Oct 13
So much of what we do in Anafim is done in חברותא (chavruta, learning partnership) or in groups. Like spontaneously comparing the text inside of different מחזורים (machzorim, High Holy Day prayerbooks), for example. Or watching a video of a Kol Nidrei service to get the “feel” of יום כפור(Yom Kippur). As it happens, though, …
Oct 05
Completely quiet and still. We’re almost never completely quiet or still in Beit Nitzanim. We love to talk to each other at כיבוד (kibud–snack), play silly name games where we try to shout someone’s שם (shem–name) before someone else says, “boppity bop bop bop,” and share “highs” and “lows” from our days. We also love to move around, …
Sep 30
What do you hear inside the words of our High Holyday liturgy? For the past month, we – the community of this building – have joined in personal and communal reflection, centered in our liturgy and themes of this season: forgiveness, power, struggle, awe, yearning. We called it, The Elul Project, after the name of …
Sep 29
“And Adonai came down in the cloud and stood with [Moshe] there, and called the special name of Adonai. ‘Adonai, Adonai, God who is compassionate and gracious, slow to grow angry, and great in kindne-” “WHAT!?” “No way!” “Slow to grow angry? Last time he [God] was just about to kill the Israelites in like two …
Sep 27
I’ll let you in on a secret… Your children believe that the last four weeks have been mainly about wrestling with ideas of power and forgiveness in Torah text as part of our Elul Project theme. And that has been a HUGE part of children’s work and play. (See this post for a preview of …
Sep 22
Wait, wait. You’re telling me that in ענפים (Anafim, branches; the 3rd-4th grade group) we all have to read our full set of sounds and words before we get to choose what עברית (ivrit, Hebrew) game to play? And read them perfectly?! Yup! Last year, in Nitzanim, you got to go straight away to choose …
Sep 20
We’re only a few weeks into the school year and Nitzanim (“Buds” for 1st/2nd grade) children have really impressed me with the ways they’ve stepped up as leaders in our new space. Here are only a few examples of the ways that children have taken the lead in Beit Nitzanim: Children are inventing new ways to …
Sep 16
So…the Israelites build a golden calf. Adonai gets very angry and says God will “consume” the Israelites. Moshe talks to Adonai, and then… וַיִּנָּחֶם Adonai וַיִּנָּחֶם (vayinachem) from the evil that God said God was going to do. What is this word, וַיִּנָּחֶם? The word is often translated as, “repent.” Adonai repented for the evil God said God …
Sep 15
It’s a new year in Beit Anafim, and we are getting ready for ראש השנה (Rosh Hashanah)— the beginning of a new Jewish year. But we’re not starting from scratch. We are bringing a lot of things with us from past years together at the Jewish Enrichment Center into this new year: Favorite games for practicing …
Sep 14
This week in Beit Shorashim/Shteelim (Nursery/Kindergarten), we have started preparing for ראש השנה (Rosh Hashanah-The beginning of the New Jewish Year). We prepared a celebratory meal and tried תפוחים (Tapuchim–apples) and דבש (Devash-honey). We learned a new skill, pointillism (pointillism is a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of color are applied in …
