Preparing Our Jewish History Timeline - Day 1

Yesterday, our Edot students began to work on an oversized Jewish History Timeline, which will become a major prop in our Edot Fair skit this coming Sunday, May 3rd.  I had blocked out the time periods on a long sheet of butcher block paper ahead of time, and now it's the students' turn to translate the major Jewish historical events and eras we've studied this year and last (a good review for 6th graders who were in Edot class last year) into an illustrated timeline.

While several students at a time worked in Room 202 on the timeline, the other students had plenty of work to do in Room 201. Each student was given a large envelope with a specific date or era and description of what occurred at that time in history written on the front. The students were asked to go through all the magazine clippings cut out during our past two weekday sessions, and find those most appropriate to their assigned historical event/era, which they were then to put into the envelope. Once they had finished this assignment, they were asked to create two illustrations for their event/era which would be added to the timeline. Some students decided to continue looking through the magazines, to find more pictures to cut out.

Both sessions flew by quickly, but a lot was accomplished. We have two more days to work on the timeline before the Fair, so stay tuned to watch how a blank piece of butcher block paper is transformed into an amazing Jewish History timeline!

Slice, Dice and Cut

During the first half hour of our weekday sessions this week, Edot students participated in our monthly Hebrew cooking activity - this time we prepared Israeli vegetable salad in honor of Yom Ha'Atzma'ut - Israel's Independence Day - which we celebrated yesterday. Israelis eat a lot of vegetables, and the Israeli vegetable salad has become a ubiquitous presence on dining tables both at home and at restaurants. It's part of the traditional Israeli breakfast, consisting of eggs, cheeses, bread and marmalade; and it's usually included in a light, dairy-based dinner. The salad is usually a combination of cucumbers, tomatoes, red bell peppers, scallions, mint leaves, parsley, dill and garlic, diced and sliced into very small pieces and then tossed together with lemon juice and olive oil, with salt and pepper added to taste. We prepared a simpler version in class, using just cucumbers, tomatoes, red bell peppers and scallion, tossed together with the lemon juice and olive oil dressing. Students could add in salt and/or pepper to taste in their individual bowls, when they ate the salad.

Reisheet kol, l'katzketz et ha'm'lafefon l'chalakeem me'od k'taneem eem ha'sakeen. (First of all, dice the cucumber into very small pieces with the knife.)

L'katzketz, l'katzketz! (Dice, dice!)

Az, l'katzketz et ha'agvaneeyot l'chalakeem me'od k'taneem eem ha'sakeen. (Then, dice the tomatoes into very small pieces with the knife.)

L'katzketz et ha'peelpel he'adom l'chalakeem me'od k'taneem eem ha'sakeen. (Dice the red pepper into very small pieces with the knife.)

U'vasof, leech'toch et ha'batzel ha'yarok l'chalakeem me'od k'taneem eem ha'sakeen. La'amod v'leechtoch/l'katzketz... (And finally, slice the green onion - scallion - into very small pieces with the knife. Stand and slice/dice...)

... ella la'shevet v'leech'toch/l'katzketz - ha'kol toov! (...or sit and slice/dice - it's all good!)

La'seem et kol ha'y'rakot l'toch ha'k'ara ha'g'dola. (Put all the vegetables into the large bowl.)

L'fazer shemen zayeet v'meetz leemon al ha'y'rakot, v'l'arbev et ha'kol b'yachad. Achshav, zeh moochan le'echol.  B'TEY'AVON! (Sprinkle olive oil and lemon juice on the vegetables, and toss everything together. Now, it's ready to eat. BON APETIT!)

 

 

 

Following t'feela (during which the lead teachers for the 3rd/4th and 5th/6th grade tracks each gave a brief "spiel" about the content and activities of their track, to help the students decide which they might decide to choose for the 2015-2016 school year) and hafsaka (recess), our Edot students were given another "cutting" assignment - this time to cut photos and drawings out of magazines I've collected over the years. These photos and drawings will be used to help illustrate a major prop for our Edot Fair skit on Sunday, May 3rd - a giant Jewish history timeline, which we'll be working on during our next 2 sessions. This activity is always a wonderful opportunity for me to expose the students to publications relating to archaeology, Jewish history, Jewish culture and Israel. I always have several current issues of these magazines laid out on the blue counters under the windows in both Rooms 201 and 202, but rarely do the students have enough time to look them over thoroughly. The publications are: "ERETZ" (Israel's version of the National Geographic Magazine, containing a lot of photos and articles about Israel's archaeology, history, culture, and wildlife), "The Biblical Archaeology Review," "DIG" (a children's archaeology magazine), Hadassah Magazine, and the American Jewish Heritage Magazine (a publication of the American Jewish Heritage Society).

Each table in Room 201 was given a clear, plastic carrying bag containing a sheet with the years and specific historical events the students at that table were asked to focus on as they looked for photos and drawings to cut out. They were asked to put all the cut outs into the bag, and these will then be sorted over the next two sessions. Below are some photos which Isabella (my TA on Tuesdays) and Max (my TA on Wednesdays) took of the activity.

Yom Ha'Shoah v'Yom Ha'atzma'ut

Immediately following the Pesach holiday, we observe and celebrate two very important dates on the Jewish calendar - Holocaust Memorial Day and Israel's Independence Day (Yom Ha'Shoah and Yom Ha'atzma'ut, respectively). The first commemorates the millions who lost their lives during the blackest period in modern Jewish history; the second celebrates the establishment of the modern State of Israel, 67 years ago this year. There is actually one more observance on the Jewish calendar we must take note of - Israel's Memorial Day (Yom Ha'Zeekaron), during which Israelis honor the memory of those who lost their lives defending Israel. This day is observed the day before Yom Ha'Atzma'ut.

This past Tuesday and Wednesday sessions, we observed Yom Ha'shoah in our Edot classroom. First, I introduced the students to a general timeline of historical events in Europe between the two World Wars. We discussed the Versaille Treaty of 1919 after World War I in particular, and tried to understand how the terms of that Treaty might have caused Germans to feel humiliated by depriving so many of them of basic means of support. While America and much of Europe experienced an economic boom during the "Roaring '20's," many Germans were unemployed and stood on soup lines. It should not have come as a surprise when someone like Hitler caught their attention by promising them a return to their past days of glory, and providing them with bread and housing that they so desperately needed. I then shared a half-hour presentation I created some years ago, using video segments and a multi-media presentation from the "Heritage: Civilization and the Jews" dvd-rom program. This presentation showed the progression of events we had discussed earlier through eyewitness accounts and newsreel films (all age appropriate for the Edot students). The presentation ended with a speech by Elie Wiesel, sharing how we had every reason to give up on mankind and even on God after the Holocaust, but that we will not do so.

Yesterday, we turned our attention to Yom Ha'atzma'ut (which is this coming Thursday, April 23). Using Hebrew Through Movement commands, I had each student draw a flag of Israel. Once we had accomplished this task, I took a few moments to ask the students what they recalled of the history of each of the Edot we have studied this year - the American edah, Ashkenazi (eastern European) edah, Indian and Moroccan edot. In every case, the students all remembered that many members of each edah have moved to Israel. At this point, I asked the students to consider what Israel means to them, now that they've learned some of the history of the edot. Volunteers shared their thoughts, and then I asked the students to each write on the empty spaces on the flag they had just drawn one or two sentences sharing what Israel means to them. I'll be hanging these flags on the bulletin board next to Room 202.

 

First, we reviewed previous vocabulary - koolam l'hatzbee'a al degel shel m'deenat yeesra'el (everyone point to the flag of the State of Israel)

Koolam l'hareem yada'eem (Everyone raise hands)

Then it was time to introduce new vocabulary - after teaching the words for drawing (l'tzayer), line (kav), blue (kachol), and triangle (me'shoolash), I commanded "l'tzayer kav kachol l'mahla al ha'neeyar ha'lavan" (Draw a blue line on top on the white paper)

Achshav, l'tzayer kav kachol l'mata al ha'neeyar ha'lavan (Now, draw a blue line below on the white paper)

Achshav, l'tzayer meshoolash b'emtza ha'neeyar ha'lavan (Now, draw a triangle in the middle of the white paper); az, l'tzayer meshoolash ha'fooch me'al ha'meshoolash ha'rishon, al ha'neeyar ha'lavan (then, draw an upside down triangle on top of  the first triangle, on the white paper)

Et voila, degel kachol lavan - degel shel medeenat yeesra'el (And behold - OK, that part is in French! - the blue and white flag - the flag of the State of Israel)

And following our brief review of the history of the Edot which we have studied this year, the students considered and then wrote down what Israel means to them

Below are a few examples:

Yesterday, for the second week in a row, we were treated to a special Creative Tefillah service which some of our Edot sixth graders prepared with Rabbi Miller during the previous Wednesday session. This was the final Creative Tefillah session of this year, and the theme was "Singers."

Spencer L. and Jake W. introduce the "Barechu"

Jake V. introduces the "Sh'ma"

Danielle and Jennifer introduce the "V'Ahavta"

Morrie and Jason introduce the "Mi Chamocha"

  

Jennifer and Danielle introduce the "Avot v'Eemahot" blessing of the Amidah

The honor of opening and closing the Ark doors for the Aleynu prayer was given to all the sixth graders who participated in this week's Creative Tefillah.

A VERY BIG YASHER KOACH goes to all our Edot sixth graders who participated in the Creative Tefillah process and presentations this year. We're all very proud of you.

Back from Pesach Break

Yesterday, we returned to our Edot studies after a two-week combined Spring and Pesach break. We only have five more weeks until the final day of Religious School - our Spring Fling - on May 17th, and we have lots to learn and accomplish in the interim.

After reading from "The Circlemaker," as I do at the start of each session, it seemed a good idea to get everyone moving - get the blood flowing, so to speak - with a rigorous session of Hebrew Through Movement. After reviewing basic vocabulary words introduced throughout the year, I introduced the students to vocabulary relating to Yom Ha'Atzma'ut - Israel's Independence Day - which falls this year on Thursday, April 23rd. We reviewed the verb "l'hatzbee'a" (to point), and I introduced the Hebrew words for map (mapa), the State of Israel (medeenat Yisra'el), and the Hebrew names for Jerusalem (Yerooshalayeem), Haifa (Cheyfa), the Mediterranean Sea (yam ha'teechon - literally, the middle sea since they believed in ancient times that the Mediterranean Sea was the middle of the world; in fact, the Latin name Mediterranean means middle of the Earth), the Dead Sea (yam ha'melach - literally, the Salt Sea), and the Sea of Galilee (ha'kinneret - literally, the little harp, so named because of its shape). I also pointed out the resort city of Eilat on the Red Sea, as well as Tel Aviv.

Jake, l'hatzbee'a al Spencer (Jake, point to Spencer); Spencer, l'hatzbee'a al tochneet ha'yom al ha'loo'ach ha'lavan (Spencer, point to the day's schedule on the white board)

Morrie, l'hatzbee'a al yam ha'melach al ha'mapa shel medinat yisra'el (Morrie, point to the Dead Sea on the map of the State of Israel)

Baneem, l'hatzbee'a al he'chalon (Boys, point to the window)

Following our Hebrew Through Movement session, we turned our attention to an important period of time on the Jewish calendar - the Counting of the Omer (s'feerat ha'omer). Even though we are not teaching decoding until the 6th grade, we have been introducing a Hebrew letter each week to the students, along with Hebrew words beginning with the letter. Since we are now near the end of the alphabet, it seemed a good time for a review. Since most Jewish calendars use Hebrew numerals (i.e. Hebrew letters) rather than Arabic numerals, I introduced our Edot students to these, which afforded us a chance to review the letters introduced to date up to the letter "mem" (which represents the number 40). I then had the students fill in the dates on a blank "Counting the Omer" calendar, using the Hebrew letters.

Then it was time to play the Shekel Game, a group review game we play whenever we end one or more units of study. Just before our holiday break, we finished studying about the Jews of India, and also concluded our unit of study about the laws, rituals and customs relating to the Pesach holiday. While the students are having fun betting on whether they can answer questions I pose to them correctly, I'm learning which important material most of the children recall, and which I'll have to review during upcoming lessons. Thankfully, there's not much to review since almost all the questions were answered correctly.

Each group chooses a treasurer to keep track of the sh'kaleem (Israeli currency) - here is Ella, the Treasurer!

 

There is also a recorder in each group (that's Aaron filling this group's role) to record the amount the group bets, and a reporter (Jake, at the end of the table), who is the only one allowed to give me the group's agreed-upon answer

Each group is given 30 seconds to come up with their answer. At the beginning of the year, there were students who would shout out the answers, but they've learned to make sure that everyone in the group agrees on the answer before the reporter presents it to me.

Just before our holiday break, some of our 6th grade Edot students worked with Rabbi Miller to prepare for Creative Tefillah, which they presented yesterday. As always, they came up with a wonderful theme to tie together the prayers in our service. This time, the theme was "celebrities and how they relate to our prayers". Below, you can hear how Mackenzie, Sydney, Ella, Carmen, Lauren and Stephen worked in the celebrities into the service. They, along with Jenna and Mara all deserve a very big YASHER KOACH - job well done!