Nov 07
We wrapped up our final week of Torah exploration by writing like a sofer (scribe). Last week, when we opened up the Torah, we found all of the Hebrew letters inside. This week, we found out that the letters of a Torah are handwritten with a special tool. Our older friends tried out writing with …
Oct 31
This week, children in Shalom Chaverim (“Welcome, Friends!”) for infants and toddlers, got to visit the Torah up close! There’s so much to see, touch, and even hear (lots of twinkly bells!) when we explore the Torah! We started by undressing the Torah and unscrolling it so that we could all see the Hebrew letters. …
May 15
The families of שָׁלוֹם חֲבֵרִים (Shalom, Chaverim! – Welcome, Friends! for ages 0 – 3 and their grown-ups) are wrapping up the school year by revisiting the חַגִים (chaggim, holidays) we explored. Children could color holiday images while examining holiday objects, or hunt for items in the sensory bin. We also introduced the upcoming Jewish holiday of …
May 01
The families of שָׁלוֹם חֲבֵרִים (Shalom, Chaverim! – Welcome, Friends! for ages 0 – 3 and their grown-ups) are exploring the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Explorations included decorating their Hebrew names, finding Hebrew-letter cards in the sensory bin, tracing Hebrew letters, building with blocks with Hebrew letters on them, Hebrew-letter floor puzzles, and making Hebrew-letter cookies! …
Apr 13
The families of שָׁלוֹם חֲבֵרִים (Shalom, Chaverim! – Welcome, Friends! for ages 0 – 3 and their grown-ups) wrapped up their exploration of the upcoming Jewish holiday of פֶּסַח (Pesach, Passover). Children used their senses to experience the foods of פֶּסַח (Pesach, Passover). They cut apples and mixed charoset, kneaded and flattened dough into matzah, and used …
Mar 30
The families of שָׁלוֹם חֲבֵרִים (Shalom, Chaverim! – Welcome, Friends! for ages 0 – 3 and their grown-ups) are exploring the upcoming Jewish holiday of פֶּסַח (Pesach, Passover). Children decorated a סֵדֶר (seder) table. They dug in the sandbox for pictures of סֵדֶר (seder) plates. They used spray bottles and other cleaning supplies to get ready for …
Mar 07
The families of שָׁלוֹם חֲבֵרִים (Shalom, Chaverim! – Welcome, Friends! for ages 0 – 3 and their grown-ups) spent three fun weeks exploring the upcoming Jewish holiday of פּוּרִים (Purim), culminating in our own little celebration. As in prior weeks, children could explore the sensory table full of water beads, פּוּרִים pictures, and plastic רַעֲשָׁנִים (ra’ashanim – …
Feb 14
Purim is coming! This week the families of Shalom, Chaverim! (“Welcome, Friends!” for ages 0 – 3 and their grown-ups) began exploring the upcoming Jewish holiday. Children played with Purim shapes alongside water beads in the sensory bin, and examined Purim pictures on sticky paper on the window. They sculpted play-dough into hamentashen, traditional triangular Purim …
Feb 08
The families of Shalom, Chaverim! (“Welcome, Friends!” for ages 0 – 3 and their grown-ups) are exploring mezuzahs. These are small, decorative boxes affixed to some doorways to designate a Jewish space. Inside are scrolls on which the שְׁמַע (Shema) prayer is written. Children wrapped themselves up like a scroll. We sang the שְׁמַע (Shema) prayer …
Jan 21
What happens when you are the only family in Shalom, Chaverim! (“Welcome, Friends!” for ages 0 – 3 and their grown-ups)? You get the whole place to yourself! This week this guy and his dad worked the room while exploring Tu B’Shevat, the Jewish celebration of trees. He built a forest out of brick blocks, affixed …
