Aug 27
Oh how wonderful to be back together for a full week of August Camp! Last week, children in 1st-5th grade explored mezuzah (“doorpost”). They hunted around the building for mezuzot, learned new techniques for clay, went on two AWESOME walking field trips to nearby playgrounds, and designed their own unique mezuzot. Children in nursery and …
Apr 17
This week, families in Shalom Chaverim started our exploration of mezuzah. A mezuzah (literally, “doorpost”) is a small ritual object traditionally hung on the doorways of Jewish homes. Inside of the mezuzah is a parchment scroll, called a klaf, upon which are written biblical verses of the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 11:13-21). For more information about …
Nov 05
Last week in Shalom Chaverim, children explored the question, “What do we find in a Jewish home?” We explored together, by creating a little Jewish home in the middle of the table. Does it need a table? A chair? Some challah? What about a mezuzah? And where should the mezuzzah go In the block …
May 18
There were lots of different ways for children to continue exploring mezuzzot in Shalom Chaverim this week. We made special houses for the shema using Legos. We are also building a foundational understanding of Hebrew letters as we look for the letter “shin” on every Mezuzzah we find, and even make our own versions of …
May 01
We asked (and answered!) lots of big questions in Shalom Chaverim this week. Like… What is a Mezuzzah? And where can you find one? And what’s inside? We are leaning to identify the letter shin– to make the “shh” sound and to find it on the outside of a Mezuzzah. To finish our exploration, we …
May 03
This week in Nitzanim… (click above for a video of our work!) In preparation for our final huge Yetzirah project of the year, Nitzanim spent a few days revisiting this year’s themes – Sukkot, Breishit, and Shema. We revisited through the lens of Tzedakah VaChessed. Nitzanimers received play כסף (kesef-money) to spend on playing and …
Mar 24
In the שמע (Shema – Deuteronomy 6:4-9) we read: “And you should inscribe them on the doorposts of your houses and upon your gates.” As part of our שמע (Shema) exploration, Shorashim and Nitzanim children decorated the case of a מזוזה (mezuzah) and wrote the שמע (Shema) on a “parchment” that’s rolled inside. Here are some of the ins and …
Feb 28
This week, we FINALLY wrote our own שמע to go inside a mezuzah. We’ve worked so hard on recognizing and writing Hebrew letters. We’ve worked so hard on our שמע research (and it remains a favorite activity – one child asked today if we could go into the Chapel and do more research!). Today, we wrote the שמע. …
Jan 24
Today in Shorashim, we took turns pretending to be a mezuzah by making our bodies long and flat on top of a delet (door) outline taped on the floor of our classroom. We practiced saying, “Shalom, anee mezuzah!” (“Hello, I’m a mezuzah!”), to our classmates and teachers.
