Pomegranate seeds activity
- Due May 10, 2016 by 11:59pm
- Points 2
- Submitting a file upload
Drawing upon verses in Songs of Songs—“Your brow behind your veil [gleams] like a pomegranate split open” (4:3 and 6:7)—the Gemara declares that even “the empty [unlearned] ones among the Jews are full of mitzvot like a pomegranate [is full of seeds]” (Berakhot 4). Many have interpreted this to mean that there are precisely 613 seeds in a pomegranate, as there are 613 mitzvot. Count the number of seeds in two pomegranates. How many seeds where there? What does this tell you about folklore? Submit a one-paragraph response along with photographic evidence of your pomegranate activity.
Students may receive up to two points for each extra credit submission and may receive a maximum of four extra credit points.