How can we experience a moment in time as holy? Do they just happen, or do we get to make them? For our fourth and final curriculum unit of this school year, we’re digging into chapter three of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) to unpack the framework Jewish tradition provides to cultivate holy and meaningful moments. “Every time and every thing has a…
Makom Community News & Blog
Makom Community News & Blog
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Noticing a world made for able bodies
What are the ways that we perceive other people’s bodies? As BMitzvah moves further along with Beha’lotcha, we came across a piece of text that punishes the body for misdeeds. Miriam and Aharon are found at the beginning of a chapter slandering Tziporah for being darker skinned than them. As a punishment, God gives Miriam a case of tzaraat (white…
You Deserve Love
What could happen in a person’s life to make them just want to give up? “Watch a whole city NOT get destroyed” and “lose a new plant they had just received the day before” might not be the first answers you come up with. But that’s what happens for Yonah in the final chapter of his story. After watching God…
Nitzanim Unit 3 Showcase: Challenge and Resilience
Our Nitzanim (3rd and 4th graders) had a fabulous third showcase last week! Our learners created an art gallery inspired by the theme of challenge and resilience, and the texts of Megillat Esther (the story of Esther) and Sefer Yonah (the book of Jonah). Each student created two works of art on these themes. We had everything ranging from stop-motion…
Forgiveness and Second Chances
Sefer Yonah (the Book of Yonah) is all about second chances. Both Yonah and the whole city of Ninveh get a chance to try again – Yonah gets a second chance to do the prophecy work God instructs him to do; Nineveh gets a chance to fix its mistakes and survive another day. How do we view second chances at…
Giving and Getting Feedback
It’s easy to respond defensively when someone comes to you with criticism! But that’s not what the people of Ninveh did when Yonah showed up prophesying their destruction. They did an impressive job of listening to Yonah’s criticism and using it to improve themselves. What is constructive feedback? Giving feedback in a helpful way, not just being mean. Criticism is…