Family Role Cards: 4 - 5

The Gershom Family

A Family of Slaves

Name: Adam Gershom

You and your wife have ten children: Sarah, Dinah, Rebecca, Neriah, Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Jacob, Efrayim, and Menasseh. You are a stranger in the land of Goshen, a territory received by our forefather Jacob and his children when they arrived here from the land of Israel several generations ago.

You have been working in construction since the decrees were announced. It's hard, debilitating work; your Egyptian supervisors beat you. You return home each night half dead. To be free in the land of Israel is an impossible dream. You don't want your children to be slaves like yourself; you want to see them free!

You believe that:

• The Jews must leave Egypt.
• But others must organize the Exodus, you are bruised and exhausted.
• Prayer will save the Jewish people (you pray with the last vestiges of your strength).
• G-d will help the Jewish people.

Name: Eve Gershom

Adam Gershom is your husband. You have ten children: Sarah, Dinah, Rebecca, Neriah, Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Jacob, Efrayim, and Menasseh. You live in the land of Goshen, a territory received by your forefather Jacob and his children when they arrived here from the land of Israel several generations ago.

Your husband works as a slave laborer on the pyramids. At night, he returns home half dead. You miss the days gone by when your husband had the time to talk with you and the children. You have no hope that those times will return. Every morning when your husband leaves for his work, you fear that this is the day he will succumb to the beatings and not return home alive. You've heard of a new leader named Moses, who wants to save the Jewish people from Israeli slavery.

You believe that:

• The Jews must pray.
• G-d will save His people from Egyptian servitude.
• One day your children will be free in the land of Israel.

Name: Dinah Gershom

Your father works on Pharaoh's pyramids. You brothers, in spite of their youth, are also forced to perform slave labor. They leave the house before dawn each morning and return home late at night. You don't have much money or food either.

You dream that one day you and your family will be free and that you will be able to serve G-d in the land of Israel. You pray each day that G-d will send a savior to take you away from here.

You believe that:

• The Jews must pray.
• G-d will save His people from Egyptian servitude.
• One day you will be free in the land of Israel.

Name: Efrayim Gershom

You are ten years old. You don't go to school, because you are already a slave. Each day, like your father, you are forced to perform hard labor -- construction. You are working on a pyramid. You have a very specific job. Since you are small and wiry, you must carry bricks to the top level of construction, climbing high up the pyramid. You are terribly afraid of falling. Every day, you hear of other workers being injured and killed on the pyramids. But there is no escape!

You believe that:

• The Jews must pray.
• G-d will save His people from Egyptian servitude.

Name: Menasseh Gershom

You are sixteen years old. Your parents are Eve and Adam Gershom. Your father works on Pharaoh's pyramids. You, too, have been forced to work in construction since the decrees were announced. Even though you return home exhausted each night, you have joined an underground group that is planning an escape from Egypt. Your leader's name is Moses.

You believe that:

• Prayer is not enough. The Jews must organize.
• Freedom is man's most precious possession.
• The land of Israel is the land of the Jews.

The Abraham Family

A Family of Shepherds

Name: Ruth Abraham

You are the wife of Isaac Abraham and the mother of three children. Your family is extremely active in the Jewish underground that is working for the liberation of the Jews from slavery and Egypt.

It pains you to see what is happening to your Jewish brothers. They have all been forced into slavery, performing hard labor for Pharaoh. Every night you go to meetings at the Amram home. During the day, you try to persuade the other Jewish women to join the rebellion.

You believe that:

• The Jews must be persuaded to leave Egypt.
• A woman must stand behind her husband.
• G-d will help you escape from Egypt if you make an effort to escape.

Name: Isaac Abraham

You are married to Ruth and have three children. You live in the Jewish neighborhood, land of Goshen (a territory received by your forefather Jacob and his children when they arrived here from the land of Israel several generations ago). In spite of the decrees, you have been permitted to continue your work as a shepherd. The land of Goshen is well suited to raising sheep.

It pains you to see what is happening to my Jewish brothers. They have all been forced into slavery, performing hard labor for Pharaoh. You want to take action on behalf of the Jewish liberation from Egyptian servitude. For this reason, you meet each night with other members of the underground to plan your people's escape. Your leader is a young man from the Amram family. His name is Moses. It will be hard to leave, though. Most of the Children of Israel worship the Egyptian gods.

I believe that:

• Man's highest value is freedom.
• G-d will not help His people as He promised our forefather Abraham.
• The Jews must organize actively and not expect G-d to do everything for them.

Name: Solomon Abraham

Your parents are Ruth and Isaac Abraham. Your entire family is deeply involved in planning the Jewish people's escape from Egypt. You believe that fifteen- year-olds can also be involved and make a contribution. You meet with other members of the underground your age in order to help the rebellion and the escape. You attend secret meetings at night at the home of a friend. Your problem is how to persuade the other teenagers to join - most of them don't care; even their parents don't care.

You believe that:

• All the young people your age must organize.
• It is the teenagers who have the power to rebel, not the fifty-year- olds.
• Freedom is man's highest value.

Name: David Abraham

Your parents are Ruth and Isaac Abraham. Your entire family is deeply involved in planning the Jewish people's escape from Egypt. You are in charge of the most important and sensitive part of the rebellion: having each family take home a lamb -- god of the Egyptians -- for slaughtering, as is written,

"On the tenth of this month each man shall take a lamb for his family"
(Exodus 12:3).

This is an extremely dangerous act. If the Egyptians catch you, you will certainly be killed. But your forces are ready!

You believe that:

• The Jews must organize actively and expect G-d to do everything for them.

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Produced by: Unit for Jewish Education in the CIS