From Toledo to Jerusalem

During the past week, we took a closer look at the Sephardi (Spanish) Jews who elected to remain in Spain and convert to Catholicism.

Those Jews who did convert were called New Christians by the Church, and it wasn't long before they were suspected of still harboring an allegiance to the faith of their forefathers. And, indeed, as far as we can tell from Inquisition records, many of these newly converted Jews did continue to maintain Jewish beliefs and laws. Sadly, after years passed, many forgot the prayers and blessings and origins of the Jewish holidays, and began to confuse Christian teachings with Jewish ones. For example, they looked upon several Biblical characters as saints - Saint Esther of the Purim story was especially admired for how she saved her fellow Jews from certain destruction - and they confused stories they learned about Jesus with the background stories of the Jewish patriarchs - they believed Abraham was born with a holy light shining above him and that Terach's wife (Terach was Abraham's father) knew she was pregnant with a holy child free of sin.

And of all the Jewish holidays, Pesach (Passover) was certain to be celebrated even at the risk of being discovered. Thanks to the Catholic Bible, which included all 39 books of the Hebrew Bible, they were able to recall the story of the Exodus from Egypt, and viewed their own precarious existence as similar to that of the ancient Israelite slaves. Their Pesach celebrations included calls to God to hear their cries just as God heard the cries of the Israelite slaves and freed them from slavery. Together in class, we read a passage from the "Out of Spain" series (see February 29th post), describing how Jews observed Pesach by flowing rivers or in basements, often in the dead of night to minimize the chances of discovery by Inquisition soldiers or spies. I also shared a segment of the film "From Toledo to Jerusalem" (beginning of video to minute 22:07), in which the Israeli actor and singer Yehoram Ga'on (himself a descendant of Crypto-Jews who eventually left Spain for the Ottoman Empire) describes the conditions the conversos (converted Jews who secretly continued to practice Judaism) had to live under, always having to look over their shoulders to be sure they weren't being spied upon and always wondering if one day they would give themselves away, perhaps by uttering a Hebrew prayer in Church by mistake, or forgetting to hide evidence in their homes of anything Jewish. The film is narrated in Ladino, the Judeo-Spanish language of the Sephardi Jews, so it was a good opportunity for the students to hear the sounds of the language. And Yehoram Ga'on sings both religious and romance ballads of the Sephardi Jews, sharing through song the history of this persecuted group of Jews.

Yesterday, we took a break from our Edot studies to focus on the holiday of Purim (beginning the evening of Wednesday, March 23rd this year). I continued to review and build Purim-related vocabulary during our Hebrew Through Movement sessions:

Ben, l'heeshtachavot leefnei ha'melech Achashverosh. (Ben, bow down before King Achashverosh, a/k/a Andrew.)

 And, during the same sessions, I continued to strengthen basic Hebrew vocabulary relating to our classroom:

Ari, l'chapes et ha'meela "chalon" v'l'hatzbee'a al ha'meela.) Ari, find the word "window" in the classroom, and point to the word.)

Continuing on the Purim theme, I shared a brief summary of the Purim story in the Book of Esther with the class. During our discussion following the summary, several students noted that the plot and characters reminded them of the Aladdin story. This is not surprising, since many scholars believe that the Purim story is a Jewish version of an ancient Persian story about a queen, Sheherazade, who told 1,001 stories, which have come down to us in the form of "1,001 Arabian Nights." One of the stories was that of Aladdin. The tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves is another of her stories. It's not surprising, then, to find language in the Book of Esther often associated with fairy tales, such as "what is your wish and what is your request, even to half the kingdom it shall be fulfilled" (King Achashverosh to Queen Esther). I shared with the class that the Book of Esther is the only book of the Bible which does not mention the name of God even once, does not take place even partially in the Land of Israel, whose main characters' names derive from the names of Babylonian gods (Mordechai from Marduk, chief Babylonian god and Esther from Astarte, Marduk's consort), and a copy of which has not been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The obvious question which arises then is why the Roman-era Rabbis decided to include the Book of Esther in the canonized version of the Bible, while they refused to accept the Books of the Macabbees, which did mention God's name countless times, were based on actual historical events, and which took place entirely in the Land of Israel.

The Rabbis determined that there were important Jewish values embedded in the Book of Esther, which warranted its inclusion in the Bible - values such as being willing to risk one's life for important principles, Jews being responsible for each other, celebrating together as a community, and maintaining a distinct identity within a majority culture, among others.

At this point, I divided the class into three groups, assigned each group 3 of the values and asked them to find the place in the story summary where they believed the Rabbis found the values.

There was some discussion...

...but for the most part everyone in each group agreed on the parts of the story describing the values in question.

We'll be using the information collected on these worksheets to design posters during the coming weekday sessions, each of which will illustrate the part of the Purim story in which the Rabbis believed an important Jewish value was being described. These posters will be hung on a bulletin board outside the classroom to share what we learned with other students and visitors to the school.

Remember that this coming Sunday is our LAFTY Purim Carnival. All our Edot students should come to our classroom at 9 a.m. (even those students who usually attend second session!). We'll play a Purim Shekel Game, then join the rest of the school in the Sanctuary at 10 a.m. for a Purim assembly and parade, to be followed by the Carnival itself in the Social Hall (and, good weather permitting, on the lawn outside the Social Hall and Sanctuary as well). We encourage everyone, adults and children, to wear costumes. Parents aren't required to accompany 5th and 6th graders, but we recommend that  you send $20.00 with your child since all the activities and food require tickets which can be purchased at the entrance to the Carnival. Remember that the money spent is for a good cause - LAFTY is our Temple Isaiah youth group, and the money goes toward so many wonderful activities in which they're involved!

Hiddur Siddur

Yesterday morning, fifth graders and their families from all 3 tracks gathered together in the Social Hall to celebrate a very important occasion. Each fifth grader received his/her own Mishkan T'fila siddur (prayer book), a gift from Anshei Isaiah.

Rabbi Greninger welcomed everyone, and as she showed everyone a copy of the siddur, she explained that it was a combination of the Weekday and Festival siddur and Shabbat Siddur, thus making it very practical for the students to use it during our weekday and Sunday tefillah sessions, as well as during Shabbat services.

Immediately following the introduction, teachers of the three tracks plus my own T.A., Nathan, presented a skit which explained the origin of the name of our workshop, "Hiddur Siddur" going back to a Talmudic declaration that we should "glorify God" by performing "hiddur mitzvah."  Today's workshop focused on providing the families an opportunity to perform "Hiddur Siddur" by decorating covers for the siddurim.

Tables were set up around the perimeter of the Social Hall, with the bookcovers and basic art supplies on each. One table was set up with additional art supplies which the families might choose to use: Hebrew and English letter stencils, Jewish holiday and ritual symbol stencils, construction paper, etc.

It didn't take long for students and parents to find what they needed and enjoy the art activity together.

While the families decorated, teachers and T.A.'s circulated providing help when it was needed (how do you write my name in Hebrew? was a frequently-asked question!). We also photographed the proceedings for documentation purposes (yours truly is photographing students and parents above, and also captured Rabbi Greninger snapping a photo from the opposite side of the table).

During the art activity, parents helped their students, and also had time to connect with each other.

With only half an hour allotted to the activity, students lost no time decorating both sides of the book jacket, and writing their name on the spine of the cover.

Many participants brought a family photograph from home, to glue onto the cover; some also wrote a dedication at home which they glued into the inside cover of the siddur. The intent was to create an heirloom which will be passed down to future generations in the family.

Once the book covers were decorated, Rabbi Greninger and Cantor Korn gathered all the students on the stage and, with the help of teachers and T.A.'s distributed the new siddurim to the students. Once each student had a siddur in hand, Cantor Korn led us in chanting the "Shehecheyanu" blessing which is recited whenever we experience something for the first time in our lives or in the season, or receive something new.

Then it was time for the students to go back to their seats and put on the newly-decorated book covers onto the new siddurim. The results most certainly fulfill the mitzvah of hiddur siddur!

At this point, students went with the teachers and T.A.'s into the Oneg Room to play a game, while the parents stayed in the Social Hall to learn more details about the B'nei Mitzvah process at Temple Isaiah and get information about planning a celebration after the ceremony.

As soon as all the students were in the Oneg Room, Maimone gathered them around and gave instructions for a game called "Murder" which allowed the students to interact with each other as they were trying to figure out who the "murderer" was!

How many games can get the students to keep their eyes closed for about 1-2 minutes (while Maimone chose the murderer) and then have them shaking hands with each other (or, in several other iterations of the game, winking and blinking to each other!)!? There was certainly a lot of interaction going on!

When the workshop was over, parents and children joined teachers and clergy in the Sanctuary for a very special tefillah session. Josh Nelson, an amazing musician and singer visiting our campus this past weekend, treated us all to a wonderful concert of his own liturgical compositions. He had us joining him in singing some...

...and performed for us as well:

The decorated siddurim have already been brought down to the Beit Knesset where the fifth graders will be using them beginning tomorrow and Wednesday.

Tragedy in Spain

We continued our studies of the Sephardim - the Jews of Spain - during the week day sessions. After briefly reviewing what we had learned the previous week about the early history of Jewish presence in Spain and the Golden Age of the Jews in Spain from the 9th through the 11th centuries, I introduced the subject of the "Reconquista" - the Spanish term for the Christian reconquest of Spain from the Moors during the 11th and 12th centuries.

Again, I used video segments and multimedia presentations from the "Heritage: Civilization and the Jews" dvd-rom program to share both the situation of the Jews who remained in Spain
(Part 4, "The Crucible of Europe," minute 49:00 to the end of chapter), as well as the re-defining of what it meant to be Jewish by those who left Spain in 1492 after the Edict of Exile issued by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in March of that year. (Part 5, "Search for Deliverance," beginning of video until minute 8:05).

We learned about Jews who converted to Christianity in order to remain in Spain, but who secretly continued to practice what they could recall of the religion of their ancestors (ironically, often referring to Inquisition records to learn about Jewish beliefs and rituals). These Jews were referred to as "marranos" by the Christians (an old Spanish term for "swine"), and as "New Christians" by the Church. They, themselves, used the term "conversos" (the converted ones), while in Hebrew they are referred to as "anooseem" (the persecuted ones) and in English as the Crypto-Jews (the hidden Jews). We learned about the re-emergence of Jewish mysticism, the Kabbalah, among the Jews who left Spain, and its explanation for why God would allow such a traumatic event as the exile from Spain to occur. Finally, we learned about how Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire invited the exiles to settle in his lands (which included the Land of Israel in the 15th century), and how many of them took up his offer.

Introducing the Jews of Spain

During the previous week day sessions, I introduced the third edah we're studying this year - the Jews of Spain. I began by introducing one possible theory for the origin of the name of the country. We do know for sure that ancient Phoenicians, neighbors bordering Israel to the north some 3,000 years ago, sailed to Spain, following the coast of North Africa, establishing along the way the colony of Carthage. The Phoenicians first believed that the Iberian peninsula was an island, and having spotted strange animals which resembled rabbits (these animals were actually hyraxes), supposedly gave the area the name - "ee" (meaning island in Phoenician, which is a Canaanite language closely related to Hebrew) "shafan" or "shafania" (meaning rabbit in Phoenician/Hebrew). When the ancient Greeks took over the area as a colony, the name evolved to "Eesfahan" and, several hundred years later, the Romans re-named it "Heespania," from which the modern name of "Spain" (or "España" in Spanish) is derived. This is just one of many theories about the name, but I thought it interesting to share with the students since the Phoenicians were a Semitic people who are often mentioned in the Bible.

Jewish presence in Spain can be traced back for certain to Roman times, some 2,000 years ago. Jewish traders from Mesopotamia had already established communities along most of the coast of North Africa, and a few Jewish traders made their way to Spain over the Strait of Gibraltar, establishing small communities there. Student volunteers read out loud from a brief history of the Jews in Spain taken from the history series, "Out of Spain" by Andrea Aelion Brooks, describing how Visigoths conquered Spain from the Romans in the 5th century C.E., forcing all the local inhabitants, including the Jews, to convert to Christianity. We then learned that in 711 C.E. the Visigoths were conquered by Arab Muslims from the area referred to as Mauritania (present-day Morocco) by the Romans. These Arab-Muslims who now ruled Spain were referred to as the Moors (from Mauritania). It was during the 300-plus years of Moorish rule over Spain that Jews experienced a golden age which some claim was not matched anywhere in the world until Jews settled in the United States. Aside from having to pay a tax to the Muslims for land that they came to own, the Jews were treated as equals in every aspect of  life.

At this point, I shared a "Heritage: Civilization and the Jews" video and multimedia presentation with the students about the Jewish "Golden Age in Spain," including a segment about Maimonides, the great Jewish philosopher, physician and rabbinic authority who was born in Cordoba, Spain at the end of the 10th century, and whom I've mentioned to the students at various times during the past year, most recently relating to the Jewish concept of tz'daka.

During our joint community activity period with Shira and Y'tzira on Tuesday and Wednesday, I was very heartened to see that our studies about the Jewish middot (values) have taken root. We played hangman (an apt game at this point in the year, since we celebrate Purim in just a few weeks!), and the students were able to quickly figure out the Jewish values I had "spelled" out with blank lines after guessing just a few letters in each instance.

During our Hebrew Through Movement session, I continued to introduce new Purim vocabulary even as I was reviewing all the other vocabulary we've learned to date. I have also been introducing literacy into the program, slowly but surely reaching the point where most of the students are beginning to recognize 4 basic command words on flashcards - la'koom (get up), la'shevet (sit down), la'lechet (walk) and la'atzor (stop). By the end of this school year, my goal is to have most of the students recognize at least 10 of the basic vocabulary words, including words on signs in our classroom and around the school (delet - door; chalon - window; sheirooteem - bathrooms; loo'ach - referring to a bulletin board, white board or calendar; shoolchan - table; and keeseh - chair).

Ashley, leelbosh maseicha al Peter. (Ashley, put a mask on Peter.)

Gabby, leelbosh maseicha al Charlotte. (Gabby, put a mask on Charlotte.)

Ariston, la'seem megillat ester al ha'rosh v'az l'har'eesh ra'ashan me'al ha'rosh shel Jeremy. (Ariston, put the scroll of Esther on the head and then make noise with a noisemaker/grogger over Jeremy's head.)

Ari, leelbosh maseicha v'az l'heestovev. (Ari, put on a mask and then turn around.)

Joey, la'seem megillat ester al ha'rosh shel Sammy; Sammy, l'har'eesh ra'ashan me'al ha'rosh shel Joey. (Joey, put the scroll of Esther on Sammy's head; Sammy, make noise with a noisemaker/grogger over Joey's head.)

Sammy v'Joey, l'hatzbee'ah al ha'meela "la'atzor." (Sammy and Joey, point to the word "stop.")

Joey, leekro et ha'meela, "la'koom." (Joey, read the word, "get up.")

Yesterday, during both sessions of JQuest, we again joined the Shira and Y'tzira tracks to view the movie, "Havana Curveball." This film was produced in 2014, and follows a San Francisco boy named Mica during the 3-year period in which he fulfilled a mitzvah project as part of the process of becoming a Bar Mitzvah. He began the project at the age of 13, just prior to his Bar Mitzvah ceremony, but it took 3 years for him to carry it out. Since we ask our B'nai Mitzvah students to work on a mitzvah project as part of their path toward becoming members of our Jewish community, this film provided our students with a lot to think about!

Next Saturday, March 5th, our sixth graders will attend morning Shabbat services with their families, in order to become familiar with the service. Sixth graders will not attend JQuest on Sunday, March 6th. All fifth graders and their parents will attend JQuest on March 6th during first session only, at which time the students will each receive a gift of a Siddur (prayer book), and will be given time to decorate a cover for the book. The siddurim will be kept at JQuest, to be used during our week day and Sunday tefillah sessions.

Historical Documents and Archaeological Finds

Up until this point, we have been studying Jewish history through the lens of the Jewish Diaspora communities (the Edot). But I haven't had a chance to teach about how we know about the history we learn, and, in fact, if we can trust what we read in our history texts. So yesterday, this is precisely what we focused on during each session. We began with a discussion of the definition of history (the written record of the past), then I reviewed with the students what we had learned earlier in the year about the revolutionary Jewish linear concept of time and the concept of history expressed by the prophets of Israel as "the Way or Path of God." All historical events, they believed, were the results of moral decisions made by Israel. If Israel followed God's commandments, God would bless the nation and protect it from its enemies; but if Israel worshipped other gods and did not follow the commandments, God would punish the nation and send its enemies to conquer and even exile the people.

We then discussed how scholars have studied and interpreted ancient historical records. Using examples from ancient Babylonian and Judean history that we recently studied, students learned that kings often "exaggerated" or even "re-wrote" history on victory steles (inscribed free-standing stones), and enemies often had contradictory reports of battles won and lost. Only when opposing sides agreed on the events, can historians be sure that the events truly occured as described. And even then, they search for corroborating evidence. This corroborating evidence often comes from archaeological finds. Archaeology, we learned, is a science - that is, archaeologists follow the "scientific method" of developing a hypothesis and then following specific steps to determine the validity of the hypothesis. When it comes to Biblical history, the written records discovered (including the books of the Bible) are used to form hypotheses of where to dig, and whatever objects are discovered must be carefully evaluated and compared to written accounts. For example, King Nebuchadnezzar declared in a victory stele that he broke through the walls of Jerusalem, burned down the Holy Temple of the Judeans and led the elite and skilled of its citizens into exile to Babylon. His account agrees completely with the Judean account in the Bible. It also agrees with archaeological finds, for indeed archaeologists discovered soot and ashes on the level of digging which was dated to the Babylonian conquest - signs of warfare and destruction described in both Nebuchadnezzar's and the Biblical accounts.

The students, divided into 3 groups each session, were then given the opportunity to get a taste of how historians and archaeologists conduct their respective studies and learn from each other's finds. I set up 3 stations, each consisting of activities relating to ancient history and its study.

One station introduced the students to a pottery typology chart developed by archaeologists over the past century, which helps them date pottery to specific times and cultures using their shape, color, and intended use. Using this chart, students were asked to date four pieces of pottery on the worksheet above.

At the same station, students were asked to re-assemble a simple clay pot which I had broken into larger (and some smaller) pieces prior to this exercise. The idea was to give each student a taste of what archaeologists and their helpers must do to literally "piece together" the objects they find. Only after they have assembled an object can they begin to interpret its use, who the people were who used it and when it was used.

The process of re-assembling the pot took a lot of cooperation and a lot of patience!

A second station introduced a very important archaeological tool for the dating of ancient dynasties - the cylindrical seal. Hundreds of these seals have been discovered throughout the Middle East, going all the way back to the Sumerian civilization in Mesopotamia. Kings (and occasional queens) would sign documents they issued using these round seals. Thanks to advanced methods of dating, archaeologists and historians have been able to establish dates for the reigns of specific kings using these seals. Students at this station were given the opportunity to learn how these seals worked.

Each student was given a piece of raw carrot and a pen. Using a chart of the Phoenician alphabet symbols (from which our Hebrew alphabet evolved), they were asked to etch their name or initials into the carrot using the pen. Once this was accomplished, they slowly rolled the carrot onto a piece of PlayDoh, until the initials could be seen in relief.

The photo is blurry, but you can clearly see the Phoenician form of aleph (A for our purposes) on the top, and samech (S) below the aleph - the initials of one of our Edot students.

Finally, the third station gave the students a chance to compare two written records of the same event - the rebellion of the Moabite king Mesha against Israel. They were asked to read the English translation of the inscription discovered on the "Mesha Stele"  and then compare it to what is written in the Second Book of Kings, Chapter 3, verses 4 and 5. Both describe a revolt of Mesha against Israel after King Ahab's death. Both agree (with some slight differences) on what occurred.

After reading both accounts, the students were asked to use the Phoenician alphabet chart to decode the five-letter word written under the picture of the Mesha Stele (the word is Israel).

While some students decoded the word under the Mesha stele photo, other students worked on decoding a 6-letter word written on a Roman-era coin (the word is Jerusalem).

During the coming weekday sessions, I'll be introducing the history of the next edah we'll be studying - the Jews of Spain. The history of the Jews in Spain goes back at least 2,000 years (and perhaps even as far back as 3,000 years). As I share the history, I'll be reminding the students of how historians and archaeologists, working in tandem, interpreted documents and other objects to try to flesh out the history and culture of the peoples on the Iberian Peninsula, and that the process is not over. More finds are being made every day!

Israel Is...

During this school year, our JQuest teaching staff has been going through a process of exploring how we have been teaching about Israel at each grade level and in each track in the past, and what resources are available to do so at present, with the goal in mind to develop a curriculum for all grades which will help our students feel a positive connection to the Jewish homeland. Our Yad b'Yad teacher, Keren, initially helped to coordinate our efforts with San Francisco's "Israel Initiative" program, as well as with Temple Isaiah's Gan Ilan and Noar Night staff. Recently, Erin, our Shira teacher, has taken over as coordinator of this project.

You may recall that during the first 10 minutes of each week day session, our 5th and 6th graders in all 3 tracks participate in a planned activity together, to build a strong sense of kehilla (Hebrew for community). Usually, we play games relating to Jewish holidays and ritual objects (first semester) and Jewish values (second semester). This past week, Erin decided to use this time to find out what our 5th and 6th graders know about Israel, as well as what they would like to learn about the country. We divided the students into small groups, each of which was given a piece of paper with the prompt "Israel Is..." written on the top. They were given about 5 minutes to brainstorm what they knew about Israel and write it down. Then, they were asked to turn over the piece of paper, and note down "What We Want to Know about Israel." Erin has collected the responses from both Tuesday and Wednesday sessions; these responses will be of value as we continue the process through the end of this school year. Below are a few photos we took as the groups worked together:

As usual, immediately following the community activity, we returned to our classrooms, and I used the next 15 minutes before our tefillah (prayer) time to review and introduce Hebrew vocabulary using the Hebrew Through Movement commands. I began to introduce Purim vocabulary last week, and continued this week, using the new holiday words to help reinforce the basic vocabulary we've been working on all year.

Charlotte, leek'ro megeelat ester. (Charlotte, read the Scroll of Esther.)

Alexia, la'seem megeelat ester al ha'rosh. (Alexia, put the Scroll of Esther on the head.)

Seth, la'seem et ha'ra'a'shan al ha'rosh shel Jeremy. (Seth, put the noisemaker on Jeremy's head.)

Jeremy, l'har'eesh ra'a'shan. (Jeremy, make noise with the noisemaker.)

Leo, l'hatzbee'a al ha'meelah "la'shevet" eem ha'ra'a'shan. (Leo, point to the word "to sit" with the noisemaker.) (Slowly, but surely, the students are beginning to recognize basic Hebrew vocabulary words which I've been using since the start of the year, on the flashcards.)

Ashley, l'har'eesh ra'a'shan me'al ha'rosh shel Leo. (Ashley, make noise with a noisemaker over Leo's head.)

Following our t'feela (prayer) session and hafsaka (recess), we ended the session each day this past week with the Shekel Game - the question and answer review game we play after we have completed a unit of study - in this case, the Babylonian Jewish edah. Both Tuesday and Wednesday students were able to answer almost every question correctly and have fun doing so!

Introducing the categories: Notice that two of the categories are written in Hebrew letters (the top one is actually an acronym I've made up for our Hebrew Through Movement program - Eevreet Beet'noo'a - it's shorter and easier to write on the schedule each day than the full name of the program; the word I'm pointing to is "seepoor" which means story - in this case, "The Storyteller's Beads" which I've been reading since the start of the year). The students can already recognize the Hebrew words for both these categories!

Ashley is her group's treasurer, and appears to be enjoying the task! (We use replicas of real Israeli sh'kaleem - shekels - to play!)

The question's been asked, and now Charlotte, Emily and Abby have 30 seconds to agree on the correct answer before the reporter in the group has to respond.

Sometimes there's a difference of opinion, but by the end of the 30 seconds, they all have to agree on the answer.

And if they respond correctly, they're paid the amount they bet by my T.A. - on Tuesday it's Brian.

Deciding how much to bet can sometimes be even more tricky than coming up with the correct answer to a question!

We have no school this coming Sunday, Tuesday or Wednesday, to observe the President's holiday. I'm looking forward to seeing all the students again on Sunday, February 21st. Enjoy the holiday break!