Slice, Dice and Cut

During the first half hour of our weekday sessions this week, Edot students participated in our monthly Hebrew cooking activity - this time we prepared Israeli vegetable salad in honor of Yom Ha'Atzma'ut - Israel's Independence Day - which we celebrated yesterday. Israelis eat a lot of vegetables, and the Israeli vegetable salad has become a ubiquitous presence on dining tables both at home and at restaurants. It's part of the traditional Israeli breakfast, consisting of eggs, cheeses, bread and marmalade; and it's usually included in a light, dairy-based dinner. The salad is usually a combination of cucumbers, tomatoes, red bell peppers, scallions, mint leaves, parsley, dill and garlic, diced and sliced into very small pieces and then tossed together with lemon juice and olive oil, with salt and pepper added to taste. We prepared a simpler version in class, using just cucumbers, tomatoes, red bell peppers and scallion, tossed together with the lemon juice and olive oil dressing. Students could add in salt and/or pepper to taste in their individual bowls, when they ate the salad.

Reisheet kol, l'katzketz et ha'm'lafefon l'chalakeem me'od k'taneem eem ha'sakeen. (First of all, dice the cucumber into very small pieces with the knife.)

L'katzketz, l'katzketz! (Dice, dice!)

Az, l'katzketz et ha'agvaneeyot l'chalakeem me'od k'taneem eem ha'sakeen. (Then, dice the tomatoes into very small pieces with the knife.)

L'katzketz et ha'peelpel he'adom l'chalakeem me'od k'taneem eem ha'sakeen. (Dice the red pepper into very small pieces with the knife.)

U'vasof, leech'toch et ha'batzel ha'yarok l'chalakeem me'od k'taneem eem ha'sakeen. La'amod v'leechtoch/l'katzketz... (And finally, slice the green onion - scallion - into very small pieces with the knife. Stand and slice/dice...)

... ella la'shevet v'leech'toch/l'katzketz - ha'kol toov! (...or sit and slice/dice - it's all good!)

La'seem et kol ha'y'rakot l'toch ha'k'ara ha'g'dola. (Put all the vegetables into the large bowl.)

L'fazer shemen zayeet v'meetz leemon al ha'y'rakot, v'l'arbev et ha'kol b'yachad. Achshav, zeh moochan le'echol.  B'TEY'AVON! (Sprinkle olive oil and lemon juice on the vegetables, and toss everything together. Now, it's ready to eat. BON APETIT!)

 

 

 

Following t'feela (during which the lead teachers for the 3rd/4th and 5th/6th grade tracks each gave a brief "spiel" about the content and activities of their track, to help the students decide which they might decide to choose for the 2015-2016 school year) and hafsaka (recess), our Edot students were given another "cutting" assignment - this time to cut photos and drawings out of magazines I've collected over the years. These photos and drawings will be used to help illustrate a major prop for our Edot Fair skit on Sunday, May 3rd - a giant Jewish history timeline, which we'll be working on during our next 2 sessions. This activity is always a wonderful opportunity for me to expose the students to publications relating to archaeology, Jewish history, Jewish culture and Israel. I always have several current issues of these magazines laid out on the blue counters under the windows in both Rooms 201 and 202, but rarely do the students have enough time to look them over thoroughly. The publications are: "ERETZ" (Israel's version of the National Geographic Magazine, containing a lot of photos and articles about Israel's archaeology, history, culture, and wildlife), "The Biblical Archaeology Review," "DIG" (a children's archaeology magazine), Hadassah Magazine, and the American Jewish Heritage Magazine (a publication of the American Jewish Heritage Society).

Each table in Room 201 was given a clear, plastic carrying bag containing a sheet with the years and specific historical events the students at that table were asked to focus on as they looked for photos and drawings to cut out. They were asked to put all the cut outs into the bag, and these will then be sorted over the next two sessions. Below are some photos which Isabella (my TA on Tuesdays) and Max (my TA on Wednesdays) took of the activity.