring Reb Rachel talking about some aspect of Jewish life and practice, it features a (very slightly abridged) Shabbat morning service. This service was recorded at CBI this past Shabbat; the shlichei tzibbur (prayer-leaders) are Reb Rachel and visiting ALEPH rabbinic students David Curiel and Rhonda Shapiro-Rieser.

You can listen to the podcast here: VR Podcast Episode 3 – A Shabbat Morning Service. Enjoy!