Counting the Omer and Shavuot

This past Thursday, Jews all over the world celebrated a minor holiday on the Jewish calendar called LAG BA'OMER. To provide a context for the holiday, I used a good part of our session yesterday to teach about the Biblical command to count 49 days (7 weeks) from the second day of Passover to the upcoming harvest holiday of Shavuot. It was on the second day of Passover that the ancient Israelites planted their barley seeds, and 7 weeks later it was ready to be harvested. During the harvesting, the cut grain would be gathered into sheaves (bundles), called "omer" in Hebrew. The best of the crop would then be taken to Jerusalem to be offered to God by the Kohaneem (the priests) in the Holy Temple. After the Romans conquered Judea and exiled many of its inhabitants to Rome, while many other Jews fled to Egypt and Mesopotamia, the agricultural aspect of the holiday was given a spiritual overlay by Talmudic era Rabbis. Thus, Shavuot was given a second name, "Z'man Matan Torateinoo" ("The Time of the Giving of our Torah"), and it was the Counting of the Omer (S'feerat ha'Omer) and the spiritual aspects of Shavuot that became focal points for fulfilling the commandments dealing with agriculture at this time of year.

I had already introduced the holiday of Shavuot to the students just prior to our Hebrew Through Movement sessions about 2 weeks ago, so that I could begin introducing vocabulary connected with the holiday. So most of our session yesterday was focused on the special calendar we use to count the Omer.

This is a simple calendar I made on my computer. However, some calendars can be pieces of art in and of themselves!

I used the opportunity to reinforce what I had previously taught about the numerical equivalents assigned to each Hebrew letter, using Roman numerals to introduce the topic. Each student was given a "Handy Hebrew Alphabet Chart," which described the sound of each letter, and also provided its numerical equivalent. Using this chart, I asked the students to fill in each of the 49 days of the Omer Calendar using the Hebrew letters.

During our Hebrew Through Movement Session, we had a lot of fun reviewing foundational vocabulary introduced over the course of the school year, as well as vocabulary specific to the Shavuot holiday. I introduced a new word during this session - rakevet (a train).

David, la'seem yada'eem al ha'k'tafa'eem shel Phin; Michael la'seem yada'eem al ha'k'tafa'eem shel David... (David, put hands on Phin's shoulders; Michael, put hands on David's shoulders...)

...v'achshav la'lechet mee'saveev la'keeta. (...and now walk around the classroom.)

Achshav, la'rootz maher mee'saveev la'keeta. (Now, run quickly around the classroom.)

La'atzor! (Stop!) Michael, l'heestakel l'mala; David, l'heestakel l'mata; Phin, la'seem et ha'rosh al ha'ketef ha'smolee. (Michael, look up; David, look down; Phin, put the head on the left shoulder.)

We reviewed vocabulary relating to the Map of Israel. Billy, la'seem et ha'rosh al ha'meelah ha'angleet shel Yeesra'el. (Billy, put the head on the English word for Israel.)

Justin, la'seem et ha'rosh al ha'meela "Edot." (Justin, put the head on the word "Edot.") Achshav, l'hachzeek et ha'rosh al ha'meela "Edot," v'leengo'a ba'meela ha'eevreet, "yeled" eem ha'yad ha'smolee. (Now, hold the head on the word "Edot, and touch the Hebrew word "boy" with the left hand.) U'va'sof, l'hachzeek et ha'rosh al ha'meelah "Edot," v'l' hachzeek et ha'yad ha'smolee al ha'meela ha'eevreet "yeled," v' achshav leengo'a ba'mezuza eem ha'yad ha'y'meenee. (And finally, hold the head on the word "Edot," and hold the left hand on the Hebrew word "boy," and now touch the mezuzah with the right hand.)

Gabby, la'seem sefer al ha'rosh. (Gabby, put a book on the head.)

Achshav,  l'horeed yada'eem m'ha'sefer, v'la'lechet mee'saveev la'keeta. (Now, lower hands from the book, and walk around the classroom.

Myles, l'horeed meeshka'fa'eem me'al ha'eyna'eem, v'l'hatzbee'a al ha't'moona shel seefrei Torah eem ha'meeshka'fa'eem. (Myles, take off glasses from the eyes, and point to the picture of Torah scrolls with the glasses.)

And at the end of each HTM session, we all clap hands for each other's efforts. Koolam leem'cho ka'pa'eem beeshveel koolam! (Everyone clap hands for everyone!)

As we entered the Sanctuary for our usual tefillah session together with the 3rd through 6th graders, I remarked to one of my students that it seemed to me that there were more people than usual. Little did I know that there was a special honor awaiting me after we had sung a few "warm-up" prayers. Rabbi Greninger was announcing something that she said all but one person in the Sanctuary knew about, and suddenly a photo of myself appeared on the screen onto which prayers are projected during tefillah. Rabbi Shanks came up to the microphone and shared wonderful words about my time at Isaiah, then Rabbi Greninger shared a very special video of Debbie Enelow (who was my principal both at Cong. Beth El in Berkeley where I first began teaching Religious School and then at Isaiah, until she retired in 2008) congratulating me on my retirement. Rabbi Greninger then shared my teaching biography and thanked me in so many wonderful ways for all I'd shared with my students. I wish I could remember everything that was said, but my heart was pumping so quickly that as hard as I tried to catch every word, I realized I missed so much of what was said. At one point, Rabbi Greninger presented me with two gifts, for which I will always be grateful!

A beautiful Infinity Shin Mezuzah, which was commissioned by Temple Isaiah in honor of Rabbi Shanks' retirement this year. This will be hanging by the end of the week on my office doorpost at home!

And this amazing book filled with notes to me from family members of students I've taught, as well as from fellow teachers and clergy members. I've been reading through each and every note, but am not even half way through the book, as there are also so many wonderful photos of my classroom filled with students going back so many years. I'm looking at each student, remembering who they are and trying to figure out how many years ago they were in my class. This book will be on the coffee table in our family room, where I can look at it over and over again. I can hardly wait to share it with my children and grandchildren (the first of which is due at the start of September!). Thank you to everyone who was involved in helping keep the surprise and put together the book and make yesterday a day I will never forget!

And now, we still have three class sessions together, during which we'll be continuing to learn about the Edot we studied during the year by playing games from the Beta Yisrael and Babylonian/Iraqi edot, finishing the novel I've been reading about the Romaniote and Sephardi Jewish communities, and playing one final Shekel Game!