March 28th, The Lay of the Land

 This week we continued our exploration of Israel. 

Grace's class learned about how diverse Jewish people can be throughout the land of Israel and all across the globe. Charlie asked, "Why did so many Jewish people start moving to Israel 100 years ago?" And Theo inquired "Are there fewer Jewish people in Israel due to the Holocaust?" The class pondered on these questions and then ventured into exploring the country's sights, sounds, smells, and tastes from the perspective of the picture-book character, Sammy the Spider. They ended the class by learning two Israeli folk dances.

Arielle's class spoke in depth about the geography and nature in the land of Israel. Frank had a wealth of knowledge on the subject and was excited to share his thoughts. The class watched a video where they marked down two facts they didn't before know about Israel, and one thing from the video that could potentially be a biased representation.

Tali's class discussed the different climates and land throughout the land of Israel. Together they made a map of Israel with assorted supplies and used different supplies and colors to represent the different landscapes, all the way from Haifa to Eilat!

Adira's class also explored the different places in Israel, and Adira showed the class some pictures of her own trip to Israel, including her very first trip to a kosher Mcdonald's in Israel! The class also discussed the meaning of homeland. They thought about things like, what does home feel like and what are some places in the world that feel like home? They started coming to an understanding of what it means to have a Jewish homeland for the Jewish people.

Our classes had an amazing time exploring the land of Israel and just dipping our toes into all that the land has to offer. Next week we'll begin learning the story of Pesach! It seems like just yesterday we learned the Chanukah story.

L'hitraot!