Presentation for the Jewish Community Center's Community Art Fellows project; Tangled Roots 2014 www.tangledrootskc.com

1. Home and Family
Part I: Tangled Roots. A project of IUAH and
the JCC

2. Go Forth (unto yourself) to your
new home!
• The Call of Abram in Genesis
• 12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your
father’s household to the land I will show you.
• 2
• “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name
great, and you will be a blessing.[a]
• 3
• I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all
peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”[b]
• 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was
seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his
nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had
acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

3. Land (Eretz), birthplace (Moledet), and home
(bayit) together form the soil out of which the
personality of people grows. Land gives our
personality the stamp of the national
characteristics and participation in the power and
worthiness of a nation; birthplace gives us civic
position and independence; the home, finally, is
the narrower sphere in which we grow up
individually, and find care and development. –S.R.
Hirsch
• ‫ר‬ֶ‫ֹּאמ‬ ‫ַי‬‫ו‬‫ה‬ ' ‫מ‬ ‫ְָך‬‫ל‬ ‫ְֶך‬‫ל‬ ‫ם‬ ָ‫ְר‬‫ב‬‫ַא‬ ‫ֶל‬‫א‬ְ‫צ‬ ְ‫ַאר‬‫ּומ‬ ‫ָך‬ְ‫ַד‬‫ל‬‫ּמֹו‬‫ּומ‬ ‫ָך‬ְ‫ת‬‫ית‬‫ב‬‫ץ‬ ֶ‫ָָאר‬‫ה‬ ‫אֶל‬ ‫יָך‬‫ָאב‬
‫ַא‬ ‫אֲשֶר‬ָ‫ך‬ֶ‫א‬ ְ‫ר‬:

4. The imperative of
transformation is the
driving force of Lekh
Lekha. To leave one’s
place is ultimately to
seek to become other.
Avram needs to leave
his place in order to
realize who is truly
was. - A. Zornberg

5. Sanctifying the Jewish
Home
• A Jewish household is created by the people who live in it--by the
way they act, the things they do and don’t do, the beliefs they hold.
• To a great extent, a Jewish way of life is a portable faith: you can
take it with you anywhere you go.
• It is generally accepted that Judaism as a religion is more oriented to
holiness of time than holiness of place. There are many occasions we
sanctify, but very few places we call holy.
• Is that the whole truth? Not at all, for the very place in which we live,
our permanent residence, is sanctified. This is achieved through a
very concrete ritual, through the mitzvah of mezuzah. –B. Greenberg

6. Mezuzah
• Mezuzah is of Biblical origin. “And you shall inscribe
them on the doorposts (mezuzot) of our house and on
your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:9, 11:20). What is to be
inscribed? “The words that I shall tell you this day”: that
you shall love your God, believe only in Him, keep His
commandments, and pass all of this on to your children.

7. Mezuzah: doorpost
Mezuzah is of Biblical origin. “And you shall inscribe them on the
doorposts (mezuzot) of our house and on your gates” (Deuteronomy
6:9, 11:20). What is to be inscribed? “The words that I shall tell you
this day”: that you shall love your God, believe only in Him, keep His
commandments, and pass all of this on to your children

8. Hiddur Mitzvah
Beauty enhances the mitzvot
by appealing to the senses.
Beautiful sounds and
agreeable fragrances, tastes,
textures, colors, and artistry
contribute to human
enjoyment of religious acts,
and beauty itself takes on a
religious dimension. The
principle of enhancing a
mitzvah through aesthetics is
called Hiddur Mitzvah.
The concept of Hiddur
Mitzvah is derived from
Rabbi Ishmael's comment on
the verse, "This is my God
and I will glorify Him"
(Exodus 15:2):

9. Shabbat in the Home
Ex. 20: 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and
all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord
blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

10. Preparing the Home is a
Holy Act

11. PASSOVER AND THE HOME
Passover is one of the major festivals of the
year where the home rituals are of such
significance and importance that they
overshadow those done in the community.