Innovation Day Reflection

At the start of the project I was feeling confused because making a sled did not seem like something we would normally do for Innovation day but then when he explained it more it made a bit more sense. The most difficult parts of the process were measuring the wood and painting the sled. Some special features we added to our sled were a flashlight, to make it better for night sledding, a steering mechanism and a braking mechanism to make it more safe. Some things I would do differently are double coat the paint and make the board look nicer. Something I will take with me to highschool is to prioritize the writing over the actual building because it is normally worth more marks. I enjoyed this project because building something with my hands and with my partner was very fun and sometimes challenging. In the end I am very happy that I got 3rd place but I still think I could have improved it.

Pirkei Avot

Be careful [in your dealings] with the ruling authorities for they do not befriend a person except for their own needs; they seem like friends when it is to their own interest, but they do not stand by a man in the hour of his distress (Avot 2:3).

Shiloh Dynasty & beats mode – Trust Nobody (Lyrics) – YouTube

This paragraph means that you can’t trust anyone that is wealthy/powerful because they are only befriending you for their future gain. We can learn not to trust wealthy/powerful people and if you are wealthy/powerful you should try to be more trustworthy. “You see I say when I bleed, but you don’t care ’bout my health, oh no”(Dynasty, “Trust Nobody”).These relate because the song is about how people turn their back on them and the verse from Pirkei Avot is not to trust rich people. 

 

Rabbi Joshua said: an evil eye, the evil inclination, and hatred for humankind put a person out of the world (Avot 2:11).

The Fray – How to Save a Life (Official Video) – YouTube

What Rabbi Joshua is saying is that if you think that everything sucks, and that everyone is evil, you will hate the world and become depressed. A lesson we can learn from this verse is that you should appreciate everything anyone does for you and think positively. This relates to the song How to Save a Life by The Fray because the song is sung in a sad way, however the tone indicates that there is still a bit of hope. “Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend, Somewhere along in the bitterness”(The Fray “How to Save a Life”).  These relate because they are both depressed and need a therapist to help them feel better.

 

Moreover he saw a skull floating on the face of the water. He said to it: because you drowned others, they drowned you. And in the end, they that drowned you will be drowned (Avot 2:6).

Drown in My Own Tears – YouTube

This verse is saying that if you drown someone you will get drowned implying that whatever wrong you do will happen to you. What we can learn is to do nice things to people and G-d will make us have a better life that we can enjoy. This song is about someone who is so sad he is drowning in his own tears. “I know it’s true, mm hmm, into each life, oh, some rain, rain must pour, I’m so blue here without you, It keeps a-raining more and more”(Charles “Drown in My Own Tears”). This quote is saying that he never stops crying and he is always so sad because his loved one is gone. The song is related to the verse because if you are being mean to people or drowning them you must be really depressed and cry a lot. They are also both sad and both about people drowning.

 

He used to say: The more flesh, the more worms; The more property, the more anxiety; The more wives, the more witchcraft; The more female slaves, the more lewdness; The more slaves, the more robbery; [But] the more Torah, the more life; The more sitting [in the company of scholars], the more wisdom; The more counsel, the more understanding; The more charity, the more peace. If one acquires a good name, he has acquired something for himself; If one acquires for himself knowledge of Torah, he has acquired life in the world to come (Avot 2:7).

Coldplay – Viva La Vida (Official Video) – YouTube

This verse is saying that the more someone possesses the more bad will happen to them and they will become a worse person. From this we can learn to not take more than we need. “For some reason, I can’t explain, I know Saint Peter won’t call my name” (Coldplay “Viva La Vida”). This song’s about someone who used to be a king and then lost it all and now thinks he will go to hell because Saint Peter is the guardian of heaven and if he calls your name you are let in. The song and the Pirkei Avot verse relate because they are both agreeing that the more you have the more bad you have.

 

Rabbi Tarfon said: the day is short, and the work is plentiful, and the laborers are indolent, and the reward is great, and the master of the house is insistent (Avot 2:15). 

DISNEY SING-ALONGS | Heigh Ho – Snow White Lyric Video! | Official Disney UK – YouTube

Rabbi Tarfon is saying that when you work hard for something, you will get a reward. A lesson we can learn is that work is not always a bad thing and will often reward you in the future. “It aint no trick to get rich quick If ya dig dig dig with a shovel or a stick” (7 Dwarfs “Heigh Ho”). This song is about dwarves who work hard every day but get rewards from it. The verse from the song is saying that you have to work hard to get rich. The verse connects to the song because they both say that if you work hard you get a reward.

Reflection for Filtration

For innovation day me and a friend did our project on filtration. At the start I was worried about how much work this would take and it was at the same time as multiple other projects but we had enough time in school and the only time I worked on it at home was to edit because we had many grammatical errors. Next time I think I would have an object to show our experiments in person instead of explaining it with pictures. 

Holocaust Memorial

Elizabeth Kaufman

 

Some moments in her life that captivated me were that her father was one of only 1000 to be given special U. S. visas. It felt wrong that only 1000 people granted permission to go to the U. S. and other countries could have saved so many more people. This Made me feel really sad though I think we should all know this and feel this way.

My Jewish Values

For this project I worked with a partner to pick the 5 most important Jewish values for us. The values we chose were Leadership, Respect for animals, Appreciation, Friendship, and Freedom. We thought that each of these values was very important because without Leadership, no one would know what to do or where to be. Respect for animals because it is important that we have respect for things that are not people too. Appreciation because it is important that people know when you appreciate something they do and it is important to know that you are appreciated. Friendship because friends can boost your happiness and make you less lonely. And finally we chose freedom because we are grateful that Canada is a free country and you can say what you want. Two things I learnt in this project are new things that are Jewish value, for example, I never knew that Judaism values appreciation, so that is 1 thing I learnt. The other thing I learnt is that there are so many different Jewish values and it was almost impossible for me and my partner to pick the 5 most important to us.

Link to our slide:

file:///C:/Users/eliez/Downloads/Jewish%20Values.pdf