Edot: Hiddur Siddur

Our Temple Isaiah fifth graders and their parents from both Shira: The Musical and our Edot class met yesterday morning for the second of our three B'nai Mitzvah Prep workshops. This one focused exclusively on the Siddur. We opened up with a skit presented by myself, Josh (my co-teacher), and Alex, the Shira teacher. The skit introduced the purpose of the workshop and the meaning of "Hiddur Siddur." "Hiddur" means 'embellishment.' Talmudic era Rabbis determined that the verse in the Book of Exodus, "This is my God and I will glorify him," was a directive for us to decorate or embellish the rituals we perform to fulfill the commandments. For this reason, we dress the Torah scroll in beautiful cloths or cases, we decorate our Sukkah and lulav, and use beautifully made kiddush cups and candlesticks for the holiday candles.

During the workshop, each fifth grader was presented with his/her own Mishkan T'filah Siddur, a gift from the Religious School which will hopefully be used to help prepare for the Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremony, and for a lifetime after (and perhaps be handed down as an heirloom to future generations!). In line with Hiddur Siddur, we provided book covers for each student to decorate. We provided stencils of Jewish symbols and ritual objects, as well as of Hebrew and English letters, to help get everyone started on decorating their covers. Parents worked together with children, and in just half an hour, the book covers were completed. We then gave each student his/her Siddur and as all the fifth graders stood on the stage in the Social Hall holding their Siddurim, we all sang the "Shehecheyanu" blessing led by Cantor Korn. Once everyone had put the book cover on the Siddur, they held them up proudly for all to see.

The workshop was focused on Hiddur Siddur, but we also left plenty of time for community-building activities - specifically, mixers. Adults got to know each other better with mixers led by Rabbi Greninger and Cantor Korn in the Social Hall, while their children had a lot of fun with mixers led by Josh and Alex in the Oneg Room. Just before ending the workshop, each fifth grader signed up to help lead a prayer during our 3rd-5th grade t'filah service in the Sanctuary. (Sixth graders and their families had their own special B'nai Mitzvah Prep workshop on Shabbat, so were not in attendance on Sunday.)

Yasher Koach to the fifth graders for designing beautiful Siddur book covers and for leading us in chanting the prayers.

How will a Torah scroll look on the cover? Very nice!

Lots of collaboration between parents and children!

Some chose to work on the stage instead of at a table

Those families who finished decorating the covers early could work on a Siddur puzzle together.

Can you discover the prayer in this spiral puzzle?

Gathering onstage to receive their Siddurim

Chanting the "Shehecheyanu" blessing

Proud new owners of the Mishkan T'filah Siddur Journal (exactly like the regular Siddur, but you can write down your thoughts about the prayers in this one!)