From Purim to Pesach In Just A Few Notes!

In recent weeks, the students have been enjoying the silliness of Purim and the joyful month of Adar.  Now we are switching our class "nusach," or tune, to get ready for Passover.  Out with the mishigas, and in with the matzah!  To mark the end of Adar, we finished recording our silly story about Louis Lewandowski today, and we will be editing and posting the final product soon.  (Look for trailers in a theater near you!) 

 

The unedited last scene of our video!

 

 The students also had a special visit by former Shira instructor Rachel Mylan, who taught us a new version of Avadim Hayinu! 

In tefillah last week, Rabbi Miller showed the sixth graders what the week's Torah portion looks like - Mi Chamocha is shaped like the sea!  In class, we had done shape poems earlier in the year, and the students realized just how beautifully poetic the Torah can be!

The Torah looks like mayim!(water)

 Last weekend, some of our fifth grade families attended a wonderful field trip to the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco.  They completed their own works of art, learned about the Ashkenazi Jews of Poland and Russia, and enjoyed listening to the sounds of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival sponsored by philanthropist Warren Hellman.

 Warren Hellman's bejeweled jacket and banjo.

Bye Bye Adar, Hello Nisan!

Well, as a new Hebrew month begins, our little Shira group is happily creating a (slightly silly) video about the life of one of the Reform movement's premier composers, Louis Lewandowski.  We have been having fun telling the tale of this innovative Jewish maverick from 19th century Germany.

Mr. Lewandowski introduced the Jews of Germany to a new, more classical form of liturgical music.  Thanks to Louis Lewandowski and his contemporary, Salomon Sulzer, we have the option to enjoy liturgical music sung by a choir and accompanied by instruments such as an organ or piano. Major changes brought about by the Reformers in Germany in the 19th century include:

•  a greater sense of decorum
• services conducted in the native tongue of the congregants
• a move away from the Oriental (Middle Eastern sounding) style of chanting and towards a more Western (European/"classical" sounding) style
• The removal of separation of men and women in synagogue
• choral music
• organ music
• a move to be less "different" than their Christian neighbors; assimilation

Here is a sample of Louis Lewandowski's liturgical music, performed recently in the Berlin synagogue in which he worked for over 25 years:

Note the German, rather than Hebrew service!

The students have enjoyed making their own music, learning to sing the Four Questions, and some new Passover song.  They have been identifying the Hebrew words that they already know in the new songs.  Words like shir (sing), simcha (joy), aviv (spring), gadol (great, or big), ma (what), and laila (night) can be found in the Four Questions and other Passover tunes.

Thank you to all the parents who attended the first ever Shira Family Day in February!  We had fun showing off what Shira has been up to, and learning new dances (how fast can YOU dance the hora now?).  This month, we have been learning about the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment) and the early Reform movement in Germany.  To wrap up the unit, the students are recording a video about the life of Louis Lewandowski, who contributed a great deal to moving the Jewish liturgy into the modern era.  Thanks to Lewandowski and his peers, such as Solomon Sulzer, we now enjoy music as part of our liturgy.

Don't forget that this Sunday, we will be having a special field trip to the Contemporary Jewish Museum for all 5th grade families - 2nd Session only!
For our spring "5th Grade B'nai Mitzvah Prep" session, we invite you to a family field trip to visit the Contemporary Jewish Museum!  All Temple Isaiah students receive a gift of free membership to the CJM when they become bar/bat mitzvah, so we wanted to give them an opportunity to visit the museum and see what it's all about.  This will be a wonderful off-site gathering of all the Temple Isaiah 5th grade families, and we hope you can attend! 

We will have a special tour focusing on the exhibit  "Letters to Afar," about the thriving Jewish life in Poland during the 1920's and 1930's, followed by an art project related to the exhibit.  This is a wonderful wrap up for the students, as they finish their studies about the Ashkenazi Jews, and move into modern Jewish America and Israel.

All 5th graders are required to attend with a parent, grandparent, or other adult.  Siblings are welcome, too.  Please indicate how many from your family will be able to attend.  There is no charge for this event, as it is sponsored by Temple Isaiah.

We will gather at 9:45am at the front entrance of the CJM.  The museum is easily accessible by BART or car.

If you have any questions, please contact Charna at charnas@temple-isaiah.org.  We are excited about this field trip and hope you can all make it!

Here are a few photos  from our Purim Carnival this year: