Mitzvah Project

Our fifth/sixth grade annual mitzvah project took place yesterday morning in the Beit Knesset. Wendy and Bill D. took time out of their very busy schedules to show our Edot, Shira and Y'tzira students what performing the commandment of tz'daka is all about, as well as acts of g'meeloot chasadeem.

We learned in our Edot class during the previous week day sessions that the Hebrew word "tz'daka" is built from the 3-letter shoresh (root) tz-d-k (tzadi-daled-koof). All the words built from this shoresh must have something to do with "justice." When I first asked the students for their definition of tz'daka, they told me it was the Hebrew word for "charity." By the end of our lesson, they came to understand that tz'daka is very different from charity, since the word "charity" is derived from the Latin "cara," meaning "heart." Acts of charity are those we perform because we want to - out of the goodness of our hearts. Tz'daka, on the other hand, is a commandment in the Torah (Book of Leviticus); we are commanded to help the weak and vulnerable in our society. Thus, the correct definition for "tz'daka" is "the commandment to create a just world by giving things to the needy." That's not to say that we shouldn't want to give tz'daka, but it is a commandment.

We do have "charity" in our Jewish tradition, referred to in Hebrew by the Talmudic era Rabbis as "g'meeloot chasadeem" (acts of loving kindness). In this case, we help those in need by giving our time and sharing our skills with them. The Rabbis, we learned, divided these "charitable" acts into 3 sub-categories:  Hachnasat Orcheem (Welcoming Guests);  Beekoor Choleem (Visiting the Sick); and Peedyon Sh'voo'eem (Ransoming Captives). All acts of g'meeloot chasadeem will come under one or more of these categories. Our mitzvah project yesterday would fit into the first category in that we are "welcoming back into society" people who have lived on the fringes far too long.

We also learned that the great Jewish sage Maimonides (also referred to by his Hebrew acronym RAMBAM - Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon) taught that there are 8 levels of giving tz'daka. The highest level is to teach the person a skill so that they can themselves contribute to society and help others. The lowest level is giving what is required by the Torah (ten percent), but doing it in a mean and spiteful manner.

We learned that Wardrobe for Opportunity (WFO), the organization that Wendy and Bill represent, fulfills the highest level of giving, per Maimonides. By providing workshops (such as how to interview for a job) to help people who are re-entering the job market (having dropped out of it or never entered it, often because of personal issues), they are teaching important skills which will allow their clients to becoming contributing members of society again, and gain a sense of dignity so important to every human being. Many of their clients are already contributing back to society by volunteering their time to teach others in the workshops.

WFO also facilitates the second highest level of giving, where the receiver doesn't know who is donating the items while the donors have no idea who is receiving them. In this case, WFO receives the goods from the donors and gives them to the needy. In so doing, it allows its donors to achieve this level of giving - we don't know who will be receiving the goods we have donated, nor will the receivers of the goods ever know who donated them. Judaism looks favorably upon those who give tz'daka anonymously - not for personal recognition.

Our students, as you may have guessed, were involved in an act of g'meeloot chasadeem as they sorted through donated clothing to determine which was appropriate for WFO (only clothing and accessories in near-perfect condition and appropriate for interviewing and office wear), and which clothing could be passed onto thrift stores run by WFO or to White Pony Express (WPE). Clothing which may have some stains or is in some way irregular is given by WFO to organizations which forward it to countries in Africa.

There was so much we were able to accomplish during the 50 minutes each session that was allocated for our mitzvah project. After Wendy introduced herself and her husband Bill to the students, they showed two videos, each one introducing a "Client of the Year" (Vernon and then Patricia) to share with the students the work that they do and what it can achieve.

Listening to Patricia's story

Wendy demonstrating appropriate clothing for WFO

Wendy demonstrating a shirt with a stain on the collar - not appropriate!

Pointing to Bill's outfit to show appropriate casual wear for the office

Once we had a good idea of how to sort the clothes and accessories, we went back to the tables laden with donations!

Here's Callen starting to go through his group's pile.

Our Edot students worked together with Shira and Y'tzira students to sort out the clothing. The shoe Emma is holding looks like it will go into either the thrift store or Africa pile, either one serving an important need.

Zach looks like a professional - these pants are definitely WFO quality!

Hmmm, nice dress, but not for WFO - Rona has made her decision!

Checking for stains on this lovely skirt

Michael knows a good, professional-quality pair of pants when he sees them!

So many toys and games and books were also donated - they're packed and ready to be sent to WPE.

With only a few minutes left, everyone pitches in to help pack up the donations - thrift store and WPE donations go into white, plastic garbage bags, clothing to be sent to Africa goes into black, plastic garbage bags. Children's clothing and shoes go into paper shopping bags.

Thank you to everyone who donated to our very successful mitzvah project this year. And a very big YASHER KO'ACH goes to our students, who focused completely on the project at hand, and learned that acts of loving kindness (g'meeloot chasadeem) can give great joy - both in the process and the result.

Very special thanks go to Wendy and Bill, both members of our Temple Isaiah community, who are wonderful role models for how to use our time and skills to effect tikkun olam - help to repair our world!

Making Wimpels

We brought our unit of study about the Ashkenazeem to an end yesterday, by decorating wimpels (not real ones, but what you could call "practice" ones), one of the earliest of Ashkenazi folk art traditions.
I prepared a 3' x 7" strip of white cloth for each Edot student by writing on it in pencil his/her Hebrew name, the Hebrew names of his/her parents (if no Hebrew name was given, I transliterated their English names), the student's birth date on the Jewish calendar, and a very abbreviated wimpel blessing in English taken from the traditional wimpel blessing ("May God raise him/her up to a life of Torah, wedding canopy and good deeds. Amen.")  I provided fabric markers and fabric paint, along with a few stencils of Jewish symbols, and the results were wonderful examples of "Heedoor Meetzvah" (making beautiful the commandment).

Choosing the tools - there's plenty for everyone!

Some chose to color over the pencilled letters first...

...others started by stenciling on decorations.

Either way, there was lots to do.

It took patience and concentration, one letter at a time...

...and every student seemed to have a lot of each to spare.

For almost an hour, all you could hear was the sound of total focus interrupted every now and then with a student asking a question or looking for a stencil.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again...

...it never ceases to amaze me how quickly and confidently the students work on their art projects, with such beautiful results.

And behold, some of the results hanging temporarily on one of our bulletin boards to dry:

Stay tuned for a more permanent exhibit documenting everything we've learned and all the activities we've done in our unit of study about the Ashkenazeem.

You may recall that we prepared poppy seed cookies during our previous week day sessions. I made little "gift packages" of the cookies for each student, which you've hopefully already received if your child attended school yesterday. If not, they will take theirs home during the coming week day session. 

Notice the glorious sunshine streaming in through our windows! "Tu Beesh'vat heegee'a"  ("Tu Beesh'vat has arrived")! This is one of my favorite songs. This past Friday evening going into Shabbat we celebrated two special days in one - Shabbat Shira, the special Shabbat when we read the Torah portion containing the "Song of the Sea" which the Israelites sang after crossing the Reed Sea, and the holiday of Tu Beesh'vat, which has evolved from a tax day in ancient times when we were farmers in the Land of Canaan (and were required to bring the best of the tree fruits to the Temple in Jerusalem to be sacrificed to God in thanks for a good harvest), to a mystical holiday involving a seder created by the Kabbalists celebrating the connection of all living things on Earth to the Tree of Life.

Immediately following our wimpel art activity, Maimone's Y'tzira class joined us in our classroom for a music session with Revital and Michaela. This week, they taught us to sing a beautiful canon called, "Roll into Dark, Roll into Light." Both Sunday sessions were filled with beautiful art and beautiful music.

It's time to get back into our time machine. Get ready to travel in space and time from eastern Europe to India to learn about a very special Jewish community, with very different customs from our own. On our way to India, we'll make a brief stopover in Persia, going back some 2,400 years to a kingdom ruled by King Achashverosh and his lovely Queen Esther. 

Pack your bags lightly this time as we can't check in our luggage and there are no overhead bins on Magic Carpet Airlines!

Date Chews and Poppy Seed Cookies

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we went from one cooking project to another with tefillah and hafsaka (recess) the only breaks between the two. We began the day up in the Oneg Room at our monthly cooking session. This month, we made date chews in honor of Tu Beesh'vat (the holiday of the trees,  which is celebrated this coming Friday night into Shabbat).

As usual, the Edot students worked together with students from Shira and Y'tzira, schmoozing about life and every subject under the sun while preparing the recipe. The results were, as usual, quite delicious!

Karen demonstrating the best way to take the pit out of the date before slicing it into small pieces.

This was, to say the least, very sticky business.

Ten large medjool dates proved to be just the right number to yield a cup of chopped dates

Once the dates were chopped, it was time to beat two eggs. Breaking the eggs without getting shell pieces mixed into the egg yolk and white proved to be a challenge.

Once the dates were chopped, they had to be coated in the flour and sugar mixture.

While some students used the spoon to coat the dates, others went all in with both hands.

Checking to be sure every single date is coated.

Once the mixture was prepared, it was time to pour it into the baking pan.

Making sure every last bit of mixture gets into the pan

We went to tefillah directly from the Oneg Room - fifth graders to the Beit Knesset and sixth graders to the Sanctuary. Since it's been too wet and cold to have outdoor hafsaka, we went to our classroom where some students opted to use the recess time to answer stumper questions to earn stickers, while others schmoozed. Then it was time to prepare poppy seed cookies, part of our unit of study about Ashkenazi Jews.

Since we didn't have enough class time to make the dough from scratch, I prepared the dough at home and the students rolled it into small balls...

...then took a fork dipped in flour and pressed the ball down, forming a crisscross pattern on the cookie as they did so.

We made gluten-free and sugar-free cookies as well.

The dough was very oily, and very sticky.

Very, very sticky!

Within 20 minutes, the cookies were all formed and lined up on the baking sheets.

All ready to pop in the oven

Once we had cleaned up and the cookie trays were in the ovens, there was still time to work on completing the Shabbat Seder Booklets we've been making for the past few weeks. Some of the students completed them and brought them home, while others will be continuing to decorate them as I read the story at the beginning of our sessions.

This coming Sunday we'll be decorating wimpels, one of the earliest forms of Ashkenazi folk art, initially from Germany and southern Italy. Stay tuned!