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‘Limtzo Manoach: Finding Peace’ A Values Exploration

Limtzo Manoach is designed as a virtual activity. If you choose to lead the program in person, these resources will help you prepare and run it:

  • An Educator’s Guide - including an introduction, and supply list & preparation tips
  • A Script - a detailed narrative for each activity within the program

We invite you to use this Spark to anchor your learning and access a sense of Manoach in this tumultuous time.

In the aftermath of the flood, the dove struggled to find a resting place. Over the course of the past two years, we’ve been looking for something similar - a place to rest our feet and find comfort amidst turmoil.

IN THIS SPARK WE WILL EXPLORE THE Value of Manoach

What do we hold on to and what do we discard in the face of imminent change?

What helps us stay grounded during tumultuous moments?

What signposts indicate when it is time to emerge from a difficult experience?

getting ready

Take a minute to write down on a piece of something that is weighing you down and that you would like to leave behind in order to be present for this activity.

Fold the paper in half and place it to the side as we now turn our attention to revisiting your experience over the past two years.

God told Noah to “make for yourself an ark built of gopher wood.” Noah listened to the voice above him and did what he needed in order to prepare for what was coming.

PLANTING TREES

When you initially heard about COVID-19, were you like Noah, who anticipated the destruction or were you like the people, who didn’t believe it could happen?

God instructs Noah to bring with him his wife, his children, their families and two of every kind of species. He took with him what was deemed as most precious onto the Ark.

PACKING WHAT IS MOST NEAR AND DEAR

What did you pack with you? What were you so glad that you had and what were you missing?

God instructs Noah to build an ark to protect him from the raging storm. In the instructions of how to build the Ark, God tells Noah to build a tzohar, a window, an opening for daylight.

As the world was crumbling around him, he was safe inside, preserving what was most precious to him while watching the destruction that was happening around him through his tzohar.

BUILDING YOUR ARK

But why did God command him to build a tzohar? Why was it important for Noah to have a window to the outside world?

The Zohar imagines very beautifully that Noah spent his whole time, morning and night, feeding the animals. That’s an expression of his desire to preserve the world.

Aviva Zornberg imagines that Noah was trying as hard as possible to safeguard what was precious to him. Noah’s commitment to feed the animals was an act of hope. While destruction was happening around him, he was hopeful that a new day would rise.

PRESERVING THE BEST OF WHAT WAS

As you think about the past few years, what has kept you going and given you hope?

What is something that you held on to and nurtured that kept you grounded and gave you comfort?

And what is something that became less of a priority to you, since there just wasn’t enough space in your teiva for?

Noah sent forth the raven to see if it was time to emerge. It wasn’t. Noah then sent forth the dove as his emissary. It could not find a resting place, a manoach, for its feet and returned defeated to the ark, so Noah stayed at sea.

SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO?

Some of us have been waiting for a clear sign that it is safe to come out, while others just decided to emerge on their own. But how are we to know when it’s time to emerge?

Read what you landed on and consider how it relates to how you have been feeling about reentry.

Does it align with the advice you were looking for? Or did you have something completely different in mind?

“Imagine what he must have felt as he walked ashore and discovered the empty, devastated land. He must have looked for familiar ground, vantage points, cities of light and life, dwelling places and their sounds. He knew that they had vanished, still he went on looking for them. Then he was confronted by a choice: anger or gratitude. He chose gratitude. He offered thanks to heaven… As a survivor, the first, he chose gratitude rather than bitterness: the special gratitude of the survivor. He or she knows that every moment means grace, for he or she could have been in another’s place, another who is gone.” - Elie Weisel

Noah was at a crossroads. He emerged to a world of loss. He could have chosen to be angry, to run away. He could have returned to his teiva for safekeeping. But he didn’t. He chose gratitude.

REENTRY

After so much work, worrying, anticipation and disappointment, many of us have managed to emerge from our teiva, at least for a moment. So, let us follow in the footsteps of Noah and offer our gratitude.

Who is someone that you are feeling grateful for in this moment? Text them or send them a note.

What is an object or item that you are feeling grateful for in this moment? Capture your thoughts by writing them down.

Why are you feeling grateful to yourself in this moment? Say it to yourself out loud.

When Noah saw the rainbow and understood that God would build again, he immediately planted a vineyard. The text never tells us that Noah found Manoach, but we know that he immediately gets his hands dirty.

He can’t erase the pain or sorrow that he may have experienced, but he can broaden his perspective by gently settling his attention on something positive and watch it grow.

FINDING MANOACH

Consider for yourself what Manoach means to you.

Is it a state of mind or being that you’ve reached?

Are you on your way to achieving it?

Or does is it seem so far out of reach at the moment?

Before we end, let’s offer each other some advice as we are still in a state of seeking Manoach.

May your time exploring Manoach be part of what contributes to your sense of comfort and peace. And may we all be blessed to continue finding moments of Manoach.

Artwork Credit:

1: Meg Smith, 2: Comunikt, 3: Banksy, 4: Irie Wata, 5:Eleanor Davis, 6: Witchoria, 7: Photo from ABC11, 8: Lisa Congdon, 9: Nadia Snopek, 10: Unknown

Credits:

Created with an image by smdesigns - "watercolors rainbow colors lilac"