Today my students were invited to study a new Hebrew text called "We will do, We will hear." The students were asked to listen to the text in four parts, think about what was being read to them, and then react to the text in their own way. Many of the students chose to react by drawing or doodling each part like a comic book, to help them synthesize the text.

After each part, the students works in Hevruta to turn and talk about their thinking. Then, we summarized what happened in the text by answering Who, What, and Where questions. Lastly, each students was asked to write a question of their own on a post-it note, and stick it to our class "parking lot," a place for our questions.

From Phoebe and the 3rd graders:

We told the story as fast as we could in one minute, in 30 seconds, 15 seconds and 5 seconds. The point of this is to see what stands out the most from the story as well as what we remember. Then we played "magic scarf" where a piece of fabric can become anything- a table cloth, a shield, a ghost, even boogers from our noses. Using the magic scarf, we then became different people in the talmudic text of Al Regel Echat to hear from what the story was like from their point of view. This let us consider what else might be happening in the story as well as a viewpoint different from our own.

As Hillel, Sylvie told us that "a young man, DESPERATE to know about a very good thing to know (Torah) appeared on his doorstep." Sylvie Hillel said that the "one foot" part made her think that the man was very anxious and excited to get the information- he was NOT being disrespectful!

As for Shammai, Sylvie Hillel told us "he always did have a bad temper."

Jack asked Sylvie/HIllel if he too would smack someone with the ruler who asked a question. "No," he/she said, "I don't believe in violence." What did he/she mean by "what you don't like, don't do?" He/she replied: "It's like the Egyptians who took Hebrews as slaves- would THEY like that? No!"

Avi became the man who stood on one foot in front of Hillel's house. "My name is Bob" she said. "I'm scared." Why? "Because I don't know if this guy is gonna hit me." Noa asked Avi/Bob " Do you want to talk to this Rabbi?" Avi/Bob responded "he's the smartest."

We got a look into Shammai's thinking thanks to Zevi. We asked him, "why so angry?"

"Because" Zevi/Shammai answered, "I let small things ruin my life."

Avi asked: "why did you hit that guy?"

Zevi/Shammai: "Because I had a ruler. Because I couldn't answer the question."

Next up: 3rd graders will make their cavod manifesto of what they don't like; 4-6 hear each other out on Na'aseh V'nishmah; K-2 looks to learn more Jewish tools for looking at a text.

BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT JEWS DO!

This week we met with our coaches online and delved into our siddur Hebrew reading work. The accolades from our coaches kept coming "Ryan is doing great" "Gabe is mastering his letters" "Aviva can say the blessing." You get the idea. Our coaches thought about what else we could learn as a group. Jonathan, our native speaking Hebrew language coach, wanted to see more contemporary language incorporated because "it will be more relevant to our students." Fern disagreed "I love the ancient words- I love being able to recognize them in the prayers." Fortunately, we can do both. Hebrew words share shorishim (roots). Looking at neshama (soul) we can also see/ hear "Mah nishma" (Whats up? How's the soul?) Coaches will be leading mini group lessons for all at the beginning of the Ivrit program time. The one to one coaching lets each talmid get lotsa attention and lets them work at their own pace.

Talmidim were polled on whether they prefer their coaches to be in person or online. The majority (8) were decidedly firm: we prefer in person coaching.

And with the new kids vaccine coming this week? We may be able to be in PERSON WITH OUR COACHES!!! AT LEAST SOMETIMES!

What have our mitzvah makers asked for? More time. We know now to set up our project stations before going to ivrit Chaverim because it means we can launch into our work as soon as we are done. Soli and Ryan made it to Gimmel with their claymation; Lemi constructed the lego wall for his lego alef bet; Gabe began work supporting Eli's balloon alef bet; Joon animated the first two letters of Hazel's alef bet spoken word; and Aviva and Violet are almost done with their dramatic rendition of WHY BET GOT TO BE THE FIRST LETTER OF THE TORAH.

It's always 5:30 before we know it. Rats.

Miriam, the sole bnei mitzvah student, rose to the occasion and the bimah and led the Birkhot HaShachar AND the shema and v'ahavta.

Back in our "batim" (houses) we tried again to come up with names. Why is this hard to do? "Because we don't all agree" "Because some of us only want our idea." "Because we only vote for ourselves."

So said b'nei Yisrael! Figuring out the way to be a kehilla was just as hard in the Torah as it is in the 21st century. One group was able to come through with consensus: the Hebrew Hamsters are here to stay. How did they do it? Their one holdout was asked why she was against the idea. Answer: she was unsure what a hamster was. Once she learned, she was willing to try it. Asking, listening, explaining, considering-- these are all ways to learn and to show cavod in community.

Why is this doing Jewish? Because building a joyful learning community takes practice, If everyone gets to have a say, they are more likely to be all in for their people- even if they are not friends!