Jan 17
Here is the Torah text that children are exploring during Week 2 of our Yosef (Joseph) theme. בְּרֵאשִׁית לז:יב–לו Genesis 37:12-36 יב) וַיֵּלְכוּ, אֶחָיו, לִרְעוֹת אֶת-צֹאן אֲבִיהֶם, בִּשְׁכֶם. יג) וַיֹּאמֶר יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל-יוֹסֵף, הֲלוֹא אַחֶיךָ רֹעִים בִּשְׁכֶם–לְכָה, וְאֶשְׁלָחֲךָ אֲלֵיהֶם; וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ, הִנֵּנִי. One day, Yosef’s brothers went to Sh’chem to take care of their father’s sheep. Ya’akov, whose …
Jan 10
This week at the Jewish Enrichment Center, we started our new theme: יוֹסֵף (Yosef)! After hearing the text (Genesis 37:1-11) for just the first time, the children in Nitzanim v’Anafim (“Buds” for 1st-2nd grades and “Branches” for 3rd grade) were absolutely bursting with questions and ideas. “This is Ya’akov and all his children. Everyone except …
Jan 10
Here is the Torah text that children are exploring during Week 1 of our Yosef (Joseph) theme. בְּרֵאשִׁית לז.א-יא Genesis 37:1-11 א) וַיֵּשֶׁב יַעֲקֹב בְּאֶרֶץ מְגוּרֵי אָבִיו–בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן Ya’akov lived in the land of Cana’an. This is the story of Ya’akov and all his family. ב) אֵלֶּה תֹּלְדוֹת יַעֲקֹב, יוֹסֵף בֶּן-שְׁבַע-עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה הָיָה רֹעֶה אֶת-אֶחָיו …
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. …
Oct 24
To conclude our exploration of the fall chagim (holidays), children in Shalom Chaverim (“Welcome, Friends!”) explored Simchat Torah. (Check out this article to learn more about Simchat Torah). This friend pulled himself all the way up to stand at the sticky paper and put foam Torahs onto the wall. He enjoyed the feel of foam …
Jan 13
It is the beginning of a new theme, שְׁמַע (Shema), children in שׁוֹרָשִׁים (Shorashim– ‘roots’ for nursery) and שְׁתִּילִים (Shteelim– ‘saplings’ for kindergarten) have jumped right in. First, we discovered the name of our theme through a scavenger hunt for the Hebrew letters that spell שְׁמַע (Shema). After we found the letters, we worked together to figure …
Oct 28
This week in שׁוֹרָשִׁים (Shorashim– ‘roots’ for nursery) and שְׁתִּילִים (Shteelim– ‘saplings’ for kindergarten), we have been doing a lot of thinking and building about Genesis chapter 13:7 (in our אַבְרָהָם וְלוֹט (Avraham V’Lot) theme), when an argument takes place between Avram’s and Lot’s herders. Some children thought that the argument was related to inequity between the …
Oct 14
In שׁוֹרָשִׁים (Shorashim– ‘roots’ for nursery) and שְׁתִּילִים (Shteelim– ‘saplings’ for kindergarten) we have started our first theme of the year! Children have been so excited to play about אַבְרָהָם וְלוֹט (Avraham V’Lot)! The first thing we did was read Genesis chapter 13. We heard that Avram is very rich, the land that Avram and Lot are …
Oct 13
We’re in the second week of our new theme, Avraham v’Lot (Abraham and Lot) and children of all ages are excitedly digging deeper into our text from Genesis 13. (Click here for 1st-5th grade version. Click here for nursery and kindergarten version). Children in Shteelim (“Saplings” for kindergarten) worked together to share ideas about why …
