Core Story
- Introduce hevruta, divide class, pass out “core story” sheets
- Hevrutas read core story to each other and explore discussion questions. (Please note that the text we have provided is a summary of Ruth’s story and not the original text. The Book of Ruth is short-story length: too long to read together in a session which also explores other sources, but reasonable for reading at home, or in a dedicated class. If you wish to use the original text, the JPS translation is a good starting place, but feel free to use any version.)
- Come back together to discuss what arose in hevruta. Begin by inviting students to share the questions they found and listing them on the board. Explain that finding unanswered questions in the text is the starting point of midrash (interpretation of Torah).
- If you find that students are eager to debate about answers to their questions, this can lead to a great discussion, but remind them that the Jewish interpretative tradition allows for multiple answers to a single question.
