Back from Winter Break

We began the second semester during the past two weekday sessions by reviewing what we had learned about the "language of Shabbat." I reviewed the concept of the "shoresh" (the root word) with the students, going over the 3 letter roots of the words "Shabbat" and "Shalom." Thankfully, most of the students recalled the information they'd been taught and were ready to learn a third shoresh - "s-d-r." Hands went up very quickly when I asked for a word that was built from those three letters. "Siddur" (prayerbook) was the first word the students came up with, followed by "Seder." And what do all the words built from these 3 letters have in common?  Order. In Judaism, rituals must be performed in a certain order to have meaning. We hold Pesach (Passover) seders, performing rituals in a certain order. The same is true for Tu Bish'vat seders and Shabbat seders (also referred to as "Kabbalat Shabbat" - welcoming the Sabbath).

We made a list of all the Shabbat rituals the students could recall, then put them in the order in which we perform them on Friday evenings. On Sunday morning, the students painted posters reflecting what they had learned about each ritual, as well as teaching what was created on each day of Creation. These posters will be used during our upcoming family Shabbat Seder, scheduled for Friday evening, January 23rd. Below are some photos of the children making the posters.

Here, Ali and Alyssa are decorating a "groysse fish" - a big fish - which will be used in the Yiddish skit the students will be presenting at the Shabbat Seder, called "Yosif Mokir Shabbos" (Joseph Who Valued Shabbat).

Here is one side of the completed fish (now a "gefilte" fish - a stuffed fish!)...

And here is the second side.

And here are the finished posters, hanging on the hallway bulletin boards:

During our weekday sessions, the 6th graders joined the 7th graders up in the Sanctuary for t'fila (prayer service), which they will be doing until the end of the school year. Rabbi Shanks led the service on Tuesday; Rabbi Miller on Wednesday (Cantor Korn who usually leads the service is on sabbatical this semester).

Here is Jory, our 7th grade coordinator, welcoming the 6th graders

Sadly, upon returning from winter break, we learned that Josh, my satellite teacher during first session Edot class on Sundays, has been diagnosed with leukemia. He'll be undergoing several rounds of chemotherapy for the next few months. I shared this news with the students at the start of each session (many students in the second session know Josh from last year's Edot class and/or from the Simcha youth group activities and Camp Kefli). We discussed how it feels to be very ill and in the hospital and I gave a mini-lesson on the Jewish concept of "Bikur Cholim" (literally, visiting the sick). We then brainstormed ideas of what we could write to Josh, to let him know we're all thinking of him and miss him very much. I had prepared individual cards with each student's photograph glued onto the top of the card ahead of time. I'll be gluing the finished cards to one or two posterboards, which Rabbi Miller will deliver to Josh next week. 

Writing a first draft on a piece of scrap paper

Alyssa's card in progress

We all wish Josh a refu'a sh'leima (complete recovery) and look forward to the day he returns to Isaiah and our classroom. We miss his energy, humor, and ever-present smile. HANG IN THERE, JOSH!