תפילה לשלום מדינת ישראל

Each spring for the last nine years I have had the incredible experience of traveling to Israel with the Schechter Manhattan 8th grade. The trips have been very meaningful to me. As a Zionist and a committed Jew, the many powerful sites we visit and experiences we have on the trip touch me; hiking in the Negev, hearing David Ben Gurion declare independence in Independence Hall in Tel Aviv, davening at the Kotel, staying with Israeli family and friends for shabbat, and celebrating in the streets on Yom Haatzmaut, to name a few. As a Jewish educator I have been especially moved by observing my students learn and grow on the trip. The students make connections between the powerful experiences in Israel, what they have learned over their years at Schechter Manhattan, and their emerging senses of their Jewish identities. And, the students solidify their connection to the land, people, and State of Israel.

The Israel trip is a capstone experience of the Schechter Manhattan program and specifically our Israel curriculum. Throughout the grades students at Schechter Manhattan learn about the culture, people, and land of the Jewish state. Of course, all Schechter Manhattan students study Hebrew language, which serves as the basis for entering into relationship with Israel. There are curricular units about Israel throughout the grades, affording students opportunities to learn about the history and geography of Israel. Each month we celebrate Rosh Hodesh with shira btsibur, singing together a repertoire of Hebrew and Israeli songs, sharing an important part of Israeli culture. We celebrate Yom Haatzamaut with a full day of special activities and we march together each spring in the Celebrate Israel Parade.

It is in the context of our educational aspirations for Schechter Manhattan students to develop strong connections with Israel that I read the very sad and serious news from Israel over these last days and weeks. The people we get to know on the Israel trip, our friends and families and the Jewish communities in Israel, are facing daily attacks and living in fear. Among them are a number of Schechter Manhattan’s own post-high-school and post-college alumni, and other former students and their families, who are in Israel now, including some serving in the IDF. This week, our thoughts and prayers are with Israel. At Schechter Manhattan we added the prayer for peace in the State of Israel to tfilah in the upper grades. The version we recite ends with the words…

ונתת שלום בארץ ושמחת עולם ליושביה

Bless the land with peace, and its inhabitants with lasting joy.

We pray for a time when everyone living in the land of Israel will share in peace and joy.

Benjamin Mann

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Author’s Chair

THIS WEEK WE ARE FEATURING WORK BY SOME OF OUR STUDENTS INKITAH GAN, KITAH BET, AND KITAH ZAYIN.

 

Kitah Gan wrote about things they do over the weekend.

MY HOME IS PRPARD FOR שבת. ELECCHISATEE CANNOT BE USD ON שבת. (My home is prepared for Shabbat. Electricity cannot be used on Shabbat)

–Jonah

 

I WENT TO CHOTHE BRThdAY (I went to a chocolate birthday).

–Zachary

 

Kitah Bet wrote about their “just right reading spots.”
What did you like about your “just right” reading spot?
that it is quit. I am not deistactid (distracted). it is peacefol.

How could it be better?
it coeld not be beter.

–Akiva
What did you like about your “just right” reading spot?
it was konfy (comfy), nobody was dashakting (distracting) me.

How could it be better? 
With nobad in the room, wieter, to be taler

–Zach


What did you like about your “just right” reading spot?
that it was no crawdid (crowded).

How could it be better? 
It is good.

–Amelie
Kitah Zayin reflected on what they read over the summer.

The first book that I read this summer was The 68 rooms by Marianne Malone. This was definitely one of my favorite books due to the fact that I loved the setting and plot.

This book became very interesting for me when I looked at the setting. The two main characters shrunk down, because of a magic key, so that they could adventure through the Thorne Rooms. The Thorne Rooms are different miniature rooms that represent countries in different time periods. When the two main characters shrink down they sneak into the corridor behind the rooms, and when they enter the rooms they find out that there is a whole world behind each room representing the country and time period of the room that they’re in. Only the two main characters could see these “new worlds” and it struck me when they went into France two years or so before the French Revolution. The two main characters knew that the French Revolution was coming, but the people that they met, did not. An example of this is that the two main characters were in France, and they warned a girl about the French Revolution. They later found out that they had changed the past and saved this girl. This really made me stop reading and think about what had happened.

This idea was definitely a concept that had me thinking about what it would be like if something similar could happen in real life. I loved how the two main characters adventured through different countries and time periods. I wonder what it would be like if I could time-travel and visit places in the world from different time periods. I had an amazing time reading this book and I learned some history while reading it.

–Benjamin Z.