Relevance and Relationships

This past Sunday, I was with the Dalet class parents and then the Heh class parents for our Mishpachah day.  I didn't get to walk around the school.  I appreciate Jess, the Kitah Zayin teacher and Florencia, the Art teacher who sent me these photos.  Our Kitah Dalet and Kitah Heh families did a name project together.  It is meaningful to our students and to our teachers when parents show an interest in what is happening at Beit Sefer and make the extra effort to be here for an event.  In the photos, the smiles, the hands on each other, the leanings towards each other underline the relationships that are the context for the children's Jewish experiences.  When home and Beit Sefer integrate, the students find more relevance and meaning in what they are doing.   

In Kitah Zayin, they are just as happy to be with the social group without parents.   In this small class community, the students made Chanukah cards by melting crayons on a card.   Everyone will have a chance to do this project on Sunday at our Chanukah celebration.  

Whichever way it happens in families, or among friends, Judaism becomes more relevant to our students when it is a part of the relationships that are in our students' lives.