1st Part:

(Work in small groups)

Instructions: Read the following poem written by the Uruguayan writer Mario Benedetti.

PAUSE

Once in a while one
must pause
contemplate oneself
without daily enjoyment
examine the past
section by section
stage by stage
tile by tile
without crying lies
but singing the truths.

Mario Benedetti

Note: The expression “singing a truth” means to recognize, make explicit, or make a truth known (in Spanish as spoken in Rio de la Plata)





Instructions: Answer the following questions according to what was read:

1. The poet proposes taking a break once in a while. With what end?
2. When we pause, how does the author suggest that we contemplate ourselves?
3. Why is it important to examine the past “section by section, stage by stage, tile by tile?”
4. Why do you think human beings “cry lies” instead of “singing the truths?”





2nd Part:

(Work in the context of the whole group)

• Group staging of the answers given in the first part.
• Invite the group members who wish to do so to share a lie that they have told themselves or a truth that they have told themselves, and share how they felt during those moments.
• Analyze what benefits and adverse results are obtained in each case.

3rd Part:

(The whole group)

• Thecoordinator presents a poster or projects a transparency with the following texts: Ecclesiastes 7:20, and a thought from Rabbi Simcha Bunem. Then he / she asks the participants to relate these words to the poem “Pause”:
  
  "There is no just man on earth that only performs good actions and never sins."
  
  
  
  Ecclesiastes, VII, 20:
  
  "Man's culpability does not reside in the fact that he sins, since he is always put to the test and he is a weak being. His culpability resides in the fact that he could do teshuvah, repent and get back on the right path, and does not do it."
  
  (Rabbi Simcha Bunem)
  
  
• The group members must give their answers. The conclusions that they should reach are that:
  
  - Man is a fallible being because of his humanity and because he is able to choose his path.
  - Reluctance to admit his errors is in inherent in man.
  - The greatest “fault” that can be attributed to man is not that he makes mistakes, but that he does not rectify his mistakes.

4th Part:

Activity closure:

The coordinator will point out that Jewish tradition has established that the Jewish people “pause,” as Benedetti proposes that all men do, during the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur holidays.

Option 1: Ask all the group members to list any habits, symbols, and prayers familiar to them that deal with the moment of pause from a Jewish perspective.

Option 2: The same as option 1, but in small groups, with each group making a list to share with the whole group.

Option 3: The same as 1 or 2, plus another list that includes habits, symbols, and prayers related to the aforementioned holidays that the members of the group wish to know or know better. 

 

Required Materials:

- Copies of the poem “Pause”
- Posters or transparencies with the texts quoted
- Blank sheets of paper
- Writing materials
- Poster paper
- Markers