B”H

 

Dear Parents,

 

Yom Kippur

The Purple Room Friends are so excited for Yom Kippur! You may ask why. That’s because they are certain that Hashem will give them, and all of us, a good sweet year; the best ever! The Purple Room has been thinking of some of the many kind things they can do for another. Each child thought and thought and, together, created a Purple Room Kindness book of a good choice they can make to do a kind thing for another. 

 

The Purple Room Friends are truly trying to be kind to one another. Sometimes, by mistake, their feelings may be hurt. They read Sammy Spider’s First Yom Kippur and learned a great way to accept an apology: just by saying ‘I accept your apology’.

 

Saying ‘I’m sorry’ is not always easy but the Purple Room Friends learned the story of Yonah who was swallowed by a big fish and how he said I’m sorry to Hashem for not following Hashem’s direction to help the people of Ninveh. Yonah said he was sorry, davened to Hashem to save him, and Hashem gave him another chance. The Purple Room Friends painted a big fish in the style of Monet using tiny brush strokes in varying shades of their chosen color (which blended into one big splash of color!). Then they created a ‘Yonah’ man to go inside the fish. They enjoyed playacting the story and can use the fish they made to retell it to you.

 

Fine Motor

The Purple Room Friends know there are five things we don’t do on Yom Kippur: eat, drink, put on creams, bathe and wear leather. Each child sewed non-leather slippers which was great for fine motor. They don’t know how long the slippers will last but they are trying to save them to wear first on Yom Kippur.

 

The children know their parents may not have the opportunity to make many brachos on foods on Yom Kippur and they may not feel so well so they created a lovely Yom Kippur Lemon Besamim so their parents can smell it on Yom Kippur, feel revived, and even make a special bracha on the smell: Baruch ata Ado-nai Elo-hei-nu melech ha’olam borei minei b’samim. Pushing the cloves into the lemon was beneficial for strengthening the hand muscles.

 

Math and Literacy

The Math and Literacy table was filled with lots of Yom Kippur fun. The Math Whizzes counted the Yom Kippur items and placing a peg on the correct number. There were cards with many pictures to count, some of which were non-leather sneakers, white clothes (which some people wear on Yom Kippur), and with Machzorim (the special Siddur we use to daven from on Yom Kippur), etc. Using rocks, gems, rubies and stones, the Purple Room Math Whizzes tested out the scale to see how many of each item they would need to balance the scale. The Yom Kippur matching board required the Literacy Expert to sound out the word and then match it to the starting letter sound. 

 

Literacy

On the Word Wall this week, the Purple Room Friends added many words starting with letter sounds they recognize in connection with Yom Kippur. Here are some of them:

d is for drink, d, d, drink

l is for leather, l, l, leather

w is for white, w, w, white

f is for food, f, f, food

k is for kids, k, k, kids

s is for slippers, s, s, slippers

 

Kriyah (Hebrew Literacy)

The Purple Room Friends found the letter Daled visiting their room this week. They tightroped it each day. Daled has a hand stretched out in back of him so he can get help from the Gimmel (the letter before Daled).

 

The children know many wonderful songs for Yom Kippur, most of which they sing about Ahavas Yisrael, loving and caring for others. They have brought the song book home and would greatly enjoy singing the songs to you.

 

Have a wonderful Shabbos and an easy fast over Yom Kippur. May you be sealed for a sweet, happy new year!

 

Morah Perline