Gold Rush Field Trip

The day of our field trip to Sonora and Columbia in the Mother Lode country finally arrived yesterday. The weather was perfect all day long - sunny, in the mid-50's (except for the evening - when the sun set at 4:42 p.m.,  and it turned very chilly very quickly!). The information sent out to all the participants promised that we would leave precisely at 9 a.m., and that's exactly what we did. Everyone arrived in good time...

Except for these two who had to make a run for it !

and we settled in for the 2-1/4 hour drive to Sonora on the comfortable coach (the air-conditioned, motorized kind!). I introduced everyone to the background history of the Jewish pioneers who eventually settled in northern California, with the help of readings in the information packet given to each family. First, we got into the proper mood for the day by singing a couple of Gold Rush era songs ("Oh California" sung to the tune of "Oh Susanna" and "Clementine"). Parents were then asked to read excerpts to their children from the memoir of Moses Bruml and from a letter written by Hannah Hirschfelder, describing their sea journeys to California from Europe. A third excerpt they read to their children was from I.J. Benjamin's description of the boat and wagon trip to Sonora from San Francisco (a two-week journey in those days!).

Then it was time to sit back and watch a 42-minute film directed by Bill Chayes, a local filmmaker, called "Birth of a Community: Jews and the Gold Rush." It's a terrific documentary film, which really shared a lot of information that the students could use for the assignment I gave them as soon as the film was over.
I asked each student to "become" a Jewish pioneer buried in the Sonora Pioneer Jewish Cemetery that we would be visiting that afternoon, and to write a "letter home," describing their journey to California, how they earned their living in Sonora, and how they maintained their Jewish identity there. Some students were assigned pioneers whose lives were very well documented, so they had a lot of material to work with for writing their letters. Other students were assigned pioneers whom we know so little about that only their gravestones provided information. In those cases, the students were encouraged to make up information to bring the pioneer "to life" by using information we learned in class and in the film to fill in the gaps.
I'm always amazed at the quality of the letters the students write in the hour or so left before we arrive in Sonora. This year was no exception. Here's an example:

November 3, 1869

Dear Mother and Father,

It has been ten years since I have landed in the Gold Land, but all of my memories still seem young. Since I traveled alone on my treacherous journey, I was very lonely on the way over. Life didn't seem complete without my sister, so I decided to make this long journey.

As you know, our life in Germany was OK. They did not let us practice some customs, but the real reason I left was because I missed my dearest sister so much, and needed to see her.

I sailed first from Germany to New York. Then, I took a steam boat named the "New Orleans" from New York to Panama. We had to hike and take a canal boat to get through the Isthmus to the Pacific coast. We then had to wait for two weeks for another boat to come and pick us up. The maximum people allowed on the ship was supposed to be 400, but 1,000 people were crammed into one ship. We finally arrived in San Francisco in 1859. I didn't stay there long, and I almost automatically moved to Sonora. There, I met my husband, Mayer Baer, and now have seven beautiful children. One died.

My life is amazing in Sonora. I make a good living, selling hand-knit hats, and we are the Jewish center of the town. I am still very  religious. My husband takes the role of a rabbi. He leads services, marries people, etc. My children help in the store, and I get to see my dear sister often.

I wish to see you soon, mother and father. I do miss you.

With much love from your dearest daughter,
Helena (Oppenheimer Baer)


We reached Woods Creek Rotary Park in Sonora around 11 a.m., and enjoyed a picnic lunch. Since we still had 1-2-3-4 cakes left that the students had made the previous Sunday, I "sawed" a couple of them into enough pieces for us all (they're that dense!), and we enjoyed their sweet taste. Somehow they seemed to taste even better outdoors on a sunny day in Gold Country.  We boarded the bus again (and those who drove themselves got back in their cars) around noon, and headed to Columbia State Historic Park where we were met on Main Street by Frank Cimino, who has been docenting at the Park for a number of years. He shared a general history of the Gold Rush times with our entire group (57 of us in all), then we divided into 3 smaller groups for three stations. While one group learned about the Jewish pioneer merchants in Columbia, people like Shalom and Harris Levy, Joel Levy, Phillip Schwartz, and Rose Levy, the second group climbed the hill up to the old Columbia school house and were taught a lesson that children back in 1861 might have been taught, using slates and chalk. The third group had time to themselves to explore the stores along Main Street. Or, if they wished (and some did!), they could ride the Wells Fargo stagecoach or pan for gold (that water was really COLD!).

By 3 p.m. it was time to drive back to Sonora, to visit its pioneer Jewish cemetery, the earliest Jewish cemetery in the area (the first burial was Hartwig Caro, a 17-year old boy, who died and was buried in 1853).   After I gave a brief introduction about the Commission for the Preservation of Pioneer Jewish Cemeteries and Landmarks in the West, which maintains seven pioneer Jewish cemeteries in the Mother Lode region including Sonora's, I handed out a treasure hunt. Families had to find symbols on the gravestones like wilting flowers and broken tree limbs (representing people who died too young), certain Hebrew letters like "pey" "nun" at the top of almost all the gravestones (initials standing for the Hebrew words "poh nikbar" meaning "here is buried"), lambs (representing children who died), and fraternal organization symbols for the Masons and Oddfellows, to which many Jewish men belonged in those days (and still do today, for that matter). Up until a few years ago, we used to do gravestone rubbings, but the stones are now much too fragile for that activity, so the treasure hunt replaced it.

Students shared what they had learned about the people buried in the cemetery and finally, before we left, we all said the Mourner's Kaddish together and put pebbles on the gravestones as a sign that we remember and care about the people buried here. Some members of our group, according to Jewish law, washed their hands before leaving the cemetery in the washbasin provided. Then it was time to head back to Lafayette. We said goodbye to the families who drove on their own, and headed back to the bus.

During our drive home, we watched the two-hour film, "The Frisco Kid" starring Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford. It was a perfect wrap-up for our day. The film tells the story of a Polish rabbi who is sent to San Francisco with a Torah scroll, to become the newly formed Jewish community's rabbi there in 1850. On the way, he encounters many difficulties, not the least of which is trying to preserve his Jewish beliefs and rituals in the wild west. Harrison Ford plays the bank robber who befriends him, and gets him out of quite a few situations. The film ended just 10 minutes before we arrived back in Lafayette, the end to a perfect day.

Frank, our docent, with the hat

Frank with one of the three groups - notice the Wells Fargo stagecoach in the background

Phillip Schwartz's "New York Fancy Dry Goods Store"

Inside Phillip Schwartz's store, you can buy things that the pioneers bought back in Gold Rush days

Girls and boys lined up separately back in 1861 to enter the classroom (they also had separate play areas for recess)

History  Lesson

If you can't behave, you sit for an hour or more with the Dunce Cap on (notice the map in the background - only 33 states back in 1861)

Misbehave a second time, and get your palm slapped hard with a ruler

Gathering at the Sonora Pioneer Jewish Cemetery

Looking for the letters "pey" "nun" as part of the Treasure Hunt

Continuing the search for symbols on the gravestones

Discovering Felix Edgar Dreyfous' gravestone, whose wife had inscribed on it, "To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die."

So as not to end this post on a sad note, I thought I'd share the following  photo I took of a sign hanging in one of the saloons on Main Street in Columbia. It wasn't only during the Gold Rush days that times were rough!

Making Hardtack and 1-2-3-4 Cake

Yesterday's two sessions were two of the messiest I can recall - and the most fun!  Forty-one of the Edot students between the two sessions managed to go a step further than the "hands-on" activity I had planned - they turned it into an "elbow-deep" activity. Hands, elbows, entire arms were involved in the preparation of what turned out to be quite a sticky 1-2-3-4 cake dough.

So what are hardtack and 1-2-3-4 cake?  We've been studying about the pioneer Jews of the American west, and one of the best ways to bring the past to life is to re-create recipes that come from whichever era and geographical location we're studying. Many Jews who participated in the Gold Rush earned their living by becoming peddlers. The peddlers had to carry as much as 100 lbs.on their backs, traveling 300+ miles until they had sold off enough of the goods they carried, to go back to their supplier and re-stock. Much of the time they were alone on the road, and often had to walk 50-100 miles between farmhouses or settlements. They had to carry their own food. Obviously fresh food didn't last very long, so dried foods were what they carried. One of the staples of their diet (and especially for peddlers trying to keep kosher) was hardtack - a very hard biscuit that could last for months and wouldn't mold easily or attract bugs. The hardtack was so hard, that you couldn't just bite into it-  you had to suck it or dip it in water to make it edible. It was also referred to as "teeth dullers" and "sheet iron." And if a peddler ran out of it, it was easy to make - he just threw together flour and a bit of water to make the dough, a little bit of salt for taste if he was lucky enough to have some, and then baked the dough over the hot rocks left from the campfire overnight, while he slept. By morning, it had cooled down and was hard as a rock, easily carried in his pouch.

The 1-2-3-4 cake was originally referred to as "Cup Cake" and for good reason. Back when most people couldn't read, it was important to create recipes that were easy to remember. The recipe for the 1-2-3-4 cake was simply to throw into a bowl 1 cup of butter, 2 cups sugar, 3 cups flour, and 4 eggs, mix it altogether, and bake it 'til it turned brown on top. If a pioneer housewife was lucky enough to have sugar on hand, this was a very popular recipe. The result was a dense, but tasty treat.

I'm going to put one or two pieces of hardtack into each student's "gold pouch" (see my October 18th post), for them to take home, or on our gold rush field trip if they're participating. We'll enjoy pieces of the 1-2-3-4 cakes we made during this week's Tuesday and Wednesday sessions.

Below are some shots I caught: (I had to clean dough off my camera, but thankfully the lens stayed clean!)

Step 1: Roll the dough (prepared by me at home) into a square shape...

Sometimes two arms were needed to roll - not necessarily from the same person!

The dough should be rolled to about 1/2" thick

Step 2:  Measure 3" squares to cut out  (this was obviously a 4-man job!).

Once you cut the dough, and pierced each square with holes on both sides, it was ready to bake.

Oh oh - this isn't a 1-2-3-4 cake; it's a 1-2-3-4-5 cake (5 fingers to get the dough off your arms and fingers)!

Who said baking was easy?  This is back-breaking work! Hopefully the result will be well-worth the effort.

Immigration Challenges

Following a brief review of what we learned about the Jewish westward migration to date during our week day sessions, students were divided into four groups. Each group was presented with a situation faced by Jewish immigrants to the U.S. in the 1840's and 1850's, and asked to brainstorm a list of solutions. The situations were as follows: (1) You can carry only one very small bag on your trip from Europe - what will you put into it to help you maintain your Jewish traditions?  (2) What solutions might you find for maintaining your Jewish identity during the long boat trip to the United States from Europe and during the overland route to California (consider what foods Jews were allowed to eat, keeping Shabbat, etc.)?  (3) When you arrive in the United States, you don't know any English, and you have no work to earn money. What can you do to survive? and (4) There are no synagogues, rabbis, Torah scrolls, siddurim (prayer books), or Jewish calendars when you arrive in the West. How will you be able to continue to observe Jewish rituals and traditions and be certain that your children and future generations will be able to do the same?

The solutions arrived at by each group to the above questions were then shared. We created a list of solutions on the whiteboard which I copied down. These solutions have now become part of a page entitled "Leaving for California? Be Sure to Keep Your Jewish Traditions By..." which will be become part of the information packet given to the Gold Rush field trip participants.

On Sunday, I shared with the students a presentation I put together from the "Heritage: Civilization and the Jews" dvd-rom program, focusing on the mass immigration of Jews from eastern Europe to the U.S. between the 1880's and 1924 (when the U.S. closed its doors after accepting more than 25 million immigrants in that time period). It's estimated that at least 2 million Jews (and possibly as many as 3 million) entered the U.S. during that era; most of them came from eastern Europe. The presentation focused on the challenges these Jews had to face. Many imagined that they were about to enter a new "Promised Land," where the streets were paved with gold. Instead, they found themselves in crowded living conditions in tenements, and working 7 days a week, from dawn til dusk, to earn enough to put food on their tables. The presentation also included a lullabye written by the Yiddish author Shalom Aleichem, in which a Jewish mother promises her baby that life in America will be so sweet that he'll eat challah in the middle of the week, and chicken broth every day (a great treat for the poor Jews of eastern Europe!). There were also some humorous bits in the presentation about "this crazy game of baseball that even grown-ups play" and a young Jewish boy's insistence that his father study his "abc's" more diligently, to learn how to read English.

We continued our "Hebrew Through Movement" vocabulary-building sessions outdoors in the amphitheater (the weather was too nice to stay indoors!), and I set up a new bulletin board in the classroom to show off the vocabulary we've learned to date, illustrated by photos of the students themselves performing the actions. 

Finally, we all want to wish our classmate Leon "re'fua sh'leima" (complete healing). We miss him. To be sure he knows we're all thinking of him, we made a giant get-well card filled with our wishes for a speedy recovery.

Our newest classroom bulletin board - Hebrew Through Movement (Ivrit Bit'nua)

Taking turns to wish Leon a speedy recovery

B'nai Mitzvah Prep Workshop #1

This past Sunday, October 21st, our fifth and sixth grade families came together for the first of three B'nai Mitzvah Prep workshops scheduled for this academic year. Fifth grade families came first session; sixth grade families came second session. I always look forward to those occasions when I have a chance to see my students in the context of their families. It was so nice to see that most families were able to join us for both sessions. Both workshops met in the Social Hall, with breakout groups using the Oneg Room and Sanctuary as well. If your family wasn't able to attend this first workshop, I can offer you a "taste" of what we did, hopefully to whet your appetite for the next workshop (Saturday morning, February 2nd for sixth grade families and Sunday morning, February 3rd, first session, for fifth).

Families of both grades were greeted with bagels and cream cheese, coffee and cold drinks, and given time to re-connect with other families, and meet those just joining our community. Rabbi Miller officially began both workshops, with an introduction explaining the purpose of the session.

The focus of the workshop for the fifth grade was on the Torah. Each fifth grader received a special gift from the Women of Isaiah - his/her very own copy of Sol Scharfstein's easy translation of the Five Books of Moses (a/k/a The Torah). These books will be used to help the Bar/Bat Mitzvah student understand the Torah portion they'll been assigned, and to write the "Drash" (the interpretation of the Torah portion) for the ceremony.

While Cantor Korn spoke to the parents about the date selection process, the students moved to the Oneg Room with Rabbi Miller, teachers and TA's to review Torah stories and personalities they had learned about during the first few years of Religious School in a fun way. What could be more fun than TORAH OLYMPICS!  Students divided up into three groups, each group creating a name for itself related to the Torah. Within two minutes the groups had chosen the names "SupercalifragilisticexpealiTorah" (at least that's what it sounded like when they yelled it out with all the ruach -spirit- they could muster!),"The Mama's and the Pappa's," (it was easier to say than the Matriarchs and Patriarchs!), and "The Plagues." The three teams then competed in four races relating to the Matriarchs and Patriarchs in the Book of Genesis, as follows:
ABRAHAM  - Since Abraham was told by God to "Lech Lecha" - "Go to the land that I will show you.." we held a relay running race (our workshop time was limited, so running was in order!); the teams raced back and forth in the room.
SARAH - Since Sarah was 127 years old when she died, each team had to see which was fastest at completing 127 jumping jacks.
REBECCA - Rebecca brought water for Abraham's servant's camels when he came to her home to look for a wife for Isaac, so the teams competed in a wheelbarrow race (OK - so Rebecca didn't use a wheelbarrow to carry the water, but it was a lot of fun anyway!).
JACOB - When Jacob rested after running away when he cheated Esau out of his birthright, he dreamed of a ladder connecting Heaven to Earth, with angels going up and down. Our teams "recreated the ladder" in a way, by competing to see which one could pass a ball over and under the fastest.
RACHEL AND LEAH - Since Jacob was ultimately forced by Lavan, his father-in-law, to marry both sisters, a complicated relationship resulted between the two. Teams competed in a 3-legged race, which was definitely enjoyed by all.
Here are a few photos I was able to "catch" of the Olympic events:

We all met back again in the Social Hall, at which point the students were each presented with their own copy of Scharfstein's Torah translation. It was wonderful for me to see the reactions on the faces of the children as they opened up their own copy of the Torah for the first time.

To help everyone become familiar with using the "Book, Chapter, Verse" method of finding a particular story, families were presented with a "Torah Scavenger Hunt," where they had to find specific verses and stories in the Torah.

After a final wrap-up, reminding everyone about the due date for the Bar/Bat Mitzvah date selection request forms and a brief preview of the second BM Prep workshop, families moved to the Sanctuary to join the 3rd and 4th grades for T'fila.

While the fifth grade families and sixth grade students were in T'fila, sixth grade parents met in the Social Hall with Rabbi Miller, who arranged for the parents to get to know each other better by playing "Four Corners" with them (why should students be the only ones allowed to play games?!). During the game, parents were able to find out about where many of them grew up, their favorite books, what sports they play, how they exercise, what music they enjoy, as well as what they watch on TV when they have a chance.

Once the sixth graders joined their parents in the Social Hall, Rabbi Miller asked everyone to take out their cell phones (what a switch - we're usually asking everyone to put them away!). Using the texting application on their phones, both parents and students were polled on the following questions: What characteristics do you look for in teenagers you respect? What characteristics do you look for in adults you respect? How is being a teenager different than being an adult? and Why is it important to mark Bar?Bat Mitzvah at age 13?  Responses were shown as they came in on a large screen, and were read out loud by Rabbi Miller as they appeared on the screen.

Parents and sixth graders in each family were then asked, using worksheets handed out, to interview each other, then to interview parents and students from other families, about becoming adults. Cantor Korn summed up this activity by asking for volunteers to report on what they found out from their interviews. He then shared with the participants why we have the tradition of Bar/Bat Mitzvah and the meaning of it.

Families were then separated into 3 groups, based upon their assigned B'nai Mitzvah dates. Each group was led by a clergy member and discussed the schedule of Temple Isaiah's requirements for becoming B'nei Mitzvah. Students then gathered in the Oneg Room with the teachers and TA's for some fun activities to get to know each other better and review some important aspects of Jewish rituals, while the parents joined Rabbi Miller and Amy S. in the Social Hall to discuss the importance of community building, as well as practical details relating to the B'nei Mitzvah service and post-service celebrations.

Teachers and students played "Huggy Bear", which involved dividing up several times into groups of specific numbers relating to the B'nei Mitzvah ceremony. For example, everyone will celebrate the Bar/Bat Mitzvah on Shabbat. We divided up into groups of 7, and students in each group were asked to write out the word "Shabbat" (using Hebrew letters, of course), using their bodies. It was impressive to see how quickly they worked with each other to make the Hebrew letters spelling Shabbat -

SHIN

VET

AND TAV

Rabbi Miller wrapped up the workshop, sharing with the families how the sixth graders will be participating in "Creative Tefillah" over the coming academic year. They'll be divided into groups; each group will help to lead one of the Religious School's Sunday Tefillah sessions, working with Rabbi Miller beforehand to find a theme to connect the major prayers of the service together. It's a wonderful preparation for giving each student a "feel" for what it will be like to help lead the congregation in prayers during the Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremony.

The second sixth grade B'nai Mitzvah Prep, as mentioned above, will take place on Saturday morning, February 2nd, at which time families will meet in the Sanctuary to participate in the full Saturday morning service.

Getting Ready for our Gold Rush Field Trip

Most of the fifth and sixth graders in our Edot class participated in field trips to the Mother Lode country with their fourth grade secular school classes. But they were likely never taught then about the stabilizing influence that the pioneer Jews had on the rough-and-tumble times in that area. Rather than participating in the actual mining of gold, most of the Jewish pioneers brought with them their old-world skills of tailoring and merchandising. Many spent their first few years in California as itinerant peddlers, carrying up to 100 pounds of merchandise on their backs. If they were lucky, they saved enough money to invest in a pushcart, and then, if they were very successful, they invested their earnings in a wood or brick building.  These buildings were often the only permanent structures in the mining towns, surrounded by the miners' tents. Because the Jewish shopkeeper had the only permanent establishment in the camp, he often also served as the banker, sheriff (some shops used their locked storerooms as jail cells, when needed), judge, and assayer. On early maps of the Mother Lode region from the early 1850's, many of the mining camps were simply referred to by the names of the Jewish shopkeepers who owned the only building in the camp- "Goldstein's" and "Kaufman's" to name two.

On November 11th this year, Edot students and their families will participate in a "Jews of the Gold Rush" field trip to Sonora and Columbia State Historic Park. They'll learn about these Jewish pioneers, many of whom owned shops on Columbia's Main Street, and many more of whom are buried in the Jewish Pioneer Cemetery in Sonora.

To prepare for the field trip, the students made small versions of the pouches that many miners used to hold the gold dust they discovered.  Many travelers in those days, and certainly this included the Jewish peddlers, carried dried food in the bags. We'll be preparing hardtack in two weeks, and the students will be able to put some pieces into their pouches for the trip to Sonora.

This week the fifth and sixth graders began to hold hafsaka (recess) during the weekday sessions on the lawn outside the Social Hall. Josh, my satellite teacher, was successful in getting a ball game organized with many of the students, while other students stood or sat around schmoozing. With the beautiful east bay hills as backdrop, it looks like we'll be using the lawn on a regular basis now for hafsaka (weather-permitting).

Finally, continuing on with building our Hebrew vocabulary using the Hebrew Through Movement approach, I introduced the verb "to run" (la'rootz) and the words "baneem" (boys), "banot" (girls), and "koolam" (everyone). Put these new words together with the "la'shevet" (sit), "la'koom" (stand), "la'lechet" (walk), "la'atzor" (stop), "leekpotz" (jump), and "l'histovev" (turn around) verbs we've already learned, and a lot of fun results!
                                                               

LA'SHEVET (SIT)

LA'ROOTZ (RUN)

 

LEEKPOTZ (JUMP)

KOOLAM LA'ROOTZ (EVERYONE RUN)

From Recife to New Amsterdam

We officially began our unit of study on American Jewry this past week.  I say "officially" since I "unofficially" introduced the subject when I started to read the historical novel, "Out of Many Waters" by Jacqueline Dembar Greene, out loud at the start of each session three weeks ago. The novel tells the story of how the first permanent Jewish community was established in 1654 in New Amsterdam (to be re-named New York by the British in 1664). This past week, we read about the early history of American Jews, beginning in 1654 and going up to the end of the Revolutionary War. We learned how those colonies which were established for religious reasons (like Maryland and Plymouth Colony) would not allow Jews to settle within their boundaries. Instead, Jews were welcomed into the colonies established for trading purposes along the eastern seaboard (New York, Philadelphia, Newport, Charleston, and Savannah). The earliest Jewish settlers in these colonies were of Sephardi (Spanish/Portuguese) descent, though by the time of the Revolutionary War, Ashkenazi (central and eastern European) Jews were settling in the colonies as well. Most of these Ashkenazi Jews came from Germany and England, so it was not surprising that they sided with the loyalists when war broke out in 1775.  There were Jewish patriots as well. Most of the loyalists eventually made their way back to England. By 1780, there were approximately 2,500 Jews in the United States.
 
On another note, those students who attended Sunday's sessions, did a remarkable job creating a giant "Get Well" card for Bill Broussard, who supervises the Isaiah campus' maintenance crew. Special thanks for the card's beautiful front page design goes to Anna, Melissa, and Sarah. Bill had knee replacement surgery a week ago, and is sorely missed by us all. We all wish him a speedy "Refu'ah Sh'leima" (complete recovery).

I'm attaching a couple of photos that I shot during our week day hafsaka (recess) a couple of weeks ago. The 10-minute break we have is a short, but important one. The children have a chance to interact with each other in the informal setting, and quite a few friendships are made in the play area.

Chag Sukkot Sameach

Beginning last night, Jews around the world ushered in what is considered to be the most joyous holiday on the Jewish calendar - Sukkot.  It's the first of the three major harvest festivals - the other two are Passover and Shavuot. Ancient Israelites were commanded to bring offerings to the Temple in Jerusalem during each of these festivals, to be sacrificed by the Kohaneem (the priests) to God, in thanks for the harvest. Because most Israelites lived outside of Jerusalem, they made a pilgrimage three times a year to the Temple. In Hebrew, we also refer to the three major harvest celebrations as "Sh'loshet Ha'Regeeleem" (the three pilgrimages). Sukkot, like other Jewish festivals, has more than one name. It's also referred to as Chag He'Aseef (the Harvest Festival) and Z'man Simchateinu (the Time of our Joy). 

We are commanded in the Torah to be joyous on this holiday. Obviously, there are many ways to rejoice, and our Temple Isaiah Religious School found a unique way to do so this year - we held a flash mob during our t'fila (prayer) service between the two sessions. The clergy, Religious School staff, TA's, students and their families practiced dance moves for several weeks;  all the rehearsing paid off, and the flash mob truly turned out to be an incredibly joyous and fun experience for all.

During our Edot sessions before and after t'fila, the students were introduced to the major symbols of Sukkot - the Sukkah and the Lulav/Etrog. As we practiced the ritual of shaking the lulav, a few students remarked how similar the sound of the shaking palm, myrtle, and willow branches was to the sound of a gentle rain falling. This is not a coincidence, as it is this time of year, as part of our Sukkot celebration, that we ask God to bring rain for the crops.

Edot students also continued to build a working Hebrew vocabulary through the "Hebrew Through Movement" program - reviewing the commands "la'koom" (get up), "la'shevet" (sit down), and "la'lechet (walk), and learning a new command - "la'atzor" (stop). They also began to read "Hebrish" (English words written with Hebrew letters). Working in pairs or in groups of 3, they read out loud to each other, correcting any decoding errors when a word didn't make sense to them. This is the beauty of working with Hebrish - the students know immediately if they are decoding correctly or not. Each student has a binder, within which are readings, puzzles and games, all written in Hebrish. Students were asked to read a "welcome to our Edot class" letter from me, to help them become familiar with Hebrish. Once they finish reading the letter, they can choose to read any worksheet in the binder. For example, they might choose the riddle, "Why did the boy throw a clock out of the window?" (Answer:  to see time fly!), or they might choose to read one of several limerick poems, or fill-in-the blank worksheets, where, as an example, they might be asked to read a description of a famous fairy tale, and write the title on the blank line. (Just as they must read in Hebrish, they must write their answers in it as well!)  The students may also take worksheets home from the binder, and bring them back for stickers in our "Stumper/Challenge" incentive program.Eventually, the students will be reading about chapters in Jewish history, the origins of major Jewish holidays and prayers, and even excerpts from the first part of the Mishna - Pirkei Avot (The Sayings of the Fathers) - all in Hebrish (with some Hebrew vocabulary introduced every now and then).

Judging from the faces of the students during the Hebrew Through Movement and Hebrish decoding activities, they enjoyed both, which was quite appropriate as Sukkot, our "Z'man Simchateinu," our time of joy, was just about to begin. Having Joel Siegel, our music director, come in at the end of each session to teach us some wonderful songs relating to Sukkot, was icing on the cake! 

Chag Sukkot Sameach.