The etrog smells so good!

Over the last few weeks the children have had many opportunities to hold and smell the etrog, and to shake the lulav! Adamah has learned we have to be very gentle with the etrog and the etrog smells like a lemon, but is different.

This year the Adamah children can't seem to get enough of the etrog. These photos tell the whole story!

Simchat Torah: Meanings and Observances

Sh’mini Atzeret concludes the festival of Sukkot. In Reform Jewish tradition, it is celebrated simultaneously with the holiday of Simchat Torah. On Sh’mini Atzeret we do not celebrate in the sukkah or bless the lulav and etrog. It is a day of complete rest and a special time to gather together.

Each week throughout the year a parashah—portion of the Torah—is read. The reading of the Torah is organized so that the entire Torah is read completely each year. On Simchat Torah we celebrate the conclusion of this reading cycle and its immediate restart.

The Torah consists of five books—this is the origin of calling the Torah the Five Books of Moses. The Five Books in English and Hebrew are: Genesis—Bereishit, Exodus—Sh’mot, Leviticus— Vayikra, Numbers—B’midbar and Deuteronomy—D’varim. With joy and delight, we celebrate Simchat Torah by taking out the Torah, dancing singing and marching around the sanctuary in circuits called hakafot, and listening to the final verses of Deuteronomy and the first verses of the book of Genesis.

From The Jewish Parent Page of the Union for Reform Judaism

Mail carrier delivers

Letter delivered 

 We wrote a letter and all of the  members of the class  made a mark, a dot, etc to indicate that they "signed" the letter. Next, we'll deliver the letter to Rabbi Todd!  ( from September 22nd) 

"Look at my sukkah!!"

 The connections made with the Rabbis just brings such joy and pride about being Jewish! What a gift we give our children when we spend time out of our busy schedules to rejoice with them in celebration of their Jewish heritage. Thank you Rabbi Todd, for stopping by. 

Sukkot Symbolism

One interpretation of the lulav and etrog compares the 4 species to  4 major parts of the human body. The Etzim class learned that the lulav comes from a palm tree and represents the spine. The etrog or citron, represents the heart. The haddasim or the branches that come from a willow tree represent the lips. Finally, the aravot or the branches of the myrtle tree represent the eyes. Etzim students created their own human faces using the 4 species of Sukkot. They also had the opportunity to learn the importance of reusing and recycling materials from nature.

Sukkah matching

Thanks to Sasha, we had a new matching game in the Adamah class today.  We had photographs of people celebrating Sukkot in different parts of the world, and we used them to play a matching game.  It was tricky to try and guess where the matches were, but we tried to remember, and had a great time taking turns and playing together.

A Visit to Adam's Sukkah

 

 On Friday, Kohavim took a walk to Adam's sukkah. We packed up our Shabbat candle sticks, challah, and juice and headed to Adam's to celebrate shabbat. While we walked we shared what we noticed in nature around us. As we got closer to Adam's home, we observed the house that is being built. Once we arrived, we created decoration for Adam's sukkah and read a story about Sukkot called, "A Watermelon in the Sukkah." We then celebrated Shabbat in Adam's sukkah! Thank you to Adam and the Markley family for inviting us to visit and spend time in their Sukkah!

The Kindergartners Lunch in the Sukkah!

As Dylan walked down the stairs to the playground on Friday he shouted, "I remember that Sukkah!" The kindergartners proceeded to ride tricycles in and out of the sukkah on the playground. Shortly after, we walked up to Temple Beth Shalom's other sukkah where we sang Shabbat Songs with Emily and enjoyed a delicious picnic lunch. 

Sukkah Visit with Rabbi Todd

 

 Kohavim was so excited to visit with Rabbi Todd in the Sukkah today! Together, we noticed that roof and sides of the sukkah had holes which we were able to see nature through. The children noticed bushes, trees, sunlight, clouds, and the sky! They also talked about how they would be able to see the stars through the roof at night or feel the rain drops on a rainy day. Rabbi Todd told us how Sukkot is a time of harvesting, like when we go apple picking or pumpkin picking with our families. Then he taught us how to shake the Lulav and Etrog. You shake it to the right, to the left, to the front, to the back, up to the sky, and down to the ground. Some of the Kohavim children wanted to try shaking the lulav. We learned that we shake the lulav and etrog in all directions because God is everywhere and Nature is everywhere! Ask your child about our visit in the sukkah today!

Levana Shakes the Lulav

Hannah, Joey and Mason take turns shaking the lulav all around while Zachary holds the lemon-fragrant etrog. Levana children are becoming very knowledgeable about Jewish autumn celebrations and traditions.

In the Sukkah with Rabbi Jay

Today we took a trip to visit the sukkah located along the edge of the parking lot.  We were joined by Rabbi Jay who introduced the children to the idea of a sukkah as we sat inside.  Rabbi Jay read us a story about a sukkah and a squirrel.  We also learned about the etrog and the palm leaves which make up the lulav.  With the help of Rabbi Jay, several of the children held the etrog and the lulav together and shook them high, low, to the left, to the right, in front, and in back of their bodies.  We remember that G-d is everywhere as we celebrate Sukkot.  We also gazed up through the openings in the roof of the sukkah to see the sky.  Rabbi Jay told us of a time long, long ago when the Jewish people lived in huts like our sukkah.  We remember those times as we celebrate the harvest each year at Sukkot.

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!

Sukkah Building Basics

Sukkot begins four days after Yom Kippur. It is one of the three pilgrimage festivals. Sukkot,
a Hebrew word meaning “booths” or “huts”, refers to the Jewish festival of giving thanks for
the fall harvest, as well as the commemoration of the forty years of Jewish wandering in the
desert after Sinai.

In ancient times, people would make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem to bring the first portion of their harvests to the priests to show thanks to God. On this holiday, we build small temporary shelters called Sukkot (plural for Sukkah) where families eat, socialize and even sleep, weather permitting.

Sukkot come in many variations, but there are some guidelines to follow when building them. Two important ones are:

• A sukkah has to have at least 3 walls. Only one can be an existing wall, like the side of a house. The walls may be constructed of any material, generally canvas, wood, or metal. Today, it is possible to buy ready-to assemble sukkah kits.

• The roof is to be temporary, covered with loose branches from trees or anything that grows out of the ground, and has been cut off from the ground. According to tradition, this roof covering, s’chach should give shade and yet allow those in the sukkah to see the stars through the roof
at night.

Adapted from Holiday Happenings of the Union for Reform Judaism

Lulav Shaking Day!

Not only is shaking the lulav one of the mitzvot (commandments) of Sukkot, it is tricky to do and lots of fun. The palm branches are quite tall and fairly heavy and with the etrog (the yellow citrus fruit) in the other hand the shaking requires both coordination and concentration. You can see from our faces and bodies how hard we tried.
Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech haolam, asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu al n'tilat lulav. 
Our praise to You, Eternal our God, Sovereign of all, whose mitzvot teaches us holiness and who instructs us to take up the lulav.

Thank you God for letting us shake the lulav.

What are the Lulav & Etrog?

Important ritual objects used during Sukkot are the:
Lulav (pronounced loo-love) and
Etrog  (pronounced et-rog).

The lulav is actually made up of four different parts: a palm branch, a myrtle branch, a willow branch and a woven palm handle that keeps them all together. Lulavim (plural of lulav) are grown, prepared and shipped throughout the world from Israel, arriving fresh just in time for the holiday’s
celebration.

An important tradition and mitzvah is to say a special blessing and shake the lulav in six directions—north, south, east, west and up and down—to symbolize that God is everywhere. While doing this, we hold the lulav in our two hands along with an etrog. An etrog is a citrus fruit that looks like a big bumpy lemon and has a sweet fragrance.

Each of our classrooms is sharing a lulav and etrog from Israel with another classroom and this year for the first time we ordered etrogs for every class from a very special farm in California. Get ready to see us shake them!

Adapted from the Union for Reform Judaism's Holiday Happenings.

How do you make a Sukkah?

 

Sticks were gathered in the playground, green play doh was made and the children  constructed sukkahs. They looked at a book to give them some ideas and Reed said, " Make a square." Ben suggested that they make a "big straight line." Audrey used playdoh to cover  the sticks and said you have to "paint it green." Jack built a sukkah and told us,"Audrey and Sophie are standing in our sukkah!" Stay tuned for further updates!

URJ Youth Engagement Conference 2013!

From TBS to NFTY Mitzvah Corps Costa Rica, Youth Engagement Conference gave us the time to connect and reconnect with friends and teens from all around the country!!

This past week I had the fantastic opportunity to participate in the Union for Reform Judaism’s Youth Engagement conference in Los Angeles. This conference ran parallel to NFTY convention, which is a convention for over 800 reform Jewish high schoolers throughout the country. My conference was a conference for the professionals that regularly work with engaging high schoolers. As many of you know, I love working with the high schoolers at TBS and was the assistant BESTY advisor last year; however, working with high schoolers is not currently a part of my job. So why was I at this conference?  The answer lies in a single question that is being asked by educators everywhere, “How do we keep children engaged in Temple youth programming?”  The answer to this is often similar no matter your age most studies have shown that it is the relationships, both peer relationships and relationships with positive adult role models that encourage students to participate in temple events no matter how old they are. 

One thing we discussed at the conference was the difference between simple participating in an activity and truly being engaged in an activity. I want my students to always be engaged, to feel as though they have ownership over the activity and to feel as though what they are doing is meaningful to them.

During the conference I participated in workshops that I knew would be applicable to the work I did at TBS.  I attended multiple art workshops where we discussed the benefits of visiting artists and workshops within Temple communities.  We also talked about how to use found objects and cardboard boxes (my favorite!) into Jewish lessons.  Our team created a beautiful cardboard sukkah and then we work-shopped our experience and altered the program and ran it for teens. Who knows, maybe my pre- schoolers will be making cardboard sukkot in the fall! It was a great team building exercise!

I also went to a GREAT improv workshop with song leader and educator Noam Katz. We talked about how to teach prayer and Torah stories through drama. It was a great continuation to the story telling workshops the Mayim and children center teams have been participating in.

In addition I took a workshop with Cathy Rolland who is the head of the Early Childhood division of the URJ. We talked about engaging young families and how the best way to have engaged teenagers is to have them engaged as pre-schoolers. I felt like this had been a missing voice throughout the conference and I am glad that the early childhood perspective was included! I was surprised at how many individuals throughout the country work with both teens and pre-schoolers! I was also able to hear a lot of ways that individuals had created programming that bridge the age gaps between youth in their congregations. it was a great workshop with ideas from temples throughout the country!

The Youth Engagement Conference was a great opportunity to learn, to collaborate, to listen and to share. I was proud to be coming from a community that is so creative in our ways of engaging and I am eager to continue this in anyway I can. If you have any ideas or suggestions of ways to continue to engage your second and third graders please send me an email!  I am looking forward to the rest of our year together!!

Scientific Thinking: A Glimpse Into Your Child's Brain

At morning meeting, Maria introduced the children to two objects. The children immediately knew that the bright yellow one was an etrog. But what was the smaller brownish one? Maria passed the two objects around the circle so that everyone could get a closer look.

Examining the small brownish object, "Can we cut it open? It feels rough" Max said. "It smells almost like an etrog." noticed Ezra.  Zack commented, "Maybe the brown one is dying." "And it dried up." added Max. "Maybe it was born that way, concluded Dylan.

Of the yellow etrog, Dylan commented, "This one smells like lemon." And of the brown one he observed, "This one doesn't."While Max thought it smelled like an etrog, Rachel thought it didn't smell like anything. "It smells yummier." said Zack.

It turned out that the smaller brownish object was actually an etrog from two years ago that had dired. Showing both the old, dried etrog and the fresh new one was an interesting way to provoke the children's thinking. It allowed them a very natural way to compare and contrast the two. Scientific thinking skills and curiousity in action. What an amazing conversation to witness!

Our visit to Adam's Sukkah!

On  Friday we walked over to Adam's house to enjoy a Shabbat snack in his sukkah.   When we arrived we gathered around the small table in the sukkah and talked about the similarities and differences between Adam's sukkah and the TBSCC sukkah. Their responses, "Adam has a scarecrow and little pumpkins, Adam's is made out of wood too and you can see the sky."

Then we sang our welcome song, said the blessings and enjoyed a yummy Shabbat snack!   Last but not least we hung the colorful coffee filters that we made in Lunch Bunch up in Adam's sukkah.

Adam, thanks for inviting us over to your house for a visit in your sukkah!

New fruits!

Reading about Sukkot this week we have explored different buildings, decorations and ways to dwell in the sukkah.  Over the past week, a big focus of exploring has been talking about decorations we see in our sukkot at school, home, and our explorations on the internet.  We have seen pumpkins, paper chains, beads, lanterns, paintings, and many fruits.  This fruit was a topic of exploration that the Etzim children were very interested in.  We have been smelling the etrog, eating pomegranate seeds, and today we tried a new fruit during our morning circle.  Today, as a class we tried apricots.  Some children were already very familiar, and very excited to eat one of their favorite snacks; but to others this was a brand new experience!  At our circle each child was invited to smell, taste and feel their apricots.  Some children only took small nibbles and noticed it was sweet and smooth, taking in the new experience with eat bite!  It was interesting to hear the children offer their opinions about the apricots and about how they enjoyed it!  We took a poll of who liked them and who did not, the results are up in our classroom and we invited you to come in and check it out next week!

How do you make Sammy the Spider's Sukkot web?

If you want to know the answer to this question, you know who to ask!   Here you have it, Sammy's web!