Description
When I was still single and teaching Bible clubs, I had a wonderful mentor. She taught me that you teach from your overflow. If you aren’t learning new things, you can’t teach well. We, as parents, are ultimately responsible for our children’s spiritual educations. We need to fill our own “spiritual cups” to be able to share truths with them. How often have you listened to a teaching or read a post on Facebook about this week’s Torah portion, and thought, “Wow, I want to remember that?” And did you? Probably not. It’s okay. We all forget things, especially me. That is why we need systems to store the information we want to keep.
That is why I created the Torah portions journal.
What is it exactly?
The Torah portions journal is a 200+ page printable designed to help you organize and record your studies of the Torah portions year after year. And it’s pretty!
The Torah portions journal has several features to help you record information about each Torah portion, and look forward to doing so.
- Each Torah portion has a 2-page spread with the name and Scripture references for the portion. It also has prompts for you to write a summary, historical info, key words, and application.
- Historical info is your spot to include background historical or cultural information. For example, you may write some details on Egyptian gods as you are studying the 10 plagues, or look at world events that happened in the same time frame as an event in the Torah portion.
- I list a key passage from each portion for you to copy.
- Each portion also has blank journal pages for you to take notes from teachings or books. You may also find it helpful to break the portion down into an outline.
- Since the Torah portions journal is a printable PDF, I recommend you put it in a three-ring binder. Then you can add print-outs from websites, additional note pages, and any other tid-bits you find helpful.
- It is designed to be added to each time you travel through the Torah cycle. You can add to your notes from the previous year and see how your understanding has grown.
- You are creating your own Torah portions reference book that you can use each Shabbat as you teach your children or have Scriptural discussions with others.
- It’s pretty! Each book of the Torah has a dandelion themed title page, and there are little decorations throughout the pages to give it a sweet, vintage feel.
You can get started this week! Just start with the next week’s Torah portion. Ideally, you will want to read through the Torah portion before Shabbat. Fill in a couple boxes. Copy the key passage. If you listen to teachings on Shabbat or have opportunity to discuss the Torah portion with others, take some notes! Then, move on the the next Torah portion. There’s no need to fill in all the pages right out of the gate. It’s a work in progress!
Bonus!!
The Torah portions journal PDF now includes printable tabs to add to your journal. You get five tabs for each of the five books of the Torah, plus you get a tab for each of the Torah portions to find them easily!
I also included some pages at the back of the PDF without specific Torah portion references, so you can use them with any Scripture passage.
Is it worth it?
Yes, you could use a notebook to keep running notes on the Torah portions, but for only $7, you get a beautiful system with tabs to motivate you to keep adding to your journal. We all know, if it’s pretty, we are far more likely to use it!
Remember, this is a downloadable PDF. You will not receive a physical product.
Printing tips!
- The photo book dividers work well on cardstock. You can print them separately by selecting certain pages on the print menu. The dividers are on pages 3, 53, 99, 141, 183, 229. The front and back covers are on pages 1 and 234.
- The individual book sections, to be printed on regular paper, can be printed single or double sided. Use the following page numbers: Genesis 4-52, Exodus 54-98, Leviticus 100-140, Numbers 142-182, Deuteronomy 184-228, General study pages 230-233
- The tabs can be printed on regular paper, but are much better on cardstock. The book names, ie Genesis, Exodus, are meant to go on the book dividers, and fit well across the top of the page, 3 across. The Torah portion tabs fit down the side of the page, 4 down. If you fold the tabs and then round the top two corners with scissors or a rounded corner punch, they look very nice.
Samantha Shaffer (verified owner) –
I love this journal! It is so well organized in a simple and easy to use manner that encourages you to stay with your studies; plus it’s pretty in a subtle, not overbearing way to where it doesn’t distract or take away from your writing space. I am so exicted that this is set up to be put into a binder which I can build upon each year for many years to come. It’s going to be wonderful to cycle through it to refelct on the previous years and add more each time. For $7 this is so well worth it!