Seeing God in yourself and others

Shalom!

Hard to believe that the Spring semester is close to winding down for all of us at JQuest! Omanut has done a great project in conjunction with Teva and Bonim, all about how we see God in each other and  in ourselves as part of our curriculum. It was a wonderful experience two years ago in Omanut, and I was eager to share that with our fellow students in Teva and Bonim. To begin, we all talked about what we had learned in Genesis earlier in the year-- how Jacob, after seeing his brother after being estranged for many years, finally sees him face to face and says, "I see God in you". It is beautiful to think all the different ways in which we see God in other people as well as in ourselves and it promoted a sense of community and connection between all the 3rd and 4th graders.

Students worked on building masks in Bonim, and ultimately painting a self-portrait in Teva and Omanut. All three classes began with multiple sketches to plan, getting constructive criticism from peers and getting more in depth with their feelings surrounding how they see God in themselves through a short explanation on paper that will coincide with their finished piece.
All in all, a fun time was had by all and we enjoyed working with each other!

We continue to sing and learn about different styles of Judaic music with Maya, and move our bodies while speaking Hebrew with Tammy and Yardena in Hebrew Through Movement.
The time spent before Spring break was utilized to finish up any projects that students may have missed or needed to catch up on and we are all looking forward to Omanut's Art Show in May!

Here are some pictures of us all in action... Enjoy!
B'Shalom,
Heather

Purim!

Mosaics, mezuzah and more...!

Shalom!

It's been exciting in Omanut since we have returned from the Winter Break...We have successfully completed our stone mosaic, based on what we have learned about the Lod Mosaic in Israel, and it will be installed somewhere on the campus of  Temple Isaiah for all to appreciate in the near future. Very proud of the hard work and collaboration of the Omanut students! The all really took ownership of the pieces and made it very special.

With the mosaic done, we have moved on to creating  and learning about mezuzah- made from clay, sticks, paper, glass pieces, and other more non-traditional things like legos! We took a mini 'field trip' to the gift shop to explore the beautiful and interesting mezuzot there, and had a discussion session with Rabbi Greninger about more of the history, and we saw both a Kosher and non Kosher parchment. One of the other lessons we have done is building upon the sketch prompt: "If you did not know what prayers/sayings/ words were in our mezuzah, what would you want for the blessings for all Jewish people?"... what came from that question was inspiring and lovely. You will get to see all of the projects when they are spotlighted in our end of the year Art Show!
A super interesting documentary about Mezuzah that we watched, and that the kids loved,  is as follows:

If you have always wanted to affix a mezuzah, our very own Rabbi Shanks is the star of a video that you should definitely watch:

We had a very informative, creative Family Program this past Sunday with Nechama Shaina, a Sofrit (Torah scribe) and Ketubah artist. Nechama led a great morning of learning about the history of ketubah and what various symbols mean in ancient work, as well as her own modern work. We loved having her! Nechama Shaina's website : http://cargocollective.com/ketuba4two
The family ketubah that the students and their families have created will be featured in the Art Show as well, so be on the look out!

Some pictures from Omanut in action...

 Our class mosaic, based on the Lod Mosaic

Music with Maya

The start of creating mezuzah

  Creating and learning with Nechama Shaina

Until next time!
L'Shalom,
Heather

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