Spring Fling

And so, our final day of JQuest this school year arrived yesterday - our Spring Fling! The weather was perfect for all the activities of the day.

First, we met together one last time in our classroom. The hour we had together flew by. I continued reading two more chapters from "A Shout in the Sunshine" which I'd been reading aloud to the students since February. We didn't have enough time to finish reading the entire book, so I read the chapters then summarized the rest of the story. The focus of the book is on what happens when two very different cultures (the Sepharadi -Spanish Jewish and Romaniote - Greek Jewish) are forced to live together because of the political situation of the time (in this case, the late 15th century, following the Spanish exile). There is a definite parallel to what is happening in our own times, with refugees streaming into Europe from the Middle East and Africa.

As soon as I had finished summarizing the book, we got ready to play our final Shekel Game of the year. As always, I was very impressed at how much information the students retained. In this game, the material for the questions came from everything we had studied since September in Hebrew, Siddur (Prayer book), Holidays, Jewish History and Edot. The students take the game very seriously, even as they're having a lot of fun deciding how many shekels to bet on whether they can answer the question correctly.

Sammy is sharing what he's sure is the correct answer, and it was!

Let's see how much money we have - we can't bet more than half the amount we have!

The group has 30 seconds to answer the question after I've asked it.

Kyra is the recorder - writing down how much the group bets, so there's no question about the amount when it's time to pay them for answering correctly!

Hmmm - still mulling over the answer.

And while we played, those students who were absent during the previous weekday session had a chance to thank Rabbi Graetz for all he's done for our Isaiah community over the past quarter century on the card we made for him.

We finished the game, then went upstairs to the Sanctuary where all the other classes were gathering, and where many of our Edot students joined their parents. Once everyone had settled down, it was time to honor the volunteers, teachers and TA's.

Here, we're honoring the TA's.

And here are the teachers, minus one (I'm taking the photo!). (Notice the screen above - just before the concert began, the Shira track's music video was screened. Yasher Ko'ach to Erin and all her Shiraniks on an amazing project!!!)

Special thanks went to Jory, who is leaving JQuest to travel through South America next year.

And then it was time for our special honoree, Rabbi Graetz, to come up front. Rabbi Greninger spoke for all of us when she thanked him, and then presented him with a large bag filled with cards and special gifts made by each class.

As Rabbi Graetz carried his "treasures" back to his seat, Billy Jonas and his band began to perform. He uses all sorts of interesting instruments, and best of all, had us all join in for every song! Below, he's leading us in singing, "Who's Gonna Make Our Music?"

The concert lasted a good part of an hour, and then it was time for everyone to move to the Social Hall, where Bill and his crew had tables ready, brimming over with barbequed hamburgers and hot dogs and all the fixings. 

Amazingly, there was plenty of food for everyone!

The room filled quickly. Once you filled your plate, you could eat at a table inside, or...

...you could find a seat at a table outside, enjoying the glorious weather.

Inside, Cantor Korn led our Kleztone musicians in concert.

Here's our own Sammy playing the dumbek (Yemenite drum).

It's obvious the Kleztones have their own fanbase - and possibly a future member or two!

And outside, there was plenty of action in the funhouse...

...and playing Gaga (there's Ariston heading toward the ball!).

And so the 5776 school year is ended. Have a wonderful summer, and I'll look forward to seeing my students - past and present - on Sunday, September 11th, when our 5777 JQuest year begins (about 3 weeks before Rosh Ha'Shana, when 5777 itself begins!). 

L'HITRA'OT! (AU REVOIR!)

Yom Ha'atzma'ut

Today is Israeli Independence Day - Yom Ha'atzma'ut. We are celebrating the nation's 68th birthday. To celebrate this joyous occasion, I shared a 20-minute segment of the final video in the "Heritage: Civilization and the Jews" program ("Into the Future") during our weekday sessions, which presented the history of the modern Zionist movement, the struggles the new state had to endure from its outset, and how members of 70 different edot (Jewish Diaspora communities) made their way on their own or (especially in the case of Jews living in Arab countries) with the help of the Jewish Agency in Israel. This was the perfect summation of our edot studies this past year - sharing how the absorption of so many Jewish immigrants over the past 6 decades from all over the world has created a unique Israeli culture and has brought to realization the 2,000-year old dream of the Jewish People - "Next Year in Jerusalem!"

These past weekday sessions were busy for us. Aside from celebrating Yom Ha'atzma'ut, we also prepared a special card for Rabbi Graetz, to wish him well on his retirement. Since many of the children in the class have not had the opportunity to work with Rabbi Graetz individually, I decided to conduct a mini-lesson on the roles a rabbi plays in a congregation before introducing the card activity to them. We learned that a congregational rabbi not only serves as officiator at Jewish life cycle events, and not only leads the congregation in holiday and daily prayer services, but also serves as a role model for how to lead a fulfilling Jewish life and how to feel proud of our Jewish identity. The rabbi also serves as a counselor/social worker in many ways, helping congregants deal with personal issues and helping to unite and strengthen the congregation's community. Once the students realized how much Rabbi Graetz has contributed to our Isaiah community, they were ready to write their own special remarks to Rabbi Graetz on the card. The card will be presented to him at our Spring Fling, this coming Sunday.

I printed the photos of every Edot class student on one side of the card, with each student's first and last name printed underneath.

Some of the artists in our class volunteered to illustrate the front and back sides of the card.

Students drafted their wishes and thanks for Rabbi Graetz on scrap paper first, then copied them onto the card with markers, being sure to sign both their first and last names, so that Rabbi Graetz could match the faces with the names.

Students shared ideas with each other about what to write.

During our usual tefillah time, from 4:30 to 5:00, the 6th graders met with Jory, our 7th grade coordinator, in the Youth Lounge in the basement of the Temple House Building. There, Jory shared with them what they could expect as 7th graders - what they would learn, community service projects they'd be involved in, a class trip to Los Angeles during the MLK, Jr. Birthday weekend in January of this coming year, and performing tikkun olam (repairing the world) through the 7th Grade Fund program. We then all moved to one of the classrooms near the Youth Lounge, where Jory led the students in a "Clock Game," requiring them to work together as a team to figure out a solution to how to move around in a circle to different "times" posted on the 4 walls of the room as quickly as possible. I was impressed at how quickly (though very noisily!) both the Tuesday and Wednesday sessions worked to find a solution and succeeded.

Getting comfortable on the sofa in the Youth Lounge

Jory sharing what they'll be doing as 7th graders

Playing the "Clock Game" in the classroom

As many of you know, Jory will not be returning to teach at JQuest in September. We wish him well for his plans for traveling through South America next year, and in all his future endeavors.

I look forward to seeing as many of our Edot families as possible at our Spring Fling on Sunday. Remember that both sessions will meet in our classroom from 10 to 11 a.m.. Then we'll go up to the Sanctuary for the Billy Jonas concert, and finally enjoy a barbeque with lots of fun and games.

YOM HA'ATZMA'UT SAMEACH! HAPPY 68th BIRTHDAY TO ISRAEL!

A Taste of Jewish History and Culture

During this past academic year, our JQuest 5th and 6th graders have been studying Jewish history and values in three different tracks: Edot, Shira and Y'tzira. My Edot students have been exploring the history and cultures of four Jewish Diaspora communities (edot): Ethiopia, Iraq, Spain and Yemen. Erin's Shira students have been studying history through the lens of music and dance, while Maimone's Y'tzira students have been creating skits, games and mysteries to share the history.

Yesterday morning, all three tracks had the opportunity to share some of what they have learned with the other two tracks in an event called "A Taste of Jewish History and Culture." Beginning up in the Beit Knesset, our Edot students staffed food, game and arts&crafts booths to share aspects of the cultures of the edot we studied.

Students learned how to play the Ethiopian game QILEBLEBOSH, a favorite of Beta Yisrael (Ethiopian Jewish) children, very similar to jacks except that you can only use one hand during the entire game, and stones are used instead of jacks.

Picking the right sized stones can be a challenge!

The Mexican game STOP was a busy booth. This is a Sephardic (Spanish Jewish) children's game brought to Mexico by Crypto-Jews who were fleeing the Spanish Inquisition. Originally, it was played orally, but in more recent times paper and pencil have come to be used.

The Iraqi Purim card game of DOSA was a very popular booth. No skills are required to win, only luck, since that is what saved the Jews in Persia from Haman's gallows. A lot of money was won and lost at the table!

A lot of students decided to try making a Yemenite copper wire beaded bracelet. Our Edot students showed them how to use the jeweler's pliers to twist the metal wire into a spiral shape and then string beads of their choice onto the wire. The Yemenite Jews are well-known for their silver, gold, and copper jewelry. Arab Muslims were not allowed to work with metals, so Jews became the jewelers in Yemen.

The Beta Yisrael Jews of Ethiopia were well-known for their intricate straw and yarn basket weaving. At this booth, students could create a foamy yarn basket.

At the food booth, you could taste foods from each of the four edot: Bint al-sahn, a honey "cake-pie" is traditionally served by the Yemenite Jews as a first course at life-cycle ceremonies because of its round shape and sweet taste; charoset balls, made with dates, raisins and honey, are served at Sephardi (Spanish Jewish) seders; sesame bars are a popular candy served during the Passover holiday by Iraqi Jews; and Daabo is a honey yeast bread used by Ethiopian Jews to break their fast at the Sigd Festival celebrating the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai.

As soon as everyone had a chance to play the games, taste the foods, and try out some of the arts&crafts, it was time for the Shira students to share what they have been working on all year - their music video.

We had the honor of watching the premiere of the video! It's wonderful, and the rest of the school will have the chance to view it at our Spring Fling. Yasher koach to the Shira students on their performances!

After viewing the video, we all went downstairs to the Amphitheater where the Shira students taught us two dances: Nigun Atik, a Hasidic dance from Eastern Europe...

...and Debka Kafrit, a Yemenite line dance.

Finally, it was Y'tzira's turn to share some of the Jewish history they had learned during the year. The students had prepared "history scavenger hunts" during the previous two weeks in their class. While we were still in the Amphitheater, Maimone divided us into five teams, each of which was led by Y'tzira students who had created a history scavenger hunt relating to one era or one edah (Diaspora community) they had studied about. I followed Team #5, led by Zach, Josh, Abi and Evan. We had to look for clues all over the Isaiah campus, and then decode the clues when we found them. Our clues all revolved around the Ethiopian Jewish edah, having us search for a key that would unlock the mystery of the Kessim (the Ethiopian Jewish religious leaders) who were working to stop an evil Jew (played by Evan) from preventing the Ethiopian Jews from returning to Israel.

Our search led us from the Amphitheater into the Sanctuary, down to the playground by the Temple House Building, then up to the Basketball court. We raced from one location to the next, searching out clues and finally finding the key! Yasher koach to the Y'tzira mystery writers and actors. Who knew that learning history could be so much fun!

Racing up the stairs to find a clue in the Sanctuary...

...then racing back down to search for the next clue in the playground!

Zach wrested the key from the evil Jew and ran to find the Kes (played by Abi) who would show us how to unlock the mystery.

And when all the teams had completed their hunts, it was time for tefillah. While the fifth graders joined the third and fourth graders in the Sanctuary, all the sixth graders went to Y'tzira's classroom to meet with Erin and Jasmine, to decide which organization would receive the tz'daka money collected by all the JQuest classes during the year. Their decision will be announced at our Spring Fling.

I'd like to thank those Edot parents who volunteered to prepare the foods served at our food booth. Your time and efforts are greatly appreciated! I'm happy to report that "A Taste of Jewish History and Culture" was a great success thanks to all the participants. From what I could tell, everyone enjoyed themselves, and we all learned at least one new thing, if not more, while having fun.

Yemenite Jewish Edah

I used this Sunday's session to introduce the Yemenite edah to the students. This is a unique edah which was the only one to continue speaking Hebrew on a daily basis (not just for ritual purposes) in the Diaspora. Hebrew scholars believe that the Yemenite pronunciation of Hebrew is very close to how the language was pronounced back in the days of the United Monarchy of Israel under Kings David and Solomon, some 3,000 years ago. It was an isolated community (thanks to the mountain range dividing the country from the rest of the Arabian Peninsula), and was persecuted for much of its history by fanatic Muslim rulers. Today there are only about 50 Jews left in the capital city of Sanaa, and they live in the protection of the president's palace, which itself is under siege by rebels. Just a few weeks ago, 19 Jews (not part of the 50 mentioned above) were secreted out of the country to Israel, bringing with them an 800-year old Torah scroll.

I began by showing three YouTube videos. After viewing the first one, "History of the Yemenite Jews," which has no dialogue, I asked the students to share their impressions from the film of the culture and physical features of Yemenite Jews. I then shared a YouTube segment taken from a 1988 Israeli MTV video of the Yemenite-Israeli singer Ofra Haza singing "Im Nin'alu", a song taken from the Yemenite Diwan (their prayer book). The Yemenite Jews deeply mourned the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. (they found out about it many years after its destruction because of their isolation from other Jewish communities). They vowed never to play joyful music again until the third Temple should be rebuilt in Jerusalem. What resulted was a very "beat-heavy" style of music, and the creation of the dumbek - the Yemenite drum. Often, they use tin cans to create a beat for their music. The final YouTube segment that I shared with the class, "Teiman: Music of the Yemenite Jews" highlights their music, within the context of a Yemenite Jewish henna wedding ritual.

After the YouTube segments, we read a short summary about the history and culture of the Yemenite Jews taken from the book, "One People, Many Faces," a part of the Israel Connection curriculum focusing on the return to Israel of many members of the Jewish Diaspora and on the contributions of each edah to Israeli culture.

We concluded the session, by learning how to make a very simple Yemenite copper wire beaded bracelet. The Yemenite Jews are famous for their silver and copper jewelry. This skill was taught for generations by fathers to sons. We will be sharing how to make these bracelets next Sunday, with other 5th and 6th graders at our "Taste of Jewish History and Culture" event, which will include a "mini-Edot Fair."

While Emily sizes the copper wire around her wrist, Kyra chooses beads for her bracelet.

Choosing just the right beads can be an important decision to make. Yemenite Jews, like many Muslims, believed that round, shiny beads or coins could protect a person from demons by attracting the demons, then trapping them in the round shape. Jordan, Leo and Joey are advising each other here.

Once the beads are chosen, it's time to thread them on the very, very thin copper wire.

Total focus is required to be sure the beads don't fall off the wire while being threaded.

Notice the special jeweler's pliers Alex is using to wrap the copper wire into a spiral shape. These pliers are a basic tool of the jewelers.

And when it's finished, a very happy Seth rejoices in the beautiful bracelet he's created.

Between sessions, six of our Edot students helped lead the other students and teachers in prayer during our final Creative Tefillah session of the year. They had worked together with Rabbi Miller the previous Wednesday, to develop a theme for the prayers they would lead. The theme they chose was Presidential Elections.  Rabbi Miller was a bit hesitant to use the theme when the students first suggested it, since we cannot endorse any particular candidates from the bimah. But she relented when the students assured her that no individual candidates would be endorsed.

First, Aaron introduced the Barechu call to worship:

Then Kyra and Ella introduced the "Sh'ma":

Aaron came up again to introduce the "V'Ahavta" chant:

Followed by Alex and Ari introducing the "Mi Chamocha" song:

Finally, Brahm introduced the "Avot v'Imahot" blessing of the Amidah:

Yasher Koach to all the Edot students who helped lead our Sunday creative tefillah sessions this year. Before we know it, they'll be leading the congregation at their Bar/Bat Mitzvah service!

Crypto-Jewish Seder

The culminating activity for our Edot unit of study about the Jews of Spain - the Sephardim -  was a Crypto-Jewish seder, which we held in our classroom yesterday morning, both sessions.

Up to this point, we had studied the history of the edah, which is at least 2,000 years old, and perhaps even older. We learned about forced conversions of Jews to Christianity in the 5th century under Visigothic rule, about the Muslim conquest of Spain in 711 C.E.which ushered in a "Golden Age" for Jews as well as Christians and Muslims who all co-existed peacefully between the 8th and 11th centuries, and finally about the "reconquista" - the reconquest - of Spain by the Christians over a 200-year period, ending with the taking of Granada, the last Muslim outpost in Spain and the unification of Spain under King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. We then focused our attention on the conversos (a/k/a Crypto-Jews), who opted to remain in Spain when given the choice to convert to Catholicism or leave the country.

We learned about the Ladino language (a/k/a Judeo Spanish) of the Sephardim, and how many of their cultural traditions relating to the Jewish holidays were influenced by the trauma of the Inquisition, especially the Passover seder rituals. We learned two songs sung by the conversos during the seder ceremony - the "Kadesh U'r'chatz" (sung to different melodies by Jews all over the world, the lyrics of which are the 15 steps of the seder ceremony) and "Un Cavritico" (the Ladino version of "Chad Gadya" the last song sung at the seder). We learned about the foods eaten by Jews in Spain (a lot of honey drizzled over meats, vegetables, as well as on sweets!), and how they incorporated new world foods such as potatoes, eggplants, peanuts and tomatoes into their diets to avoid having to eat pork. And we learned that our information about much of the Crypto-Jewish culture - what they ate, songs they sang, foods they prepared, etc. - comes down to us from of all places Inquisition records (which were quite detailed!).

The Crypto-Jewish seder is modeled as a re-enactment of how the Crypto-Jews observed their favorite holiday - Pesach - the holiday of freedom from slavery! Every detail of our seder comes from Inquisition records. It should be noted that we had no rehearsals before the seder, so it was a learning experience for all the participants as we followed the script. Below are some photos and a video which share a bit of the Crypto-Jewish experience:

As we prepared in class for our seder, we had two photos to refer to as to how the Crypto-Jews dressed and where they held their secret seders...

...both photos were taken by the photographer Frederic Brenner of a family living in Belmonte, Portugal, descendants of Crypto-Jews. The photo was taken of their actual seder ceremony in 1988 - in the basement of their home where the seder is held. They are wearing white from top to bottom, and except for the older woman, have no shoes on so as not to make noise when moving around.

As with most Jewish holidays, we began by lighting and blessing the candles (props from our Hebrew Through Movement program), led by Lucas.

There were no haggadot (the books we read at the seder ceremony) back in the days of the Inquisition, but centuries later descendants of the Crypto-Jews hold their haggadot on their knees to recall the times when their ancestors had to be ready to hide what they were doing quickly, in case they were discovered.

As soon as we finished singing the "Kadesh U'r'chatz," we blessed the first cup of "wine."

After washing our hands symbolically, by dipping our fingers into the blue bowls filled with water, we dipped the parsley into the salt water in the red bowls, blessed the parsley and ate it. To say that there was a lot of salt in the water is an understatement, as witnessed by Jack's reaction to the very salty parsley!

As part of the Yachatz ceremony, the Crypto-Jews re-enacted the story of the Exodus from Egypt with not one, not two, but three Moses' leading the Israelites through the wilderness. Each Moses had a walking stick and sack. At the start of the ritual, each went to one of several piles, (each consisting of 3 matza crackers) on the tables, lifted the cover, then divided the middle piece of matza in half. Half was replaced on the pile, the other half was thrown into the sack to carry "to Jerusalem".

Here are the 3 Moses' leading the Israelites through the wilderness.

Once the Israelites were "on their way," 3 new Moses' (this is information we have from Inquisition records!) take over, and begin the Mageed section of the seder, telling the story of the journey out of Egypt, and explaining what the ritual foods on the seder plate symbolize.

There were only 3 foods on the Crypto-Jewish seder plate - the roasted shankbone (which looks suspiciously like a chicken leg on our classroom plate!), the bitter herbs (Romaine lettuce) and the parsley. The roasted egg was served separately during the meal in the form of huevos haminados - very hard-boiled eggs boiled in a mixture of onion skins and vinegar. Charoset also was served during the meal in the form of charoset balls made of dates, peanuts and honey in its simplest form.

After saying a blessing and washing our hands symbolically one more time, then blessing and eating the matza and maror (bitter herb), we came to the korech (sandwich) part of the ceremony. The Crypto-Jews did not remember Rabbi Hillel's "sandwich" of matza and bitter herbs, but they did recall that "korech" meant wrapping or binding two things together - i.e. a sandwich. To them, the sandwich was not something to be eaten; instead, they were the ones "sandwiched" between Christianity and Judaism. Here, Charlotte is reading a "Korech" paragraph describing how it felt to always wonder if actions or words performed or said by mistake during the Catholic mass might give them away as being Jews, and the frustration they felt knowing they were slowly but surely forgetting important Jewish beliefs and rituals.

We skipped over the Shulchan Orech (the seder meal) ritual for obvious reasons, though I did share with the students that the Crypto-Jews would eat roasted lamb, which was kosher, along with chickpeas baked with cilantro and honey, the huevos haminados and charoset balls. They also decorated their tables with dried fruits - especially apricots - to symbolize the manna God sent down to the Israelites during their trek through the wilderness. So I decorated our tables with dried apricots as well. Following the meal, we come to the "tzafoon" part of the seder ceremony, at which time we search for the afikomen which was the half of the piece of matza from the "yachatz" step near the start of the seder. The Crypto-Jews did not know about the afikomen - instead, they were the hidden ones who prayed to God to be "found." Here, Joey is reading a "Tzafoon" paragraph describing how it felt to always have to look over your shoulder, wondering if you were being followed by an Inquisition spy.

The Crypto-Jews did not recall that the "barech" step of the seder involved saying the grace after the meal. Instead, they praised God by having each participant whisper a praising adjective. You'll have noticed words written on the whiteboard in our classroom - these are words translated from Ladino, which Inquisition records claim were uttered in praise of a God who had rejected them for having rejected His son, Jesus Christ. We went around the room and each student chose a word to say. Then we blessed and drank the third cup of wine.  

IT WAS AT THIS POINT THAT WE WERE SUDDENLY INTERRUPTED, AS SOME OF THE ORIGINAL CRYPTO-JEWISH SEDERS MAY HAVE BEEN!

Thankfully, our answers satisfied the soldier, and we were able to continue our seder ceremony.

As part of the "barech" ritual, the Crypto-Jews re-enacted the Crossing of the Reed Sea. Here is Tobias as Moses holding his hand over the waters to part the sea. Charlotte and Emily are the waves, apparently very happy to create a dry path for the Israelites to escape on.

And here are the Israelites, Jeremy and Zach, who safely followed Moses on the dry path.

But it wasn't safe for the Egyptian horsemen and charioteers, as re-enacted by Aaron as the "waves" are about to close over him.

As we're nearing the end of the ceremony, we sing a song praising God as part of the "hallel" ritual - "Un Cavritico," the Ladino version of "Chad Gadya." ("One Kid, One Kid") The Crypto-Jews saw themselves as the little kid whom so many enemies want to destroy, but which is saved at the very end by the "Holy, Blessed One" (Santo Bendicho).

And then our seder came to an end with the final step - "nirtza" (may it be His will). This is where we say "L'shana ha'ba'a bee'yerooshala'eem." ("Next year in Jerusalem.") The Crypto-Jews repeated this statement 7 times, each time saying it more softly until the final utterance was totally silent, symbolically internalizing their dream to be redeemed from the slavery of their lives in Spain and led to the "Promised Land" (which to them was the freedom to be their true selves in their beloved Spain).

Hopefully, your children will remember some parts of our classroom Crypto-Jewish seder, and will be willing to share what they learned with you, family and friends during your own seder ceremony this coming Friday evening, the start of the Pesach holiday of freedom.

CHAG HA'AVIV SAMEACH! HAPPY SPRING HOLIDAY!

CHAG PESACH SAMEACH! HAPPY PASSOVER HOLIDAY!