Dear Families,

We can’t believe how swiftly the year flew by at Havurah. From the first day we met one another, an immediate connection was formed in our classroom. Together, we began discovering what being Jewish means to us.  Through blessings and snacks we got in touch with the earth (olam) and the land (aretz); through paints, crayons, and markers, we depicted the stories of the Jewish people; with our bodies we learned the shapes of the Aleph-Bet; and in song our voices we rang out with holiday melodies. Each week, we emphasized the values of community, compassion and cooperation.

Over the course of Havurah, we have had the pleasure of witnessing growth, discovery, questioning and creation.  Each class, we felt excited to greet each other with our Shalom song, as we knew joy and laughter were always in store. The children of Classroom Four continued to surprise and amaze us week after week, as they grew into true Havurah members, committed to caring for those around them. We felt privileged to be a part of a class in which we were not only teachers but also students, as everyone in our class shared their unique experiences and knowledge.  Together we both celebrated long standing Jewish traditions and built our traditions, all of which we used to celebrate and embrace our diverse backgrounds.  Sharing this wonderful year was a true blessing. Thank you.

-Ani and Brigitte

P.S. You can pick up a copy of your Havurah reflection book in the JCC office, there should be one waiting with Gabriella Kula, Havurah Director.

We would also like to share that we had an AMAZING response from our friends in Tanzania. They truly appreciated our letters, drawings and well wishes. 

If you would like more information on Sarah Child Care Center email Brigitte at brigittermoreno@gmail.com or visit them on Facebook here

Our Final Gathering!

On our final day at Havurah at the JCC, we had an amazing time as we came full circle with all of our themes, questions, and ideas we have explored throughout year!

As always, we began with our final welcome circle as we sang to one another to prepare for the day.

We moved to the table and said our blessings all together over grape juice and challah. As a special treat for our last day, we got to try an Israeli falafel-flavored snack called Bissili! It was definitely a hit. As we sat around the table together we had the chance to reflect on all of the many projects and stories we have discussed throughout the year. We had a mini movie screening and watched the short films about Creation, Purim, and Passover that we each took part in creating. We loved seeing ourselves on the screen and noticing all the ways we have improved even in the last few weeks.

After snack and movies, we went right into yoga with Victoria. We played games, had a yoga obsticle course, and of course said our shalOMMMM. We finished by drawing on our Aleph-Bet yoga sheets.

After yoga, we did a bit of reflection as we looked back at past pictures of ourselves from throughout the year and added our own captions to describe and recall what we were doing in the pictures. It was so fun to reminisce about all the good times we've had together!

We were also SO excited because our letters and drawings from our pen-pals in Tanzania just arrived in the mail. They even included photographs of their entire class and we had a marvelous time examining their artwork and feeling connected to another class of children across the globe!

We had our last Aleph-Bet block game as we reviewed the letters we already know and moved our bodies throughout the classroom.

Finally, we wanted each student to have something to take home to remember and cherish the relationships they built in our classroom. We each picked a name of one of our peer's out of a basket and then drew that person a beautiful and elaborate piece of art with their name colored brightly and vibrantly. For our final activity, we sat in a circle and each delivered our gift to our friend. It was a truly special moment!

We sang our final round of Shalom Chaverim and sent each other on our way!

We had such a marvelous year with everyone and hope to see all of your faces at the picnic as the school year draws to a close and we come together to celebrate all that we have learned and accomplished. At the picnic, we will have a gift for all of the families to remember and cherish the year we have had together.

Can't wait to see everyone for one last Hurrah!

Yadayim Raglayim!

As we near the end of Havurah we are taking time to revisit the journey we have taken this year. Today was a day of movement, play and also deep thinking!

We began by revisiting the question "What does it mean to me to be Jewish?"a question we asked when we first started our Havurah journey this year. We reviewed the list we generated--see blog post from Sunday, October 13, 2013:

“Celebrating different holidays.” – Rachel

“My mom, my dad and my magic blanket.” –Qunicy

“People talking together.”  -Simone

“Having friends and having the whole school come together and say Jewish things.”-Bryce

“Go to temple, sing songs and talk.” – Jesse

“Being with my family at my house and having Challah.” – Sarah

“Playing drums at Temple.” –Ethan

“Playing guitar at Temple.” – Nate

Today we added a few over our snack and blessing time in a group meeting, and will continue to think about it next week. Some new ideas were, Learning Hebrew and the Aleph-bet and Working with friends.

We then had a very energetic Yoga, where we focused on our Yadayim (Hands) and Raglayim (Feet). We began by exploring our hands and feet through art and coloring and continued with a fun yoga game where we cleaned up the common space with our feet!

We then returned to the classroom where we created a thank you note for the second graders who worked so hard with us over the last 3 weeks! We collaboratively wrote a thoughtful letter and then each added our own flare!

We finished off the day with some dramatic play, reviewing the stories we have learned this year, including the story of Passover and Purim. Enjoy the film clips below of the the play! We will be premiering all of the videos we have taken this year next week. Take some time to review the blog with your child and have them tell you the story of Havurah!

Classroom 4's rendition of Passover, including Baby Moses sailing down the nile!

A REMINDER THAT NEXT WEEK WILL BE THE LAST HAVURAH IN THE JCC. THE FOLLOWING WEEK WILL BE THE PICNIC! 

The story of Purim playtime! More videos to come later this week!