Ancient Israel and Mosaics...

Shalom!

For the past few weeks, Omanut has been concentrating on Ancient Israel and how our ancestors used tiles and mosaics to decorate their surroundings and have embarked on a pretty big project to create our own tile masterpiece based on studying information and pictures about The Lod Mosaic, an incredible mosaic found in Lod, Israel in the mid 1990's that is 1,700 years old! The mosaic was discovered when they were attempting to expand a roadway in Lod, only 3 feet from the surface and as it was unearthed, it was revealed to be in amazingly good condition, which is almost unheard of in a piece of that age and size. For more information, please go to the official website, and ask your child(ren) about it!

Lod Mosaic


Our class is doing our own version of the Lod Mosaic and as of this week, it is almost complete! It has been time consuming, but exciting for all of us to see it 'come to life'.  In between learning more Hebrew Through Movement and songs with Maya, we have been super busy and can't wait to unveil our mosaic at the end-of-the-year Omanut Art Show. The mosaic will also feature short essays comparing the Lod Mosaic, information about it, how our mosaic compares to it, and how we developed the aspects of design in it. We also making time to finish up the lovely glass mosaic that will be put up permanently on the wall just outside of the doors of Gan Ilan. It is both a mitzvah and our joy in Omanut to add to the Gan Ilan mosaic!

Our hallway bulletin board is now showcasing Omanut's beautiful display for our sister synagogue in Israel, Congregation Natan-Ya. We hope that you will take the opportunity to see it in person. Natan-Ya was very touched and sent us a warm email of gratitude and love. The students were very proud!

At the end of February, we will be having our Family Program with an incredible Ketubah artist and Sofrit (scribe of Torah) that shouldn't be missed! More information will be coming soon and we hope your family will come to make your own Family Ketubah.
All the best to you all, as always!
Heather


Some pictures of our mosaic:

The time of awe and wonder in Omanut

Shalom!

It has been a lot of fun in Omanut since we got back from Thanksgiving break! Hard to believe we are just getting finished with Hanukkah and will be on vacation very soon for Winter Break.
I hope that you enjoyed seeing your son or daughter's Gratitude Tree that most students completed and were encouraged to bring home for your family's Thanksgiving meal-- it contained a depiction of their favorite tree in watercolor, as well as members of Judaism's forefathers and matriarchs-- Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah-- along with their own family members names and what they were thankful for. Below are some examples.

We continued to have Music with Maya, our wonderful and talented song leader, and Hebrew Through Movement with Tammy and Yardena, who teach a spirited Hebrew session with humor and a whole bunch of fun.

The whole point of creating the art projects that I do around the base of our curriculum (God, Torah and Israel) is to keep pointing out the importance of community, family and connection to Judaism and Jews around the world. I want my students to have conversations with you, to enjoy coming to JQuest,  make long lasting friendships, and to remember their time with me this year for many years to come as they continue to get involved with Temple Isaiah and give back to their communities. 

For the past week, we have been working on a painting for Natan-Ya, our 'sister' synagogue in Israel, as well as poems for them as a mitzvah project, and to let them know in Israel that we care about them from here in Lafayette, CA. Here is a little peek into some work:

May you all have a lovely Winter Break, from my family to yours! 

Looking forward to seeing you all in January.

Blessings,

Heather

Season of gratitude

Shalom!

We have been continuing to work on our drawings that will be photographed and then mailed out to be made into trivets for use/ display in your home. Beautiful work from the students, and they have also written a short paragraph based on their work and why they made the picture that they did...when the trivets are complete, we will have the entire Genesis portion in color trivets! How exciting! I know I am looking forward to that end result very much!
After some students have finished their drawings, I started them on our next project- a watercolor depiction of their favorite tree, with the names of our Jewish matriarchs and patriarchs interspersed among the branches with the names of their family members and words of gratitude that they have for their lives and families, as this special holiday time of year brings about a lot of reflection about all the good that we have in our lives.

As a tiny reminder, please try to to make sure that your child has something nourishing to eat before class on Sundays- while I do have the usual Tues/Wed snacks of pretzels or goldfish crackers, it helps their concentration, creativity and alertness if they have eaten something for breakfast. Thank you so much!

Have a lovely week off for Fall break; enjoy your time together and I want you to know how lucky I feel to have your children in class with me every week! I am very thankful for all of them!
Until next time,
Heather

Some snaps from Omanut

Our Jewish Artist of the Week: Helen Frankenthaler 

Color blending / color field pastel work based on Helen's paintings

Continuing Torah stories... Genesis, artists and history!

Shalom!
Fall is here, and we are quickly moving towards Winter as our weekday classes fly by especially fast since it gets so dark much earlier than it had been. at the beginning of the school year! We continue learning about Torah and the stories of Genesis, singing and dancing with Maya and moving around the room, giving each other commands and working with Tammy and Yardena in Hebrew Through Movement. I had mentioned that I have incorporated a Jewish Artist of the Week in my last post, and we have learned about Lee Krasner since then; everyone in class appreciated her bold use of color and shapes!  Our sketch books have had prompts that encourage everyone to think outside the box and draw a piece in the style of that specific artist, aside from trying to jot down different facts about their lives from our discussions. This week we are concentrating on Marc Chagall- who many have referred to as the "quintessential Jewish artist of the 20th century".  I have a feeling that Chagall's  dreamy details and colors that he has utilized in his paintings and glass work will be a focus when we work on glass painting later this semester! It makes me so happy to see everyone excited about new artists and ways that they can expand their focus in their own class work.
Here are a few peeks into our Omanut time together! Enjoy!
Until next time,
Heather

We finished our 7 Days of Creation paintings- so beautiful!

Here is a small sample of some of the designs, and work in progress:

We are now creating scenes from the stories of Genesis to be made into trivets, framed in wood. Think about how lovely the trivet will be in your kitchen or placed in your home!

Jewish Artist of the Week