October 11, 2024 |

Grade 1 – Judy Azer – My Day At Limmud

Posted on December 7, 2015

Grade 1—Kitah alef—December 6, 2015

I missed seeing the students today, while we teachers attended the Limmud program at Congregation Mishkan Tefila.  It was a marvelous opportunity for some Jewish learning, some for personal enrichment and some to apply in the classroom.  These are some of the sessions I participated in:

Warriors, Wonders and Wisdom:  The Real Story of Hanukkah.  Through texts like the Book of Maccabees and discussion, we examine the events and changing interpretations of the meaning and rituals of Hanukkah and its parallels to Sukkot.  The miracle of the oil is not mentioned until about the second century C.E.  Cheryl and I both attended this one.

Moses: Soul of a Leader, a Midrash Performance and Discussion.  Actress Annette Miller performed a midrash in the voice of Moses.  Then we discussed the various aspects of Moses’ leadership.
n Pictures Paint a Thousand Words, we discussed how pictures can be cropped, taken out of context, to mislead an audience, particularly regarding Israel.  For example, we examined a staged photograph of a Palestinian rioter and the mislabeled photograph of a supposedly dead Palestinian child.  The speaker, Gary Kenzer, recently spoke at Temple Israel.  Plus, I won one of the door prizes, an Honest Reporting t shirt!
During lunch, several of us told each other about the interesting workshops we had attended.  I saw part of a Sheldon Low concert, before I had to leave for a panel on The Future of Judaism.  Judaism will continue to evolve.
I learned about Utilizing Art and Drawing to Learn About the Hebrew Alphabet from artist Mordechai Rosenstein.  This may show up soon as a class project!
My final session was given by a friend of mine, Nancy Sohn Swartz , on A Potpourri of Teaching Ideas.  She offered suggestions on activities for young learners.
By the time I left at 4:30, I was full of new thoughts, ideas, and inspirations.

Judy Azer