We had a very intimate group this week - only six students, so each student had the opportunity both to work individually and as a team, sharing relevant thoughts and ideas related to the topics we discussed.
We began by asking the question, "What is a blessing?!"
Sydney suggested that it is something you say at a Holiday, a Birthday party, or before eating a snack. Rachel followed by adding that we bless our food, thanking God for everything we are given to eat.
Following this conversation, the teachers explained that Blessings make certain experiences even more special than they already are by turning our focus and attention to the moment, and announcing out loud that we are grateful for the opportunity that has been presented to us. The rabbis understood that so much of life goes unnoticed, moments slip through our fingertips without truly grasping the experience at hand. We explained that one can say a blessing over almost anything -- seeing something beautiful like a rainbow or a mountain, doing something new for the first time, eating bread, wine, fruits, vegetables, grains, and all other snacks, and maybe most significantly -- we can bless the people in our lives that make it special to be alive every single day.
Afterwards, we went around the circle and made a list of just those things -- any space, experience, or person we wanted to bless today. Rachel and Max said they would love to bless their family, Max specifically said he wanted to bless his brother. Meanwhile, Ethan and Simone brought up sacred spaces -- Ethan sent blessings to the two couches in his home that he loves to jump on while Simone was thankful for her classroom that she finds herself in six days out of every week! Lastly, Rachel, Max, and Ethan were full of blessings for things we find in nature -- waterfalls and rainbows.
After this wonderful conversation, we had free-play in which there were several options to explore. The first option was to return to our topic from last week HaOlam העולם - and to build the world out of blocks. Max, Simone, and Blake built planets and sunbeams! Meanwhile, Rachel and Sydney chose to help prepare for the Havdalah ceremony later in the day by putting together little bundles of Besamim - spices, made from cinnamon and fresh herbs, that we later passed around to our fellow community members. And finally, Ethan worked within his Aleph-Bet book to depict the blessing he spoke of earlier.
As class progressed, we read a marvelous story about Baxter the Pig who wanted to be Kosher. We discussed what it means to eat Kosher food and noted that many different Jews have various practices in terms of the way they choose to eat healthfully in order to benefit their heads and their hearts.
Finally, we played a search and find game in which we divided up into two teams and flipped through pages of Hebrew books in order to locate the Hebrew letters we know thus far -- Aleph, Bet, Gimmel, Daled, and Hay! It was a tie game and each team did terrifically!
We closed the day with a family sing along and Havdalah service -- the ceremony that differentiates Shabbat, a day of rest, from the busy work week ahead.
We hope to see everyone in our class reunited after two weeks of vacation. Enjoy and see you on March 1st!
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