Mar 15
Like Shteelim and Netzanim, Shorashim is helping to create our beautiful community Ma Tovu tent! (Check out this post to explore this incredible project). When the Shorashimers approached the white fabric and began to sponge on paint, they were excited to discover Morah Naomi had painted their שמות shemot (names) onto the cloth with a special paint …
Feb 22
With Purim happening on Sunday we wrapped up our exploration of Purim this past week. To conclude the holiday we decided to make/ bake hamantaschen cookies for our friends and family. This activity was not only fun but also educational as we learned about Haman and his three cornered hat. This is why we make Hamantaschen …
Jun 01
Last week, we learned about how the story of Ruth that we read on Shavuot is about chessed — Ruth does chessed for Naomi by gathering barley for her. To act this out, we gathered our own “pretend” grain and ground it using a steel mill into coarse flour. This week we capped off the …
May 24
This week we continued our Shavuot learning by asking the question: what exactly is a “harvest”? First, we read the wonderful book “Pancakes, Pancakes!” by Eric Carle, which tells the story of all the work required to make a single pancake… (milking the cow, churning the butter, feeding the chicken so it lays an egg…) …
May 10
On Tuesday, Nitzanim made cookies to give away to The Night Ministry, an organization that provides shelter, health and other support services. The Night Ministry serves cookies on its Health Outreach Bus because they discovered that folks were more likely to come for needed care if there were cookies involved. Nitzanim showed great חסד (chessed - …
Apr 03
Pesach is coming! What’s going to be on your seder plate? We play jumping games to learn about the seder plate. First we spin the small seder plate, and then hop to the item we land on. We can play it together, too! Do you feel the difference between matzah and chametz (leavened bread)? “This one’s …
Mar 30
This week, Nitzanim children tasted two symbols of the Pesach story: כרפס (karpas - parsley), and מרור (maror - bitter horseradish). (The words are two of our key words for learning מה נשתנה Mah Nishtanah – the Four Questions!) We charted our ideas about what these symbols taste like. Then we identified where in the Pesach …
Feb 15
On Tuesday, the Shorashim learners did something we’ve never accomplished before as a group! We followed a recipe to bake a special Tu B’Shevat cake. The children worked together cooperatively and harmoniously to read the recipe (with the help of pictograms), catalog our ingredients, divide the work into discrete tasks, assist each other, and wait …
Feb 06
Today for kibud (snack) we ate dried fruits. On Tu B’Shvat, 15th of שבט (Shvat), we eat the stuff that trees make because it is their birthday. By eating the stuff that trees make, we remember that trees are important because they provide us with stuff we need, and like. Today one girl said trees provide …
Oct 31
By creating “lanterns” in the style of Morocco, we brought the Moroccan Jewish community to Hyde Park. We saw that Morocco is at the northern tip of Africa. We also looked at pictures of how sukkahs look in Morocco, and learned that at the end of Sukkot the children in Morocco are allowed to burn …
