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: peace
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…
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…
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…
Aaaand That’s a Wrap: a Peaceful Conclusion to Unit 2
Can you believe we’re already halfway through this school year?! Wrapping up our second curriculum unit last week gave us ample opportunity to celebrate all the amazing learning, analyzing, and growing your kiddos have done. A particular big shout out and yasher koach (congratulations!) is due to our Nitzanim (3rd and 4th graders) upon completion of their second showcase. Stay…
Noticing Feelings in Conflict
So many feelings! So little time! Last week we spent a lot of time decoding characters’ feelings, through dramatic interpretation, visual aids, and empathy practice. Eisav returns from his hunt only to find out that Yaakov had just received the blessing meant for him. He is incredibly distressed, and vows to kill his brother Yaakov. At first, the Garinim (preK…
Tricky Feelings and a Blessing for Peace
Finally Yaakov has received his special brachah (blessing), but at what cost? We spent several days unpacking the situation around the giving of this brachah and then we analyzed the content of the brachah itself. We discovered there was lots of room for mixed feelings and mixed messages amid the trickery and tension. Rivkah had a plan to make sure…
Commentaries and Questions on Conflict
Commentary was the name of the game last week in our learning at Makom Community. Unsurprisingly, our inquisitive students have many of the same questions as some pretty big deal medieval rabbis. We unpacked the answers that some of those rabbis had to the questions and added our own insights. One story that we discussed was from 15th century Torah…
Big Feelings in the Birthright Trade
What’s a birthright? Who gets it? How does our tone and feelings affect our interactions and ability to manage conflict? We explored these questions and more last week as our adventures with Yaakov and Eisav continued. In this story (Genesis 25: 29-34), Yaakov is home cooking lentil stew and Eisav comes in famished from outside. He demands some of Yaakov’s…
On Playing Favorites and Choosing Sides
In our story last week, Rivkah’s difficult pregnancy ends with the birth of twins! Continuing from their prenatal conflict, the text’s descriptions of Rivkah’s sons focuses on their differences and incompatibilities. The first born, Eisav, is born covered in red hair. The second born, Yaakov, comes out holding onto Eisav’s heel. When they grow up, Eisav becomes a skilled hunter,…
Helping Ourselves and Others through Conflict
How do we navigate conflict peacefully and productively? Over the next few months, we’ll explore some of the resources available in Torah to help us answer this question. To start off our second curriculum unit of the school year, we jumped back in the Torah text timeline to Bereshit (Genesis) 25. There, we meet Yitzchak and Rivkah, who desperately want…
Criticize Torah, but Make it Justice
Last week we explored a story in Torah which dealt with some pretty challenging themes of punishment and justice. Some people in Bnei Yisrael had relationships with people in another community that weren’t healthy and that God didn’t like. Those relationships led people in Bnei Yisrael to pray to idols instead of God. God, in a fury, sent a plague…
Cut the Baby in Half: Conflict Resolution with King Shlomo
Shlomo is known for being one of the wisest people ever! People came from all over the world to listen to his just decisions and to help them solve their conflicts and difficulties. Last week we unpacked Shlomo’s wisdom about a particularly famous case and extrapolated some great ideas about conflict resolution in general. Take a look at the following…
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…