Hardtack and 1-2-3-4 Cake

We're counting down the days now 'til we travel to Sonora and Columbia State Park - just 6 days to go!

We learned a few weeks ago that Jewish peddlers had to travel sometimes as far as 100 miles between farm houses in the West. They would have to carry their own food which was relatively light and easy to eat as they walked on the road during the day, and easy to prepare at night over a campfire. Those Jewish peddlers who tried to keep kosher usually stuck to beans and hardtack, with perhaps some fresh vegetables or fruits that they might receive in partial payment for goods they sold to farmers.

Hardtack was easy to prepare at night over the campfire. As the peddler would prepare to bed down for the night, he would keep a low fire burning. He could take some of the flour he carried with him in a pouch, mix it with water and perhaps some salt, then leave the dough to bake on his campfire stones overnight. By morning, it was nearly as hard as a rock. Most importantly, it was easy for him to gnaw on a piece as he walked. He could make enough in one evening to last for a month.

When the peddler visited the farm houses, he would often be invited to join the family for dinner or, at the very least, for some coffee and cake. The cake in these pioneer households more often than not would be a simple one made from a recipe the farm wife could easily remember, since most farm wives couldn't read. Mix together 1 cup of butter, 2 cups of sugar, 3 cups of flour and 4 eggs, and you have a "Cupcake," as these very sweet and dense cakes were aptly called. Some also referred to them as 1-2-3-4 cakes - an easy way to remember the recipe!

In preparation for our upcoming trip, we prepared both hardtack and 1-2-3-4 cake during our two morning sessions yesterday. Each table grouping was given a ball of dough made of flour, water and salt (prepared by me the evening before since we wouldn't have enough time in class to prepare it), a rolling pin, a measuring tape, a knife, a chopstick, and a cookie sheet. The directions were simple:  pat down the ball of dough until it's easy to roll with the pin, then roll it out into as square a shape as possible, until it's 1/2" thick. Then measure out 3" square pieces, cut them out, and punch 16 holes on each side. Put them on the tray and they're ready to bake (30 minutes on each side). We'll have plenty of hardtack to gnaw on during the bus ride to Sonora and anywhere else we want to gnaw on it that day!

Even as some students in the group were continuing to roll, measure, cut out and pierce the hardtack dough, others in the group began to prepare the 1-2-3-4 cake. First they were asked to cream together the butter and sugar, then add in the flour and eggs. Mix it altogether, pour it into a greased 8" x 8" pan, and it was ready for the oven. We'll have a chance to enjoy these cakes at our picnic in Sonora.

Those students not joining us on the trip will bring home a piece of hardtack the week following the trip, and will enjoy a piece of the cake as we read our story during our weekday session that same week.

Enjoy the photos below that we shot of the process both sessions:

"Becoming" a Jewish Pioneer

During our last week day sessions, Edot students were presented with four dilemmas faced by Jewish pioneers who came to the United States from Europe during the late 1840's to mid-1850's. Students were divided into four groups; each group was presented with one dilemma and was asked to brainstorm solutions.

The dilemmas:

We had only half an hour to brainstorm the solutions, so there was a lot of give and take, discussion and argument as to what the recorder in each group should write down to share with the rest of the class. As each group shared its solutions, more ideas were offered from members of the other groups, resulting in quite a long list. I typed the list up, and it became a part of a "Pioneer Packet" or archive which each student was given during our Sunday morning session yesterday.

Now that I have shared the history of Jewish settlement in the United States from 1654 to 1855, it's time for my students to share what they have learned. They began doing so yesterday, by "becoming" Jewish pioneers who participated in the California Gold Rush and who are buried in one of the 7 pioneer Jewish cemeteries owned by the Commission for the Preservation of Pioneer Jewish Cemeteries and Landmarks in the West. After explaining how historians glean records from many contemporary sources, such as newspaper articles and announcements, family memoirs and photographs, board meeting minutes from various civic and religious organizations and institutions, etc. in order to learn about a historical era or personality, I introduced the term "archives" and explained what a historian researching a particular era or personality might find in an archive. I then presented each student with an archive I had prepared for the pioneer I had assigned to him or her.

Some "archives" contained a lot of information, some very little. The information for these "archives" was taken from one of three books written by local historians: "The Jews in the California Gold Rush" by Robert Levinson,   "Jewish Voices of the California Gold Rush" Edited and with an Introduction by Dr. Ava F. Kahn, and   "A Traveler's Guide to Pioneer Jewish Cemeteries of the California Gold Rush" by Susan Morris.
The students were given a questionnaire to fill out, the answers to which will serve as an outline for the final "letter home" they will be writing during the coming week day session. Once each student has become an expert on the pioneer whose archive they were given, they will be able to "become" the pioneer and will write a letter back home to the family they left behind in Europe, sharing information about their journey to America and their experiences in Gold country, with an emphasis on how they managed to maintain their Jewish identity during the many hardships they had to face. Those students participating in our field trip to the Sonora Pioneer Jewish cemetery on November 16th, will be asked to read their "letters home" as they stand next to the gravestone of the pioneer they were assigned to "become," helping to make the pioneer buried on that site more than just a name on the gravestone.

Getting a first look at the "archive"

Sharing your assigned pioneer with others 

Filling out the questionnaire

We were treated this Sunday to a very special "Creative T'fila," which sixth grade students have written and presented during the 3rd - 6th grade t'fila session on Sundays over the past few years. Under the tutelage of Rabbi Miller, small groups of sixth graders meet 3 or 4 times during the school year on Tuesday or Wednesday, and decide upon a theme which is used to introduce the major prayers we chant during t'fila.  For our first Creative T'fila session this year, 5 Edot students from this past Wednesday's session met with Rabbi Miller from 4 to 5 p.m., and came up with a sports theme (not surprising, as you may recall the World Series was in "full swing" last Wednesday!).

Lillian introducing the "Barechu" chant

Jack introducing the "Sh'ma" chant

Jacob introducing the "V'Ahavta" chant

Ian introducing the "Mi Chamocha" song

Ethan introducing the "Avot v'Imahot" blessing of the Amidah Prayer

And near the end of the service, all five students were given the honor of opening the Ark doors before the "Aleynu" prayer

YASHER KO'ACH  TO LILLIAN, JACK, JACOB, IAN, AND ETHAN!

B'nei Mitzvah Prep Workshop #1

We took a break from our Edot studies (as did Shira and Y'tzira tracks), to come together for a fun and information-packed meeting in the Social Hall yesterday morning. Fifth grade families came first session; sixth grade families came second session. During each session, important information relating to preparing for upcoming Bar and Bat Mitzvah ceremonies was shared and, very importantly, families in each grade level had a chance to get to know each other better.

The focus of the fifth grade session was on the Torah, as well as on introducing the checklist and timeline for preparing each student for their Bar/Bat Mitzvah, and getting information about choosing a date for the special event. While Cantor Korn met with the parents in the Social Hall, all the students and teachers followed Rabbi Miller into the Oneg Room for a very special event we call "Torah Olympics." All the games in these "Olympics" were related to people and events in the Books of Genesis and Exodus, and proved to be a fun way to review what the children had learned in their 3rd and 4th grade Torah studies.

Rabbi Miller introducing the Torah Olympics to the fifth graders, and the purpose behind the games

Students were divided into four groups

Abraham journeyed from Ur to Haran and then to Canaan. So, of course, the first event was the "Lech Lecha" race (that's the portion of the Torah where God tells Abraham to follow Him to a Land that He would show him. I suspect Abraham never moved as fast as our fifth graders did!).

Sarah was the only Matriarch to have a portion of the Torah named after her. She lived to be 127 years old. The second event asked the teams to perform 127 jumping jacks - first team to finish would win the event. (It was a draw - the teams completed the event in just 12 seconds!)

When Abraham's servant, Eliezer, was sent to find a wife for his son Isaac, Eliezer chose Rebecca because she took the time to carry water to his thirsty camels. So naturally, our third event was a wheelbarrow race (though I doubt Rebecca carried the water in a wheelbarrow!).

A final race related to the dream Jacob had as he slept in Bethel. He saw angels climbing up and down a ladder, so we held a "Ladder Relay" race. A ball was passed in each group over the head of one student, under the legs of the next, etc. to the end of the line. The ball was passed so quickly that I couldn't get a good shot of it. Needless to say, the students had a lot of fun with that event!

The final event of the Torah Olympics related to the Book of Exodus. Rabbi Miller asked a series of multiple choice questions about events and personalities in the Book, and each group wrote down its answer. I'm happy to report that every group answered all the questions correctly!

After the Torah Olympics were over, it was time to rejoin the parents in the Social Hall for an informative and fun activity called "The World's Shortest Torah Scavenger Hunt." Each year, the Women of Isaiah gift an abridged version of the Torah (in book form) to each fifth grader; the books are distributed at this point in the workshop. Unfortunately, the books didn't arrive in time, so we handed out copies we had left over from last year, as well as other print versions of the Torah to the families, to use for the scavenger hunt. It's a fun activity to help parents and students learn to find Torah references using the book:chapter:verse tool. Below are some shots I took during this activity.

Rabbi Greninger introducing the scavenger hunt activity and showing the book version of the Torah which each fifth grader will receive as soon as the books arrive.

Taking a first look at the book which will be used (hopefully) to prepare for the Bar Mitzvah ceremony

Josh handing out Torah books for the activity

Very quickly, the workshop was over, and it was time for the families to join us in tefillah in the Sanctuary. Sixth graders joined us in tefillah, while their parents joined Rabbi Miller in the Social Hall. It was during this half hour that sixth grade parents had a chance to get to know each other as they schmoozed over bagels and coffee, and participated in "mixer" activities under Rabbi Miller's direction, to help them learn about each other's backgrounds and interests.

After tefillah, the teachers and sixth graders joined the parents in the Social Hall. This first sixth grade workshop focused on the meaning and significance of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah ritual in our 21st century lives. First, Rabbi Miller conducted a poll, asking parents and students to text answers to a number she gave them, to three questions she asked: (1) What characteristics do you look for in adults you respect?  (2) How is being a teenager different from being an adult? and (3) Why is it important to mark Bar/Bat Mitzvah at age 13? The answers were projected onto a screen as they popped up on her cellphone.

Parents and children were then asked to interview each other, and then to interview one other parent and student, writing answers to the interview questions on worksheets. Student questions asked the parents to recall their own coming of age ceremonies (if any) and how they felt when they were 13 years old. They were also asked why the ceremony is so important to them and why they feel that belonging to Temple Isaiah is important. Parent questions to the students asked how being in middle school is different from elementary school, and why they feel it's important to have the coming of age ceremony at Temple Isaiah during a prayer service. Answers to both interviews were shared with the whole group, after which the history and meaning of the ceremony in traditional Judaism were shared.

Morrie interviewing his Dad

Jenna and her Dad catching me photographing them

Lauren with her Mom and Dad

Jennifer and her Mom

Ethan and his parents

Zoe and Camille with their Dad

Sydney and her parents, with Mackenzie and her Mom (not in the photo)

We then broke into groups - parents stayed in the Social Hall to learn about the importance of community building and how to become more involved with our Isaiah community, as well as how to prepare for "creative B'nai Mitzvah" by attending lessons about the content and structure of the prayer service, and by  attending prayer services. They were also informed about specific administrative details relating to preparing for the special day.

Meanwhile, students and teachers moved to the Oneg Room, to play games that would help them get to know each other better, as well as to review material we had discussed during the first part of the workshop.
Students divided into groups of varying numbers, depending upon the question posed to them by Erin, our Shira teacher. For example, God created the world in six days, and on the seventh day God rested. On which of these days will you be celebrating your Bar/Bat Mitzvah?  The answer is "on the seventh day." So students were asked to divide into groups of seven. They were then asked to form the three Hebrew letters in the word "Shabbat," using their bodies. It was a fun way to end the workshop!

That's a pretty good SHIN!

And a very impressive BET (notice Jason rolled up as a dagesh - the dot inside of the vet letter)!

OK - I'm not quite sure which letter this is or is in the process of becoming, but they're having a lot of fun forming it!

I HOPE I'LL SEE YOU AT OUR SECOND B'NAI MITZVAH PREP WORKSHOP ON SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6th FOR SIXTH GRADE FAMILIES, AND SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7th FOR FIFTH GRADE FAMILIES. STAY TUNED FOR DETAILS CLOSER TO THOSE DATES.

Westward Ho!

After briefly reviewing how the earliest Jewish communities in the United States were settled by Sephardi Jews fleeing the Inquisition, with a few Ashkenazi Jews from England and Germany (mostly wealthy merchants) joining them in the 18th century, we continued our historical journey of our American Edah by viewing a video segment from the Heritage: Civilization and the Jews program about a sudden surge in Ashkenazi immigration to the United States beginning in the 1820's and continuing through the 1850's (minutes 13:09 to 17:49 on the video). At the same time that Jewish communities in the German territories of Bavaria and Prussia were experiencing economic, social, and religious discrimination, the United States was encouraging its citizens and any new immigrants to settle in the Louisiana Purchase territory acquired from France at the start of the 19th century. Over 200,000 Jewish immigrants left the "old world" for the "new."

We learned that many young Jewish men became peddlers who often had to walk many miles between frontier farmhouses carrying packs weighing 100 pounds. Theirs was a lonely and dangerous life - many were robbed and some were murdered for their goods.

 During our weekday sessions, we read letters, newspaper clippings, and personal memoir accounts of Jews who, during the late 1840's and early 1850's, made their way all the way west to California, to participate in the Gold Rush. These documents taught us about the Orthodox Jewish lives they left behind in Europe, the reasons they left, the conditions of the boats that took them to the North American continent, the difficulties they encountered keeping even the most basic of Jewish laws and traditions, and how they managed to do so in spite of the difficulties. And amazingly, we learned how easily they were accepted by non-Jews in the gold mining towns, who were quite fascinated by the Jewish holidays and, according to a Marysville news clipping from 1852, considered the Jews to be "some of our best citizens!"

During the weekday sessions, we took a break from our usual Hebrew Through Movement sessions, in order to teach Hebrew vocabulary through cooking. All the fifth and sixth graders prepared a "Seemaneem (Symbolic) Fruit Salad", a popular treat in Israel this time of year, during and after the Sukkot holiday. The symbolic fruits included in the salad are pomegranates (which are often associated with the Torah, since there are supposedly 613 seeds in each pomegranate, the number of commandments in the Torah), apples (eaten with honey on Rosh Ha'Shana), dates and oranges (both of which grow in the Land of Israel). There was a lot of cutting and chopping and slicing in Rooms 201 and 202 both days, resulting in a very refreshing and delicious fruit salad.

Reisheet kol, leer'chotz et ha'yada'eem eem sabon. (First of all, wash the hands with soap.)

Achshav, leech'toch et ha'reemon eem sakeen l'kama chalakeem. (Now, cut the pomegranate with a knife into several pieces.)

It's not easy cutting a pomegranate - it takes focus and a strong arm!

Az, l'hafreed et gar'ee'nei ha'reemon v'la'seem otam l'toch ha'ke'ara ha'g'dola. (Then, separate the pomegranate seeds and put them into the big bowl.)

Leech'toch et ha'tapoo'ach l'chalakeem k'taneem. (Cut the apple into small pieces.) At this point, with only half an hour for the session, each student at the table was focused on performing a different task.

L'kalef et ha'tapooz... (Peel the orange...)

...v'az leech'toch et ha'tapooz l'chalakeem k'taneem. (...and then cut the orange into small pieces.)

L'pares et ha't'mareem. (Slice the dates)

Leesh'foch meetz tapoozeem v'meetz leemon me'al ha'peirot. (Pour orange juice and lemon juice over the fruits.)

U'va'sof, l'arbev et ha'kol b'yachad. (And finally, stir everything together.)

La'seem salat seemaneem l'toch ke'ara k'tana. (Put symbolic fruit salad into a small bowl.)

L'varech al salat seemaneem - "Barooch ata Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha'olam, borei p'ree ha'etz" - v'le'echol et ha'salat eem kapeet.  (Say a blessing over the symbolic salad - Blessed are You Adonai Our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who has created the fruit of the tree" - and eat the salad with a spoon.)

B'TEYAVON! (BON APETIT!)