Lesson Plan

Caring for Plants to Care for the Future

Trees have always been very important in Judaism – they even have their own holiday! Today we will look at a photograph and a text from the Talmud to see what we can learn about trees, the environment, and the future.

Take a close look at a photograph and a text from the Talmud to see what we can learn about trees, the environment, and the future.

Group Activity

Activity #1: Analyzing a photograph

In pairs or alone, students complete the worksheet in order to understand the photograph of a man watering a tree on Kibbutz Ginegar.


Activity #2: Learning about Honi the Circle Maker

Students read a Talmudic text about Honi the Circle Maker (Honi HaMa’agel) and the importance of planting trees, even though they only provide fruit for the next generations.

Depending on the background or age of the students, the text can be presented in various ways:

Students can work in pairs to read the text and answer the questions on the worksheet.

 The teacher can teach the text to the class, using the worksheet and a printed version of the text or show the text on a screen. 

Teachers can tell the story to the children.

Teachers can show a video with the story.

Discussion Questions

Before learning the Talmudic story:

  • What is the importance of trees for you?
  • What is the importance of trees for the environment?
  • How long does it take for a tree to grow to full height?


After learning the Talmudic story:

  1. Why was Honi surprised that the man was planting a tree that would only give fruit in another 70 years?
  2. What was the man’s answer? What did it mean?
  3. What might Raphael Stern have been thinking about while he was watering the tree? Do you think he was thinking about the future?
  4. What Jewish holiday celebrates trees? 
  5. Have you ever planted or cared for a tree? Did you also have to wait patiently until you could enjoy the fruit of the tree? Do you feel a special connection to that tree?

Creative Activity

Choose one of the following:

Save/Print PDF

Activity #1: Analyzing a photograph

In pairs or alone, students complete the worksheet in order to understand the photograph of a man watering a tree on Kibbutz Ginegar.


Activity #2: Learning about Honi the Circle Maker

Students read a Talmudic text about Honi the Circle Maker (Honi HaMa’agel) and the importance of planting trees, even though they only provide fruit for the next generations.

Depending on the background or age of the students, the text can be presented in various ways:

Students can work in pairs to read the text and answer the questions on the worksheet.

 The teacher can teach the text to the class, using the worksheet and a printed version of the text or show the text on a screen. 

Teachers can tell the story to the children.

Teachers can show a video with the story.

You may be interested

Caring for Plants to Care for the Future

Trees have always been very important in Judaism – they even have their own holiday! Today we will look at a photograph and a text from the Talmud to see what we can learn about trees, the environment, and the future.

No items found.

Join NLI's Educators Community

To connect with educators from around the globe and receive support from the NLI team
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.