Sunday, January 22nd: 1st grade

We start the day, by sharing what made our week exciting with the rest of the class. Then we go to have services ( kahilah) with the Cantor, where most of us along with the kindergarteners and second graders go up in the front to sit with the cantor. Then we get to think of the things we are thankful for this week like the clothes on our body  and for having loving families.

We talk with the cantor about Passover and each of he plagues.  Cantor asks us to wonder why god made it so difficult for the Israelites to leave, we so come up with a few answers of why we think he did this including: wanting them to learn a lesson such as to not be greedy and appreciate what they get or if you want to get something done you have to work hard for it. Cantor tells us he thinks that God wanted the people to understand how powerful he is and that the Israelites should be worshipping him because he can do so much and be incredibly helpful if hey are nice to him.

We get to stick around with the Cantor because we get to be a part of a special ceremony in a few weeks, our consecration. It is so special, because there was once a time when we couldn't freely sing out that we were Jewish. Since our consecration will be on tubishvat, we learn a song about the trees through each season.

Cantor brings out a Torah for us, and we realize, it's made out of wood, which comes from trees! We talk about what else trees can give you, including paper, shelter, and things to build houses with. As we notice, trees can give us a lot of stuff which we will end up having  a song about.