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Students Relive U.S. History with Deer Hides

Rabbi Michoel Harari’s 7th and 8th grade American history class at United Lubavitcher Yeshiva on Ocean Parkway wanted to bring post Revolutionary war America to life by reliving some of the tasks of early Native Americans and frontier settlers.

The students gathered a dozen fresh “green” deer hides, and then got to work. The students learned the primitive art of preserving, preparing and tanning hides. Most this work was done in their free time.

“I’m going to make a bag for my Tefilin” exclaimed one student. “I will never look at my shoes or any leather the same way again; this takes a lot of work,” declared another.

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11 Comments

  • ch resident

    Disgusting. How about teaching them the mitzvah of being kind to animals?

    (And yes, I’m a frum vegetarian.)

    • Ezra

      Since you’re frum, don’t you put on tefillin, read from a sefer Torah, and have mezuzos on your doors? What do you think those are made from?

      Of course we have a mitzvah to avoid tzaar baalei chaim, but don’t think for a moment that this means that Hashem gives us animals – and the rest of the natural world – for our use.

    • Ezra

      Oops – that was of course supposed to say:

      “…that Hashem doesn’t give us…”

  • אהרן

    תלמוד בבלי מסכת בבא מציעא דף פה עמוד ב

    מאי עבידנא, אזלינא ושדינא כיתנא, וגדילנא נישבי, וציידנא טבי ומאכילנא בשרייהו ליתמי, ואריכנא מגילתא וכתבנא חמשה חומשי, וסליקנא למתא ומקרינא חמשה ינוקי בחמשה חומשי, ומתנינא שיתא ינוקי שיתא סדרי, ואמרנא להו: עד דהדרנא ואתינא – אקרו אהדדי ואתנו אהדדי, ועבדי לה לתורה דלא תשתכח מישראל. היינו דאמר רבי: כמה גדולים מעשי חייא!