Spring Fling

Our final day of Religious School yesterday was a great success in every respect.

During the first hour, our Edot students finally found out what happened to the main characters in the story of the "Family Y Aguilar," which I've been reading to them this semester. I won't give away the ending; hopefully, you'll have a chance to read the novel, written in the 19th century in Germany. The language is a bit stilted, but the story is a gripping one, and chock-filled with details about the life of the secret Jews in Spain during the 17th century.

Immediately following the story, we played our final Shekel Game of the year. This game is always a big hit with the students. They bet a certain amount of shekels that they can answer a question correctly as a group (questions come from the material we've learned during the entire year in Hebrew, Siddur (Prayerbook) and Blessings, Jewish History, Jewish Holidays and the Jewish Calendar, Edot, and the story we've been reading). The one question all the groups answered incorrectly was, "What does the name of the holiday Tu Bish'vat" mean?"  They all gave some form of the answer, "The birthday of the trees."  WRONG!  The name of the holiday is actually the date of the holiday - the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Sh'vat. It celebrates the "birthday of the trees," but that's not the translation of the name. Thankfully, the students were able to recall almost everything that we learned this year, and had a terrific time doing so.

Group huddle, to be sure everyone agrees on the answer

Thirty seconds to answer, after the question has been read; Michael, our TA, is waiting to find out if he pays what they bet if they answer correctly, or takes the amount they bet if they answer incorrectly

The reporter (Stephen) is giving the answer the group has decided upon

And then it was time to "l'nakot" (clean up) and head up to the Sanctuary, where the entire school gathered for our annual Spring Fling concert. This year, Dan Nichols (whom the Spring Fling organizers had to book two years in advance!) performed many of his popular songs, as well as some that many of us had never heard before. He didn't disappoint!  And very few people were able to sit still. We sang, we danced, we clapped - and the one hour that he performed seemed more like a few minutes.

 

And after the concert was over, it was time to move into the Social Hall for the barbeque and entertainment by our own Kleztones!  Lots of food, lots of music, and lots of fun in the bounce house on the lawn and playing gaga.

And so the 5774 Religious School year has come to an end. Hopefully, you all have as many good memories as I do of what we accomplished during the year in the classroom, during our family workshops, and at Temple Isaiah events. Enjoy the summer, and I look forward to greeting you all again in September.

SHALOM V'L'HITRA'OT!

...and one last plug for the Hebrew Elective Cookbook - you can purchase it for $18.00 (chai!) and enjoy a summer of learning and practicing Hebrew in a fun and delicious way with the entire "mishpacha" (family). Why wait until the fall?!

Ask for it in the Religious School office

Shabbatarama Edot Fair

Yesterday evening, our Edot students had the opportunity to share what they learned this year about the history and cultures of the Ethiopian, Babylonian/Iraqi, Spanish, and Yemenite edot, during May's Shabbatarama event. We performed a skit during the Friday night service, which shared the historical origins of the edot and how different customs evolved within each edah for following the commandments in the Torah. Part of the skit involved unrolling an out-sized Jewish history timeline on the bimah. There was a lot of history to unroll!

Later during the evening, we hung up the timeline in the Social Hall to allow Shabbatarama attendees to get a closer look at it.

Following the service, we all moved into the Social Hall, where the Edot Fair "booths" were set up on the stage and around the perimeter of the room. Each booth allowed people of all ages to play the games or create a craft or taste a dessert which had been brought to Israel by members of the Edot we studied. As attendees ate a pasta and salad dinner at tables set up in the middle of the room, our edot students and parent volunteers, along with Avodah TA's who helped out during the skit and Edot Fair, showed those who came to the "booths" how to make the craft project or play the game.

Playing QILEBLEBOSH, an Ethiopian game similar to "Jacks" but played with stones and without a ball, brought to Israel by the Beta Yisrael (Ethiopian Jewish) community

Playing DOSA, an Iraqi card game involving only luck and no skill. It's played by Iraqi Jews in Israel on Purim.

Playing STOP, a Sephardi game still played in Mexico and Israel, where participants have to write down words for certain categories as quickly as possible - all the words have to begin with the same letter.

Making foamy yarn baskets, a simplified version of the wool and straw baskets that are made by the Beta Yisrael.

Making Yemenite copper wire beaded bracelets, both on the table...

...and on the floor in front of the table.

Making CHAMSAS that Iraqi Jews borrowed from Muslims - you could trace your own hand...

...or use a provided outline of the amulet to decorate with Jewish and other symbols.

And of course, what's a fair without food. Edot parent volunteers baked goodies for our Edot dessert table - orange cake, sesame cookies, sesame bars (a candy), carob cupcakes, tahini cookies, and date patties.

Aside from all the booth activities, there was also a vigorous gaga game going on in the Oneg Room.

A very big thank you goes to all the parent volunteers who baked the desserts and helped to staff the booths. Thanks also to Andrew and Sarah, our TA's, who helped staff the booths and hold up the Jewish history timeline and Israeli flag during the skit. Now, we're all looking forward to the Dan Nichols concert at our final Religious School session tomorrow, to be followed by a barbeque and more games and activities.

What Israel Means to Me

I used our final weekday Edot session to bring to a close our Edot curriculum this year with a very special art project. Using Hebrew Through Movement commands, I had the students draw the Israeli flag (the "Kachol Lavan" - the "Blue White," as it's known in Israel). We then discussed what we had learned during the year about the history of the four edot we studied (Ethiopian, Babylonian/Iraqi, Spanish and Yemenite Jews), with a focus on the immigration to the State of Israel of many members (in some cases all of the members) of these edot. We talked about the establishment of the State of Israel 66 years ago (we celebrate Israel Independence Day -Yom Ha'atzma'ut - this coming Tuesday, May 6th), and what we had learned about the Jewish dream to return to Zion and, more specifically, what the new state meant to these edot.

I then asked each student to write a one or two-sentence statement on the flags they had just drawn, sharing what Israel means to them. Here are a few of the results:

Tomorrow evening, during the family Shabbatarama event, some of our Edot students will be sharing what they learned this year, and will, along with parent volunteers, help to staff booths at our "Edot Fair," sharing the games and crafts and foods of the edot. We will also be celebrating, as part of the skit, Israel's 66th birthday. 

YOM HOOLEDET SAMEACH L'YISRAEL!  (Happy Birthday to Israel!)

Borekas

For our final Hebrew cooking elective project for the year, I chose a very simple recipe for borekas, a very popular dish amongst Sephardi (Spanish/Portuguese) Jews. It is perfect for a light evening meal and, when filled with cheese (as the ones we made are), is often eaten during the Shavuot holiday, which falls on June 4th this year, and commemorates the giving of the Torah to Moses on Mt. Sinai. It is traditional for Jews around the world to eat dairy foods on the holiday for several reasons. The one I like the most is that the Torah is compared to milk by King Solomon who wrote: "Like honey and milk, it lies under your tongue." (Song of Songs 4:11).

As always, we reminded the students to "leerchotz et ha'yada'eem eem sabon" (wash the hands with soap) before beginning the cooking project. The results were a great success - the students gave the borekas a thumbs-up rating, and their opinions are, of course, the most important.

Here's the vocabulary I used, specific to this recipe

Reisheet kol, leesh'bor et ha'beitzeem b'toch ha'ke'ara ha'k'tana (First of all, break the two eggs into the small bowl)

Az leet'rof otam k'tzat eem ha'mazleg (Then beat them lightly with the fork)

Achshav, la'seem et ha'beitzeem, ha'g'veena, v'ha'b'sameem b'toch ha'ke'ara ha'g'dola (Now, put the eggs, cheese, and spices into the big bowl)

L'arbev et ha'kol b'yachad (Stir everything together)

Since we only have half an hour for the cooking session, I used frozen puff pastry dough, and cut the sheets into 5" squares before the students arrived.

L'maleh kaf eem ha'meeloo'ee v'la'seem et ha'meeloo'ee be'emtza kol revoo'ah shel batzek (Fill a tablespoon with the filling and put the filling in the middle of each square of dough)

L'harteev et kol ha'katzot shel kol re'voo'ah eem k'tzat mayeem, v'az l'kapel et kol re'voo'ah b'alachson (Moisten all the edges of each square with a little water, and then fold each square diagonally)

Lees'tom et ha'katzot shel kol re'voo'ah k'dei la'hachzeek et ha'meeloo'ee beef'neem (Seal the edges of each square in order to hold the filling inside)

Leet'rof od beiza b'toch ha'ke'ara ha'k'tana (Beat one more egg in the small bowl)

V'az l'havreesh et ha'beitza al ha'boreka (And then brush the egg on the boreka)

U'va'sof, l'fazer gar'eenei shoomshoom me'al kol boreka (And finally, sprinkle sesame seeds on top of each boreka)

La'afot et ha'borekas chatzee sha'a, v'az zeh moochan le'echol. B'teyavon!  (Bake the borekas for half an hour, and then it's ready to eat. Bon Apetit!)

If you are interested in any of the recipes we used this year in the Hebrew cooking elective, and/or you would like to practice the Hebrew vocabulary as you prepare the recipe with your children, I've prepared a step-by-step recipe book with all 24 recipes, illustrated with the photos of the children preparing them. The book would provide fun ways to practice the Hebrew any time of year with your children and other family members. The book is called "Ta'am Eevreet: A Taste of Hebrew (subtitled "24 recipes for Building Your Hebrew Vocabulary"), and it will be on sale this coming Sunday, during our "Spring Fling."