Sheep. That would be the lesson plan. There is a little girl that comes to our congregation twice a month on Shabbat who I have the privilege of teaching. I don't prepare much. But sheep were on my mind. Actually sheep and cotton balls. But when I got to the class I realized the cotton balls were still at home.
So we went on a hunt. The closest thing we could find were disposable diapers - which to a 7 year old was hysterical. So, I got her attention with the diaper and we proceeded to dismantle it, extracting the cottony fluff. Pasting clumps of fluff on a paper plate, we added a black head and 4 legs. While working, she told me she was reading a book about Sammie the Sheep that morning. As far as I was concerned, that was all the confirmation I needed to begin the teaching of the day.
So I mentioned that sheep are not very bright. They hang out in herds. They become a bit stressed when separated from their 'friends' and they tend to want to flee in a panic when threatened...which could be more effort than some shepherds want to exert! A shepherd spends an inordinate amount of time with his flock. So our discussion was also about the shepherd.
When we finished making her sheep, she had gathered other stuffed animal sheep from the classroom to make a herd. She placed her creation amongst the other sheep and I told her a story about a shepherd who watched 100 sheep. How every night they would be herded into the pen and counted. But one night, there were only 99. I told her to close her eyes. And I hid her creation. I asked her if she was satisfied to just leave her creation lost and play with the stuffed animals that looked like her homemade sheep. She looked at me like I was crazy! She said, "No! We have to find my sheep!"
She went on a hunt around the room until finally she found her lost sheep. She held it high...and said, "I found it!" And I told her the rest of the story. In Ezekiel 34, "the Sovereign LORD says; I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep." Then in Luke 15 Jesus said, "Suppose one of you has a 100 sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. He calls his friends and neighbors together and says, "Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent."
She got it. Do you?
So we went on a hunt. The closest thing we could find were disposable diapers - which to a 7 year old was hysterical. So, I got her attention with the diaper and we proceeded to dismantle it, extracting the cottony fluff. Pasting clumps of fluff on a paper plate, we added a black head and 4 legs. While working, she told me she was reading a book about Sammie the Sheep that morning. As far as I was concerned, that was all the confirmation I needed to begin the teaching of the day.
So I mentioned that sheep are not very bright. They hang out in herds. They become a bit stressed when separated from their 'friends' and they tend to want to flee in a panic when threatened...which could be more effort than some shepherds want to exert! A shepherd spends an inordinate amount of time with his flock. So our discussion was also about the shepherd.
When we finished making her sheep, she had gathered other stuffed animal sheep from the classroom to make a herd. She placed her creation amongst the other sheep and I told her a story about a shepherd who watched 100 sheep. How every night they would be herded into the pen and counted. But one night, there were only 99. I told her to close her eyes. And I hid her creation. I asked her if she was satisfied to just leave her creation lost and play with the stuffed animals that looked like her homemade sheep. She looked at me like I was crazy! She said, "No! We have to find my sheep!"
She went on a hunt around the room until finally she found her lost sheep. She held it high...and said, "I found it!" And I told her the rest of the story. In Ezekiel 34, "the Sovereign LORD says; I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep." Then in Luke 15 Jesus said, "Suppose one of you has a 100 sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. He calls his friends and neighbors together and says, "Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent."
She got it. Do you?
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