JCC Havurah

Hello wonderful Havurah First Grade Aleph class!  For our last in-building class of the year, we took some time to consider what we had learned this year. We centered on drawing our favorite moments of the year. Our most beloved activities were gardening and roof time (see attached to the email).  We then held hands and practiced our shabbat ritual, followed by our 2nd grade friends visiting to tell us what we had to be excited about for next year. When they left, our kids were buzzing with excitement about using real candles for Shabbat (vs. the electronic type we use) and facilitating the Tzedakah Harvest, a major mitzvah that engages the entire Havurah community. We had some freeplay on the roof, then joined all of the other classes for an all-Havurah sing. It was wonderful to see how much our friends enjoyed this year.  See you next week for Camp Satoga at 1pm. Ali won't be able to make it but Megan (our talented house musician!) will be stepp...

Dear Fantastic First Grade Havurah Families, We had a special class this week learning about the full cycle of food- from it's production to consumption. We started our day off with our Shabbat Ritual, linking arms and connecting to one another as we said the blessing over the Challah, grape juice, and candles. During Shabbat snacks, our special guest Jeremy from Repair The World introduced our theme for the day of access to food. Jeremy asked the class if we liked food and what our favorite foods were. From spinach to mozzarella sticks, our class agreed that food is a delicious and important resource. It gives us energy, makes us happy and all children should be able to enjoy it! We then were joined by the First Grade Bet class for Music with Megan! With Yom Ha'atzmaut around the corner, we sang "Am Yisrael Chai" (lit. "The People of Israel Live!") and Megan taught us that Israel isn't just a place but also a living breathing people.  A...

Hello wonderful Havurah First Grade Aleph class!   We began class with matching the bread, wine, and candles to correct blessing. The kids absolutely aced it! (Little) Oliver suggested a wonderful new tradition this week of breathing in the light, recounting that his mom calls it pulling in shabbat. Ali and I are constantly in awe seeing how every week our ritual becomes more personal and meaningful for everyone.   After Shabbat, we gathered for our STEAM holiday specialty with Reuben. Reuben and our class made our own seder plates made of lego, talking about how each part of the plate symbolized a key part of the passover experience. There was such a wide range of artistic approaches! A few explanations included:   -James: This is passover so I want to write Matza in Hebrew on my plate!   -Charlie: I want to make a heart because I love love.   -Sofia: Everyone’s plate is so creative. I want mine to look like a real piece of matzah. ...

Hello Fantastic First Grade Families of Havurah, We had a wonderful class this past Saturday at Havurah enjoying the beautiful spring day, learning about Tikkun Opal or "repairing the world" and our impact on the earth as it connects to both Passover and the Noah + Naamah story. Please remember to bring in coins for the second grade’s Tzedakah Harvest and click here to read more about our day... We began class with our Shabbat Ritual of blessing the bread, wine, and Shabbat candles. An essential part of this ritual is for each of us to hold hands or to physically connect to one another, while one person is responsible for connecting the group to the Challah bread. This idea of the connecting and depending on one another is a theme we discussed within nature and our eco-system throughout the day. After Shabbat, we gathered for our STEAM holiday specialty with Reuben. Reuben and our class discussed the plagues of Passover. Sophia shared that pl...

Hello wonderful Havurah first grade families!  This week, Claudia subbed in for Ali, who got married this week (congrats, Ali!). We came together by reading Prayer for the Earth: the Story of Naamah, Noah's Wife. The story tells of Naamah, who was responsible for preserving nature during the flood. In debriefing the story, some of the questions asked about the story were:  -Why was it 40 days? That’s a big number. -How do flowers grow? -Why is a dove a symbol for peace? -Was Naamah scared of the flood?  After our shabbat ritual, we headed over to another classroom for our specialty. This week, Reuben lead us in building our own pyramids like the ones the Israelites built while enslaved in Egypt during the Passover story, but ours used toothpicks and gumdrops. We also built drawing robots for making Passover cards.  After heading back to the classroom, we talked more about the values from Naamah’s story and how much we care about nature while creati...

Dear First Grade Aleph Havurah Families! We had a colorful and creative class this past Saturday continuing our discussion of Noah's Ark. We started class with our junior engineers using simple objects to make rainbows. Using a CD, flashlight, clear container of water, and a piece of paper, and no instructions, the group found all sorts of ways to make rainbows reflect onto our paper, into the water, onto the table and even onto ourselves! It was a really cool experiment.  James then suggested to put all of our CDs "together in a rainbow shape". The results were magical, reflecting rainbows all over the classroom. We then had our STEAM holiday specialty with Reuben where he helped us make Mishloach Manot, gifts to give to our loved ones for Purim. Using different sizes and colors of legos, we each designed and built our own lego frames and wrote a card for the gift as well. Some students, like Charles and Alexa, opted for function with their frames, m...