Dear Mechina Families,
This week, in another of my favorite books called:"Hurry, Friday's a Short
Day!", we learned about a 5 year old named Raffi, who lives in his home in
Jerusalem's Old City that's 2000 years old! He asks his mom BEFORE she
requests help if she needs him to aid with anything as she gets ready for
Shabbat. He helps by cleaning his room, playing with his younger sisters,
going to the tiny store on their block for flowers and veggies and much more.
The kids were very impressed with Raffi and will perhaps look for more
opportunities at home to help you!
The book is full of interesting information about the Old City, where Raffi
lives, the donkeys that transport people there, the Cardo where the Romans
once lived and where Raffi now plays, and so much more. The children were full
of questions and it was fun to discuss this book.
*You can ask your child why IS Friday a short day? (Answer: because in Raffi's
family, they spend much of the day cooking, cleaning, going to the mikveh,
doing mitzvot like giving tzedakah to a poor man who comes every Friday to
their house, and otherwise getting ready to relax on the long, long day that
is Shabbat).
We created unusable, but lovely, decorative kiddush cups for Shabbat. These
will come home next week after they've dried fully.
We have a wonderful birthday tradition we started several years ago. Please
consider donating $18 for your child's birthday and Susan will purchase a book
in their name for the school and we'll read it together after a special
bookplate has been placed in
it. If you're anything like me and forget everything these days, you can send
Susan a check now or anytime for $18 to TBA, attn: Susan Simon, with a note
reminding her it's for a birthday book. My students have always loved this
tradition and take great pride in hearing their book read to the class!!
Shalom,
Dawn
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Dear Mechina Families,
Today we read a book called "Partners," about two children, Josh and Jacob,
who realize that they can be God's partners in helping to feed the hungry.
They become very concerned while on a field trip from the suburbs to the city
after they see homeless people who are clearly hungry. They go to their
parents and their rabbi to talk about how they want to help and hear that they
are God's Partners. So they decide they can help change what they see even
though they are young children. They can bring two cans of food to shul every
week and decide to give part of their saved tzedakah money to a shelter.
Your kids really looked pleased when I showed them how the classroom tzedakah
box is growing heavier and I reminded them that they, too, are partners with
God in helping poor people by donating these funds. Please continue to send
them in with their donations and feel free to talk to me about ideas for how
to make them feel even more involved in this partnership. Their belief that
they can make a difference is palpable at this age and I'm really looking
forward to next semester, when the Good Cents for Oakland program with Dagmar
Serota will be joining us.
L'Shalom,
Dawn
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Dear Mechina Families,
Today we began preparing for Sukkot by reading stories and creating
decorations for our shul's sukkah (which was put up during Bet Sefer). Your
children loved a story called Tamar's Sukkah, because it is a sweet story of
children of all ages coming together to help in making one little girl's
sukkah the best ever. You might ask them if they remember some of the things
that were brought to the sukkah in this book to make everyone proud of their
contributions.
We also read Yedidya's Etrog Tree, about a little boy who ignored his siblings
when they said he couldn't grow a tree from an etrog seed, and who forgave
them for being mean. Yedidya even shared with them the fruits of his tree
after many years of waiting for it to produce, and your children were
facinated by his patience and kindness in accepting their late apologies.
We are all enjoying music, art, the Hebrew words we are learning (including
how to count) and our growing friendships with each other. Enjoy your time in
a sukkah this weekend and I look forward to hearing from your children about
whose sukkah they got to eat in.
Shalom,
Dawn Margolin
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Dear Mechina Families,
Today we read a sweet book, Sneakers to Shul, which talked about getting
ready for Yom Kippur and mentioned a concept to which I think the kids could
really relate. Children want to participate in everything their parents do,
but they are way too young to fast for a full day. In the book, the boy,
Noah, learns that he too can "fast" by going from dinner to breakfast without
a bedtime snack on erev Yom Kippur. I know some families also ask their kids
to forgo sweets to be part of making the day different from an everyday one.
Whatever your family's customs, I know the children are open to hearing about
why their parents do things very differently on Yom Kippur.
We played Shimon Omer for the first time this year, a Hebrew game of Simon
Says that helps the children learn the body parts b'ivrit (in Hebrew). They
all got very much into the game and remembered that rosh is head, and osnaim
are ears.
I hope your children get to show off for you their special holiday sneakers
that carry their own desires to make the new year an even better one by
putting their best foot forward.
I wish you an easy fast and Shana Tova.
Dawn
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Hi Mechina Families,
We had a great class today, with all of the kids seeming very pleased to be
together at Bet Sefer. We had wonderful music with Rabbi Bloom and read an
engaging book about the Jewish High Holidays which led to a discussion, among
other things, about shofars, Hebrew word meanings, and our wishes for what
we'd like to improve about ourselves in the new year. (Some children
recounted mean behaviors others did to them, then said they needed to stop
being mean or hitting themselves). We licked honey alefs off plates,
celebrating the beginning of our school year, Rosh haShanah and the Hebrew
alphabet.
Questions of the week:
Ask your child if they remember if I have ever succeeded in getting noise
from a shofar. (Never).
And how many times is the shofar blown during the High Holy Days (100).
Thank you for sending tzedakah each week; it's a VERY important part of our
tikkun olam (fixing the world) curriculum!!
I can't wait for next week!!
Shalom and Shana Tova,
Dawn
