Gold Rush Pouches

Just 2 days to go 'til our Gold Rush field trip!  Now that we've prepared the hardtack and 1-2-3-4 cakes, our final preparatory activity for the trip was to make Gold Rush pouches, like the ones miners and peddlers used to carry their gold dust or their dried foods, including hardtack.

We made a very simple felt version of the leather pouches they used. Students were introduced to the fact that many Jewish merchants in the area ended up becoming cattle ranchers even while they still ran their stores. Often, ranchers and farmers had to pay the merchants in kind for finished goods that they bought in the "mercantiles," since they often didn't have enough money. Merchants received grain, fruits, vegetables, and not infrequently, cattle and sheep. Emanuel Linoberg in Sonora had a very large cattle ranch just outside the city limits. The Jewish cattle ranchers, like other ranchers, had to brand their cattle.

I shared examples of the brands used by Jewish cattlemen, then suggested that the students might want to decorate their pouches with brands of their own design - perhaps variations of their initials, or completely different symbols. Many students followed my suggestion.

Below are some photos of the students decorating their pouches, and weaving the drawstring through the holes in the round felt pieces they were given, which became their pouches. On Wednesday evening, I put a piece of the hardtack we made into each student's pouch. We made extra pouches for absentees and for those Y'tzira and Shira students who will be accompanying us on the field trip.

Once most of the students had completed their pouches, I read to them an adventure path from a "do-it-yourself-adventure" book called "The Other Side of the Hudson," written by Kenneth Roseman. It's one of a series of historical adventures he's written about different eras in Jewish history. Each page presents the reader (who is the main character in the book) with choices which had to be made by real people, and depending upon the choice made, the reader continues on to a specific page to continue the "adventure path." We made the decisions together - the majority's decision ruled. This is another fun way to learn about Jewish history.

 We also continued to build our Hebrew Through Movement holiday vocabulary this past week, reviewing Shabbat vocabulary which most of the students had learned last year, and introducing two new words: pamot and pamoteem (candlestick and candlesticks). We also reviewed the "Ha'motzee" and "Kiddush" blessings (thanks to Rabbi Greninger's suggestion, I realized that when just speaking the words, they are harder to remember than chanting them, as we're all used to doing!).

La'seem challah al ner shel Shabbat (Put challah on Shabbat candle)

Ian, la'seem nerot shel Shabbat al rosh shel Ari (Ian, put Shabbat candles on Ari's head)

Ari, la'seem nerot Shabbat b'pamoteem shel Shabbat al rosh shel Ian; Ian, la'seem challah al rosh shel Jason (Ari, put the Shabbat candles in the Shabbat candlesticks on Ian's head; Ian, put challah on Jason's head)

Ethan, la'seem nerot shel Shabbat b'pamoteem shel Shabbat al rosh shel Jennifer; Jennifer, la'seem challah al rosh shel Kyra; Kyra la'seem challah al rosh shel Danielle v'l'histovev (Ethan, put the Shabbat candles in the Shabbat candlesticks on Jennifer's head; Jennifer, put challah on Kyra's head; Kyra, put challah on Danielle's head and turn around)

SHABBAT SHALOM EVERYONE!