Final Preparations for Chamsa Workshop

We've had a busy week in our Edot class preparing for the Chamsa workshop this coming Sunday. During the weekday sessions, the students worked in small groups, as they had the previous week, writing the final drafts of the skits they'll be presenting during the workshop.

They used the worksheet they had filled in the previous week as an information outline

Each group chose a recorder - the student with the neatest handwriting, since I had to type up the scripts when they were completed.

Some groups were given additional information to help write their skits.

Dialogue ideas were shared out loud, to see if they sounded right, then recorded if everyone agreed to use them.

Checking out the Book of Daniel to find Babylonian sounding names for the skit.

Once the skits were completed, we focused on creating backdrops for each skit in the form of posters. Yesterday, the students designed 8 posters depicting scenes from Babylonian Jewish history which we had studied in previous weeks.

The results were very impressive!

The conquest of Jerusalem and fiery destruction of Solomon's Temple

The siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar's army - hard to see here, but that's hot oil being poured on Babylonian soldiers from the ramparts on an otherwise beautiful day.

Al Naharot Bavel - By the Rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.

During our music session with Maya this week, we learned two songs - "Goleil Or Mip'nei Choshech" (from the Ma'areev Araveem prayer, describing how God separates Light from Darkness):

And "Or Zarua La'tzadeek" (Light is Sown for the Righteous):

I'm so glad that our assigned time for music with Maya every other week is during the final 15 minutes of our weekday sessions, so we can be dismissed with the most wonderful melodies still ringing in our ears.