January 13, 202
LEARNING INSIDE AT LAST! 100% Masked and socially distant (thanks to some well placed yoga mats) talmidim were able to be together as a kehilla this past Sunday. Pictured above: make yourself a tree for Tu B'shvat. Below clockwise from top left : our interpretation of the 10 commandment tablets; Abigale's shirah talmidim make a sound machine and "pass the sound" Morah Alex's covid commandment community, Jack follows along with the Birkhot HaShachar. Photos courtesy of T Dowd, A Marques and E McCormack
5782 THEME: "Mah la'asot?" What to do?
This week: Doing Jewish is showing cavod to our community by wearing masks, getting vaccinated and keeping our distance from each other. It's also saying blessings before Torah study and asking questions about the 10 Commandments.

TEN COMMANDMENTS, MANY INTERPRETATIONS

Morah Elizabeth reports that the K-2 group spent time talking about shapes of the 10 Commandment tablets and drawing what they thought they looked like. With clay, we each got to make a tablet in a shape of our own!

Then, we talked and sang songs about Tu b'shevat with Cantor Bruce, followed by more practice making Hebrew letters.

Here are the questions and comments that came up for us today:

Rose: who wrote on the tablets?
Evan: it was G-d but others weren't sure.

We wondered: Can the trees feel things? Why are trees important?

Rose: trees can feel you
Gunnar: when you kill a tree to make paper, the tree doesn't want you to do that, people force them
Flora: if we didn't have trees we wouldn't have bugs or birds

The 4-6 group with Morah Alex and Morah Maya:Since it had been quite some time since we had seen each other, we did a check-in and a review. We retold the story of when Moshe received the 10 Commandments at Mt. Sinai. After that the students were asked to review their own personal 10 Commandments they had written weeks ago, and compare and combine them with a Hevruta partner. Our ultimate goal is to create one set of commandments that represent our thoughts, feelings, and opinions for 2022 as a kehillah of 4-6th graders.

Today, the students began brainstorming our Cavod Covenant.
Some ideas that were expressed are:
1. Don't mistreat others
2. Don't mistreat the Earth
3. Respect our parents guardians
4. Care for the animals we own
5. Don't steal

Next week, we hope to continue the conversation. The students will continue working in hevruta partners to create the last 5 "commandments." After that, we hope to create some type of artistic installation that showcases our final piece! I cannot wait to see what they create!

The 3rd grade with Morah Phoebe learned to say the words N'aseh V'nishmah: we will do and we will understand. We heard the story of bnei Yisrael at the foot of Mt Sinai getting the laws from Moshe. We then said those words in as many ways as we could- not as chickens or with marbles in our mouths, but with different intention in our tone. We named the tone of voice and came up with this possible list of feelings Bnei Yisrael could be experiencing:

Crazy or crazed
Bossy
Frustrated
Silence (didn't speak aloud, said it inside their heads)
Scared
Sad
Distressed
Calm
Bored
Confident
Brave
Confused
Disgusted
Excited
Shady
Committed
Dramatic
Obedient

Next up? We will interview Bnei Israel using these feelings as our guide. Trying to inhabit the experience of our ancestors: it's what Jews DO.

ABIGALE REISMAN brought us shirah through games, Hebrew language and singing in the round. It was so fun, and so beautiful, Avi asked if we could sing Debbie Friedman's
Oseh Shalom ONE MORE TIME. We did!
NO SCFLP THIS WEEKEND IN HONOR OF DR MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.


Want to "do" Jewish on MLK weekend? Click the link about for a few ways to engage your family in thinking about tzedek (justice) and tzedakah (righteous acts). Dr. King dedicated his life to both and to speaking out against racism AND the unequal distribution of resources. Tikkun Olam is about setting that to rights.

"All we say to America is be true to what you said on paper." -MLK Jr
IVRIT CHAVERIM

This week the coaches at Ivrit Chaverim asked: What devices can we use to remember the sounds and names of each of the Alef Bet letters?

Mark the Mensch Farber lent a hand and walked us through some tricks to remember Kaf (as in you have a Kaf and so need a cough drop) and Kchaf (you don't have a "kaf" drop) so you make the sound like you are clearing your throat. See all the tricks below- and see if you can attach the name of the letter to the drawing.

Hadassa, our new and splendid madricha, worked with Hazel and taught similar tricks to remember sin and shin. Upstairs, our advanced Hebrew learners set their sights on learning the entire V'ahavta BEFORE Morah Debbie gets back in February.
MITZVAH MAKERS AND MAYA
Tuesdays are for grades 4-6, aka Mitzvah Makers to learn Hebrew decoding and to practice working as a group (a skill useful in every culture everywhere). After some spirited games we wrote down our goals for our Alef Bet movies and set them up to be ready for us after Ivrit Chaverim. Progress was made. Gabe, Lemi and Maya filmed BET as in BETTING a BILLION. Aviva carefully drew a Yud for her movie with Violet, Hazel designed alef bet letters out of pipe cleaners and Soli, below, finished the claymation section of shin, kicking someone in the SHINS. All of these creations have our talmidim taking close looks at the SHAPES AND SOUNDS of the letters. Which helps layer their images in their brains for when they see them on the page....or in the Torah.
RABBI AKIVA INVITES MORIM TO CONSIDER ALEF, TEACHING ITSELF.

Moreh Matt was the first teacher this year to present texts to the teaching cohort. He chose Avot de-Rabbi Nathan 
Version B, Chapter 12 "What were Akiva's beginnings?"

Gathered around the long chevruta friendly tables (but with 36 inches between everyone) Maya, Treely, Hadassa, Elizabeth, Matt, Alex and Phoebe dug into this multi-layered text about teaching and learning.

Right away, Morah Alex noticed the repeating of words like asked, wondered, observed. Everyone started making connections to teaching and learning. "Isn't that what we do all the time?" asked Maya "we ask questions as Jews." Treely wondered if Akiva went to his son's school to learn with him, or dragged his son to a school to help him learn.

We also noticed that Akiva was 40 "and had no knowledge." Is it too late to learn at 40? No, suggested Moreh Matt, Rabbi Aviva was at just the right age to learn about the alef bet and Leviticus precisely because of his life experience and because he was ready.

We had some time to think about how we would present this text to our talmidim. Next time we meet- we will get to practice some of our plans.
The Sylvia Cohen Family Learning Project
of Temple Ahavat Achim
Director: Phoebe Potts
taagloucester.org