The yearly Torah reading cycle ends, and begins again, on Simchat Torah. Before we scroll back to the beginning, let’s think about where the Torah has taken us.
In this activity, you are going to pick a favorite Torah portion (parasha) for each book of the Torah and create a game which you can play with a friend.
Getting Oriented or Reviewing - Expand or minimize this section according to your students’ background.
- 1. The Torah is part of a larger book called the Tanakh. Tanakh is an acronym of three sections. Go to the Sefaria homepage (www.sefaria.org) and open the Tanakh. What are the names of the three sections that make up the Tanakh?
- 2. The Torah is the first section of the Tanakh. How many books make up the Torah? What are the names of the books?
Picking Your Favorite - For each book of the Torah, pick your favorite parasha
- 1. Open the first book of the Torah.
- 2. If you remember an interesting story, character, idea, or parasha, click on it to open it up. The list of Torah portions can be found on the table of contents beneath the chapter numbers.
3. If you don’t remember an interesting parasha in the book, use one of the methods below.
- Click on a parasha and skim through until you find one that interests you.
- Type the name of a parasha into the search bar. Click from the dropdown menu the name of the parasha preceded by a # (ex. #Miketz). Read the synopsis of the Torah portion on the topic page.
4. Surf the Torah until you have chosen one favorite parasha for each of the books.
Making a Game - Create a scavenger hunt game that you can play with a friend.
1. Write a clue for each of the five favorite Torah portions that you have chosen.
2. Make sure that the clue isn’t so hard that it is impossible for your friend to figure it out and don’t make it too easy that it isn’t a fun challenge.
3. A clue can be a simple sentence, a rhyming paragraph, a video or song, or a picture.
4. Ex. for #Miketz: Song of the King, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat or “This parasha mentions hungry cows and ears of grain.”
Playing the Game - Pair with a friend who has also made a game.
1. Version 1 - Switch your clue sheet with a friend. Each of you tries to find all five of the Torah portions that you each have chosen. Use Sefaria to help you find the answers. The first person to correctly find all of the answers wins.
2. Version 2 - Go head-to-head with your friend for each book. Use Sefaria to help you find the answers. For instance, swap clues for Bereishit (Genesis) and see who gets the answer first. The winner gets a point. Then swap the clues for the next book. One point is awarded to the winner of each book. The overall winner is the person with the most points.