This week in Shorashim Limmud, we wrapped up our first unit of the year, which focused on brachot (blessings)! We celebrated with a food feast: a culmination of all the blessings our students have explored by cooking different foods on the fire, sharing them with one another, and saying the blessings that correspond to the different foods.
Let’s take a trip back through the last eleven weeks in the Ya’ar and see what our Shorashim Limmud students have been up to so far this year!
Weeks 1-3 focused on blessings for the new year, including saying the Shehecheyanu for new experiences, practicing our shofar blowing, and cultivating awe through blessing objects in nature. Kitah Bet (Second Grade) with Morah Orly created nature museums that featured new things they found in the Ya’ar. They learned about various animals and the senses they utilize best, like the careful fox, the listening deer, and the watching owl. By focusing on their own sense of hearing, they connected with the sounds of the Ya’ar and cultivated their listening skills as a group.
During Weeks 4 & 5, we prepared for and celebrated the holiday of Sukkot! Many family members joined us the week before Sukkot to help decorate our sukkah. Kitah Gimel/Dalet (Third/Fourth Grade) with Morah Sadie was tasked with fulfilling the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim, or hospitality. They served food and drink representing each of the seven species of Israel, including pomegranate juice and za’atar olive oil that they prepared themselves. The diversity of food and drink options and diversity of preferences amongst their guests taught them that welcoming everyone means making space for those whose opinions and experiences are different from their own.
In Weeks 6 & 7, we crafted britot, or three-way agreements between learners, teachers, and the earth. Kitah Hey (Fifth Grade) with Moreh Tani first discussed the brit that was created between Noah and God, and then they looked for symbiotic relationships in the Ya’ar, learning a valuable lesson about respecting stinging insects in the process. They articulated that active listening might look different for each person and talked about the ways in which active listening leads to greater communication. The brit they crafted visually represents the values they held as most important for one another, their teacher, and their surroundings.
During Week 8, we focused on the phrase “and you shall be a blessing” and talked about what it means to be a blessing for others. We introduced the phrase “abra-kedabra,” from the Aramaic, “I shall create as I speak.” Gan (Kindergarten) with Morah Mya started their class with a special sensory meditation. They imagined their own perfect worlds, which led to a discussion of what it means to seek what makes them happiest. Then they took their positive headspaces and made their way down to the stream to connect with their environment. Kitah Vav (Sixth Grade) with Rabbi Dan discussed the power that words have. The class did a blessings “salad bar.” Students picked from a pile of traditional and innovative blessing words (and added some of their own) to create meaningful blessings. They came up with some beautiful blessings for themselves and for the world.
Week 9 allowed us to use one of our favorite senses- taste!- as we learned the brachot we say over different types of food. Kitah Aleph (First Grade) with Morah Lillie recited the different blessings over fruits and vegetables and enjoyed eating various fruits and veggies as well. They were able to distinguish which foods grew on a tree (etz in Hebrew) and which grow in the ground (adama) and recited the blessings for these two categories. We all began to explore what it is like to be outside as our daylight grows more limited, and our first graders were excited to learn they will continue to be outside in the coming weeks!
Week 10 was all about reviewing and celebrating everything we have learned so far this year. Our sheva class (Seventh Grade) with Moret Noa* wrote their own nature blessings and discussed how human-led activities, such as pollution and racism, are hurting the world. They then took a close look at the words that start many of our traditional blessings- Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha’olam. The students each chose one word to be an “expert” on. They each found a natural object from the Ya’ar that represented their word and created soundscapes for their word, making noise with sticks, water, rocks, and their voices. Their choices for what they individually added to the soundscape were unique. One student, for example, added water to the Adonai soundscape because water is one of the first things that was created, and another student sang for Eloheinu “because of prayer.”
*Sheva is usually taught by Rabbi David, Noa was subbing this week.
In our final week of the unit, Week 11, we celebrated our learning with a food feast! Students prepared every aspect of the feast, from setting and decorating place cards for tables to building the fire and preparing the food we ate. We said shehecheyanu together and blessed all our foods. It was a wonderful way to conclude our fall learning and celebrate together as a community.
We are looking forward to sharing more discoveries with you as our learning continues into the winter months! Our next unit is melachot and will focus on fire building, agricultural laws, and rituals for preparing and celebrating Shabbat.
