Dec 18
We had worked SO hard on our final Berakhah (Blessing) projects! We celebrated our work by writing comments or questions about each other’s work. How exciting to hear our peers’ thoughts about what we’ve made! And, we played. We played Cross the River, reading a Hebrew word as we make our way (any way we …
Dec 09
..that there are three alternate endings to the Chanukah story? (Chanukah Story for Nitzanim). Today, Nitzanim worked in pairs to build their own version of the Chanukah endings. Here’s what they have to say: Book of Maccabees I: Chapter 4 This ending explains Chanukah as a celebration of the rededication of the temple. Child 1: …
Dec 02
Wondering Booth (noun): A small, enclosed space in Beit Nitzanim dedicated to conversation about children’s Big Questions. Over the last seven weeks, children have developed Big Questions. These are questions about ברכה (berakha—blessing) that matter to each child personally, questions that indicate a deep wrestling with ברכה (berakha—blessing) as a concept. Sometimes children turn to …
Dec 02
For four years at the Jewish Enrichment Center, when it came to final projects, children mostly worked in the same modality. Like, everyone did pointillism. Or worked with clay, or balsa wood, or made a video together, complete with costumes, scenery, and props. Sometimes children chose from between two projects: stained glass or Model Magic? costume …
Nov 27
There are so many amazing things in our world! When we notice something that makes us go, “Wow!” we might want to make a berakhah. Barukh atah Adonai eloheinu melekh ha’olam she-kakha lo b’olameinu (Blessed…that we have these things in our world.) “My יד (yad – hand) is skinnier than this crack.” “The snow’s not melting, even though it’s …
Nov 27
Children’s reflections on the priestly blessing, the words some Jewish parents bless their children with on Friday nights: “When you’re born, your parents know you’re special. But they think, I wonder what’s going to be special about this kid. Then they see, ‘Oh, that!’ But they’re not sure. Because you’re not all the way grown …
Nov 24
What is the בְּרָכָה (Berakha–Blessing) that Yitzchak gives to Ya’akov? (Genesis 27). “A wish for Ya’akov to always have enough to eat and enough to drink.” “Hope” “A blessing for Ya’akov to get rich in the future.” “A wish for a good life.” It’s a creative time in our theme as we start …
Nov 20
There are three Voices in chavrutah (partner text study): 1. Me 2. My chavrutah (partner) 3. The text We listen carefully to all three voices to hear what they’re saying. We wrestle with text as a big group, sharing our initial thoughts about what the text means. We express our ideas using a different modality …
Nov 20
With nursery children, things often go one, two, three. One child will have an idea, then a second child will join, then a third. Often it’s the best things that spread one, two, three. What fun! The first boy said, “I want to stretch my body. I want to do alef bet yoga.” And then it …
Nov 19
In Nitzanim, we’re beginning to wrestle with the ways that each person in our community is unique. We’ll continue to explore what it means to be a community of different minds and faces, but here are some of our ideas: Morah Sara: What are some amazing ways that someone is different from you? Girl 1: …
