Edot Fair

Our Edot track's big day finally arrived yesterday - the Edot Fair. For one hour each session, Edot students and parent volunteers shared a taste of the foods, arts and crafts, and games of the edot we've studied about this year with the students and parents of other Religious School classes. Between the two sessions, during Tefillah in the Sanctuary, we presented a skit which shared the history of the Jewish People, to help explain the origins of the edot (Jewish Diaspora communities).

We began each session by having Edot students go into Room 202, to choose their costumes and put them on.

I call the next few shots the "Quiet before the Storm" - the Beit Knesset transformed to become a Fair.

As soon as the costumes were on, we all went to our assigned booths and waited for the first group of visitors. Will P's Mom, Andrea, took advantage of the time to catch some wonderful shots of the students. Here are Will and Morrie mugging for the camera...

Left to Right: Lauren, Judy, Gabby, Shaina and Jill at the Shvueslakh and Reyzlakh table. Notice the clock - in just 2 or 3 minutes, the first visitors would enter the BK

And then the Fair began - visitors might choose to make a Gold Rush Pouch  (that American Jewish peddlers used to store their hardtack). Our first session staffers (from left) Jack, Daniel and Robert had their hands full with all the visitors to their booth...

...as did Zoe and Samantha second session.

And even as you were making the pouch, you could check the next table over to decide if you wanted to make a Jeta de la Mezuzah - a pouch which Moroccan Jews hang on their doorposts containing the "Sh'ma" and "V'Ahavta" lines from the Torah.

Making the Jeta de la Mezuzah's under the guidance of Jenna, Jennifer, and Abi first session...

and with Ali's and Mara's help during second session.

The Bene Israel Handprint booth was very busy first session as well. Here's Will explaining to a young visitor how to place her hand on the paper, once she had smeared her palm and fingers with the orange paint.

The successful handprint!

And here is Emerson guiding a young visitor's hand down on the paper during second session. Visitors to the booth could choose green or orange paint for their prints.

Whichever color they chose, they had to wash it off so they could continue to visit other booths. A big thanks goes to Randy who took charge of turning on the tap for those who couldn't reach it!

Before making the final handprint, Zack explains during second session how to draw the Indian and Jewish symbols of luck and beauty on the corners of the paper.

Along with Will and Morrie, Aaron and Sammy were kept busy at the Bene Israel Handprint booth, along with their Moms, Claire and Neela.

Visitors could also play the "Eliyahu Ha'Navee" (Elijah the Prophet) card game. Our first session dealers, Ari and Ben kept a brisk game going. If you end up holding the Eliyahu Ha'Navee card (the Jack), you win the round! The Bene Israel edah believe that they are descended from 7 couples rescued from a shipwreck off the Kerala Coast of India by none other than Eliyahu Ha'Navee!

Ethan, our second session card dealer, obviously enjoying his assignment

Jacob's first session Kindergartners seemed to have enjoyed the Fair...

...and his second session took the time to shout a big "TODAH" (THANK YOU) when it was time to return to their classroom.

During the three sessions prior to the Fair, our Edot students reviewed the Jewish history we had learned this year and last by working on the huge Jewish History Timeline which served as a prop for our skit during Tefillah. Their hard work paid off, and the timeline was quite impressive as the students unrolled it during the skit.

    

YASHER KOACH to all our Edot students and parent volunteers (who prepared the recipes and helped staff the booths) for all the time and effort you put into helping our Fair be a success. Now, it's time to look forward to the final two weeks of school, and to our Spring Fling on May 17th.