It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking Book 17 is “about furniture”. Its title is מיטה ושולחן וכיסא ומנורה ( literally, “A bed and a table and a chair and a lamp”) . But by the second page, with its high quality reproduction of La chambre de Van Gogh à Arles (Van Gogh’s Room at Arles) one begins to realize the book is about much more than furniture.
Book 17 explores the idea of home in a far-reaching way. Via midrashim and poetry, songs and stories, art and theater, students think about what “home” means and how homes have changed through history, debate the right of the individual vs. family obligations in the home, and are challenged to articulate what possessions can tell you about a home’s inhabitants. They learn about animals’ homes in the natural world, read descriptions of Israeli stage sets and plan a set of their own, and learn about the symbolism of the chair as understood via the Bible, midrashim, and customs such as “Elijah’s chair”, used at brit (circumcision) ceremonies throughout Jewish history.
So why the title? These four things – מיטה ושולחן וכיסא ומנורה – conjure a cozy, welcoming room – exactly what the famous Shunamite woman prepared for the prophet Elisha so that he would have a home away from home whenever he passed through the neighborhood.
The verses in Melachim Bet (2 Kings, Ch 4, verses 8-10, trans. http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt09b04.htm ) paint a beguiling picture of hospitality-
What could be more basic than home – and yet it affords the opportunity to debate fundamental dilemmas, examine preconceptions, learn about others, and come to know more about our own culture and history.
