Introducing the Jews of Spain

During the previous week day sessions, I introduced the third edah we're studying this year - the Jews of Spain. I began by introducing one possible theory for the origin of the name of the country. We do know for sure that ancient Phoenicians, neighbors bordering Israel to the north some 3,000 years ago, sailed to Spain, following the coast of North Africa, establishing along the way the colony of Carthage. The Phoenicians first believed that the Iberian peninsula was an island, and having spotted strange animals which resembled rabbits (these animals were actually hyraxes), supposedly gave the area the name - "ee" (meaning island in Phoenician, which is a Canaanite language closely related to Hebrew) "shafan" or "shafania" (meaning rabbit in Phoenician/Hebrew). When the ancient Greeks took over the area as a colony, the name evolved to "Eesfahan" and, several hundred years later, the Romans re-named it "Heespania," from which the modern name of "Spain" (or "España" in Spanish) is derived. This is just one of many theories about the name, but I thought it interesting to share with the students since the Phoenicians were a Semitic people who are often mentioned in the Bible.

Jewish presence in Spain can be traced back for certain to Roman times, some 2,000 years ago. Jewish traders from Mesopotamia had already established communities along most of the coast of North Africa, and a few Jewish traders made their way to Spain over the Strait of Gibraltar, establishing small communities there. Student volunteers read out loud from a brief history of the Jews in Spain taken from the history series, "Out of Spain" by Andrea Aelion Brooks, describing how Visigoths conquered Spain from the Romans in the 5th century C.E., forcing all the local inhabitants, including the Jews, to convert to Christianity. We then learned that in 711 C.E. the Visigoths were conquered by Arab Muslims from the area referred to as Mauritania (present-day Morocco) by the Romans. These Arab-Muslims who now ruled Spain were referred to as the Moors (from Mauritania). It was during the 300-plus years of Moorish rule over Spain that Jews experienced a golden age which some claim was not matched anywhere in the world until Jews settled in the United States. Aside from having to pay a tax to the Muslims for land that they came to own, the Jews were treated as equals in every aspect of  life.

At this point, I shared a "Heritage: Civilization and the Jews" video and multimedia presentation with the students about the Jewish "Golden Age in Spain," including a segment about Maimonides, the great Jewish philosopher, physician and rabbinic authority who was born in Cordoba, Spain at the end of the 10th century, and whom I've mentioned to the students at various times during the past year, most recently relating to the Jewish concept of tz'daka.

During our joint community activity period with Shira and Y'tzira on Tuesday and Wednesday, I was very heartened to see that our studies about the Jewish middot (values) have taken root. We played hangman (an apt game at this point in the year, since we celebrate Purim in just a few weeks!), and the students were able to quickly figure out the Jewish values I had "spelled" out with blank lines after guessing just a few letters in each instance.

During our Hebrew Through Movement session, I continued to introduce new Purim vocabulary even as I was reviewing all the other vocabulary we've learned to date. I have also been introducing literacy into the program, slowly but surely reaching the point where most of the students are beginning to recognize 4 basic command words on flashcards - la'koom (get up), la'shevet (sit down), la'lechet (walk) and la'atzor (stop). By the end of this school year, my goal is to have most of the students recognize at least 10 of the basic vocabulary words, including words on signs in our classroom and around the school (delet - door; chalon - window; sheirooteem - bathrooms; loo'ach - referring to a bulletin board, white board or calendar; shoolchan - table; and keeseh - chair).

Ashley, leelbosh maseicha al Peter. (Ashley, put a mask on Peter.)

Gabby, leelbosh maseicha al Charlotte. (Gabby, put a mask on Charlotte.)

Ariston, la'seem megillat ester al ha'rosh v'az l'har'eesh ra'ashan me'al ha'rosh shel Jeremy. (Ariston, put the scroll of Esther on the head and then make noise with a noisemaker/grogger over Jeremy's head.)

Ari, leelbosh maseicha v'az l'heestovev. (Ari, put on a mask and then turn around.)

Joey, la'seem megillat ester al ha'rosh shel Sammy; Sammy, l'har'eesh ra'ashan me'al ha'rosh shel Joey. (Joey, put the scroll of Esther on Sammy's head; Sammy, make noise with a noisemaker/grogger over Joey's head.)

Sammy v'Joey, l'hatzbee'ah al ha'meela "la'atzor." (Sammy and Joey, point to the word "stop.")

Joey, leekro et ha'meela, "la'koom." (Joey, read the word, "get up.")

Yesterday, during both sessions of JQuest, we again joined the Shira and Y'tzira tracks to view the movie, "Havana Curveball." This film was produced in 2014, and follows a San Francisco boy named Mica during the 3-year period in which he fulfilled a mitzvah project as part of the process of becoming a Bar Mitzvah. He began the project at the age of 13, just prior to his Bar Mitzvah ceremony, but it took 3 years for him to carry it out. Since we ask our B'nai Mitzvah students to work on a mitzvah project as part of their path toward becoming members of our Jewish community, this film provided our students with a lot to think about!

Next Saturday, March 5th, our sixth graders will attend morning Shabbat services with their families, in order to become familiar with the service. Sixth graders will not attend JQuest on Sunday, March 6th. All fifth graders and their parents will attend JQuest on March 6th during first session only, at which time the students will each receive a gift of a Siddur (prayer book), and will be given time to decorate a cover for the book. The siddurim will be kept at JQuest, to be used during our week day and Sunday tefillah sessions.

Historical Documents and Archaeological Finds

Up until this point, we have been studying Jewish history through the lens of the Jewish Diaspora communities (the Edot). But I haven't had a chance to teach about how we know about the history we learn, and, in fact, if we can trust what we read in our history texts. So yesterday, this is precisely what we focused on during each session. We began with a discussion of the definition of history (the written record of the past), then I reviewed with the students what we had learned earlier in the year about the revolutionary Jewish linear concept of time and the concept of history expressed by the prophets of Israel as "the Way or Path of God." All historical events, they believed, were the results of moral decisions made by Israel. If Israel followed God's commandments, God would bless the nation and protect it from its enemies; but if Israel worshipped other gods and did not follow the commandments, God would punish the nation and send its enemies to conquer and even exile the people.

We then discussed how scholars have studied and interpreted ancient historical records. Using examples from ancient Babylonian and Judean history that we recently studied, students learned that kings often "exaggerated" or even "re-wrote" history on victory steles (inscribed free-standing stones), and enemies often had contradictory reports of battles won and lost. Only when opposing sides agreed on the events, can historians be sure that the events truly occured as described. And even then, they search for corroborating evidence. This corroborating evidence often comes from archaeological finds. Archaeology, we learned, is a science - that is, archaeologists follow the "scientific method" of developing a hypothesis and then following specific steps to determine the validity of the hypothesis. When it comes to Biblical history, the written records discovered (including the books of the Bible) are used to form hypotheses of where to dig, and whatever objects are discovered must be carefully evaluated and compared to written accounts. For example, King Nebuchadnezzar declared in a victory stele that he broke through the walls of Jerusalem, burned down the Holy Temple of the Judeans and led the elite and skilled of its citizens into exile to Babylon. His account agrees completely with the Judean account in the Bible. It also agrees with archaeological finds, for indeed archaeologists discovered soot and ashes on the level of digging which was dated to the Babylonian conquest - signs of warfare and destruction described in both Nebuchadnezzar's and the Biblical accounts.

The students, divided into 3 groups each session, were then given the opportunity to get a taste of how historians and archaeologists conduct their respective studies and learn from each other's finds. I set up 3 stations, each consisting of activities relating to ancient history and its study.

One station introduced the students to a pottery typology chart developed by archaeologists over the past century, which helps them date pottery to specific times and cultures using their shape, color, and intended use. Using this chart, students were asked to date four pieces of pottery on the worksheet above.

At the same station, students were asked to re-assemble a simple clay pot which I had broken into larger (and some smaller) pieces prior to this exercise. The idea was to give each student a taste of what archaeologists and their helpers must do to literally "piece together" the objects they find. Only after they have assembled an object can they begin to interpret its use, who the people were who used it and when it was used.

The process of re-assembling the pot took a lot of cooperation and a lot of patience!

A second station introduced a very important archaeological tool for the dating of ancient dynasties - the cylindrical seal. Hundreds of these seals have been discovered throughout the Middle East, going all the way back to the Sumerian civilization in Mesopotamia. Kings (and occasional queens) would sign documents they issued using these round seals. Thanks to advanced methods of dating, archaeologists and historians have been able to establish dates for the reigns of specific kings using these seals. Students at this station were given the opportunity to learn how these seals worked.

Each student was given a piece of raw carrot and a pen. Using a chart of the Phoenician alphabet symbols (from which our Hebrew alphabet evolved), they were asked to etch their name or initials into the carrot using the pen. Once this was accomplished, they slowly rolled the carrot onto a piece of PlayDoh, until the initials could be seen in relief.

The photo is blurry, but you can clearly see the Phoenician form of aleph (A for our purposes) on the top, and samech (S) below the aleph - the initials of one of our Edot students.

Finally, the third station gave the students a chance to compare two written records of the same event - the rebellion of the Moabite king Mesha against Israel. They were asked to read the English translation of the inscription discovered on the "Mesha Stele"  and then compare it to what is written in the Second Book of Kings, Chapter 3, verses 4 and 5. Both describe a revolt of Mesha against Israel after King Ahab's death. Both agree (with some slight differences) on what occurred.

After reading both accounts, the students were asked to use the Phoenician alphabet chart to decode the five-letter word written under the picture of the Mesha Stele (the word is Israel).

While some students decoded the word under the Mesha stele photo, other students worked on decoding a 6-letter word written on a Roman-era coin (the word is Jerusalem).

During the coming weekday sessions, I'll be introducing the history of the next edah we'll be studying - the Jews of Spain. The history of the Jews in Spain goes back at least 2,000 years (and perhaps even as far back as 3,000 years). As I share the history, I'll be reminding the students of how historians and archaeologists, working in tandem, interpreted documents and other objects to try to flesh out the history and culture of the peoples on the Iberian Peninsula, and that the process is not over. More finds are being made every day!

Israel Is...

During this school year, our JQuest teaching staff has been going through a process of exploring how we have been teaching about Israel at each grade level and in each track in the past, and what resources are available to do so at present, with the goal in mind to develop a curriculum for all grades which will help our students feel a positive connection to the Jewish homeland. Our Yad b'Yad teacher, Keren, initially helped to coordinate our efforts with San Francisco's "Israel Initiative" program, as well as with Temple Isaiah's Gan Ilan and Noar Night staff. Recently, Erin, our Shira teacher, has taken over as coordinator of this project.

You may recall that during the first 10 minutes of each week day session, our 5th and 6th graders in all 3 tracks participate in a planned activity together, to build a strong sense of kehilla (Hebrew for community). Usually, we play games relating to Jewish holidays and ritual objects (first semester) and Jewish values (second semester). This past week, Erin decided to use this time to find out what our 5th and 6th graders know about Israel, as well as what they would like to learn about the country. We divided the students into small groups, each of which was given a piece of paper with the prompt "Israel Is..." written on the top. They were given about 5 minutes to brainstorm what they knew about Israel and write it down. Then, they were asked to turn over the piece of paper, and note down "What We Want to Know about Israel." Erin has collected the responses from both Tuesday and Wednesday sessions; these responses will be of value as we continue the process through the end of this school year. Below are a few photos we took as the groups worked together:

As usual, immediately following the community activity, we returned to our classrooms, and I used the next 15 minutes before our tefillah (prayer) time to review and introduce Hebrew vocabulary using the Hebrew Through Movement commands. I began to introduce Purim vocabulary last week, and continued this week, using the new holiday words to help reinforce the basic vocabulary we've been working on all year.

Charlotte, leek'ro megeelat ester. (Charlotte, read the Scroll of Esther.)

Alexia, la'seem megeelat ester al ha'rosh. (Alexia, put the Scroll of Esther on the head.)

Seth, la'seem et ha'ra'a'shan al ha'rosh shel Jeremy. (Seth, put the noisemaker on Jeremy's head.)

Jeremy, l'har'eesh ra'a'shan. (Jeremy, make noise with the noisemaker.)

Leo, l'hatzbee'a al ha'meelah "la'shevet" eem ha'ra'a'shan. (Leo, point to the word "to sit" with the noisemaker.) (Slowly, but surely, the students are beginning to recognize basic Hebrew vocabulary words which I've been using since the start of the year, on the flashcards.)

Ashley, l'har'eesh ra'a'shan me'al ha'rosh shel Leo. (Ashley, make noise with a noisemaker over Leo's head.)

Following our t'feela (prayer) session and hafsaka (recess), we ended the session each day this past week with the Shekel Game - the question and answer review game we play after we have completed a unit of study - in this case, the Babylonian Jewish edah. Both Tuesday and Wednesday students were able to answer almost every question correctly and have fun doing so!

Introducing the categories: Notice that two of the categories are written in Hebrew letters (the top one is actually an acronym I've made up for our Hebrew Through Movement program - Eevreet Beet'noo'a - it's shorter and easier to write on the schedule each day than the full name of the program; the word I'm pointing to is "seepoor" which means story - in this case, "The Storyteller's Beads" which I've been reading since the start of the year). The students can already recognize the Hebrew words for both these categories!

Ashley is her group's treasurer, and appears to be enjoying the task! (We use replicas of real Israeli sh'kaleem - shekels - to play!)

The question's been asked, and now Charlotte, Emily and Abby have 30 seconds to agree on the correct answer before the reporter in the group has to respond.

Sometimes there's a difference of opinion, but by the end of the 30 seconds, they all have to agree on the answer.

And if they respond correctly, they're paid the amount they bet by my T.A. - on Tuesday it's Brian.

Deciding how much to bet can sometimes be even more tricky than coming up with the correct answer to a question!

We have no school this coming Sunday, Tuesday or Wednesday, to observe the President's holiday. I'm looking forward to seeing all the students again on Sunday, February 21st. Enjoy the holiday break!

Wardrobe for Opportunity Mitzvah Project

It was a wonderful coincidence for me last week, that it was the letter "tzadee" which was chosen to be JQuest's letter of the week. The word "tz'daka" (one of our Jewish life vocabulary words) begins with that letter. And tz'daka was precisely the topic I wanted to introduce to the Edot students during the weekday sessions. First, I introduced the concept of a root from which all words are built - the shoresh, as it's called in Hebrew. Most Hebrew shorasheem (plural for shoresh) are composed of 3 letters, and this, in fact, is the case for the shoresh of the word tz'daka - "tzadee"-"daled"-"koof" are the 3 letters composing its root. I then shared with the students that all words built from the same word in Hebrew must have a meaning in common - for "tzadee-daled-koof" the meaning is "justice."

When I asked the students to share what they believe the definition of tz'daka is, not surprisingly most said "charity." As it happens, tz'daka is not charity. The word "charity" comes from the Latin, "cara," meaning "heart." Thus, acts of charity are those from the heart - voluntary acts of giving. Judaism does have a category of giving from the heart, called "G'milut Hasadim" (Acts of Lovingkindness). Tz'daka, on the other hand, is a commandment (found in the Book of Leviticus). We are commanded to give 10% annually to the needy of the land. Talmudic era Rabbis (whom we recently learned about in our Babylonian Jewish edah unit of study), sought to "flesh" out the commandment by explaining how we should give tz'daka. I read two stories to the students, "Rabbi Elijah and the Rich Man" and "The Traveler's Donkey"; the first story shared how important it is to feel empathy with the needy (and thus, hopefully, will lead to giving more than the required 10%), while the second shared how important it is to give "freely and gladly."

Yesterday, we learned that Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon (known in Greek as Maimonides and in Hebrew by the acronym, Rambam) taught that there are 8 "levels" of giving. The best way, he said, is to teach a needy person the skills required to earn a living, thus providing him/her a sense of dignity and the ability to eventually help others in need. The worst way is to give the required amount grudgingly in such a way as to humiliate the needy person.

As a culminating activity to our "mini-unit" on tz'daka, the students in each session yesterday joined the other two 5th/6th grade tracks in the Beit Knesset. There, two volunteers for the Wardrobe for Opportunity organization (both members of Temple Isaiah!) shared how the organization helps people who have been out of work for various reasons to prepare to re-enter the workforce (just as Rambam taught was the best way to give tz'daka!). Clothing and accessories which had been donated by JQuest families over the past few weeks was distributed on 8 tables, and our students were instructed to sort the clothing in 4 piles: clothes appropriate for interviewing and working in an office environment and in good condition; clothing which had holes or stains on it; jewelry and other accessories which could be used for WFO's purposes, and clothing which was in good condition but not appropriate for the workplace or interviewing (this clothing would be donated to a hospice the organization works with or might be sold to raise money to buy underwear and other clothing needed, but not donated).

Volunteers Debra K. and Wendy D. shared how WFO works together with the Pathways for Success program; WFO provides appropriate clothing for interviewing and workplace; PFS program provides training in skills needed for 21st century positions, as well as information about how to write resumes and present well during an interview.

During the presentation each session, our T.A.'s distributed the clothing to each table.

After viewing a 10-minute film focusing on three people helped by WFO, the students moved to the tables and set to work sorting the donated clothing and accessories.

If you weren't sure which pile a piece of clothing belonged in...

...our volunteers provided advice.

Teachers and T.A.'s got in on the action as well.

Just because clothing was neat looking (and some had come directly from the cleaners!), didn't mean it automatically passed inspection. EVERYTHING had to be closely examined.

There were 3 or 4 students at each table; the room was filled with the sounds of voices deciding on which pile a piece of clothing should be placed.

Agreements were quickly reached, and clothing appropriate for WFO was put on hangers, to be hung back on the portable clothing rack.

The BK was a beehive of action!

 And after all the clothes had been sorted, and the clothing going to hospice had been packed in large, black plastic bags, we all sat down in front of the ark again, and Debra K. shared the following story:

I'd like to thank all the generous donors who helped us fulfill the mitzvah of tz'daka - the commandment to create a just world by giving things to the needy. Yasher Ko'ach!

Chamsa Family Workshop

We had our final, culminating event yesterday morning for our unit of study about the Babylonian Jews (which is how Iraqi Jews still refer to themselves) - our Chamsa Family workshop. I had to pick and choose specific eras in the complicated history of this edah, and decided to share major events in its earliest history with the students, with the greatest emphasis on the birth of Judaism during the Babylonian exile period, roughly between 586 B.C. E. and the conquest of the Babylonians by the Persians in 537 B.C.E..

After viewing videos, multimedia presentations and interactive maps on the "Heritage: Civilization and the Jews" dvd-rom program to present an overall view of the major eras, the students interpreted what they learned as they wrote skits describing each of five major eras and/or events in Babylonian history and created posters illustrating these events. We learned two songs: one relating to the history of this edah ("Al Naharot Bavel" - "By the Waters of Babylon" from Psalm 137), and the other sung by Iraqi Jews during their Simchat Torah celebrations ("Hallelu Avdei Adonai"). And finally, we prepared Menena, an Iraqi Jewish treat traditionally included in their Purim Mishlo'ach Manot baskets.

We presented the skits during our family workshop yesterday in the Beit Knesset, which included the songs we learned and which were illustrated by the posters the students created, as backdrops to each skit. All participants were then asked to move to tables set up behind our "staging" area, where we learned how to make a copper foil chamsa (the amulet adopted by Iraqi Jews during the late 7th, early 8th century). As our workshop ended, I handed out "gift packages" of the Menena pastries the students prepared, as an early Purim gift.

With Bill's help, I set up the Beit Knesset with a "staging" area for the presentation of the five skits and chairs set up for the adults (our students were relegated to a lower level of seating - i.e., the floor in front of the adults).

And what's a skit without the proper costumes and props? It looks like King Nebuchadnezzar is standing "offstage" waiting to join his Babylonian soldiers as they finally end the 2-year siege of Jerusalem and break through its walls.

The Kohen Gadol (High Priest) and his Levite aide realize that the Holy Temple will be invaded and looted by the Babylonian soldiers now that they've broken through the walls of Jerusalem.

Nebuchadnezzar would be the first to tell you that its hard to keep a crown on your head!

The High Priest wasn't wrong - here, he's being led away by Babylonian soldiers. He's got a long march to Babylon to endure very soon.

The audience is attentive, as they hear how heartbroken the exiles are upon reaching Babylon and being asked by Babylonians taunting them to sing songs of their homeland in this strange land.

Here, the actors sit, as all the participants sing "Al Naharot Bavel."

Standing directly under the poster depicting Jewish adoption of the Chamsa amulet can only bode well for Ben!

In this scene, five Rabbis in the Babylonian Academy (Yesheeva) of Pumbedita are discussing when the proper time is exactly to say the morning "Sh'ma" prayer.

Future rabbis of America?

And when the final skit was finished, we all moved over to the tables where participants found a copper foil square and a pair of scissors set out on a newspaper section (to prevent the tables from being scratched when we pressed down on the copper foil to trace our hands and decorate the chamsa). Plenty of colored beads made from ceramic, glass, and plastic were on hand at each table, to string onto thin wire and attach to the bottom of the chamsa once it was cut out. Many Middle Eastern and North African cultures believed that demons were attracted to round, colorful shapes and entered them, then could not get out and were thus captured and prevented from doing evil in the world.

Parents, grandparents and children all quickly became involved in the art activity.

Choosing just the right beads to attach can be tough when there are so many to choose from!

The copper foil is very sharp, so you had to be very focused and careful as you cut out the traced hand.

The result is worth all the effort - there are a lot of evil spirits that won't be wandering around Emily anymore...

...or Zach...

...or Alex...

...or Ben and his Mom!

And before everyone left, each family took a gift-package of Menena from our "Mishlo'ach Manot" Purim basket.

Our Edot families are now protected!

We have now traveled in our Edot time machine to learn about the history and cultures of the Beta Yisrael in Ethiopia and the Babylonian Jews in Mesopotamia. Next stop - the Jews of Spain! 

But first - we take a break in our travels to perform an act of tz'daka, helping to create a just world by sharing what we have with others. This coming Sunday, representatives from "Wardrobes for Opportunity" will be giving a presentation about this wonderful organization which helps people who have been unemployed far too long to prepare for interviewing, including helping them to find appropriate attire for  interviews and work. We are hoping our JQuest families can donate men's and women's clothing and accessories that are used, but in good condition, and which would be appropriate for interviews. All our 5th/6th grade students will be asked on Sunday to help sort the donations in the Beit Knesset. Please bring your donations to the hallway just outside the Beit Knesset during the coming week.