Wardrobe for Opportunity

During our week day sessions last week, I introduced the Edot students to the "8 rungs of giving Tz'daka" developed almost a thousand years ago by the great Jewish philosopher/rabbi/physician Moses Ben Maimon, a/k/a RAMBAM (the acronym developed from the first Hebrew letters of Rabbi Moshe Ben Maimon). In the non-Jewish world, he is referred to as Maimonides.

The purpose of this lesson was to prepare the students for yesterday's Mitzvah Project. This year, each Religious School track has been assigned to help a specific organization toward fulfilling its mission. The organization to which our Edot class was assigned is "Wardrobe for Opportunity" (WFO).As you can see from its website, its mission is to help low-income people “Find a Job, Keep a Job, and Build a Career.” According to Rambam, this is the highest form of giving "tz'daka. Even before Wendy Dorband, a representative of WFO and a member of our Temple Isaiah community entered the classroom to share the mission of the organization, and to explain how to sort the clothing our Edot families donated, our Edot students understood that they were about to participate in the highest, most respected form of giving in Judaism. This certainly showed in the enthusiasm,energy, and serious thought they put into the process of sorting the clothing. Yasher Koach to our students, and Yasher Koach to Wardrobe for Opportunity for the amazing work they do in preparing individuals to stand up on their own again, providing them not only with interview and workplace-appropriate clothing, but with the dignity and self-confidence necessary to become contributing members to society.  Truly an act of Tikkun Olam (repairing the world)!

Wendy sharing the mission of WFO with our Edot students. Bobbi and Elaine, WFO volunteers who came with Wendy to help us sort the clothing, are standing.

It's a well-made blouse, probably costing about $100.00. But it's a paisley pattern, not what's needed in the up-to-date workplace environment. This blouse will be donated to the gift shop of a local hospice.

Max modeling a donated coat - since it's a warm, winter coat, and WFO is looking for spring and summer clothing now, it will be donated to a local thrift store, from which proceeds WFO can purchase what is needed and not donated (new underwear, socks, etc.)

Clothing appropriate for WFO is hung on the rolling rack - lots of men's suits and dress slacks, as well as women's blouses, skirts, and suits

Deciding which clothing was appropriate and in good enough condition for WFO was not an easy task. A lot of discussion could be heard at each table, sharing the pluses and minuses of each piece of clothing.

Often, we had to defer to Elaine's, or Bobbi's, or Wendy's opinion as to whether the clothing would go to WFO, to the hospice gift shop, to the thrift store, or to Africa (those pieces of clothing which could not be re-sold).

Every scarf, tie, purse, pair of shoes, etc. had to undergo close inspection for any flaws, and even if it was in perfect condition, decisions had to be made for its seasonal appropriateness, workplace appropriateness, etc.

Once a bag was filled (white bags for the thrift store), there was time for a quick breather, then on to the next pieces of clothing waiting on the table to be sorted. 

Thank you to all our Edot families who took the time to pick out and bring clothing for our Mitzvah Project. Incidentally, the next highest form of giving tz'daka, according to Rambam, is when neither party knows who the other is - the donor doesn't know who is receiving the donation, and the recipient doesn't know who donated it. WFO helped us to achieve the two highest levels of tz'daka and, in the process, helped our Edot students learn how they, even at their young age, can help create a better world.

Bene Israel Malida and Wedding Ceremony Re-enactment

Our Edot class had a lot of fun yesterday, dressed in costumes to look like Bene Israel members of the Jewish community in India. We were re-enacting two important ceremonies of the Bene Israel - the Malida ceremony, which venerates the Prophet Elijah, and a traditional wedding ceremony.  Since the Malida ceremony is not a stand-alone ceremony - it is always a part of a Jewish holiday or life cycle event - we decided to make it a part of a wedding ceremony.

We started each session by preparing the traditional dish served during the Malida ceremony. Luckily, it doesn't take much time to prepare.

Pouring cold water into the Poha (rice flakes)

Pondering the mysteries of the universe while waiting 4 minutes for the Poha flakes to absorb the water

Draining the water from the Poha

Holding up the sugar about to be added in (the Cup of Elijah?)

the finished product

As soon as we finished preparing the dish, it was time to prepare for the re-enactment.

Trying on costumes for the right fit

Studying the script and getting into character

 AND FINALLY THE CEREMONY ITSELF

The bridal  party is welcomed at the door to the synagogue by the fathers of the bride and groom

The Rabbi welcomes the bride and groom with verses from the Song of Songs

BEFORE THE WEDDING CAN CONTINUE, THE MALIDA CEREMONY TAKES PLACE, ALSO KNOWN AS THE "ELIYAHU HA'NAVI (ELIJAH THE PROPHET) CEREMONY

A close-up view of the ceremonial Malida dish, served with five fruits - date, apple, orange, pear, and banana

The Torah scroll opened to the 10 commandments is held before the bride, who must kiss the scroll 7 times to begin the ceremony

The bride's maids put gold jewelry on her so she will look like a queen, then immediately cover her head with a white cloth, to hide her beauty

The groom's friends put a garland of flowers and a gold crown on his head, so he will look like a king

Just before signing the ketuba (marriage contract), the bride's face is uncovered to reveal her beauty and all the guests chant, "Oh beautiful as the Moon!" (from the Book of Proverbs)

THE KETUBA SIGNING CEREMONY THEN FOLLOWS

The ceremony ended with a procession from the synagogue to the groom's home (we marched around the lawn in front of the Sanctuary, facing the Reservoir), where the happy couple will live for the first few years of their marriage.

So far this year, our world-traveling Edot students have racked up the miles. We started in the United States with the American Edah, then hopped over to Poland and Russia to learn about Ashkenazi edot, and now we've completed our visit with the Bene Israel of India.  Next stop - MOROCCO!

The Bene Israel of India

We have been studying about the Jews of India over the past few weeks, focusing our attention specifically on the oldest of the three waves of Jewish immigrants to the country - the Bene Israel. Scholars of this group of Jews cannot specifically pinpoint the date of their arrival to the southwest coast of India, but there is a general consensus that they were likely refugees from the Babylonian Conquest of Judea in 586 B.C.E., who escaped to Egypt, then likely made their way east on trade routes to India. (The other two waves of Jewish immigration to India, in order, were the Baghdadi Jews, who followed the spice routes from Mesopotamia to India about 2,000 years ago, and Sephardi Jews, refugees from Spain after the Expulsion of Jews from that country in 1492, who made their way to Turkey and eventually, again as traders, to India.)

The Bene Israel is one of the most unique Jewish Diaspora communities (Edot) in the world, certainly very different from the Ashkenazi edot of Russia and Poland which we recently studied. What makes them especially unique among Jewish communities of the world is their veneration of the Prophet Elijah. They believe they are descended from 7 couples, the only survivors of an ancient Israelite ship, wrecked off the coast of southwest India, and rescued by Elijah the Prophet (Eliyahu Ha'Navi  in Hebrew). Every family and community celebration (Jewish holidays and life cycle events) is preceded by what they call a "Malida" ceremony, praising Elijah and asking him to intercede on their behalf with God.

YouTube has some interesting links relating to the history of the community and to this Malida ceremony. I shared the following links with the students:

 The Bene Israel   and   Indian Jewish Malida Ceremony

We learned that most of the Bene Israel and other Indian Jews moved to the State of Israel during the 1950's, and very few left in India. We also learned that they protected their homes from evil spirits by making prints of their right hands using henna dye on the walls of their homes. These hand prints often had the evil eye imprinted in the middle of the palm, and around the hand prints they often drew symbolic representations of what the general Indian population around them considered to be good luck charms - the peacock, the lotus flower, and the elephant. As with every Jewish community, they borrowed from the culture around them, but gave what they borrowed a "Jewish twist."  Along with the peacock, lotus flower and elephant, they drew ancient Jewish symbols. Interestingly, non-Jewish Indians who bought the homes of the Jews leaving for Israel never removed the hand prints and Jewish symbols on the walls.

This past Tuesday and Wednesday, our Edot students made hand imprints (on paper instead of the walls, and with finger paints instead of henna dye), drawing the good luck and Jewish symbols around the hand print. (They're hanging in Room 202, which is now probably one of the safest places to be in Lafayette if you're worried about evil spirits!)

Don't know how to draw an elephant?  Here are simple steps to help.

How to draw a lotus flower floating on a lily pad

And how to draw a peacock

Use pencil first

But then be sure to add lots of color

You could choose orange or green for the hand print

We had a few left-handers in the group!

The protected wall in Room 202

Having Fun with Hebrew Through Movement Passover Vocabulary

Our Edot class has begun to focus more attention during the past couple of weeks to our Hebrew Through Movement (HTM) program.  During the first semester and into the second, we have devoted 10 minutes on week days and Sundays to teaching basic Hebrew vocabulary.  We have reached the point now, where enough vocabulary is in place to begin teaching Jewish holiday vocabulary. This is a very exciting stage we've reached. Now that the children recognize basic verbs, nouns, prepositions, and adverbs, we can begin to introduce major holiday vocabulary and have fun with it. We have begun, during the past couple of weeks, to devote twice as much time to HTM, and, as far as I can tell, are having twice as much fun (if that's possible!).  I'll let the following photos that Josh and Ariel took yesterday speak for themselves.

Max, la'seem yada'eem al rosh shel Cory; Cory, la'seem yada'eem al beten shel Nathan; Nathan, le'hareem hagada shel Pesach (Max, put hands on Cory's head; Cory, put hands on Nathan's stomach; Nathan raise Passover hagadah)

Leekpotz v'l'histovev (Jump and turn)

Sarah, la'seem hagada shel Pesach al ha'rosh shel Melissa; Melissa, la'seem matza al ha'beten shel Sarah  (Sarah, put Passover Hagadah on Melissa's head; Melissa, put matza on Sarah's stomach)

L'hareem et ha'yada'eem (Raise the hands)

Le'echol chametz (eat leaven)

Rebekah, la'seem maror al ha'rosh shel Kiara; Elise, la'seem chametz al ha'beten shel Rebekah (Rebekah, put bitter herb on Kiara's head; Elise, put leaven on Rebekah's stomach)

Josh, la'lechet eem hagadah shel Pesach al ha'rosh (Josh, walk with Passover hagadah on the head)

Melissa, l'histovev eem matza al ha'rosh (Melissa, turn with matza on the head)

Alexa, le'hareem chametz (Alexa, raise leaven)

Hayden v'Max, le'hareem chametz v'hagadah shel Pesach v'l'histovev (Hayden and Max, raise leaven and Passover hagadah and turn around)