May 17
After nearly two years together in Nitzanim, we love being together. We’ve worked things out time after time, learned language that keeps everyone emotionally safe, and we’ve grown in being able to see what’s going on with a friend and respond appropriately. It is such a joy to be a Nitzanimer these days!! We love being together!! …
Apr 25
Last week, I wrote about the new magnet boards in Nitzanim where children choose words that describe how they’re feeling. Our use of the boards has been turning into something quite wonderful. When they come in, a majority of the children are now choosing TWO words that best describe how they feel. At pegisha (meeting …
Apr 25
What amazing children! What an amazing community we have together!
Mar 06
We have a new Mah Tovu tent in Beit Shteelim. Morah Miryam invited us in pairs to come to the Mah Tovu tent. When I stuck a יד (yad – hand) into the tent, I pulled out a surprise! It was a picture of a part of my גוף (guf - body)! Then I thought about how I …
Mar 05
Sometimes it feels good just to do the regular stuff. We had such a lovely Sunday and Monday this week. What a shame we didn’t get to have a session on Tuesday because of the snow. Here’s some of our regular stuff: Checking out the moon chart. It’s near the end of the Hebrew month …
Feb 25
What a joyous Purim! Our children, ages 4 – 8, stood up in front of our community and READ MEGILLAH! Extraordinary. They’re so young, and already starting to learn Hebrew and lead our community from the bimah. Can you imagine what our children will be like in five years? Plus: this morning’s accomplishment was such …
Feb 21
Sometimes the best things in Nitzanim are unplanned. This year’s Nitzanim group loves to hear stories. For several months, children clamored for ghost, goblin, demon, and witch stories. Turns out there are many scary or spooky Jewish stories available for children, many of them by Eric A. Kimmel. Then we started reading Chelm stories. The …
Feb 01
From Rebecca: Beth Niestat is mom to Miriam (Nitzanim) and Sam (4th grade). When I heard about their family’s Torah study based on our Keshet exploration this fall, I was on intensely curious how it would turn out. I love how Beth captures the reality of home life as a full-time working parent with dreams …
Jan 24
This week in Shteelim we decided to make a morning chart to compare and contrast our morning routines with our friends. A morah (teacher) drew in different kinds of pictures for getting ready in the morning. For the pictures, we explained that the rabbis said berakhot (blessings) for their morning routines. One child asked, “Even …
Jan 24
With Tu B’Shevat around the corner we learned new songs, new hebrew words and talked about how to love the Earth by recycling and reusing. One man’s trash… is another Shteelimer’s or Nitzamimer’s yetzirah project! Part 1: Fold and dip dye old newspaper, shouting the tzeva’im (colors)… Part 2: Work as a community (Shteelimers were …
