I chose to structure my Shavuot tikkun (text study session) through the lens of poetry because I love how poetry challenges the way we perceive things. Take Dickinson for example. Emily Dickinson wrote that “Hope is the thing with feathers”. I know that I for one didn’t think of hope as a bird, as an emotion that can take flight,…
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Many Minds, Many Insights
As the year comes to an end, I have been looking back on what the Anafim learners have taught me this year. The Anafim, of course, all have their unique interests and personalities. From them, I have learned about fashion, popular culture, chemistry, and other fascinating topics. Nothing I have done with the Anafim this year illustrates just how much…
Music, Community, and the Mishkan
The Garnim kiddos (Pre-K and Kindergarten), explored text surrounding the building of the mishkan in a musical context. The kids understood the story of building the mishkan as one where many parts came together to build one whole structure. The text of Exodus has helped us understand how every member of Bnei Yisrael contributed to the building of the mishkan…
Jewish Placemaking in the Ya’ar
16 months ago I was sitting with Beverly Socher-Lerner, Executive Director & Founder of Makom Community, and they explained that there has been interest for the Makom Community model to be implemented in other communities. As a board member, I was excited, knowing the high-quality education and community-building principles Makom embraces. I saw the possibility of us impacting the field…
The Building Blocks of Community
In my Winter Break Camp blog, I wrote that there are “three ingredients vital to creating a sense of joy and belonging: connection, immersion, and agency”. In this piece I unpacked one way I used expansive choices to encourage agency and self-efficacy in Winter Break campers. Now, how does one foster agency in a program when we cannot offer such…
Educators Creating Culture
Enthusiastic! Novel. Growing. Inclusive and welcoming. Fun! Intergenerational. Spiritual. Warm. Communal. Diverse. Adaptive. Joyful! These are some of the words our Jewish Placemaking Accelerator participants used to describe their Hebrew schools and synagogues in our April seminar on Creating Culture. After brainstorming some of the ways to describe the current culture of these institutions, we looked at their respective mission…
Most of All, I Have Learned From My Students
I have the privilege of working with Makom Community’s classroom educators, Makom lab school students, and Jewish educators from all over the country. As Makom Community grows, I get to share my love of Jewish wisdom and Jewish Placemaking not only with children and teachers in our Lab School, but also bring the tools of Jewish Placemaking to educators all…
What’s the Big Idea?
It is no secret that at Makom Community, we like to do things big, loudly, and with a lot of excitement. One cause for such fanfare? The starting of a new unit- a theme that we will spend the next several weeks exploring through the texts we study and, for Nitzanim (2nd-4th graders), our project-based-learning (PBL) projects. Nitzanim at both…
Seeing Ourselves in Our Stories
This past month at Makom Community, we have been dedicating a lot of time to learning about and reading Megillat Esther. Megillat Esther is the text that tells us the story of Purim; a story that many of you may be familiar with. In it, King Achashverosh, the king of Persia, sends his wife away for disobeying him and invites…
Adar: When Kids Inspire Joy
During the Hebrew month of Adar, the month where Purim falls, we’re commanded to increase our joy. As a Jew and an educator, I’ve always struggled with this commandment. Maybe it is that I’ve outgrown my love of dressing up in costume, so Purim doesn’t have the same glitz and glam that it once did. Still, as a Jewish educator,…
Bringing Jewish Placemaking to a Learning Space Near You
Over the last few years, teaching has demanded lots of creativity and flexibility from educators. Participants in our recent Jewish Placemaking Accelerators have bounced around to different classrooms inside their respective synagogues, outside their respective synagogues, and online. We started our December seminar together by brainstorming some challenges and opportunities presented by four different learning spaces: indoors, outdoors, shared, and…
Pharoah’s Fate: An Anafim Debate
“I am more confused than I was before we started talking about this.” These words from an Anafim (4th-7th graders) learner brought a huge smile to my face. We were engaged in a debate about whether Pharaoh could be judged guilty of not letting Bnei Yisrael (the Children of Israel) go free from their bondage in Egypt. The three learners…
Count on Me: Trust in Shorashim
As we deepen our understanding of praise in this unit, the Shorashim (1st-2nd grade) have come to know that trust is a foundational principle of giving and receiving praise. To explore this idea, we practiced trust with those in our own classroom through a blindfolded group exercise. Through this experience, we realized just how complex and fragile trust is, even…
Moving Toward Mastery with Nitzanim
How do we give kids a sense of ownership and meaning of the tefilot (prayers) we chant in Hebrew each day? To some kids, learning Hebrew at Makom is their first experience with the challenges of language learning and the practice of engaging in tefilot is one they have been introduced to for the first time in our program. Once…
Talking to God
A few weeks ago, the Garinim (preK and K kiddos) in Center City unpacked what tefilah (prayer) is for. Why do we do it? What kinds of conversations are we hoping to have through it? Here’s the list we came up with: Praise (wow!) Gratitude (thank you) Request (help, please!) Creating connection, conversation, and community The main tefilah that sets…
Our Talent is Praise
What an amazing way to jump back into Makom Community learning to start 2023! The Garinim (PreK and K learners) and Shorashim (1st and 2nd graders) in Center City spent two afternoons this week preparing for and performing in a talent show. We couldn’t be more proud of how it went! We prepared to showcase our talents. Kiddos spent the…
A Recipe for Joy and Belonging
I believe there are three ingredients vital to creating a sense of joy and belonging: connection, immersion, and agency. I define these three concepts as follows. Connection: the feeling that you belong, that you are part of a larger whole, are loved, and that you have the tools to deepen your relationships with others. Immersion: the feeling of losing yourself…
Unit One: Reflections
How might having a relationship with our ancestors helps us understand where we’ve come from to know where we’re going? This was the question that Makom Community explored for our first unit of the 22-23 school year. Our unit, Avot V’imahot (ancestors) gave us the opportunity to reflect on both ancestors and family that we know today, as well as…
Learning from Our Learners
Every educator has a different reason for being passionate about working with children. However, the core of that drive is almost always the kids themselves. In my case, I am drawn to this work because I’ve always found that there are many days where I am not the one teaching. In many instances, the kids teach me and open my…
Anafim: Becoming Textplorers
What can we learn from the relationship between Moshe and God? This is the question that our Anafim (5th-7th grade) students have been mulling over since the beginning of the year. In the texts we have been discussing, Moshe asks God for Their help in leading the Jewish people. He also asks God to show him Their splendor, so that…
Voting and Living Like Our Children are Watching…Because They are!
Recently, I had the pleasure of presenting to Jewish professionals running family camps all over the United States at a gathering of the Foundation for Jewish Camp. I pushed them on what it means to teach. We were working to expand our understanding of teaching to refer not just to the explicit teaching of knowledge, but the way that we…
Makom Making: A Communal Practice
If you have read my previous blog post, you know that Makom Community fills a special place in my heart. My childhood lacked a community like that which Makom provides. I see the way our kiddos interact with their grownups, their educators, the world at large, and I can’t help but stand in awe. It is such an honor to…
Garinim: Budding Community
Welcome back to Jewish Enrichment! We’re so thrilled to be back learning and playing every afternoon with your wise and wonderful kiddos. These first two weeks of the year were chock full of ice breaker games, welcoming back old friends, forming new connections, and settling back into the routines of Jewish Enrichment. Here are some highlights from our youngest learners,…
Opportunities for a Mindful Rosh Hashanah
A new year can elicit a lot of feelings. Our children are getting older. Our parents and loved ones are getting older. We are still navigating living through a pandemic in our own ways. Fortunately, the rhythms of the Jewish calendar invite us into this season to reflect, renew, and encounter the new. I want to offer a few opportunities…
Makom – A Great Place to Be
Mah tovu ohalekha Ya’akov, mishk’notekha Yisrael! How great are your tents, Yaakov, the places where you live, Yisrael! We began our year exploring what makes Makom Community a great place to be! During our first week of Jewish Enrichment, we welcomed over 80 students from Pre K through 7th grade to Makom Community in both our Center City and South…
Jewish Placemaking Conference Reflection
What a joy to be back in the virtual room for our 3rd annual Jewish Placemaking Conference! We had 60 directors and educators from across the country register to join us for three packed afternoons of learning and reflecting together. After brief introductions to Makom Community and the conference facilitation staff, Beverly, Gaby, Terri, and Sara, we jumped right into…
New Employee at Makom Community
From the first time I read about Makom Community in an email from my sister, I knew it was a special place. Never before have I seen so many pedagogical practices that I resonate with used in one place. As an educator, I have grown attached to this idea of global citizenship, and I’ve come to view it as the…
Top 10 Highlights from 2021-22
We wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on some of our favorite moments from this year with all of you! Which one is your favorite? 10. Makom @ Home A 3rd grader in Makom @ Home who usually insists that she hates singing and turns her camera off during Tefilah (prayers), got very excited when we brought in some…
Empathizing with Yocheved and Moshe
Makom @ Home kiddos have been writing their own commentary on the Exodus story as we read about how Bnei Yisrael (the Jewish people, originally the children of Yaakov AKA Yisrael) were enslaved in Mitzrayim (Egypt). In the early weeks of the story, one of our learners requested artsploration in addition to textsploration, so we introduced many of our texts…
Walking With God and Finding Sanctuary
Our learners have been busy exploring the story of Noach and playing with ideas of sanctuary, lawlessness, animal communication with God, and much more! Garinim (kindergarteners) wondered about the Noach story: Why does the text say that people are nothing but evil? I don’t think that’s the way people are now. It’s really sad that Noach’s family is the only…
Communication for Success
Ever had a tough moment with a student and worried about whether or how to loop in their parents? But now think about all the fabulous moments you’ve had with students. Have you told parents about those moments either? In March, the Jewish Placemaking Accelerator participants took a hard look at parent communication – why it’s important, how to do…
Center City & South Philly’s Unit 3 Nitzanim Showcase
How might we connect the history of the Jewish People to who we are and hope to be within Jewish communities? Nitzanim (3rd – 5th grade) learners in both South Philly and Center City spent our third unit of this year working to answer this question. Through study of the Yetziyat Mitzrayim (Leaving Egypt) text and child-driven research, each learner…
Earth Week School’s Out Camp
Makom Community’s Spring Break Campers had an energetic, creative, and collaborative week at Spring Break Camp: “Earth Week”! Our week was full of nature-inspired crafts, scavenger hunts, and building, all with a Jewish twist. We started the week with things that grow, like flowers, trees and other plants. We broke the ice…
The Process of Creating Culture
What do we want people to associate with when they think of our schools? How do we want them to feel when they leave the building? In February, the Jewish Placemaking Accelerator participants took the starting steps toward wrangling with the current culture at their respective institutions and imagining and planning for what it could be. What five words describe…
Plagues vs. The Environment
SO. MANY. PLAGUES. This week, our learners explored more plagues: frogs (tzefarde’a), lice (kinim), wild beasts (arov), cattle disease (dever), boils (shechin), and fiery hail (barad). The Garinim (kindergartners) unpacked plagues 2-7 as we moved towards the climax of the Yetziat Mitzrayim (leaving Egypt) story. We’ve particularly enjoyed making a hands-on physical portrayal of the cumulative effects of each plague…
Uncovering Big Feelings in Megillat Esther & Yetziyat Mitzrayim
IT’S PURIM – one of our (or at least Gaby’s) favorite times of the year at Makom Community! The Garinim (kindergartners) spent the week leading up to our Purim spiel (play) and megillah reading celebration familiarizing ourselves with the story, making silly masks, illustrating the holidays four mitzvot (commandments), and generally having a giggly time. We examined the whole story…
Torah Service, Tallit Making, and Farewell!
The Torah service last week Thursday was a huge success! Yasher koach to all of our learners for reading from the Torah. And thank you parents for joining us! This was our second Torah service. Everyone was pretty relaxed and ready going into it, since this was our second time doing the complete Torah service with Torah reading this year….
The First Plague and God’s Power
This week, learners delved into text and examined Pharaoh’s reaction to Moshe and Aharon’s request for Bnei Yisrael to retreat to the wilderness to worship God. We also considered Bnei Yisrael’s resentment towards Moshe and Aharon for their attempts to free them. Learners also explored the demonstration of God’s power as the first plague turns the Nile into blood, causing…
COVID Policy Update March 2022
Dear Makom Community Families, First of all, thank you so much for all the ways you have supported each other and all our kids through the pandemic. I am thrilled to share that our educators are 100% vaccinated and boosted, and our learners are 100% vaccinated since early January. In light of those incredible rates of vaccination, current COVID numbers,…
Jewish Placemaking in Every Class
Whether we like it or not, COVID has forced educators to think outside the traditional classroom to bring students together for community building and learning. And it’s been hard work! We opened our January Jewish Placemaking Accelerator Seminar by asking participants to brainstorm some of the challenges and opportunities presented by a variety of learning spaces: indoors, outdoors, shared, and…
South Philly’s Praiseworthy Photography Project
During our second unit, Holy Me, learners explored the light around us, and it can help us grow the light and holiness inside ourselves. We further investigated this concept with a photography project, learners were introduced to a disposable film camera and took portraits of subjects in our neighborhood they deemed praiseworthy. Many of the kiddos were unfamiliar with film….
Holy Listening and Loving
You may remember the whiteboard check-in that one of our kiddos invented a few weeks ago. It was not just a one-time thing! Other kids have brought it back and it’s now part of our regular pool of check-in options. Here is this week’s: I’m so glad we are building a community in Makom @ Home where we feel safe…
God Hears Bnei Yisrael’s Cries
We have had ENOUGH! Last week, we read the bit of our story where Bnei Yisrael (the Jewish people) can’t handle the burden of slavery any more and cry out to God all at once. God hears them and decides to finally help (Exodus 2:23-25). Garinim (kindergarteners) had some thoughts…… What are some different ways people ask for help? Asking…
Along The Nile….
This week, we continued the Exodus story and tried to empathize with our main characters, Moshe, Yocheved (Moshe’s birth mother), Miriam (Moshe’s biological sister), Batya (Pharaoh daughter and Moshe’s adoptive mother), and Pharaoh. Garinim (kindergartners) love this story. Everyday, when we pause the narrative, they shout and want to hear more! Here’s some of what we unpacked last week. There…
What Is A Leader? President’s Day Camp
We had an energizing and imaginative day on Monday at President’s Day School’s Out Camp! Our focus was leadership and community care. Our creative crew of learners, new and familiar, had so much to say and think about as we learned, built, played, danced and rested together. We began by considering what a President should be like! Learners listed qualities…
Tallit Making and Trope Learning
It’s crafting time in BMitzvah! We are focused on designing and preparing for making our own tallitot in the coming weeks. Everyone has come up with their own really unique, true to themselves ideas for what kind of tallit they want- from size to colors to themes to images. It is a joy to watch their creativity at work, and…
One Crazy Time, In The Land of Egypt……
How did we become the Jewish people? This week, we started a new unit! We read Exodus 1 where we discovered how B’nei Yisrael (Hebrews) ended up in Mitzrayim (Egypt) in the first place! A short gist: A new Pharaoh rose to power that did not know about Yosef and made all of the Ivirm slaves. There were SO many…
Immersing In The Exodus Story
This week we continued our unit three learning exploring the Exodus story! All week I watched students absorb and embody this story through building, play, art, puppetry, dress-up, and more. It was such a joy to observe students immersing themselves in this essential story of the Jewish people, a story they know well already and are eager to expand upon….
How The Holiness Inside Ourselves Contribute To Our Communities ~ A Nitzanim Showcase
Nitzanim worked so hard during our second unit to create an open gallery showcasing their exploration! Learners were particularly inspired by the text that says: Torah Temimah on Ecclesiastes 7:13 “When God created the first human, God took them and showed them all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said to them, ‘See my works, how beautiful and…
The Importance of Trees and Learners Taking Charge
Makom @ Home celebrated Tu Bishvat, the birthday of the trees, with a text from the Talmud about Honi the Circlemaker. When Honi’s town had a big drought, he drew a circle and stood inside it, crying out to God that he would not leave until it rained. Spoiler: it rained! We started by sharing things we like that are…
Wrapping Up “Holy Me” and The Nitzanim Showcase!
Can you believe we’re halfway through the school year? This week, students reviewed and wrapped up our second unit, Holy Me. The Garinim (kindergartners) looked back at the highlights on our journey of exploring the holiness in ourselves and how it interacts with the holiness in the world around us. We played games to revisit this unit’s texts and stories,…
Relationships and Praiseworthy Action
This week we reviewed our learning from unit two where we explored our inherent holiness. We revisited some of our favorite projects and conversations and continued work on some long-term projects including a community weaving, a lego wall, and personalized supports to live in the Pinat Shalom (peace corner.) Kiddos reiterated ways in which we can nurture other people. We…
Rosh Pinah Presentations!
Mazel tov (congratulations) to our whole class on their fantastic Rosh Pinah (capstone) project presentations last week! Not only am I extremely proud of how well they did, they are very proud of themselves! I am proud of myself for singing in front of people. Inside I was so nervous! I am proud of how well the coffin came out….
“I Feel God When I Wear A Tallit…”
What are tzitzit (fringes)? Why does God think we need reminders about commandments? How can the clothes we wear help us connect to our own personal holiness? Do you tie any strings around your fingers to make sure you remember that big, important thing? Jewish tradition doesn’t have us tie strings on our fingers, but God does instruct Bnei Yisrael…
Remembering to Make Good Choices in the Pinat Shalom
This week we explored how tallitot, tzitzit, and other ritual objects empower us and act as a reminder to make good choices. Throughout the week we wrapped ourselves in tallitot, tied knots, and wove together ideas about connection. As we dove into the topic of making good choices, we looked to our own space and considered what supports we rely…
BMitzvah: How the Torah Does It
Our learners have been hard at work finishing their Rosh Pinah projects. Today we did a run-through of their presentations for each other, giving feedback and sharing things we liked. Wow, it’s amazing how much you learned, and you sounded really confident talking about it. I really do feel proud of myself after saying all of that. What you…
Holy Makom @ Home!
Makom @ Home started off our new unit, Holy Me!, with a holiness scavenger hunt, finding objects in each of our homes that are holy to us. We found so many different colors of objects that we made a holiness rainbow! Our first text says that because God is holy, each of us is too. Knowing this, we thought about…
January/February 2022 Updated COVID Safety Plan
Dear Makom Community Parents, Thank you for all you have done to keep our families and our educators safe through this surge. This has been a particularly challenging season. We are excited to see COVID numbers coming down in Philadelphia. Here is an update on our plan, more like what we had anticipated before Omicron. This will take effect on…
Affirming Our Holiness Through The Shema
Why is the Shema an important part of Jewish tradition? How can we use tefilah (prayer) to connect to our holiness? This week, we reviewed the Shema, discussed why it is an important part of Jewish tradition, and reflected on the various holy objects and rituals in our lives. Last week, the Garinim (kindergartners) approached this question…
Ritual and Connection
This week we studied the Shema. We considered what it means to be charged with the mitzvot (opportunity to connect) of Shema. We thought all about rituals and mantras that support us in our everyday lives and worked together to come up with ways to enhance our experience doing repetitive rituals. After coming up with a definition of mantra “something…
A Visual Reminder to Love Our Neighbors
How can we make sure everyone can be who they are at Makom? How can we act in a way that supports people being who they are? At Makom Community we value creating a space where we show love and feel loved. One way we do that is by creating a brit, a two–way promise, that outlines our expectations for how…
A Two Way Promise
It has been so exciting to watch our Makom South Philly kiddos paint our Brit Mural. A brit is a two-way promise between learners and instructors as well as between the learners and each other. Learners have taken ownership of this project coming up with a list of expectations that are as unique and caring as the kiddos themselves. In…
Our Relationship With Nature
This week, learners reflected on our environment, continued our appreciation for trees, and brainstormed what it would look like if the world around us was nurtured and cared for. Following the celebration of Tu Bishvat (the Jewish new year of trees) last Monday, the Garinim (kindergarteners) delved into an exploration of people’s relationship with trees and other parts of creation….
Our Responsibility To The Earth
Tu Bishvat higiya – the 15th of Shvat is coming Sunday night to Monday, January 16th-17th! It is time to celebrate the second of four Jewish New Year holidays, the birthday of the trees. The Garinim (kindergartners) started off our week scavenger hunting around the classroom for Tu Bishvat facts. We read books about trees, created tree sculptures out of…
Summer 2022 School’s Out Camp
This Summer, not only will campers get a taste of the art, cuisine, and traditions of Jews around the world but we will deep dive into the food, sounds, images, and Jewish history of the City of Brotherly Love. Join us from 8:30am-4pm on one or more of these weeks: June 15th – 17th, $225 3-day week (Center City Location) June 20th –…
BMitzvah Update: Rosh Pinah Projects & Continuing Vaykhel
It has been a delight to watch each learners’ interests take off in their independent Rosh Pinah projects! These projects are building on what we previously learned about tefilah (prayer). We looked at the history of when Jews started praying in addition to, and eventually instead of sacrifices and temple based worship. We learned about the role of early rabbis…
The Makom Ecosystem
This week we studied Gan Eden, (the garden of Eden) and considered the Olam (world) as a creation. Kiddos discussed our roles as partners in creation and considered what it means to be part of an ecosystem. As we looked at the parallels between Gan Eden and our world. We explored what it means to nurture the light around us…
Being the Change We Want to See in Our Schools
What do you think of when you imagine change? Chaos? Growth? Improvement? Discomfort? Stress? Resistance? Excitement? Change is personal and always accompanied by some amount of loss, which can make it really tough! In our January Jewish Placemaking Accelerator seminar, we explored how to effectively come at change to make it a little easier to manage. We started with a…
January & February Extended Enrichment Details
Find community amid the chilly weather at Makom’s Extended Enrichment Days! Extended Enrichment will be held on: Friday, January 21st Tuesday, February 2nd Wednesday, February 3rd Thursday, February 4th Friday, February 18th Cost is $60 from 12pm-5:30pm. If your child normally attends Jewish Enrichment on the day of the Extended Enrichment, you can enroll them for the discounted rate…
January & February School’s Out Camp Details
On Tuesday, February 1st and Monday, February 21st, we will have a 1-Day School’s Out Camp held at both South Philly and Center City locations from 8:30am-4pm, $75 for the day. February 1st Camp: Our day will be full of crafting, baking, reading, critical thinking, outdoor time, and lots of fun! We will draw connections between East Asian Lunar New…
Music Making At Greenfield
In order to keep all kiddos and staff safe, we held Jewish Enrichment outside at the Greenfield playground. At first, some kids were disappointed that we couldn’t be inside, which was totally understandable. But with a few layers and the excitement of the impending snow storm at the end of the week, kids were soon excited to sing Tefilah: prayer,…
Different Is Good
This week we had the pleasure of being joined by Center City Makom educator Gaby Marantz. Upon meeting Gaby, one of our learners remarked, “Does everyone who works at Makom have dyed hair?” While brightly colored hair is certainly not a requirement for employment, we love that our team brings their full self to Makom with diverse backgrounds and perspectives….
Awe & Wonder In Nature: Spring Break School’s Out Camp
What in nature makes you feel awe and wonder? Join us at our Center City location on Monday, April 11th through Thursday, April 14th, from 8:30am-4pm for $300 for the week. Kids will explore the world around them! From itty-bitty insects to gigantic redwood trees, learners will uncover the interconnection of our ecosystem and reflect on Jewish perspectives relating to…
Center City’s Magical Book Week Recap!
Magical Book Week Camp in Center City was intimate and indeed magical. With a small but mighty handful of kiddos, we delved into books, crafts, games, and more. Throughout the week, learning from, sharing imaginative ideas with, and playing one another in creative ways made for a special week for all! We started off the week with a…
Magical Book Week: Oh the faces we show!
What a magical week it has been! When kiddos arrived at Makom on Monday some were feeling unsure about the unknown of a new environment and new people. Throughout the week I saw campers emerging from their shells. By the end of the week there was laughter, friendship, and so many beautiful memories. On our very first morning some friends…
Omicron Safety Plan 2022
Makom Community January 2022 COVID-19 Safety Plan, Updated January 11th Update January 11, 2022 We are continually checking in with our advisory team from CHOP, and we are learning more and continuing to do better. We want to be transparent that our standards for COVID safety are high out of a strong desire not to have COVID from Makom keep…
Torah through the Generations
Makom @ Home wrapped up our first unit with a text from Pirkei Avot about the transmission of Torah through the generations. We talked about things that get passed down in our families: Speaking Russian Shabbat Jewish religion! On my dad’s side, my grandmother passed down jewelry. My dad’s grandma gave it to my mom. Some of us illustrated how…
Reflection On Nitzanim Unit 1 Showcase
For our first unit, “Love Your Neighbor,” Nitzanim (3rd, 4th and 5th graders) worked collaboratively for weeks to answer the question: “How might we practice loving our neighbors to cultivate a welcoming environment at Makom Community?” Using the project based learning model, we started this process by brainstorming things that make us feel welcome like warm/bright colors, fun images and…
Our Holy Names
This week we considered a bit of text from the Amidah (a section of daily prayer.) “You are holy, Your Name is holy, and holy ones praise Your name every day…” When conceptualizing her connection to this text, one learner shared: “The earth is God’s museum.” Kiddos reflected on what these words mean through discussion, movement, and making. Together, we…
The Holiness of Names and Exploring Praise
When have you received praise? What was that like? How is that experience connected to holiness? Our text last week came from a tefilah (prayer) that said, “You [God] are holy, your name is holy, and holy ones praise your name every day” (Siddur Ashkenaz, Amidah). Here’s how the Garinim (kindergartners) unpacked it. What’s it like to experience praise, either…
Holiness, Oreos, and Building the Mishkan
Last week we began studying parshat Vayakhel (For more information about Vayakhel, here is a great article to check out!) and made really good juicy next steps on Rosh Pinah projects. To begin Vayakhel, we engaged with a big quadrant chart on the wall labeled “holy” on the left, “not holy” on the right, “by God” on the top and…
(Re)Dedication: Chanukah and Our Online Classroom
Makom @ Home celebrated Chanukah together in many creative ways! We learned that Chanukah means (re)dedication. We shared our families’ traditions about ways to celebrate: Dreidel, presents, gelt, sufganiyot Cooking and spending time with each other And playing Latkes We fry different foods Yes, we light candles Eight lights eight nights I light candles, today they’re all burned down. We…
The Holiness in Others
This week, our learners reflected on the ways our souls are absolute and part of people as a unique creation. We discussed what responsibilities come with being holy and having a soul, and empathized with the difficulties Moshe faced while communicating with Pharaoh and all of Bnei Yisrael (the Jewish people) while having a speech disability. In Garinim (kindergarteners) our…
PJDS Camp Explores Music and Emotion
It was another fun-filled action-packed day of PJDS Camp here at Makom! We considered emotions as they relate to the month of Tevet. Students were eager to share their emotions as we brainstormed when and why certain emotions might come up. We sat around the rainbow rug and thought about a range of emotions. I watched as our youngest and…
Holy Souls In Dialogue
This week we dug deep as we discussed what holiness means and how we can tap into it. We also began considering the concept of a soul which sparked a lot of amazing learning. During Schulchanot Avodah kiddos were playing, talking, creating, and problem-solving. Two students worked together in a conversational exchange to learn about how they each thought about…
Setting Goals for Successful Learning
What makes Jewish text compelling and relevant to learners of all ages? How do we as educators know what to focus on when there’s SO MUCH content and SO LITTLE time?! Our November seminar on Lesson Planning and Goal Setting provided our Jewish Placemaking Accelerator cohort with some guidance on these questions and more. Our Accomplishments We started off the…
Exploring Holiness
What is holiness? Where can we notice it in the world around us? Last week the Garinim (kindergartners) jumped into an exploration of holiness with a walk to find things that made us say “wow,” a handful of activities and experiments with light, and an artistic analysis of music. Kiddos LOVED getting to play with light on Tuesday. We made…
Special Talents and Holiness!
This week we embarked upon a discussion of what holiness means. Learners shared their ideas as we unpacked this big concept: Holiness is something special. It reminds me of when we say Holy Moly Guacamole! It’s something crazy or big. It has to do with God. I think of Jewish things, like holidays. Objects can be holy. It’s holy to…
Welcoming PJDS to Makom South Philly!
What a wonderful way to kick off the month of Tevet! Seeing some familiar faces and some new faces in our brand new space at Makom South Philly was such a joy. Kiddos joined us in the morning with such ruach. We took a moment to get to know each other, sharing our names and interests before settling into snack….
The Holiness of Chanukah
Happy Chanukah! This week has been so joyous as we have gathered to light Chanukah candles as a community everyday. This week, each kevutzah reviewed the elements of the Chaunkah story and Chanukah traditions. The Garinim (kindergarten) started off last week with a brief overview of the Chanukah story, and then took a deep dive into the brachot (blessings) that…
Chanukah on S. Juniper St.
This week has been full of light and joy. We feel so blessed to have this beautiful space on S. Juniper St. to joyfully learn in, while we grow. As we gathered outside for snacktime learning this week, the excited energy was palpable. We noshed on graham crackers and apples while kiddos shared what they know about Chanukah. We use…
Torah Service, Brit Building and Driedels!
The BMitzvah Torah Service on 11/18 was a huge success. We were so grateful to be joined in community by all the family members who came in person and on Zoom! Some reflections from the proud learners about how it went: I loved it but I hate that I can’t do it again tomorrow. I like being done. It was…
Ourselves and Each Other
We returned to learning from Rabbi Hillel this week with a 3-part text from Pirkei Avot that we explored both in writing and by listening to and singing two different musical settings of the text. We thought about how we are for ourselves, for each other, and the importance of timing. The first line of the text, “If I am…
Brit Brainstorm!
It’s review week at Makom Community! We can hardly believe that we’re already a quarter of the way through our school year together. The Garinim (kindergartners) spent last week revisiting the text from our first unit and brainstorming ideas for our classroom brit (two-way promise) from those texts. Here’s some of our ideas. From Leviticus 19:17-18, “You will not hate…
Lehitraot 13th St.
We had an unexpected but welcomed day of Jewish Enrichment at our new location on S. Juniper Street this week. As we finish upon 13th street, we are saying lehitraot (goodbye for now) and gearing up for an exciting adventure at our new location. On Monday, learners were excited to spend the afternoon exploring the new space. After getting our…
November 11th School’s Out Camp Recap!
Our November 11th School’s Out Camp Day was full of fun and thoughtful learning. In Center City, shaving cream art with marbled watercolor was named across the board as a highlight. The day also included making impressive clay statues, singing “Boom Chicka Boom” and “Herman the Worm” with verses created by the kids, and lots of playground time. Amidst all…
BMitzvah Update!
Everyone is doing an awesome job learning to read trope and using what they already know to practice chanting their aliyot. I am really looking forward to our Torah Service next week! Continuing our exploration of tefilah in Rosh Pinah, we followed a 4 minute guided meditation by Alison Laichter, an innovator and leader in the world of Jewish meditation….
A Reflection On Different Kinds Of Love
This week, our learners dug deeper into different kinds of love. We started with this bit of text: “All love that depends on something, [when the] thing stops, [the] love stops; and [all love] that does not depend on anything, will never stop” (Pirkei Avot 5:16). In Garinim (kindergarteners), kiddos answered a few questions: What are some people or things…
(Un)conditional Love.
What a beautiful week, I am continuously amazed by your children’s thoughtful insights. This week we learned about conditional and unconditional love. Learners reflected on different kinds of love, what change means for love, and what unconditional love looks and feels like. We sat down in the yard for snack at the beginning of the week and read Pirkei Avot…
Loving Our Neighbors Because They Were Made in the Image of God
Our next text is from Bereshit about how human beings were created in the image of God, b’tzelem elohim. We brainstormed a long list of what we know about God and what God does: 🌍🌎🌏 Earth God made Earth You can’t see God. God gave us the Torah God took us out of Egypt God created and said to Moses….