Sara Grossman

Author's details

Name: Sara Grossman
Date registered: August 18, 2014

Latest posts

Amazing — November 18, 2021
Digging Deeper — October 13, 2021
Sukkat Shalom — October 1, 2021
A sweet start to the new year — September 10, 2021
לְהִתְרָאוֹת (L’hitraot — See you later) — June 8, 2021

Author's posts listings

Nov 18

Amazing

Categories:

Avraham v'Lot

by Sara Grossman

Dear Anafim v’Alonim (“Branches” for 3rd-4th grades and “Oak Trees” for 5th grade), You are amazing. You showed us this week how naturally you collaborate with your peers, how well you know yourselves and the way that you like to express your ideas, how much you value togetherness, how creative and focused you are, your …

Tags: Anafim v'Alonim 5782, collaboration, final project, focus, independence

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Oct 13

Digging Deeper

Categories:

Avraham v'Lot

by Sara Grossman

We’re in the second week of our new theme, Avraham v’Lot (Abraham and Lot) and children of all ages are excitedly digging deeper into our text from Genesis 13. (Click here for 1st-5th grade version. Click here for nursery and kindergarten version). Children in Shteelim (“Saplings” for kindergarten) worked together to share ideas about why …

Tags: Anafim v'Alonim 5782, discussion, shteelim 5782, text interpretation, Torah

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Oct 01

Sukkat Shalom

Categories:

Sukkot

by Sara Grossman

Have your third, fourth, and fifth graders been talking about the amazing Sukkat Shalom (shelter of peace) that they designed? As part of our beginning of the year community building in Anafim v’Alonim (“Branches” for third and fourth grades and “Oak Trees” for fifth grade) and in connection with the Sukkot (Booths) holiday, children explored …

Tags: Anafim v'Alonim 5782, collaboration, First Six Weeks, Sukkat Shalom

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Sep 10

A sweet start to the new year

Categories:

Rosh Hashanah

by Sara Grossman

Shanah tovah u’metukah! (A happy and sweet new year)! I can’t think of a sweeter way to start the new Jewish year than by having children onsite for our FIRST in-person afterschool session since March 2020! One third grader looked around with eyes open wide and called the building, “the new old building.” How sweet …

Tags: Anafim v'Alonim 5782

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Jun 08

לְהִתְרָאוֹת (L’hitraot — See you later)

Categories:

bikur cholim

by Sara Grossman

We’ve come to the final week of our year together, and in Anafim (“Branches” for 2nd-3rd grades) we’re spending it telling each other warm fuzzies and playing games that make us laugh. It’s been the weirdest year ever, but these tremendous children have shown up week after week ready to care for each other, be …

Tags: Anafim 5781, community

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May 25

The Small Moments

Categories:

bikur cholim

by Sara Grossman

It’s hard to believe that we’re coming to the end of another year of Jewish Enrichment Center. What a beautiful year it’s been! In previous years when we were together in-person, I took for granted all of the tiny moments of connection that were possible throughout the day–checking in with every child as they entered …

Tags: Anafim 5781

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May 13

Prayer and Bikur Cholim (Visiting Sick People)

Categories:

bikur cholim

by Sara Grossman

We’re coming to the final weeks of our Bikur Cholim (Visiting Sick People) theme. Each week I have been moved by the way that children are thinking so deeply about our theme and sharing such empathetic insights. The depth of their ideas speaks not only to the individual children themselves and their amazing brains, but …

Tags: Anafim 5781, Conversation

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Apr 27

COVID-19 and Bikur Cholim

Categories:

bikur cholim

by Sara Grossman

Anafim (“Branches” for 2nd-3rd grades) children are deep into the heart of our Bikur Cholim (Visiting Sick People) theme. As in any other theme, children are bringing their unique perspectives and experiences into dialogue with our Jewish texts within a community of their peers. Throughout the year we’ve seen glimmers of the way that children …

Tags: Anafim 5781, building, yetzirat torah

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Apr 13

Big Octopus

Categories:

bikur cholim

by Sara Grossman

Sunday was a GORGEOUS day to explore our new theme בִּיקוּר חוֹלִים (Bikur Cholim – Visiting sick people) together outdoors! Anafimers are bursting with ideas to share about our text from Talmud Nedarim 40a. In our text, a student of Rabbi Akiva’s gets sick and doesn’t have any visitors. Rabbi Akiva visits the sick student …

Tags: Anafim 5781

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Apr 01

We’re back!

Categories:

Pesach

by Sara Grossman

It was so wonderful to see Anafim (“Branches” for 2nd-3rd grade) back together today after Spring Break! We had so much to catch up on, like visits with grandparents, travels to a cabin, eagle sightings, and first days back at in-person school. We celebrated being back together with a silly Pesach (Passover) Mad Libs and …

Tags: Anafim 5781

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