Sep 24
This week has been all about community in Beit Nitzanim v’Anafim (“Buds” for 1st and 2nd grades and “Branches” for 3rd grade)! As we welcomed the holiday of Sukkot, children reflected on what it means to be a community. On Sukkot, a Jewish community might build a sukkah, so we gave that a try! The …
Sep 20
Shalom Chaverim (“Welcome Friends!” for ages 0 – 3 and their grown-ups) began this week, and it was so much fun! We gathered in Harold Washington Park and explored the upcoming Jewish holiday of Sukkot. Children pretended to be inside sukkahs created from their grown-ups’ bodies. They looked at Sukkot books and pictures of sukkahs, examined …
Oct 10
One quick review of what the Early Rabbis thought a סוכה (sukkah) needed to include, drawing on several years of research and experience, Lots of long, straight sticks for the structure (expertly scavenged and stripped), and leafy branches to go on top, A ball of twine, good lashing skills, and a few extra pairs of hands …
Oct 02
Our first week in Shalom Chaverim was all about getting to know one another, and exploring some of the sights, sounds, and smells of Sukkot together. There were new objects to examine– an etrog to smell and feel, and a lulav to touch and shake. Then there were the sukkot themselves– one outside to examine …
Sep 29
In Yetzirah this week, we are working together to create decorations to make our סוכה (sukkah) beautiful in Beit Shorashim! We began with painting fabric flowers to make a garland for our סוכה. What is fabric? What will happen when we paint on top of it? How do we hold a paintbrush? We began with …
Oct 12
This morning in Shalom Chaverim was all about Sukkot! We are building an understanding of what a sukkah is, and all the special things we can do inside one. We made our own sukkot using Legos and natural objects. There was lots of conversation about what we might use for our roof and how we …
Oct 03
This week, our kevutzot (groups) created decorations to make our environment at the Jewish Enrichment Center beautiful! Shorashim talked about the story of Avraham, noticing his welcoming nature and beautiful tent. And so, this sparked the idea to make our “tent” (the Jewish Enrichment Center) beautiful, too! The Shorashimers started off by my coloring אותיות (ot-i-ot, hebrew …
Sep 25
Last week in Anafim we began our exploration of the Arba Minim (the four species of plants used on sukkot: lulav, etrog, haddassim, and aravot.) This week we picked up where we left off, working on final drafts of realistic drawings of the arba minim and also continuing our representations of the arba minim as …
Sep 25
This week its no surprise our heads and hands were full of Sukkot projects! Each קבוצה (kevutzah- group) did several rounds of yetzirah projects and explorations to create sukkah decorations- and, even, an actual sukkah! Shorashim built a life-sized sukkah last week… and then they “ate sukkah dinner” inside of it, made paper chains, painted/stamped a לולב (lulav) …
Sep 25
It’s Sukkot! We’ve spent a lot of time outside in the sukkah. What a gorgeous week for our holiday! We had כיבוד (kibud – snack) every day out in the sukkah. Children explored the colors and shapes of a lulav and etrog, and practiced mixing oil pastels to make their drawings. On Tuesday, Shorashim (Nursery …
