ALEF Last class June 4, 2017

Dear families:

It has been a wonderful year.  We have so enjoyed being with the children for lots of learning and lots of fun!  Thank you so much for the Amazon gift card.  As a book lover, I will put it to good use.

Cantor Ken began the day with tefillah outdoors.  The children described what they enjoyed outdoors.  Then we recited our usual prayers, some with sign language accompanying our words.

HEBREW:  We finished the book, and we signed the certificates in the back.   The last letter in the book is  ז“zion,” the first letter in  z’ayv” (wolf), and the cognate “zebra.”  We used our review packs to show what we remembered about the Hebrew letters.

Later in the morning, we played Hebrew bingo to show off what we remembered about the letters and vowel sounds.  No prizes, but a lot of fun,

GODLY PLAY:  It is traditional to read the story of Ruth on Shavuot because of its harvest setting. Naomi and her husband went to Moab to escape the famine in Israel. Her two sons married Ruth and Orpah, Moabite women.  After the three men died, Naomi decided to return to Israel, which had abundant crops again.  She urged her two daughters-in-law to return to their own families.  However, Ruth protested, telling Naomi—“wherever you go, I will go; your G-d shall be my God, where you live, I will live; and where you die, there, I shall one day die.”  (Ruth is regarded as the first convert to Judaism.)

The two women journeyed across the Salt Sea (Dead Sea) to Israel.  Since they had no money, Ruth got food by gleaning.  We discussed this way of helping the poor without cash.  Harvesters were not allowed to pick up any crop that they had dropped or missed.  They also did not touch the corners of their fields.  Poor people were allowed to pick these crops.  Naomi’s relative Boaz owned the field where Ruth gleaned—he asked her to glean only in his fields; his workers would let her eat and drink with them, and they would protect her.  Naomi encouraged Ruth to go to where Boaz was sleeping; he awakened startled and professed his love for Ruth. They wed and eventually had a child; through this child’s family, Ruth became the great-grandmother of King David.

In groups, the children discussed these issues of family, loyalty, gleaning, helping others.  We also worked on two word puzzles on the story of Ruth.

Students concluded with books and games, among them Circle the Year, a path game on the yearly cycle of holidays.

The students took home their Hebrew nametags and photos that I took the first class—See how much the students have grown!

Have a wonderful summer.