Seekers Updates 3/23-3/24

Kita Alef with Stephanie

What a fun silly day!

We learned about the letter Nun and practiced singing the Aleph bet. Then we learned about Rabbi Tarfon and his teaching: It’s our job to change the world into a better world! We can’t fix everything, but it’s our job to do our part and never give up. Then we all shared ways we want to change the world into a better world.

Kita Bet with Batya

This week, Morah Batya introduced us to a new Jewish book called the Pirkei Avot! We learned about an important phrase that our sages passed down in this book. It says "you are not required to complete the work, nor are you free to ignore it." 
Morah Batya challenged us to create an individual craft with materials we have at home to express what we feel is our responsibility as children to others around us in this difficult time. Most of us agreed that we should wash our hands often and stay away from people so that we avoid getting sick.
We are loving the time we get to share together at Seekers even though it's different than what we are used to!

Kita Gimmel with Yardena

Today in class we started with a movement sequence and self-check-in. We moved on to talking about the phrase from Pirki Avot: Lo alecha hamelacha ligmor. We discussed how hard it is to work for something when we don’t see the immediate results. Perhaps we are missing the fun of the process while only looking at the result and not being present in the moment?

We compared this phrase to the story we learned in Tu Bishvat about Honi and the carob tree. What is the pleasure of planting a tree whose fruit I will not get to eat?

We talked about universal and personal problems that we don't know how to solve, but we still make an attempt to work for it.

In the last part of class, we talked about the four sons, asking what is the difference between them? Are they all different people or perhaps one person in different parts of their lives? What is scarier- a son who is wicked but does ask or a son who does not ask at all? 

Kita Daled and Zayin with Heather

"It's not on us to complete the work nor are we free to ignore it" -This quote from Pirkei Avot is so relevant to the times we find ourselves in today. In order to understand where this quote is sourced from, we began by really taking the time to understand the books of the Jewish canon: we went over the differences between Torah, Mishnah, Talmud and other Jewish works with a helpful video. Once we were able to understand what the Mishnah is and where this quote comes from, we came back to the initial quote and considered this statement about responsibility that is over 2000 years old. What can we learn from our ancestors telling us it's okay to not be able to finish the job, but this isn't an excuse not to try? The students discussed many issues in the world that they feel overwhelmed by the "bigness" of, and then broke those issues into smaller "action steps" they could participate in. Some examples included global warming, homelessness, COVID-19, and politics. Students found things they could do from home to help each of these causes, and shared that this helped them feel less overwhelmed. 

Kita Hey and Vav with Yonatan

Today we examined law and ground rules in our personal, family environment, in the Torah and Halacha. We zoomed in to a saying of Pirkei Avot that says you are not required to finish the work, but you are required not to ignore it, either. We first got some context for Pirkei Avot and learned about the books of the Mishnah. We shared how this teaching connects to our own lives, especially in these times with COVID-19. We also started preparing for Pesach by learning about the 4 questions that create special grounding rules for Pesach feast - why is this night different from all nights?