Freedom School 12/9 Class Recaps

K/1 w/ Laura: Happy Hanukkah freedom school! This week we had a Hanukkah party in K/1. We started off drawing a menorah and “lighting” it as we said the blessings. Next we played speed dreidel while the parents prepared a Hanukkah play worthy of a Tony. Finally, we made very special Magen Davids with LED lights. Whether LEDs, candles, or the light of your laughter, may you shine through the darkness this year my friends! ✨✨✨

2/3 w/ Anyssa: Guest teacher Hannah led the 2nd and 3rd graders in an exploration of praise, through a Hanukkah tale: Moishe’s Miracle. This delightful and humorous story led the students into conversations about where they see mercy and kindness in the world, creating Mercy Baskets to collect acts of mercy and kindness everywhere. They also celebrated Hanukkah with dreidel and singing!

4/5 w/ Doria: Guest teacher Zoe deepend the students understanding of the values of heirut (freedom) and zikaron (memory) through learning the blessing ram v’nisa, which is sung just before Mi Chamocha. This prayer is about remembering the captive and the fallen, and students drew a wide range of connections on this theme - from freeding the hostages in Gaza to giving shelter to the unhoused in San Francisco. The students then went into t’fillah to pray ram v’nisa with the community, before celebrating Hanukkah in class by reflecting on our favorite Hanukkah memories (zikaronim) and playing dreidel!

6th w/ Jaime: This week our sixth grade scholars helped Elizheva prepare the Torah for reading and then dug into the Hanukkah narratives. Using sources from the Talmud and the Book of Maccabees, they compared the differences in these stories and traced the origin of the miracle, while continuing to develop the literary skills for analyzing our sacred texts. Finally, we went into services to learn from Ellie about Parashat Vayeshev, the beginning of Joseph’s story.