The Kohavim class participate in Tashlich

Who said you need to go to a body of water to participate in Tashlich? We created our own "stream" near the shed out back by digging as much as we could and then pouring water into the trough that we made. Each child had a digging tool, a cup to continually refill with water, and breadcrumbs. Before our ceremony, we read the children a book which described the meaning of the traditional Rosh Hashanah ritual. We then asked them if there were any behaviors of theirs that they would like to change during the New Year. It was a hard concept for them to grasp at first, and most of their responses were about transgressions of other people towards them. That however was a start. With some modeling and examples, the children began to think about their own behavior towards others. Each child then poured some water in the ditch, threw in some breadcrumbs, and said what behavior he/she would like to change this year. The throwing away of the breadcrumbs represented the discarding of unwanted behaviors. A number of the children's responses centered around their behavior towards their siblings. As parents you will hopefully be seeing much kinder and well intended acts from the Kohavim children towards their brothers and sisters over the coming year! Please stop by the class to see a posting of some of the behaviors each child wanted to change. Photographs for this blog will also be forthcoming.