Title: Horton’s Promise
Program Creators: Rabbi Irit Printz (with thanks to Gila Drazen), ECRUSY
Who will be leading this program? USY staff.
What type of program is it? Limmud, role play, discussion
What is the goal of the program? USYers will explore the value of keeping their word. Is this
an absolute midah? Are there limitations on it? Personal vs Communal promises, etc.
Program Summary: The group will read Horton Hears a Who. The group will discuss the
promises made in the story – both implicit and explicit – then talk about personal experiences
with making and/or breaking promises. Finally, the group will explore the idea of communal
promises and whose responsibility it is to ensure these are kept.
Program Timing: about an hour.
Materials and Supplies:
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Horton Hears a Who
Text Handouts
Cards with the character names
Are groups Required? This is a standard limmud group of 10-15 USYers
Detailed Instructions on how to run the program: These instructions should be detailed and
clear enough so that if you get sick or miss the bus we can run the program without you.
Part 1: The Story
 Assign the character cards randomly around the group.
 Ask USYers with cards to think about the promises made by their character in the book.
These could be explicit or implicit.
 Read Horton Hears a Who to the group. Make sure everyone in the group can see the
pictures!
Part 2: Talking about the Story
 Go around the group, have USYers with character cards talk about the kinds of
promises their character made. Did the character keep the promise? Was there a cost
to keeping or breaking the promise?
 Encourage kids without a character card to add their observations too.
 Engage the group in a discussion of the following:
o Is it easier to keep promises under good conditions?
o Should negative circumstances negate promises?
o Are there any circumstances under which it is ok to break a promise? (try to get
a variety of scenarios from the kids. These will likely fall into the following
categories: It’s ok to break a promise if you will be seriously hurt by keeping it or
if someone else will be seriously hurt by your keeping your word)
o Who are you responsible to when you make a promise? Yourself? The
person/people you made the promise to? God? Your parents?
o What do you think made Horton keep his promise?
o Can you think of a circumstance when you would go to the lengths he did to keep
a promise?
o When you make a promise, do you think beforehand whether or not you will be
able to keep your promise?
Part 3: Text Study
Please distribute the text sheet to the group.
Source #1
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
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Have a USYer read the text from the Torah. Discuss VERY briefly. The rule is straight
forward: If you promise, you have to follow through
Have another USYer read the RASHI.
o What is the problem Rashi is focusing on?
o What does that teach us about the kinds of promises we should make?
Source #2
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
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What does this text teach us about promises?
Have you ever found yourself “dragging your feet” to fulfill a promise?
Source #3
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
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What does this test come to teach us?
Ultimately, who are you responsible to?
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where a promise you made proved too
“costly” to keep? How do/did you decided what “too costly” is?
Source #4
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
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What do you think is going on in this text – which seemingly contradicts all the other
texts we looked at so far?
Why do we give ourselves – and others – a “by” on promises so that we (and they) can
get out of keeping them?
This text is about our individual promises and lives, but it is made as a community –
standing and reciting this statement together. Why do you think the shift is made here
from individual to communal?
Is there a difference between a communal and personal commitment?