Source
Note: for legal reasons we are unable to distribute this poem in English translation. It is legal to translate it for classroom use locally and we suggest you do this from the Hebrew, or have the students read it in Hebrew if they are able.
שנה טובה לרותי
מאת דליה בר-אל
צִיַּרְתִּי לְרוּתִי כַּרְטִיס בְּרָכָה
וְכָתַבְתִּי:
“שָׁנָה טוֹבָה וּמְאֻשֶּׁרֶת
וְהַרְבֵּה אִחוּלִים”
כָּעֵת הִיא תָּבִין
שֶׁאֲנִי מִצְטַעֶרֶת
עַל הָרִיב –
זֶה כָּתוּב שָׁם בֵּין הַמִּלִּים.
Foundations for Planning
Essential Questions
- How do Jewish practices reflect Jewish values?
- How do I grow as a result of the Jewish calendrical cycle?
Content Questions Related to the Essential Questions
- What ways are there to say we’re sorry?
- What’s hard about saying sorry?
- What is the role of words in human communication?
- What is the difference between speech and action?
Background for Teacher
The poem raises the question: should we say sorry overtly, in so many words, or can we also do so indirectly? Is it important to mention exactly what was done wrongly, or can we just make a gesture and move on? What meaning do...
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The poem raises the question: should we say sorry overtly, in so many words, or can we also do so indirectly? Is it important to mention exactly what was done wrongly, or can we just make a gesture and move on? What meaning do words have in the process of making amends? Of course none of these questions have unequivocal answers.
Optional Hooks 
In-Depth Discussion 
Suggested Activities 
Further Study How can we say sorry? In pairs, have the students respond to the question according to the think-pair-share model. Afterwards, have them write all of the answers they came up with on the board.
Click here to view our consolidated list of suggested interactive pedagogies for classroom discussion.
- Why do you think the girl in the poem prefers to send a card rather than tell her friend she’s sorry in person?
- Do you think this is a proper way to say sorry, or do we actually need to say sorry in words? Suggest some arguments in favor of each position. (You might think about the effect words have on the person saying sorry and the person who hears the apology).
- If you did the activity above – suggesting different ways to say sorry – decide which ways are more appropriate and which are less. Explain your choices.
- Think of a time when you had to say sorry to someone: did you do it in words or in another way? Why did you choose that particular way?
- Think of a time when someone said sorry to you and you felt their apology was sincere and meaningful. What was it about the way they said sorry that made you feel that?
4 corners: Write four different ways to say sorry on different sheets of paper, tack each sheet on one corner of the room (for example: “I’m sorry”, writing a letter, making a positive and warm gesture, moving forward as if nothing happened). Ask the students to choose a corner which has the possibility they most identify with. Ask several students to explain their choices.
- The Jewish calendar has a special time set aside for saying sorry – Yom Kippur. You could learn a section from the Mishnah about how we say sorry on Yom Kippur – Offenses between humans …
- Jewish tradition attaches great importance to the power of words, including the words we use to say sorry. The Viduy (Confession) prayer we recite on Yom Kippur includes a long list of offenses for which the worshippers ask forgiveness.
