A Sukkot Visit from Rabbi Jay

The Adamah class had the privilege of learning about the holiday of Sukkot today with a visit to the Sukkah from Rabbi Jay!  Rabbi Jay showed us the etrog.  We felt the bumpy surface and smelled the sweet smell.  Then we learned how to shake the lulav in all directions, forward, backwards, up and down, and front and back -- to demonstrate that God is everywhere.  

Then as we headed back to our classroom circle, Lauri showed us our very own classroom lulav and etrog set.  Now we can practice shaking our lulav inside and out!

Chanukah Learning with Rabbi Jay

The Etzim class gets very excited when Rabbi Jay comes to visit, and this week was no exception!   Rabbi Jay taught us about Chanukah, and this included a new song for us. "In The Window." is a lovely Chanukah song, which we have continued to practice since Rabbi Jay's visit.  Ask your child if they can show you the hand motions to accompany the words.  Thank you, Rabbi Jay!

Rabbi Jay comes to call

Rabbi Jay came by to visit the Keshet class this morning.  He talked to us about the holiday that's coming up soon: Chanukah!  He shared a song with us that described how we will light the candles on the menorah, one more on each night of Chanukah.  We put the menorah in a window so we can share the light from the candles with lots of people.  During the holiday, we might give a present to someone we love to bring some light into their holiday.  Rabbi Jay also taught us about the dreidel, spun a number of our dreidels for us, and led us in the Dreidel Song.  At the end of his visit, he asked if he might return another day.  The children were excited by that idea and agreed that he should come back again.   Rabbi Jay then explained to the children that he has a room upstairs where we can go visit him.  He even has some toys to share.  We'll be sure to take Rabbi Jay up on his kind offer.

Shake Shake Shake!

This morning the Haifa class got to spend some quality time in the sukkah with none other than Rabbi Jay! We got to discover the beautiful decorations that were made at the Sukkot Block Party, and we all got turns shaking the lulav and etrog. While Rabbi Jay helped us shake the two, Rohan spoke the directions in Hebrew. What a great way to start off our Sukkot celebration!

-Alison and Sauci

Chag sameach!

Happy Sukkot to everyone!  Today in the Etzim classroom, we ventured outside to the Temple's wonderful sukkah.  There we met Rabbi Jay with the lullav and the etrog in hand.  Rabbi Jay talked with us about sukkot, and lead us in reciting a blessing together.  Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu, melekh ha-olam asher kidishanu b'mitz'votav v'tzivanu leisheiv basukah.  


There were many decorations up in the sukkah already and it was looking marvelous.  We had many discussions about the decorations we saw including painted pumpkins, stars, paper chains and many other things! We are excited to start making our decorations in class tomorrow.  The Etzim children were so excited to be outside and in the sukkah, we can't wait to spend more time in both of them this week!

There are so many things we can do in the Sukkah!

The photos below speak for themselves!  The Levana class took advantage of a beautiful fall day to spend as much of the morning as possible in both of our two Sukkot, learning from our rabbi, participating in Sukkot rituals, eating our snack, and of course, playing.

Ellen hangs her decorations on the playground sukkah.

Levana friends touch and smell the bumpy, lemony etrog.

Samantha and Hailey enjoy a delicious and healthy sukkah snack.

Rabbi Jay shows Hayley to shake the lulav and etrog in all directions.

Harold and Nicolas string beads for sukkah decorations...

....and so does Lindsey!

A Visit with Rabbi Jay

Rabbi Jay came to visit us again today.  This time he left his clarinet home.  Together with the children Rabbi Jay told everyone the story of Passover.  We learned that we like our freedoms - to come to school, to play outside, to have fun, to visit with our friends and to learn about being Jewish. We owe this to Moses and the Jews who left Egypt so that they could be free and now we enjoy those same freedoms.  Thank you Rabbi Jay for being such a great story teller.

Sauci and Alison

Rabbi Jay Stopped By to Say Hi!

Today we saw Rabbi Jay leaving the Sunshine classroom and we took the opportunity to say hello.
We asked him what he was holding in his hands.  "This is the Megilla, the scroll on which the Book of Esther is written."  Rabbi Jay rolled out the Megilla and showed us the story inside. 

 

Visit with Rabbi Jay!

We had a great time visiting with Rabbi Jay today! Rabbi shared with us that Hanukah is a festival of lights, both the light of the candles and the light of our smiles and laughter. As a class we shared eight things that make us smile. We would love to have Rabbi Jay come joint us for a play-date again!

Rabbi Jay's Play Date

Rabbi Jay came to the Tel Aviv, Sunshine, Unicorn and Haifa classes for a playdate this morning.  He started the visit with a question, "What do you love about Chanukah?"  Spinning the dreidel, lighting candles, and presents ranked at the top of the most popular response list.  Ask your child how he answered.

Together, Rabbi Jay and the children counted candles in the menorah.  Eight candles for eight days, plus a ninth helper candle.  Rabbi Jay pointed out that one thing to think about on Chanukah is how we light people up.  Rabbi Jay asked, "How do we make others smile?"  We brainstormed ideas of how to spread smiles: sharing toys, hugging someone when they are sad, helping to clean  up, saying I love you, giving a a kiss.  We used those smiles to create a fully lit menorah.

Rabbi Jay also taught us his favorite Chanukah song.

Rabbi Jay's Play Date

Rabbi Jay came to the Tel Aviv, Sunshine, Unicorn and Haifa classes for a playdate this morning.  He started the visit with a question, "What do you love about Chanukah?"  Spinning the dreidel, lighting candles, and presents ranked at the top of the most popular response list.  Ask your child how he answered.

Together, Rabbi Jay and the children counted candles in the menorah.  Eight candles for eight days, plus a ninth helper candle.  Rabbi Jay pointed out that one thing to think about on Chanukah is how we light people up.  Rabbi Jay asked, "How do we make others smile?"  We brainstormed ideas of how to spread smiles: sharing toys, hugging someone when they are sad, helping to clean  up, saying I love you, giving a a kiss.  We used those smiles to create a fully lit menorah.

Rabbi Jay also taught us his favorite Chanukah song.

The Unicorns get a visit from Rabbi Jay!

Today, the Unicorn's received a visit from Rabbi Jay to teach us a little about Rosh Hashanah!  Rabbi Jay told us how we can say Happy New Year by saying shana tova to our friends and family!  We can blow the shofar, and we can use our bodies too!  We had a fantastic time learning with Rabbi Jay!

What will he do this year? Can you guess?