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.