I never expected it when I began, but in the bar/bat mitzvah lessons I’m writing for my students, I’ve been doing a character study of David and, even without hardly trying, I’ve found no less than 11 lessons when breaking down the passages that pertain to David in I and II Samuel.
Eleven lessons is much longer than I thought I’d be able to go with this, but David’s life is a much richer tapestry than most people ever hear about in their church or synagogue. Everyone remembers the tale of his battle with Golyat or his fall into sin with Bat-Sheva; but there are many more episodes out of his life, and each is rich in insight, lessons and meaning that can be applied to how we live out our lives of faith today.
It might sound a bit odd, like a random offer of foreclosure help, but I honestly think that David’s life hasn’t been studied nearly enough. Even though I extracted 11 lessons for my bar/bat mitzvah kids from the Tenakh, I skipped a lot and highlighted only the most applicable main events that would carry relevancy for the kids I teach.
Next time through, I expect I could easily double the number of lessons.
Tags: foreclosure help, Israel, King David, lessons