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….
Tag: community
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…
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…
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…
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 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…
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….
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…
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…
(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…
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…
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….
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…
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…
Olam Haba: Creating The World We Want To See
What does it mean to create our collective future (olam habah)? This week when diving into good choices and personal responsibility we considered what it means to create our best future. We thought about what we want the future to look like, and how we could approach working toward that future. As we sat around the yard at Makom students…
Acting with Love Even When We Don’t Feel Love
In Makom @ Home, we are continuing to explore loving our neighbors. We also thought about who our neighbors are and who strangers are and how we show love to each of them. One text we read from Vayikra 19:17 says: “Don’t hate your sibling in your heart. Correct your family member, but don’t do something you’ll regret. Do not…
Community and Holiness
Makom @ Home started off our Fall session exploring what community means and what is holiness. We read a text from Leviticus about Bnei Yisrael (the Jewish People) being a community and being holy because God is holy. We started off our questions thinking about who is part of the Bnei Yisrael community while they were wandering in the desert…
High Holidays and Beyond!
As we closed our learning about Rosh Hashanah last week, we began reflecting on ideas about Yom Kippur. Although September is full of short weeks, we are packing in all kinds of creative and engaging opportunities for joy and growth. During these two weeks we have been discussing community, neighbors, how we treat one another, how we understand and rectify…
Get Excited for August School’s Out Camp!
Makom Community has three, awesome, fun-filled weeks of August School’s Out camp planned for your kiddos in both Center City and South Philly! Kids ages 4-10 are invited to join us the weeks of August 9, 16, and 23 for week-long, full camp days (8:30am-5:30pm) complete with arts and crafts, cooking projects, afternoons at the playground or splash pad, singing,…
Adventures with the Shabbackpack
In pre-pandemic times, we welcomed Shabbat in what felt like the most natural way. Families would come together every Friday afternoon. We would sing songs, reflect on our week, and bring in Shabbat together. Importantly, this gave families the opportunity to truly connect with one another. Not just as parents of kids in the same class, but as valued members…
Solidarity Forever: How the Jewish people made Esther strong
Last week, our story amped up the drama. We met the text’s leading antagonist, Haman (boooo!), and learned about his plan to get rid of all the Jews in Achashverosh’s kingdom. He drew lots to choose a random date to enact his plan, and ended up with the 13th of Adar (that’s this Friday!). Interestingly, this part of the story…
New Year, Same Resolutions: Revisiting our Brit
Happy New Year! We’re so excited to be adventuring into 2021 with all of you. As we return from winter break, we want to remind ourselves about the britot (two-way promises) that we made back in November. Here’s a refresher on our britot, which are completely painted and waiting for us on our classroom walls at Makom Community. At Makom…
Working for Tzedek with the Makom Community Brit
At the end of our first unit of learning at Makom Community, we conclude with painting our brit (two-way promise) on the wall. Kiddos always have so much fun painting directly on the wall, but it’s also a good time to reflect on how we conduct ourselves while at Makom Community, and in the world as a whole. This year,…
Fostering Connections in Our Virtual Promised Land
This past summer, as we rejoined each other in person and began reaching out to our community, we realized that quite a few of our families wanted to participate but were not ready to return in person. In response, we launched Makom at Home, a fully online version of our Jewish Enrichment program. Students from coast to coast gather virtually…
Making Change in Our Communities
Finally we got to hear God’s response to Bnot Zelophechad’s (Zelophechad’s daughters) request to be able to inherit their father’s land! Spoiler: God agrees with them and thinks their request is completely just. We dove deeper into the situation of women in the Torah and discovered that men had autonomy in the Torah but that women, children, and slaves did…
Tzedek (Justice) and Upstanding
Welcome back to Jewish Enrichment at Makom Community! What a fabulous first week of learning and playing with your kiddos. We started off our week with some name games, get-to-know-you-ing, and conversations about how to keep ourselves and each other safe and happy. Other than practicing our Covid-19 safety plans and procedures, we also spent time envisioning how Makom Community…
Creating New Traditions: Birthday Celebrations in Isolation
We’re living through a strange moment in history, and a lot of things are weird and hard. Usually, when we’re all together at Makom Community, we get to enjoy celebrating each others’ birthdays with donuts, singing, and chocolate chips and sprinkles in challah. Birthdays provide extra tasty and enjoyable moments for our community. Not being able to gather together puts…
Adventures in Zoom Teaching: The Kids are Alright
Zoom learning continues to be an adventure! Our methods are ever evolving, and it’s a little funky to hear and see each other sometimes. But per usual our empathetic and insightful learners have empathetic and insightful things to say! Here are some of the moments when they impressed us this week. On Wednesday we unpacked the importance of family names…
Launching Makom Community on Zoom
We are full of gratitude for you and your families coming out of this first week of social distancing and online learning. Rather than focusing on the content of the learning that we did, I want to reflect a little on the transition to this new normal. Monday morning, your faithful Makom Community staff met on Zoom to figure out…
Meeting Needs, Increasing Joy
Around Purim at Makom Community you’re likely to notice us jumping and dancing while singing MisheNichnas Adar marbin besimchah – in the Jewish month of Adar, our joy increases. What can we do to help ourselves feel joyful? One avenue to joy that we explored was getting our needs met. We differentiated between two types of needs: surviving needs and…
Learning to Lead
“I never thought a third grader could change my perspective on Jonah…” One of the most powerful things we can learn is that we can learn from anyone! At the end of our study of the Book of Jonah, the BMitzvah cohort shared some of what we learned with the Nitzanim (2nd-4th grade) class. The BMitzvah students designed and taught…
Mishe Mishe Mishe Mishe (Adar is Here!)
The time has come: MisheNichnas Adar Marbin Besimchah–when we enter the Jewish month of Adar, our joy is increased! Last week was full of extra silliness in honor of Adar. Ice cream for snack, an afternoon of playing and chalking in the fountain in Rittenhouse, tongue twisters, joke telling, spinning and marching our way through Tefilah: prayer, music, and movement,…
Our Communities Need Us
Naomi’s family starts off their story living in Beitlechem. Because of famine, they move to Moav. Do you think they stop being a part of the Beitlechem community when they go? Do you think they fully integrate into a community in Moav while they’re there? Last week we took a deep dive into communities, which ones we’re a part of,…
Are you there God? It’s BMitzvah!
Sometimes we spend too much time thinking about something and not enough time experiencing it. In BMitzvah, we’ve been working on a new Rosh Pinah project about God: creating art pieces that express our personal theologies. We’ve been learning about how Jewish texts show different ideas of God: God as the authority, God as everything, God as all-good and all-powerful, God…
Walk and Talk: Relationships to Community
What communities are Rut and Naomi a part of? What are their relationships like with those communities? This week we’re continuing to use their story to unpack our relationships with our communities. Want some ideas of questions to chat about with your kiddos? Read on to discover! At the beginning of the story, Naomi, Elimelech, and their two sons go…
How We Take Care of The Ger (Other)
Why would the Torah repeat the same mitzvah (commandment) 36 times? That’s so many times! Maybe because it’s really important. Maybe because people are really bad at following it. Or both. Both is good. The Torah reminds us over and over again to treat gerim (strangers/others) well. Let’s find out what that has to do with the story from the…
Our American Jewish Stories
“Emma Lazarus! The New Colossus!” Drew pointed at the quote on the wall as we rounded the corner to the next gallery. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” read the famous quote. Drew told us about the quote’s position on the Statue of Liberty and Lazarus’ history as a writer, as Lazarous was…
I Believe in a Thing Called Love
Things really go south in the Jewish kingdom after Shlomo. People don’t like the next king, so the kingdom splits in two. And then, generations later, King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians come and take over. Many of the Jewish elite are exiled to Babylon, including these four young men: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Let’s see what their experiences and…
South Philly FAQ
Makom Community is growing! We’re opening a second location in the fall of 2020 in South Philly. Here are the answers to some of your frequently asked questions. Are we missing info that you’re looking for? Let us know! Q: Where will Makom Community’s second location in South Philadelphia be? A: 1733 E Passyunk Ave. We will be sharing…
Those Who Learn From History…
We all know that those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. But what about those who do learn from history? My experience with our last Rosh Pinah unit on American Jewish History tells me that they are doomed to ask provocative questions. How can we re-balance the record and put women’s voices to the front? Can I design an…
David Commentaries Walk and Talk
Do you remember what a midrash is? It’s a commentary, a story made up to answer a question about a text. Midrash isn’t just for Torah text! This week we’re learning a few commentaries about David. Check out what we’re exploring below! Two of the midrashim we’re looking at this week explain to us that David couldn’t understand why God…
Choosing Family with Unconditional Love
Our story this week zooms in on the unique relationship between Shaul’s son Yehonatan and David. They meet after David defeats Goliath, and the text tells us that Yehonatan’s soul becomes bound up with David’s soul. Yehonatan loves David like himself. The two of them make a brit (two-way promise) together. Yehonatan gifts his cloak, sword, belt, and bow to…
BMitzvah and the Mystery of God
Have you ever watched a ship be tossed in the waves of the ocean? Take a second to watch a video of this terrifying sight. Then tell me, would you curl up in the ship and fall asleep? The prophet Jonah does a lot of things that our class has struggled to understand. Why would a prophet run from God?…
Dear David: 3000 Year-Old Relationship Advice
Our story this week is a tumultuous one. Shaul is convinced that David is trying to steal the throne from him, so he sets out with 3000 men to hunt David down. Shaul coincidentally wanders into the cave where David is hiding, and David has an opportunity to kill him. Instead, he cuts off the corner of Shaul’s cloak. David…
Rely on Your Instincts: Next Level Community Building
“Here at Makom Community, we talk a lot about how to manage conflict. And I know if I need to step away and take time out, my friends will understand.” It’s amazing to see a group of preteens form as tight of a community as our BMitzvah cohort has. When I met them at the beginning of the year, I…
Putting People First: The Makom Community Brit
Way back in September, our learners started exploring the text of Migdal Bavel (the Tower of Babel). Over the course of the last three months we really dug into that text and pulled it apart. We looked to the people in the story for examples of some great ways to treat each other and some not-so-great ways to treat each…
Bein Adam LeChavero: Loving the Godliness in Everyone
Some actions affect our relationship with God. In Hebrew we call those bein adam lamakom (“between a person and God”*). Some actions affect our relationships with other people. Those are called bein adam lechavero (“between a person and their friend”). We looked at some of the actions we do at Makom Community and thought about whether they affect our relationships…
Peace, Love, and Makom Community
There’s a midrash (commentary) that the people who built the Tower of Babel weren’t punished as harshly as the people who lived during the Flood. Those people were destroyed entirely – totally wiped out. The people who built the tower, though, they stayed alive, but had to spread out and speak lots of languages. Why were the consequences for their…
People First: What do we value?
What’s more valuable: a person or a brick? The answer, according to this week’s text, might surprise you. Do we value people? What actions and choices can we make to show it? This week we explored a midrash (rabbinic exploration of a textual question) that tried to answer the question: what was so bad about the people building the Tower…
Welcoming and Resilience: A Sukkot Story
This Sukkot has been an adventure! We were so excited to spend our afternoons in the fabulous Center City Kehilah community sukkah in Julian Abele park. And then Wednesday it rained. No worries, though; we regrouped and changed the plan. We met up at Makom Community and spent the afternoon practicing our welcoming skills for future days in the sukkah….
Jumping to Conclusions and Choosing Compassion
What happens when we jump to conclusions and judge a situation before we get all the details? The text of Migdal Bavel (the Tower of Babel) says that God came down to see the tower that the people were building (Genesis 11:5). Rashi wonders why. Didn’t God already know what was going on without coming down to look? Rashi suggests…
Walk and Talk: A New Year Blessing
Tekiiiiyaaaaa! Do you hear the sound of the shofar? We’ve already been hearing it for a week at Makom Community. Rosh Hashanah is coming up this Monday and Tuesday, and we’ve got some special plans at Makom Community to celebrate. We’ll be enjoying some extra sweet apples-and-honey themed snacks as well as some extra sweet projects and activities. In the…
On God and Misunderstandings
What do we know about God? How does the description of God in the story of Migdal Bavel (the Tower of Babel) add to or challenge our pre-existing understanding? Why does God make people unable to understand each other in this story? How did they respond to their misunderstandings? How do we respond to ours? Read on to find out…
Diversity of Culture in a Unified Voice
What are the benefits of different languages? What are the challenges? What’s good and helpful about people all speaking the same language? These were some of our lines of inquiry as we dove into the first verse of the Migdal Bavel (Tower of Babel) story. The story opens by asserting that “The whole earth had one language and one set…
The Ups and Downs of Working Together
Team work! It’s a great thing, right? Sometimes. Sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes it goes wrong. The people in the story of Migdal Bavel (the Tower of Babel) get together and decide to build a city with a tower that reaches all the way up to the sky. God comes down to take a look at the tower and is not…
A School’s Out Camp Story
Let me tell you a story. Once, there was a community. It was full of some of the loveliest humans. Every day they came together and did their best to be kind, inclusive, and helpful. Sometimes they made mistakes—someone would take a toy without asking; someone would walk away from a mess; someone would use an unfriendly word—but they always…