GRADE 1--LAST CLASS JUNE 12, 2016

Dear families:

I can’t believe that the school year is ending!  I have enjoyed working with the children this year.  They have worked so well together.

We enjoyed cheese Danish, because it is traditional to eat dairy foods.  Then we talked about Shavuot.

I read The Jewish Holiday ABC, about the things Jews do, such as A fin the afikomen, C for candles, etc.  For each page, we added our own , like A for apples, or aron kodesh, etc.  The children know so much.

Then it time for some games.  At 10 a.m., we went upstairs to the sanctuary for the Shavuot service, where parents met their children.

Later in the morning, the preK, Kindergartaen, and grade 1 children, along with many parents, went downstairs with Shira, Cheryl Gelfand, and me. Led by Shira, the children skewered bananas, pineapple, raisins, and marshmallows, then dipped them in chocolate. 

While they were hardening in the refrigerator, I read the story Shavuot. It described the background of Shavuot.  Starting on the second night of Passover, we count the 49 days of the Omer.  We are watching the crops, hoping for the right amount of sun and rain so that the crops will prosper.  On the fiftieth day, it was Shavuot.  Ancient Israelites brought their bikkurim (first fruits) to Jerusalem.  As part of the harvest, farmers left stalks of wheat and other crops uncut, and if something fell, it was left on the ground.  Poor people would pick them up, along with whatever was left in the corners of the fields.  This was GLEANING.  On Shavuot, we also celebrate receiving the Torah and the Ten Commandments.  It is as if WE were all at Mt. Sinai.

Afterwards, I led the children in some songs—Tree of Life, Here’s My Yad, and The Color Song.  Then we marched into the sanctuary with our fruit baskets (the skewers were stuck into watermelon)

Thank you very much for the candy and the generous Amazon gift card.  Have a wonderful summer.

Judy and Cheryl (Esther and Tzipporah)