Tefillah from the Heart 💗

This week, we "landed" in Chevron, a very special city in Eretz Yisrael!

Chevron, is home to the Ma’aras HaMachpeila, the cave where our forefathers and mothers are buried, including Avraham Avinu and Sarah Imeinu. We learned the story of how Avraham was looking for a special holy place to bury Sarah, because Sarah was a tzadekes — a truly righteous woman. Avraham was walking next to the Ma’ara, and he smelled a beautiful smell coming from inside, the smell of Gan Eden (heaven). That’s how he knew it was a holy place.

He bought the cave from a man named Efron, paying the full price of 400 silver coins, even though Efron had offered to give it to him for free. Avraham wanted to make sure that everyone would know it belonged to the Yidden forever.

We made our own contract scrolls between Avraham Avinu and Efron, just like in the story! Eli, practiced his fine motor skills and used a ruler to carefully draw the Ma’aras HaMachpeila on his contract.

People come from all over the world to visit the Ma’aras HaMachpeila and daven to Hashem there. To bring Chevron into our classroom, we spent the week talking about tefilah — and we even turned our classroom into a shul!

Morah asked, “What is tefilah?”
Mendy raised his hand and said, “When we talk to Hashem!”
Shai added, “Our tefilahs brings Moshiach!”

We learned that there are two kinds of tefilah: One is from the siddur or brachos we remember by heart, and the other is when we simply talk to Hashem in our own words.

To bring this idea to life, we set up a special mailbox in our classroom labeled “Hashem’s Postal Service”!
Whenever they wanted, the children could come and write a letter to Hashem! Because tefilos are like letters, and Hashem always reads them!

The children wrote the sweetest tefilos to Hashem from their hearts! Shai asked Hashem to protect all the Yidden in Eretz Yisroel. Yossi asked Hashem to watch over his cousin who fights in the IDF. Axel wrote “Thank you, Hashem!” and Eli asked Hashem for a chicken and a cow! 💗

We learned about the beautiful mitzvah of saying Shema Yisrael before we go to sleep. Each child made their very own Shema card and stitched it onto a soft, cuddly sheep, perfect for bedtime snuggles and tefillah.

We talked about what the words mean:

שמע ישראל ה׳ אלוקינו ה׳ אחד

"Hashem is One! Hashem is King! Hashem created everything!"

Yossi showed us how we lay in bed and say Shema with love and kavanah (intention). What a special way to go to sleep feeling safe, happy, and close to Hashem.

Sarah was such a tzadeikes that Hashem made a special miracle — her Shabbos candles stayed lit from one Shabbos to the next. Ashira created her own beautiful candle holders.

We had a super exciting surprise this week — real karate masters came to visit our Gan! They taught us some awesome moves, showed us how to focus and stand strong, and even let us try a few karate poses ourselves. Mordy was our star assistant! He showed us some cool moves he already knows and helped teach the class like a real pro! We all felt so strong and powerful by the end of the lesson!

Pizza time!

Kria

Golden Glittery ג (Gimel)! 

Academics

STEM challenge 2D & 3D shape building time! We used playdoh & packing pellets, & voted on which made the most sturdy structure. Here Shai &Mendy used packing pellets to make a triangular prism.

Axel used playdoh to build a trapezoid.

Aftercare

The children had an incredible time learning about Jewish leaders from the past by acting out scenes from the Torah. They shared what they learned, what they love, and how these leaders inspire them today. Each child expressed why they’re proud to be Jewish, bringing so much heart and creativity to their performances. The experience strengthened their confidence, teamwork, and connection to their identity. It was fun, meaningful, and their improv skills were amazing!

Making and enjoying homemade Falafel!

Shabbat Shalom!