This week our theme was "Baruch Hashem", the Hebrew phrase used to acknowledge our gratitude to Hashem /G-d, literally meaning "Blessed Hashem." While Thanksgiving is an American Holiday, its actually a very big part of our Jewish lifestyle. Saying "Baruch Hashem" is a phrase we strive to instill in our students in response to questions they are asked! Attributing all power of our health, happiness and even challenges to Hashem- is empowering !
We learned the story of a king in England who did not let the people talk to Hashem the way they wanted to. These people decided to leave England and sailed across the sea to America. When they got to America, they did not have enough food and the winter was very cold. A lot of these people (who were called Pilgrims) died and they did not know how to plant food and keep warm in their new home. They met the Native Americans, the people that looked different than them. Some of the native Americans were very nice and helped the pilgrims plant food. When they harvested their first crop, they made a Thanksgiving feast and celebrated the first Thanksgiving meal.
Acting out the story with puppets.
learning about our country of America, we spotted our state of California ;)
There is a Thanksgiving mitzvah in the Torah called "Bikkurim." It was when the Jewish people would give the first fruits as a gift to Hashem, by bringing them to the Beis Hamikdash. It was a way to show their gratitude to Hashem for the miracle of their trees producing fruit!
They were the first and most yummy fruit of their farms.
Bringing the fruit into our classroom we tasted some dates :)
Lots of concentration with this weaving activity, just like the baskets holding the fruit in Eretz Yisroel
Modeh Ani Breathing
When we say the Modeh Ani prayer, we are thanking Hashem for returning our Neshama (soul) into our bodies! We made this idea very visual for the children with a Modeh Ani Breathing exercise!
Laying in our backs, we raised our hands high with a deep belly inhale like our Neshama going up when we go to sleep, and then exhaled deeply with our hands coming to our chest like our Neshama coming back down when we wake up. We are so grateful for our Neshama being in our body so we can do Mitzvos and learn Torah!
Making cupcakes for some special birthdays this week ;)
Reviewing the first row of the Aleph Beis Chart!
What an accomplishment!
This week we learned about the letter Vov. We shaped our own letter with pipe cleaners and seeing how it ended up looking like a hook was quite a fun activity. The significant shape of the letter teaches us how The Torah is the hook the connects Hashem to us- Bnei Yisroel!
Outside creative play
Menachem Freeman's job this week was the line leader and Menachem Heidingsfeld's job was the caboose! We had a Menachem sandwich for line up :)
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