Yom Ha'atzma'ut

Today is Israeli Independence Day - Yom Ha'atzma'ut. We are celebrating the nation's 68th birthday. To celebrate this joyous occasion, I shared a 20-minute segment of the final video in the "Heritage: Civilization and the Jews" program ("Into the Future") during our weekday sessions, which presented the history of the modern Zionist movement, the struggles the new state had to endure from its outset, and how members of 70 different edot (Jewish Diaspora communities) made their way on their own or (especially in the case of Jews living in Arab countries) with the help of the Jewish Agency in Israel. This was the perfect summation of our edot studies this past year - sharing how the absorption of so many Jewish immigrants over the past 6 decades from all over the world has created a unique Israeli culture and has brought to realization the 2,000-year old dream of the Jewish People - "Next Year in Jerusalem!"

These past weekday sessions were busy for us. Aside from celebrating Yom Ha'atzma'ut, we also prepared a special card for Rabbi Graetz, to wish him well on his retirement. Since many of the children in the class have not had the opportunity to work with Rabbi Graetz individually, I decided to conduct a mini-lesson on the roles a rabbi plays in a congregation before introducing the card activity to them. We learned that a congregational rabbi not only serves as officiator at Jewish life cycle events, and not only leads the congregation in holiday and daily prayer services, but also serves as a role model for how to lead a fulfilling Jewish life and how to feel proud of our Jewish identity. The rabbi also serves as a counselor/social worker in many ways, helping congregants deal with personal issues and helping to unite and strengthen the congregation's community. Once the students realized how much Rabbi Graetz has contributed to our Isaiah community, they were ready to write their own special remarks to Rabbi Graetz on the card. The card will be presented to him at our Spring Fling, this coming Sunday.

I printed the photos of every Edot class student on one side of the card, with each student's first and last name printed underneath.

Some of the artists in our class volunteered to illustrate the front and back sides of the card.

Students drafted their wishes and thanks for Rabbi Graetz on scrap paper first, then copied them onto the card with markers, being sure to sign both their first and last names, so that Rabbi Graetz could match the faces with the names.

Students shared ideas with each other about what to write.

During our usual tefillah time, from 4:30 to 5:00, the 6th graders met with Jory, our 7th grade coordinator, in the Youth Lounge in the basement of the Temple House Building. There, Jory shared with them what they could expect as 7th graders - what they would learn, community service projects they'd be involved in, a class trip to Los Angeles during the MLK, Jr. Birthday weekend in January of this coming year, and performing tikkun olam (repairing the world) through the 7th Grade Fund program. We then all moved to one of the classrooms near the Youth Lounge, where Jory led the students in a "Clock Game," requiring them to work together as a team to figure out a solution to how to move around in a circle to different "times" posted on the 4 walls of the room as quickly as possible. I was impressed at how quickly (though very noisily!) both the Tuesday and Wednesday sessions worked to find a solution and succeeded.

Getting comfortable on the sofa in the Youth Lounge

Jory sharing what they'll be doing as 7th graders

Playing the "Clock Game" in the classroom

As many of you know, Jory will not be returning to teach at JQuest in September. We wish him well for his plans for traveling through South America next year, and in all his future endeavors.

I look forward to seeing as many of our Edot families as possible at our Spring Fling on Sunday. Remember that both sessions will meet in our classroom from 10 to 11 a.m.. Then we'll go up to the Sanctuary for the Billy Jonas concert, and finally enjoy a barbeque with lots of fun and games.

YOM HA'ATZMA'UT SAMEACH! HAPPY 68th BIRTHDAY TO ISRAEL!