B”H

 

Dear Parents,

 

Succos

The Purple Room Friends are constantly checking the luach (calendar) to see how many days are left till Succos. The Jewish month of Tishrei has been so packed with Jewish Holidays, the Friends have been kept in a state of excitement.

 

They enjoyed eating snack in the Succa in the playground in preparation for Succos. They were tickled pink to think one could actually sit inside a Mitzva! The Friends really felt the hug from Hashem and loved sitting together as friends.

 

When I ate in the Succa…

Jemma: I liked how it was cool and nice and how it reminded me of last year, how we used to sit there.

Bracha: It reminded me of last year when I was going to eat breakfast in the Succa with my grandpa. My parents were still asleep.

Leah:  I ate my grapes and it makes me fresh.

Ronen: That it’s really quiet in there. It’s just us. That’s what I like about it.

Naveed: I like noise. When there’s no noise it makes me bored. 

Angie: I liked thinking about trees. I liked eating in the Succa because I like eating.

 

The Purple Room Mitzvah Friends have been exploring the Mitzva of sitting in the Succa and what makes it kosher. They know from looking at the shape of the letters of the Hebrew word סכה how many walls a kosher Succa should have. (4 walls, 3 walls or 2 and a bit walls)

 

They each built their own Succa using plastic straws and joining bits which required them to use their hand muscles, great for strengthening those muscles. Then they created a class Succa and davened in it, ate in it, sat in it, …… You get the idea! They checked out if there was more shade than sun peeking through the scratch (Succa covering of cut branches) - another requirement for a kosher Succa.

 

Thank you, Rabbi Deitsch, for showing the lulav and esrog, haddasim and arovos to the Purple Room. They were so inspired they decided to create their own pretend lulav and esrog set. Rabbi Deitsch asked them which parts of the body each kind appears to represent: lulav – the spine, esrog – heart, haddasim leaves – eyes and aravos – lips. We use our whole body to daven to Hashem and do His Mitzvos. They are looking forward to the Mitzvah of shaking the Lulav and Esrog on Succos.

 

Art and Simchas Torah

Not to imagine that that’s the end of the Jewish Holidays! Oh no! We have Simchas Torah following right after Succos. The children will show you their flags that they made creating a crepe paper Torah.

 

Fine Motor

The Purple Room Friends practiced their cutting skills this week. They have been reading many stories about Succos and noticed the decorations in many of the books. They practiced cutting colored paper on the line to create a vellum mobile with which to decorate their own Succa and the CJP Succa.

 

Imaginary Play

The Purple Room Builders greatly enjoyed creating their own Succa and then building tables and chairs for their ‘pretend people’ to sit on. It was certainly the desired go-to this week. (See CJP Facebook page.)

 

Kriyah (Hebrew Literacy)

The Purple Room Friends found the letter Hey visiting their room this week. They tight roped it each day. The Hey is made from a Daled and a Yud because together they make the word yad – hand. The letter Hey also equals 5 – five fingers on the hand. We have five fingers on each hand that Hashem made for us to do the things we would need to do Mitzvos. 

 

The Purple Room Singers took home a Succos song book home and would greatly enjoy singing the songs to you.

 

Have a good Shabbos and a joyous Succos!

 

Morah Perline