A few weeks ago we celebrated the holiday of Shavuot, which commemorates the anniversary of the day God gave the Torah to the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai.
Prior to our celebration, each class had ongoing discussions about the rules all of us must follow (such as obeying traffic signals). More difficult for the children to grasp are the Ten Commandments and the importance of these rules for everyone. Through books and conversations, we simplified the language of the Ten Commandments and then asked the children to come up with their own rules. The children then painted “tablets” with rules we have in our own lives, both at home and at school.
We also asked Gan Avraham children to bring fresh fruit (HaBikureem is Hebrew for the first fruit of the harvest) from home. In ancient times, Jews offered bikureem to God in thanks for God's bounty. We donated the collected fruit to a local community center serving residents in need. All of the Gan classes joined together in the sanctuary, which we decorated with flowers, for a celebration with Rabbi Bloom. We sang songs and had the opportunity to go on the bima and look inside the Torah.
Shavuot highlights loyalty, helping others, kindness and tzedakah. At the Friday Shabbat circles in each classroom, we give tzedakah. This year we will donate our tzedakah money to Urban Adamah, an educational farm and community center in Berkeley that integrates the practices of Jewish tradition, sustainable agriculture, mindfulness and social action to build loving, just and sustainable communities.
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