The Gan Yeladim and Kita Alef News
Our class was all about the Jewish holiday of Tu B' Shevat, Shabbat Shirah, and the Hebrew letter mem.
Tu B' Shevat is a very special holiday just for the trees. Tu B' Shevat literally means the 15th day of Shevat.
This holiday is based on the life cycle of the tree. A birthday for the trees!
It is winter here, but it is spring in Israel. On Tu B' Shevat people come out in droves to plant trees all over Israel. With a bit of help the kids found Israel on the globe. We went on to discuss why trees are so important to us, and listed all the resources we receive from trees.
Trees also provide homes for animals, especially birds.The Shabbat before Tu B' Shevat is Shabbat Shirah, on this Shabbat we thank and feed the birds.
The custom of feeding the birds comes from a story about the week's Torah Portion. Moses instructed the Jewish people to collect a double portion of Manna ( a bread like substance) on Fridays because none would fall on Shabbat. A few people with a grudge against Moses spread some extra manna on Shabbat, to make the people think Moses had lied to them. The birds came and ate the manna, foiling the plot.
We discussed the difference between a domestic and wild animal, and thought of some great ways to care for all animals.
God created animals, and we decided that it is up to us to help take care of them.
We all agreed that feeding birds and caring for animals is a mitzvah!
We made some home made birdseed treats to feed the birds.
The kids will bring them home next week, not sure if the end result will be exactly what we wanted.
We had fun making them!
The kids completed a page for their My Jewish Year books about Shabbat Shirah.
We worked on our Hebrew worksheets.
The letter of the day was mem, we made mems out of m&ms.
At the end of the day the kids had 15 minutes of free play with the 2nd grade.
It was a great day!!
No comments:
Post a Comment