Jewish Six Room Poetry

Shalom Shiraniks!

We just finished our weekly Zoom class, and you each created a "six room" poem about a Jewish moment, event, holiday, or other memory in your life.  To review (and for those of you reading this who weren't able to participate in class this week), here is a brief how-to:

On a piece of paper, create six squares by making one line down the middle and two across.  Then, starting with the top left corner, label each as follows:


IMAGE                   LIGHT



SOUNDS               FOODS/TASTES/SMELLS




FEELINGS/METAPHOR           JEWISH WORDS/PHRASES


Then:
In the Image box, describe the event in as much detail as you can (sentences not required)
In the Light box, describe what the light or colors are like in your event
In the Sounds box, describe what you heard
In the Foods/Tastes/Smells box, add a list of foods or tastes and smells
In the "Feelings/Metaphor" box, either write how you felt at or about the event, or write a metaphor or simile comparing the event to something else
Finally, in the last box, write down any words or phrases in Hebrew or Yiddish that might be associated with that event.

Then, after all of your "rooms" are full, take everything you have written and create a poem out of it, either listing all of your phrases in order or mixing them up, or even repeating one or two.  It's entirely up to you. Be creative!  Once you have finished your poem, add it to the comments below so we can all read it by next week's class.  Shalom!

Yom Haatzma-what??

Shalom Shiraniks!

We are in the middle of what many Jews call the "Israeli High Holy Days."  On Tuesday, it was Yom Hashoah, when we commemorated the Six Million lives lost in the Holocaust.



Then, Yom HaZikaron, Israeli Memorial Day, begins at sundown next Monday night, and ends on Tuesday night.  This year, everyone will be inside, but normally, during this time, Israelis remember the soldiers who fought and died for their country.  For about two minutes, in the middle of the day, sirens go off all over the country, and every Israeli stops what they are doing, even driving, and stands in a show of solidarity and respect to commemorate the lives lost.

Then, at sundown on Tuesday, Israelis will switch into celebratory mode, for it will become Yom HaAtzmaut, or Israeli Independence Day.  Normally, throughout Israel, there would be parties that night, and picnics at the beach or in parks the next day, culminating with fireworks.  It is a festive atmosphere, very much like 4th of July here in the United States.  Here, Jews still celebrate Yom HaAtzmaut by wearing blue and white and having our own family and synagogue celebrations.    

However, this year, the parties will be at home, there will be no big gatherings, and each of us, both here and in Israel, will be commemorating and celebrating these holidays in "quarantine mode." Sure, it will be different, but we can all still find ways to participate.  

How will you and your family celebrate?  

Why is This Passover Different From All Other Passovers?

Shalom Shiraniks!

I hope that all of you are having a wonderful Passover week, and that you all had a chance to participate in some or all of the activities associated with this holiday, despite "hunkering down" at home.  It sure was strange for me not to have the 30 or so members of my Jew Crew (as we call our havurah) at my house for the first night of Passover.  We didn't even have a Zoom seder, and frankly, I was feeling pretty down.  For over 20 years, I have hosted Passover, spending days prepping and cooking, moving furniture and bringing in tables, setting the seder plates and planning the activities for the night.  (Mr. Bloom says I "go a little nuts" over Pesach, but he enjoys it too!)  During the seder, we all thought it was funny that here we were, thanking God for surviving one plague while we were sheltering in place to survive another one!  But this too shall pass and life will resume again.  In the meantime, though, the mere fact that we are staying home to keep others safe is a mitzvah!

Preparing to join a second night "Zoom seder" yesterday, it occurred to me that one of the best things about being Jewish is that we have a "home based" religion.  Really!  We don't need to go anywhere to "be" or "do" our Jewishness (except going to JQuest, of course!).  For example, while it is traditional to pray with your community in a synagogue, it is not required.  Also, our holidays are all centered around activities in the home. Lighting the Shabbat candles, having a Passover or Tu Bishvat seder, building and enjoying time in the sukkah are all examples of ways in which we are commanded to celebrate the big events in the Jewish annual calendar.  So, in light of the fact that we are "stuck" at home, we can be joyful about Judaism's built-in "homey-ness" (is that a word?).

God commands us to celebrate with family, to appreciate all that we have and to enjoy the natural world around us.  What better time to complete all of these mitzvot than when we are "commanded" by events in the secular world to shelter-in-place?  Because of the holiday, we were not able to see each other on our weekly JQuest meeting, however next week we will return to discuss and share our own homegrown Passover stories.  In the meantime, stay busy, stay connected and stay safe.

Chag Pesach Sameach!!

PS:  Next week, we will be sharing some music together, so between now and then, try to find something that you can bring to the class to play music on!  (Hint:  if you don't have an instrument, you can find a household item that can be used as an instrument!)

Passover Scavenger Hunt!

Shalom Shiraniks!

In today's Shira online Zoom meeting, you will be asked to conduct a "Passover Scavenger Hunt."  I will give you five minutes to find as many of the following items around the house as you can, then either bring them back to "class", or take a photo of them with your phone to share with us when you return to the meeting.

Here are your tasks:

1. When Moses was a baby,  he was placed in the River Nile in a little basket made of reeds.  His mother, Yocheved, had to use what nature provided her to create a safe vessel for her child until he was taken in by Pharaoh's daughter.

YOUR TASK:  Find a useful item that is made from something from nature (not metal).

2. Moses used a staff of wood to convey God's power to Pharaoh and the Egyptians.  


YOUR TASK:  Find an item that represents the power of God.

3.  The Ten Plagues devastated Egypt.

YOUR TASK:  Find something that you, or someone in your family might consider a "plague."

4. When the Israelites fled Egypt, they had to leave in such a hurry that they did not have time for their bread to rise.  

YOUR TASK:  Find a food item that you would take with you if you had to suddenly leave your home.

5.  When they were faced with the frightening task of escaping Egypt by going through the Sea of Reeds, the Israelites were strengthened by Miriam, Moses' sister, as she played her timbrel and sang, rejoicing on the other side. 

YOUR TASK:  Find something that you can make joyful music with.

Shira-At-Home!

Wow!  Here we are, all hunkered down with our families at home, making the best of a challenging situation.  I hope this post finds you and your families all safe, sound and well as we enter the second week of our Shelter in Place.

I will be starting our online Zoom Shira classes today, Thursday, at 4:30pm.  You can join the meeting by using the following meeting ID and access code:

5th/6th grade Music, Teacher Erin  https://zoom.us/j/786374976 Meeting ID: 786 374 976

‌  I have also set up a new account for an educational sharing site called Flip Grid.  This site allows me to post questions or activities and allows you to share videos of yourself answering the questions and doing the activities.  Hopefully, it will work well to keep us all connected in the weeks to come!   I have already posted two activities.  Here is the link to that site: www.flipgrid/shira2020 Shira's FlipGrid Page Your username is your name (first letter capitalized), a space and the first letter of your last name, capitalized.  Example: Napa R  (for Napa Rose) I have used the names that we call each other in class, rather than your full, formal name if there is a difference between the two (i.e. Matt vs. Matthew) Hope this isn't too confusing!  It's a whole new world out there!....er, in here, since I can't go anywhere... See you at 4:30! Shalom and Stay Safe! Erin

We Talk to the Trees!

Shalom Shiraniks!

What a fun few weeks we have had, and there's more to come!  Right now we are gearing up for our music video (yay!!), beginning to explore popular songs to parody.  Everyone had "homework" this week to bring in the names of any songs you think might be a good fit.  (Parents, feel free to chime in!).  Here are a few notes on what we have been, and will be up to this month:


We Talk to the Trees However, before we embarked on our music video, we took a little break to celebrate Tu Bishvat, with a  very windy "walkabout."  We paused in various places around the Isaiah campus to take notes on various trees that we observed, sketching each tree for reference later.  We came inside and wrote tree poetry in various forms, including quatrains, chinquapins and haiku.  The following class, we created "tear art"  tree illustrations for the poems, based upon the students' sketches of the trees on Isaiah's campus.

Jewpardy
Last week, the students played a "Jewpardy" game that we created with questions posed by each of the classes. 

Lights, Camera, Action!
Now that we have began working on the 2020 Shira Music Video, things will start moving quickly.   We are currently in the process of choosing a song and a theme, and will begin writing lyrics and storyboarding next week, after Sunday's Purim lesson. Production should begin in two weeks, and we hope to wrap up recording just before Passover and filming soon thereafter. 

Purim Fun
Finally, Purim is around the corner, and we are looking forward to the annual J Quest Purimshphiel, featuring the teachers and clergy this Sunday.  If you want a couple of resources, Sefaria is an app that you can download for Jewish texts (i.e. the entire Tanakh!).  It has a virtual granger feature that is really fun!  Also, check out Ritualwell.org for Purim blessings and ideas.  

There's a Blessing for That!
Finally, although we all pray that it may not affect us or our families, it can't hurt to be vigilant against the Corona virus.  Avoiding touching your face will help, but washing hands regularly for 20 or more seconds is an easy and most effective tool for staving off germs and viruses.  Of course, being Jews, we have a blessing for that!  The following is a prayer from Ritualwell.com that, when recited while washing hands, will ensure that you was for the prescribed time.  

A Blessing For Washing Hands During a Pandemic

By Trisha Arlin

As we wash our hands
We pray,
Blessed is the Soul of the Universe,
Breathing us in and breathing us out.
May our breaths continue
And our health and the health of all
Be preserved
In this time of sickness and fear of sickness.
Holy Wholeness,
We take as much responsibility for this as we can
By observing the obligation to wash our hands
Thoroughly:
For as long as it takes to say this prayer.
Amen

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה הָ׳ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְצִוָּנוּ עַל נְטִילַת יָדַיִם

Hava Heaven!

Shalom Shiraniks!

Pretty much everyone in America, Jewish or not, has heard (or at least heard of) the song Hava Nagila.  We know that at every bar or bat mitzvah, wedding or other Jewish simcha, Hava is a time-tested tradition.  But where did Hava actually come from?  Is it an ancient melody?  Why has it become so enmeshed with the American Jewish identity? 

We spent a few class sessions watching a wonderful documentary about Hava Nagila called "Hava Nagila:  The Movie."  I highly recommend viewing it at home - it can be rented or purchased on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws1k9OPZous

The students learned how to do the Hora, they listened to many versions of and learned to sing Hava Nagila, and then they ultimately created their own parody version of Hava to show what they learned!

By the Rivers of Babylon - the Mizrahim

When the Babylonians destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem ca 586 BCE, it was the end of an era, but also the beginning of a new Edah.  The Israelites were taken as slaves back to Babylon during what became known as the Babylonian captivity. Although some of the group of exiles returned to Jerusalem seventy years later, many stayed in the Middle Eastern diaspora.  This group became the Mizrahi, or "Eastern" Jews.

We have been learning about the culture and music of this dynamic population of Jews, beginning with Psalm 137, which is a lamentation of the Jewish exiles "by the rivers of Babylon."  We learned the song, and even heard the reggae version! 

We learned that the Jews of the Middle Eastern Diaspora developed the distinctive beat that is found in many dance tunes today.  

We called this the "ride the pony" beat (think of the rhythm when you say those words), and we practiced it on our various percussion instruments, many of which are "found" items.

 One of the students' favorite examples of this style is the traditional song "Im Ninalu," performed by Ofra Haza, an Israeli pop star who called upon the musical traditions of her Yemenite background to create a unique blend of eastern and western music that remains popular today. In this video, you can see the traditional musical percussion instrument of the Yemenite Jews, as well as traditional Yemenite costumes.

We wrapped up the unit by listening to, dancing to and evaluating many of the popular "Mizrahit" tunes of contemporary Israel.  There is a wide selection that can be found on YouTube (just type in Mizrahit mix).  Here is one of our favorite new Yemenite Israeli groups, A Wa:



These three sisters pull inspiration from Ofrah Haza's music and their Yemeni Jewish roots, as well as exploring commonalities with their Arab neighbors, including language; the band usually sings in Yemeni Arabic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3bjZlmsb4A

Throughout the unit, we witnessed the life and culture of Mizrachi Jews through videos and film, learned new songs and dances, and made origami Torahs to commemorate the first writings of the Torah during the Babylonian Exile. Finally, each student made their own mizrach to hang on the eastern wall of their homes to know which direction to face when praying.