Dear Purple Room Families,

    The children are engrossed in our Shabbat Unit. In the last few parshiot (weekly Torah portions), Terumah, Tetzaveh, and Ki Tisa, we have been learning about how the Jewish people built the Mishkan (sanctuary) in the desert. The people donated beautiful materials, such as gold and silver, special woods, and fabrics, to build each part of the Mishkan. We looked at artistic renderings of what the curtains, ark, and menorah would have looked like. The children were intrigued by these beautiful items, and we talked about why such lovely materials were used. What does it mean to make something special? What does it mean for an object to be holy? Why do we make objects that we use for mitzvot so beautiful? We went on a search for more beautiful mitzvah objects and spaces. In the shul we noticed the gold letters above the ark, the carved wood on the ark, the new tables, and the gold lettering on the siddurim. The children particularly liked finding chumashim (Torah books) with gold crowns on the spines. 

We continued this exploration of using beautiful objects for mitzvot as we worked on our Shabbat boxes.  These boxes will go home with each child next week at our CJP Shabbat Party. The children are busy painting, gluing and designing each part of their box.

 

 

How do you spell “Shabbat” in Hebrew? These students are conferring about where to place the letters.

As we learn more about Shabbat, the children have been exploring Shabbat through play! They enjoy setting up Shabbat meals in our dramatic play area.

 

Have a restful weekend, and see you next week on Tuesday!

Shabbat Shalom, 

Morah Shoshi and Morah Athena