Netivot+Shalom-+Shmiat+Ha'Ozen

"Hear (Listen) Israel, Adonai is our God, Adonai is One." (Deuteronomy 6:4)

1. What is the difference between hearing and listening? 2. What do we do when we are really listening? 3. What are we listening for when we pray the Sh’ma?

Family Learning led by Adam Weisberg February 3, 2007**
 * //Shmiat Ha’Ozen///Being a Good Listener

Adam passed out film canisters filled with various objects (dried beans, seeds, rocks). The children had to walk around the room, partnering up and shaking their canisters to find the one who had the same sounding canister. Afterwards, we sat in a circle and listened to how subtle the differences in sound were. We talked about how to truly listen, you have to concentrate and really pay attention and how people who can’t see often have highly developed hearing. We talked about how when we are busy doing something, we may not tune into background sounds, but when we are silent, we can hear so many things. We also talked about how loud a car or a siren can sound at night when our house is quiet. We talked about how to create this type of “silence” so we can really listen to others and to the sounds of the world around us. Adam suggested that we try to make a sound map. Sit and list all the sounds you hear. Then close your eyes and listen again. The more you concentrate on listening, the more you can hear. We talked about how the “shhhh” sound in the word //Sh’ma// reminds us to listen to what we are about to say. We finished by all closing our eyes and praying the //Sh’ma// together, really listening to the sounds of our voices and the words of the prayer.


 * //Shmiat Ha’Ozen///Being a good Listener**
 * Adult Learning led by Lisa Fink**
 * Feb. 3, 2007**

1. "Hear (Listen) Israel, Adonai is our God, Adonai is One." (Deuteronomy 6:4)

2. “Morning by morning God awakens me, awakens my ear: teaching me to listen." (Isaiah 50:4)

3. Judaism begins with the commandment: Hear O Israel But what does it really mean to “hear?” The person who attends a concert With a mind on business Hears - but does not really hear. The person who walks amid the song of birds And thinks only of what will be served for dinner Hears - but does not really hear. The one who listens to the words of a friend, Or a spouse or a child, And does not catch the note of urgency: "Notice me, help me, care about me,” Hears - but does not really hear. The person who listens to the news And thinks only of how it will affect business, Hears - but does not really hear. The person who stifles the sound of conscience And thinks “I have done enough already,” Hears - but does not really hear. The person who hears the Hazzan pray And does not feel the call to join in prayer, Hears - but does not really hear. The person who listens to the rabbi’s sermon And thinks that someone else is being addressed, Hears - but does not really hear.

On this Shabbat, O Lord, Sharpen our ability to hear. May we hear the music of the world, And the infant’s cry, and the lover’s sigh. May we hear the call for help of the lonely soul, And the sound of the breaking heart. May we hear the words of our friends, And also their unspoken pleas and dreams. May we hear within ourselves the yearnings That are struggles for expression. May we hear You, O God. For only if we hear You Do we have the right to hope That You will hear us. Hear the prayers that we offer to you this day, O God, And may we hear them too.

(“Listen” by Rabbis Jack Riemer and Harold Kushner, from the prayer book //Likrat Shabbat//, by Sidney Greenberg and Jonathan D. Levine)

What is implied in the commandment to “hear, O Israel?” What do you think about when you say the Sh’ma? Why do we traditionally say this at least twice a day?

What are obstacles to real hearing/listening?

What does //shmiat ha’ozen// have to do with //b’tzelem elohim//?

What does //shmiat ha’ozen// have to do with //shmirat ha’lashon//?


 * //Shmiat Ha’Ozen///Being a good Listener**
 * Take Home Activity**
 * Feb. 3, 2007**

An Exercise to Practice //Shmiat Ha’Ozen//

Many of our children know the //Sh’ma// “by heart.” When we know something so well, we often recite it by rote, semi-consciously, rather than really “by heart,” using whole our being, fully listening to what we are saying.

Our tradition suggests that the //Sh’ma// be recited before bed and upon waking. In the coming weeks, try at bedtime and in the morning, to recite the //Sh’ma// with your child. Close your eyes as you do and listen not only to your own voices, but also to the words of the prayer, the sounds of the day, your own breath, the way your voices join together, etc. See how many things your child felt and heard and noticed while saying the //Sh’ma//. This is all part of attentive, active listening.

//Shmiat Ha’Ozen///Being a Good Listener Family Learning February 17, 2007

Guest Presenter: Jeannie Witkin, a sign language interpreter/congregant///Rimmonim// parent. This session, we combined our family and adult/children’s learning into one large block of time since the presentation was of such interest to everyone and was quite long. Summary of Jeannie’s session: At Rimmonim, I did a very short intro about languages. Does God have ears to hear us? Does God only understand if we pray in Hebrew? Is English ok? What about other languages like Chinese or Swahili? What about the //Amidah// when we only speak with our hearts but God still can "hear" us? And then what about a language that uses hands and faces and you have to listen with your eyes? Since receptive skills come before expressive and are easier, I concentrated on signing to the kids and having them understand me. I brought 2 toy cars and showed them how to sign a car moving forward in a straight line. Emma and Asher (my children) were my assistants. Then I signed different sentences like "a car weaving in a curvy line", a car going up and then down a hill, two cars crashing into each other, a car going backwards. After I signed each phrase, I asked for a volunteer to come up and use the toy cars to show what I had just signed. They were always able to do this. I think they were excited to realize that they could figure out what I was saying even without me expressly teaching any more than " a car going forward in a straight line." They could extrapolate from there. Then I did a similar thing, showing them how to sign a person's legs, and then signing jump up and down, hop on one foot, sit cross legged, sit with straight legs together, legs spread wide, sit on your knees, do a somersault. Again they could figure out what I was signing and they did these all together. I used no voice for this. Then I signed some animals from a book and asked them to show me which animal on the page they thought I was signing. They could do this too. We talked about how the //Sh’ma// is such an important prayer not only because it says the most important thing about God- that God is ours and is everywhere- but because it reminds us to LISTEN! Then I showed them one way to sign the //Sh’ma//. We talked about how to get the attention of a Deaf person who was not looking at you, how Deaf people make phone calls, how they knew if someone was ringing their door bell. At the end we talked about how hearing/listening is so much more than a physical thing and how there are so many different ways we can be good listeners.

//Shmiat Ha’Ozen///Being a Good Listener February 17, 2007 Take Home Activity

We all know how it feels when we are trying to talk with someone and they are not listening. They may have their back to us, seem distracted, not look us in the eye, interrupt us, etc. Pick a day this week and on that day concentrate really hard, as a family, on practicing //shmiat ha’ozen///being a good listener. Remember all the ways we listed of being a good listener including:
 * 1) Look into the eyes of the person speaking to you
 * 2) Really take in what he/she is saying
 * 3) Wait for a pause to say something back
 * 4) Let the person know that you got what he/she said
 * 5) Notice your feelings but don’t focus only on them
 * 6) Ask questions if you don’t understand what is being said

Click here to go back to Netivot Shalom's main page.