Pirkei Avos Activities

Lesson Plan
This isnt so much a formal lesson plan as it is a booklet of ideas, inspirations, activities. I hope itll be more of a
jumping-off point than a literal step-by-step cookbook for academic and middos success.

Were going to explore three mishnayos from Pirkei Avos, Perek 4. This is how I learn it with my kids, or try to, every
Shabbos afternoon between Pesach and Shavuos. I think people generally keep going until Rosh Hashanah, but our
summers are crazy and we generally stop then.

The first thing I do when Im setting out to teach any kodesh subject is head over to chinuch.org. There are tons of great
resources there why reinvent the wheel? And even if you intend to reinvent the wheel, but its nice to know what a
wheel sort of looks like before you start.

For Pirkei Avos, I usually hit the books ahead of time and choose three mishnayos that speak to me. If I dont
understand them, I look at meforshim (I have a well-loved Avos with Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch) or turn to the
Artscroll Youth Pirkei Avos. Be careful with the Artscroll one; more than in their other books, the translation is not
literal they have taken many liberties with the text. Some are helpful to kids; others, less so.

I try to make sure that kids even kids too young to really translate hear the original text in Hebrew. These sources
are important to us and it is their mesorah; their heritage. Read it to them if theyre too young; get used to explaining
complicated ideas in your own words.

Copywork is important, too: even kids too young to understand can copy sections of original pesukim, whether theyre
from the Torah, Tanach, Tefillah, Pirkei Avos or another source. Hashem expects us to immerse ourselves not just in the
ideas but in the language of Torah and of those who taught it to us over the years. Keep copywork short and light,
within kids ability. If your child complains that his hand hurts, the copywork is probably beyond him. Cut the length,
cut out all unimportant words, break it into two sessions youre the parent, which makes you the teacher, too.

The pages that follow are geared towards a range of ages. Pick and choose what might work for you and your kids, and
only print what you need. Break it up over several days this is definitely not meant to be done all at once. As a bonus,
I believe the impact of visiting a subject more than doubles if you can have two separate lessons on the topic. I have
zero research to support this its purely intuition.

If youre learning parsha, for instance, cover it briefly once early in the week, or introduce copywork, or talk a bit about
the themes this doesnt have to take more than five minutes, since youre just planting seeds. Then, later on in the
week, come back to it. The seeds are still there, but now you can grow them a bit, introducing a few more ideas and
another activity, like a colouring page, narration, a video or some combination of things you enjoy.

Have fun learning with your kids!!!

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Pirkei Avos Activities
Resources Used:

Pirkei Avos booklet: http://chinuch.org/item_details.php?mid=7553

Pirkei Avos translations & worksheets: http://chinuch.org/item_details.php?mid=8946

English text: http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/516682/jewish/Chapter-4.htm

Hebrew text:
http://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%94_%D7%90%D7%91%D7%95%D7%AA_%D7%93_%D7%
A0%D7%99%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%93

Lion maze from this page: http://www.koloringbook.com/KOLORI~2/Maze_Page.html

Longer, more elaborate printable version of the fox and goat fable:
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio/pdfs/aesop/the_fox_and_the_goat.pdf

Aesops Fables listing: http://www.amblesideonline.org/Aesop.shtml

Cute commercial for pirkei avos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yOWmentF10

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Pirkei Avos Activities
Before learning Pirkei Avos, we say or sing:

All of bnei Yisrael have a part in Olam Haba,

just as it says (in sefer Yeshaya/Isaiah):
Your people are all tzaddikim,
they will inherit the Land forever
the shoot of My planting,
the work of My hands,
to glorify Me.

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Pirkei Avos Activities

What is Pirkei Avos?

Pirkei = Chapters
Avos = Fathers, or ancestors

These are morals lessons from great rabbis about how to live.

Why is that important?

These days, people often look to movie stars, sports heroes, wealthy business people, and other
famous people to get ideas on how to live their lives. Sometimes, we can get okay ideas from
watching famous people, but sometimes, their ideas are bad and even dangerous.
The advice of the Torah and Pirkei Avos is good forever it never gets old.

Advice from Famous People Advice from Torah/Pirkei Avos

Youll be happier if you have more stuff Enjoy the stuff you already have.

Spend your time having fun If you learn Torah, people will respect you.

Choose friends who are the most exciting to be Choose friends who will help you be a better
around. person.
Get whatever you can for yourself. Give to tzedakah and help people.

Can you think of more ways that the Torah wants us to live?
Advice from Famous People Advice from Torah/Pirkei Avos

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Where does Pirkei Avos come from? Cut out strips and have children sequence them to
assemble the picture and discuss
Pirkei Avos
the chain of Activities
transmission from Har Sinai. Cut off numbers to make it tougher for slightly older children.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
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Pirkei Avos Activities

It says in Pir kei Avos (Mishnah 4:1)

: Ben Zoma said:

? Who is wise?
One who learns from every person.
? Who is strong?
... Those who conquer their own will.
? Who is wealthy?
... Those who rejoice in what they have.
? Who is honoured?
... One who honours others.

Can you think of a time that

you really wanted something
and you conquered your
will and either waited or
chose not to have it?

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Pirkei Avos Activities

It says in Pirkei Avos (Mishnah 4:13)

, Rabbi Shimon said:

, There are three crowns:

the crown of Torah,
the crown of the kohanim,
, and the crown of kings,
but the crown of a good name
: surpasses them all.

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Pirkei Avos Activities

It says in Pirkei Avos (Mishnah 4:15)

Rabbi Masya ben Charash said:

You would be [better off like] the tail
,
of lions,
and not like the head
: of foxes.

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Pirkei Avos Activities Copywork - Print
From Pirkei Avos, 4:1

:
.
?

. ?

. ?

. ?

Who is wise? One who learns from every person

Who is strong? Those who conquer their own will
Who is wealthy? Those who rejoice in what they have
Who is honoured? One who honours others.

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Pirkei Avos Activities
Copywork - Script From Pirkei Avos, 4:1

?
.

?
.

?
.

.
?

Who is wise? One who learns from every person

Who is strong? Those who conquer their own will
Who is wealthy? Those who rejoice in what they have
Who is honoured? One who honours others.

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Pirkei Avos Activities
Who is wise? A person who learns from everyone!

Can you think of three people you have learned from? What did you learn?
Write or draw to fill in each box.

Someone older than you Someone younger than you

Someone else you learned from What can other people learn from you?

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Pirkei Avos Activities
Who is wealthy?

Those who rejoice in what they have!

Cut out entire dashed rectangle above. Cut out doors carefully on dashed
lines so they will open on their hinges. Paste onto construction paper or
cardstock (check that the doors still open!). In the large closet, draw many
clothes, toys, sports equipment, shoes, etc. In the small closet, draw only
one or two dolls and items of clothing. Which child looks happier???
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Copywork Pirkei Avos 4:13

Pirkei Avos Activities

The crown of a good name surpasses them all.

Write your Hebrew name on the crown,

then decorate it.

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Pirkei Avos Activities
Pirkei Avos, 4:15
: ,
Rabbi Matya the son of Charash would say [its better to] be a tail to lions than a head to foxes.

Aesops Fables, a collection of very old stories, includes several tales that show us what people think of foxes
and of lions. Usually, in these fables, foxes are very:
Clever theyre very, very smart
Selfish they dont care much about being nice to others
Greedy they take whatever they can get
Heres a story that shows what kind of a character the Fox can be:

The Fox and the Goat

One day, the Fox fell into a deep well. He was trapped! He couldnt figure out how
he would escape. Then, he heard the thirsty Goat approach the well. Ah-ha, said Fox
to himself. I have an idea.
Seeing the Fox, the Goat asked if the water was good. Acting cheerful, the Fox
talked on and on about how wonderful the water was: It is excellent beyond measure,
my good friend. Come, join me for a swim!
The Goat forgot about everything but how thirsty he was. He jumped down into the
well, but just as he started to drink, the Fox turned to him and told him that they were
both stuck.
But dont worry, the Fox said. I have an idea to get us both out. If you will place
your front feet on the wall and bend your head, I will run up your back and escape.
Then, afterwards, Ill help you out of the well.
The Goat agreed and the Fox leaped upon his back. Steadying himself with the
Goat's horns, he reached the mouth of the well safely and ran off as fast as he could.
Wait! called the Goat, angrily. What about your promise?
The Fox turned around and cried out, You foolish old fellow! If you had as many
brains in your head as you have hairs in your beard, you would never have gone down
into the well before you had checked to see if there was a way up.
There are two morals to this story:
Look before you leap, or, Never trust the advice of a person in trouble.

Give an example of how the Fox in this story shows us that he is

Clever -?

Selfish -?

Greedy -?

(Can you think of what the difference might be between selfish and greedy?)

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Pirkei Avos Activities
Pirkei Avos, 4:15
: ,
Rabbi Matya the son of Charash would say [its better to] be a tail to lions than a head to foxes.

Heres another story from Aesops Fables which shows us a time when the Fox doesnt win. In fact, the Fox
loses out quite a bit in those stories. A person who is selfish is also often in too much of a hurry to get whats
coming to him to do things carefully, the way we should.

The Lions Share

The Lion went once hunting along with the Fox, the Jackal, and the Wolf.
They hunted and hunted until at last they found a Stag, which they stalked and
killed. Then came the question of how the meat should be divided up.
Cut up this Stag, roared the Lion; so the other animals skinned it and cut it into
four parts. Then the Lion stood in front of the body and announced:
The first part is for me, for I am King of the Beasts! The other animals all nodded.
Fair enough; he is indeed King of the Beasts! He then called out, the second is mine
as judge, for I am sharing out the meat! The other animals nodded again. Fair
enough; he gets something for that. Then, the lion proclaimed, another part comes to
me because I helped with the hunt! They agreed readily. Yes, yes, he did help hunt
the Stag. Finally, the lion growled a low, threatening growl. As for the fourth part,
well, as for that, I should like to see which of you will dare lay a paw upon it.
Humph, grumbled the Fox, but he spoke in a low voice, so the lion couldnt hear
him as he slunk away with his tail between his legs.
The moral of this story:
You may share the labours of the great, but you will not share the spoil.

Remember, this is just a story, but there really is an expression in English, the lions share. If we say
someone got the lions share, that means they got almost everything there was money or whatever it was.

When it says in this mishnah that its better to be the tail of a lion than the head of a fox, it really means that you
must try to be part of something big and important, even if you have to be a small part.

Imagine having a choice between two jobs: a floor sweeper or president of a company. Youd probably say
you wanted to be president of the company. But what if the floor-sweeping job meant youd get to sweep the
floors of the Bais HaMikdash? What if the president job meant youd be in charge of a company that made all
its money from lying to old ladies?

Youd never get rich sweeping floors, but remember the first mishnah we learned who is wealthy? Those
who rejoice in what they have. You would probably be happier sweeping the floors of the Bais HaMikdash a
tail of the lion kind of a job than you would be as president of the stealing company the foxs head.

For more lion-related activities, theres a free Lions Lapbook here: http://www.homeschoolshare.com/lions.php

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Pirkei Avos Activities
Better to be a tail to lions than a head to foxes.

The Torah talks a lot about lions. The symbol of Shevet Yehuda (the Tribe of Judah) is a lion and we are all called
Yehudim, Jews, after that shevet, which was the one from which all the Jewish kings came.

Can you help these young lions find their way to the leader?

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Pirkei Avos Activities

The Chain of Mesorah:

Find out more about one of the rabbis we learn from in Pirkei Avos.
When and where did he live? Who did he learn from? What made his life memorable?

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 The Torah Worldview / Hashkafa
The way we see the world is called our hashkafa / , our worldview. This is related to the Hebrew word mishkafayim /
, which means glasses. When we learn Torah and the lessons of Pirkei Avos, we can see more clearly how were
supposed to live our lives. This is different from advice we may get from movie stars, sports heroes, and other famous
people (advice from them or what we learn from watching their lives).

Draw a picture in each of these lenses showing what this Perek has taught us about how we should live instead!
Pirkei Avos Activities

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Pirkei Avos Activities
After learning Pirkei Avos, we say or sing:

Rabbi Chananya ben Akashya said:
,
Hashem wanted to reward bnei Yisrael
,


so he created lots of Torah and mitzvos,


as it says,



Hashem wants us all to be tzaddikim,
:

making Torah great and mighty.

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