February JCSS

Continuing concerns about high Covid case rates and the fact that we still have no approved vaccine for our youngest students, led us to meet once again over Zoom.  Though we would always rather be together in person, our teachers all did a wonderful job of creating engaging online lessons, as you will read below.

You may have noted that we are no longer JCS, but JCSS – Jewish Cultural Sunday School.  The “Sunday” has been added to help anyone finding us for the first time to understand we are not a day school, nor an adult learning program, but a Sunday school like others most folks are familiar with, except with our focus on Jewish culture (embracing history, arts, and values) rather than on religiosity.

We are hopeful that next month we will be able to meet again in person, not only for JCSS classes but also for a joyful Purim Carnival.

Littles Group:  Age 3 – Kindergarten, teacher Amy Leavitt

For hopefully our last Zoom meeting this year, we talked all about kindness, or the Jewish value of Chesed! We read If You Plant a Seed by Kadir Nelson and A Little Spot of Kindness by Diane Alber.

      

We talked about different ways we can be kind, how it feels when others are kind to us, and listened to “Kindness is a Muscle” by Universal Kids.

The littles were given the challenge to fill in 100 kindness hearts for acts of kindness at home, in the community, and at school.  Thanks for sticking around despite some technical difficulties; I can’t wait to hear all about their acts of kindness next month, hopefully in person!

Middles Group:  Grades 1-2, teacher Colline Roland

On Sunday the Middles were beyond patient with their teacher. For much of the lesson we were unintentionally playing charades as the computer microphone cut in and out throughout the morning. We read “Sammy Spider goes to Israel” and virtually traveled to the same locations as Sammy while mapping it out on paper! We visited the Kottel (Western Wall) in live time, we learned about the salinity of the Dead Sea, and learned about the Bedouin people in the Negev. We also learned to count to 5 in Hebrew!

     

Kottel (Western Wall)             Dead Sea                           Negev 

 

Juniors Group: grades 3-5, teacher Renee Dorman

This month, the Juniors class learned about a shared history of Jewish and Black Americans: redlining. We started with a rigged game of Monopoly that helped us understand the concept. Then we looked at the HOLM map of the Twin Cities and located our own houses on the map. None of us could have lived in our neighborhoods back in the 1930s. We also watched a video about how the construction of I-94 hurt the Rondo neighborhood and the current land bridge proposal.

     

   Food Co-op in Rondo, 1950         I-94 Construction through Rondo

We drew our own perfect neighborhoods with the things a community needs to be safe and happy.

Ilsa’s ideal neighborhood

This lesson was coincidentally (but happily!) closely related to the morning’s adult program. If you attended the adult session, I encourage you to talk about the history of Rondo and redlining with your child!

 

B’Mitzvah Prep Group: Grades 6-7, teacher Eva Cohen

The B Mitzvah Prep class spent this session learning more about the Exodus story and thinking critically about biblical law. We watched and discussed three additional film clips that retell or riff on the Exodus story, and then I (Teacher Eva) recapped what scholars think is the “historical truth” behind the story. Students read Exodus 20 aloud together (the first place that the “Ten Commandments” appear in the Torah, though without being given that name/title in the chapter), and we talked about the meaning of these commandments in their original ancient Near Eastern context. Then we evaluated the commandments from a modern Humanistic Jewish perspective. Students considered their ethical pros and cons and reflected on the First Amendment implications of setting up Ten Commandments statues in front of state capitals and other public buildings. We wrapped up the morning by folding some Ten Commandments origami and reflecting on Humanistic Jewish Ten Commandments we might write.

January JCS Brings Back the Boxes (Zoom, that is)

I hope 2022 has started well for all of you, at least in most ways.  One way it has not gone well for any of us is the wide increase in transmission of the Covid, especially the Omicron variant.  Thus, our January session took us back to online learning via Zoom.

The good thing, at least, is that we were able to quickly reconstruct the process we spent several months figuring out last year, and the class sessions all went smoothly.  We were able to hold our Tu B’Shevat seder on Zoom as well, with our older students and teachers participating as readers.

We will carefully track the course of the pandemic to decide whether we can go back to holding our classes in-person in February.

Take a look at what each of our JCS classes spent their Sunday morning on Zoom doing.

The Littles Group, Age 3 – Kindergarten – teacher Amy Leavitt

We learned about the holiday of Tu B’shevat (with some help from Shalom Sesame), and the importance of being Planet Protectors. We read Sadie’s Snowy Tu B’Shevat by Jamie Korngold, and learned about what to expect at the Seder. We then talked about the wonderful things we get from trees (paper, wood, fruits, and more), read Luna & Me: The True Story of a Girl Who Lived in a Tree to Save a Forest by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw, and watched a video     about the redwood trees in California.
The Middles Group, grades 1-2 – teacher Colline Roland

For our first online meeting this year we had a few technical difficulties however, we were able to accomplish a discussion, craft, and book! We made ‘fruit faces’ and read “Thank a Tree” in honor of everything trees give us. We talked about the importance of trees and realized, by looking around us, just how important trees are. Some of us even had photos of trees framed on our wall.

The Juniors Group, grades 3-5 – teacher Renee Dorman
The Juniors took a virtual field trip to Ellis Island to learn about the experience of many Jewish immigrants to the United States, especially from eastern Europe.  Then we shared family artifacts and drew our own suitcases of special belongings.
The B’Mitzvah Prep Group, grades 6-7 – teacher Eva Cohen
This lesson, the B Mitzvah Prep class focused on learning about the Exodus story and its influence on culture. Students read aloud the first two chapters of Exodus (in translation) and discussed them from a Humanistic Jewish perspective. Discussion touched on the Exodus story as an inspiration for Jewish opposition to oppression, along with the real history behind the story.
There is no evidence that the events described in Exodus occurred, but scholars theorize that the expulsion of the West Asian Hyksos Dynasty from Egypt or Canaanite suffering during the period of Egyptian imperial control may have inspired a collective ‘memory’ that morphed historical events into legendary form. After discussion, students watched a couple of movie clips retelling parts of Exodus 2, including a clip from the 1998 animated film The Prince of Egypt and a clip from the 1956 live-action film The Ten Commandments (through 2:00).
Then the class did a funny Exodus-themed photo scavenger hunt, where students staged and photographed tableaus of scenes from the Exodus story incorporating props and joke prompts. You can see some of the students’ awesome work in the photos shared here! Before class ended students reviewed their assigned reading parts in the Tu B’Shevat seder, and then the class rejoined the larger group to help lead Or Emet’s Tu B’Shevat seder.
The baby Moses found in a basket            sMoses and the burning bush
   Moses receiving the tablets                     Moses smashing the tablets

December JCS

Our last Jewish Cultural School of 2021 was held December 19, overcoming several obstacles, including the absence – due to Covid exposure and holiday travel – of three of our four JCS teachers.  Sarah Berman Young guest-teachered for the combined Middles and Juniors group, and Arielah King guest-teachered for the Littles group – and all was well.   Thanks so much, Sarah and Arielah.

We expect everyone to be back and hope for all to be in good health for our first JCS session of 2022 on January 16.

Littles Group – age 3 – Kindergarten, teacher Amy Leavitt, guest teacher Arielah King

The Littles learned the word “mitzvah” and discussed the mitzvah of caring for the sick. They made drawings to be delivered to Children’s Hospital. We read the book “A Sick Day for Amos McGee”, and other books with a similar theme.

Middles Group – Grades 1-2, teacher Colline Roland, & Juniors Group, grades 3-5, teacher Renee Dorman – guest teacher Sarah Berman Young

“Renee left a lesson for the students that introduced Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism, and the students listened to two versions of the Golem tale. The students talked about what magical words they might use to bring their own Golem to life, and what type of shape their own Golem might take to protect them and those they cared about. Then they had a chance to build their own Golems out of air-dry clay. It was a lot of fun!”

Above: reproduction of Prague Golem

B’Mitzvah Prep Group, grades 6-7, teacher Eva Cohen

During our December class, students continued to explore Genesis/Bereishit (the first book in the Torah) from a humanistic perspective. After our regular Hebrew conversation warm-up and reviewing November’s lesson, students read a summary of Genesis, noted all the stories in it that were familiar to them, and discussed major themes in these stories.

Then the class acted out a funny skit from Sedra Scenes based on the Noah/Noach section of the book (Noah’s Ark and surrounding stories). We discussed similarities and differences between this flood story and others from the ancient Near East, and we considered the ethics of God’s actions in the story. One student made the interesting comparison between God flooding the world to destroy his creation that had ‘become evil,’ and mad scientists in works like Frankenstein who try to destroy the monsters they create.

After break we shifted to learning about Hebrew names, noting the connection between many Hebrew names and characters and concepts in Genesis. Students reviewed how to write the letters of the aleph-bet and then created Hebrew name art inspired by medieval Jewish illuminated manuscripts. The class brought great engagement and creativity to our lesson!

           

     

JCS is Back! Live and In Person!!

We were delighted to be together for the first Jewish Cultural School session of 2021-2022, with classes held outdoors on the grounds of Talmud Torah in St. Paul.  Even thought everyone was masked (except during the snack break), we were happy to feel one another’s presence and see at least the tops of everyone’s face.

Our first session took place during Sukkot, so we started the morning at the Talmud Torah sukkah with Teacher Eva (who is also Or Emet’s ritual leader) offering a message this important celebration, and Teacher Sarah leading us in a rousing rendition of “Zum Gali Gali.”

After choral singing of the Aleph Bet and  reading our blessing for children we broke up intro our four groups.

As long as the weather holds out we will continue to conduct classes outdoors.   Now, here’s what each of our groups did on Sunday.

The Littles, PreK- Kindergarten, teacher Amy Leavitt

We had a great first session of JCS! After a little exploring on the playground, we had Music with Teacher Sarah, and we sang a welcome song and “Did You Ever Shake a Lulav?

The Middles, Grades 1-2, teacher Colline Rolland
For our class we learned about Sukkot and celebrated pollinators, specifically bees. We also did a blind taste test of ‘harvested’ fruits. To honor the holiday, and the hard work of bees, we also came together to make a Sukkah for the bees!
The Juniors – Grades 3-5, teacher Renee Dorman
In September the Juniors got reacquainted and learned to do brief introductions in Hebrew. We reviewed Sukkot with a game of Pictionary. Sarah led us in singing a round of Zum Gali Gali.
We then discussed what “humanistic” means and how that matches our own beliefs. We read a comic book version of Abraham and Isaac through a humanist lens.
The students agreed that in Abraham’s place, their humanistic values would have led them to a different decision.
We concluded by creating our own illuminated “Torah scrolls” to honor words that are meaningful to us.
Illuminated Scroll by Leda, with text from Or Emet’s Blessing for Children
The B’Mitzvah Prep Group, grades 6-7, teacher Eva Cohen
The B Mitzvah Prep class spent their first lesson getting (re)acquainted and using their Humanistic Jewish detective skills! After introductions to each other and the class, students made and decorated name tags with their pronouns. Then we went around the circle asking each other how we were doing today and giving replies–all in Hebrew.
Next we discussed the Torah–what it is, what language it’s written in, et cetera–and talked about why studying Torah and Tanakh could be meaningful for Humanistic Jews. Humanistic Jews see these books as collections of stories and laws/ideas about how people should behave, not as holy or “the truth.” However, students recognized that studying Torah and Tanakh is important for understanding what other people believe and forming our own opinions, for understanding Jewish history and culture, and for general cultural literacy and “getting the reference.” After discussion and a snack break, we returned for a music lesson with Sarah (who taught us to sing “Shlomit Bonah Sukkah” for Sukkot).
After singing we talked a bit more about Torah/Tanakh and how we can use comparative evidence to evaluate whether information in the bible is true. Students worked in groups to compare a timeline of the age of the earth from a religious Jewish, biblical perspective (5782 years old) with a timeline of the age of the earth from a modern scientific perspective (4.6 billion years old). The group found the scientific perspective and the evidence used to support it much more convincing! Then, continuing in small groups, students looked at a hieroglyphic inscription describing an Egyptian pharaoh’s defeat of “Israel” in 1207/1206 BCE. Students used a key to crack the hieroglyphic code and found that, in this case, science agrees with some of what the Torah claims. Here we have independent archaeological evidence that supports the idea that more than three thousand years ago there was a group of people called “Israel” living in the area we know today as Israel/Palestine. I was excited to have students look at evidence from the Torah alongside evidence from geology, archaeology, and other fields to find out the “real history” behind the biblical stories.

March JCS News

In March, our Jewish Cultural School classes all had Passover on their minds, with our Or Emet Seder scheduled for the following Sunday.

                                                                                                                          

Here’s the scoop:

Littles Group: PreK – Kindergarten, teacher Josh Kaplan

Our focus at JCS this week was Passover. We learned about some of the customs we participate in, and the foods that we eat, on this special holiday. We read a book about Passover and we made matzah covers! We also learned to sing the very first part of the four questions.

 

Rebecca and her matzah cover

 

Middles Group: Grades 1 and 2, teacher Colline Roland

Today in class we practiced our Passover song with teacher Sarah. Then we reviewed the upcoming Passover holiday, talked about the plagues, and what/why we eat certain foods during Seder. Then, because we couldn’t decide what book to read, we read two books: The Great Passover Escape and Engineer Ari and the Great Passover Rush. To end, we completed a crossword and word search!

                                   

by Pamela Moritz                                        by Debra Bodin Cohen

 

Juniors Group: grades 3-5, teacher Renee Dorman

In March, the Juniors group reviewed the story of Passover, did an art project to experience to contrast between constraint and freedom, and had a discussion about when we need to have faith (and what that means for Humanists) and when we need to take action.  We also practiced a Passover song with Teacher Sarah.

A rendition of “freedom” by Ilsa

 

B’Mitzvah Prep Group: grades 6-8, teacher Eva Cohen

During class this month we:
  • learned about Jewish immigration to the US
  • learned from JCS parent Sergei Rakhmanov as he shared his immigration experience with us
  • sang Passover songs with Sarah
  • made art to be shared during Or Emet’s Passover Seder
  • started playing a Yiddish word game – to be continued next month

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