July 2010
Tamuz/AV 5770
SHIR HAYAM HAS A NEW PHONE NUMBER – 206-567-9414
Note: to access older newsletters (only the most recent 10 show on the newsletter page) please type http://www.shirhayam.org/news/june-2007 in your browser (replacing month and year in the example with the one you are requesting).
Event Quick Reference:
See member’s calendar or call 206-567-9414 for event details.
July 20 Operation Sack lunch
July 31 Dashiell Manoff Mortell Bar Mitzvah
September 26 CROP Hunger Walk
Dashiell Manoff Mortell Bar Mitzvah
Dear Shir Hayam members,
You are invited to share in our celebration as our son Dashiell Mortell is called to the Torah as a Bar Mitzvah! July 31st, 12:30 at Island Center Hall
If you are planning to attend please RSVP with how many are in your party to Dinah Mortell at MalibuDiva@aol.com
MAZAL TOV
Double Mazal Tovs to Hallie Rosner and Talia Weiss and their families on their recent high school graduations. We have watched both these amazing young woman from elementary school on through their Bat Mitzvot, and on through high school. Both of them have contributed so much to our chavurah with their idealism, their participation, their teaching at the JLC, their love of learning, and their standing as role models for those younger – these attributes and contributions have enriched our chavurah beyond measure. We are so proud of them! In the fall, Hallie will move to Eugene to attend the University of Oregon and Talia will move to Hanover, New Hampshire to attend Dartmouth College. Our thanks to them for all they have given us and “yesher koach” in all their future endeavors.
Mazal Tov to Aaron Shakow and his family on Aaron’s recently receiving his Ph.D. from Harvard.
TIKKUN OLAM
Garden Service Project
Signed up for the Garden Service Project? Thank you to the four families who have done so! The rest of you may not have heard that we began our second season of feeding people without homes last month. Adult and youth members and non-members co-labored to prepare/plant a dedicated vegetable bed.
The plan is to maintain the bed for the next month or two, then harvest the vegetables and head over to Seattle’s Compass Center to fix the food and serve our fellow human beings. Those who took part last year said it was heartwarming and worthwhile, not to mention a fun way of our building community. Please join in by signing up for a weekend of weeding (just 30 minutes, not the entire 48 hour weekend!) Click here to claim your slot
Operation Sack Lunch
Mark your calendars for our second annual trip to the Compass Center in Seattle with Vegetables from the Shir Hayam Garden to help prepare and serve lunch. Kids from JLC will be participating and other Shir Hayamers are welcome.
Tuesday July 20th 9 AM – 3PM or any fraction there of.
No perfumes or perfumes deoderants
No scented lotions
No tank tops
No open-toes shoes
Contact David Cowan with questions: davidc01@aol.com
CROP Hunger Walk
Put the date on your calendar – Sunday, September 26.
JLC VISIONING MEETING
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 Dinah and Arthur’s house (7222 NE Abies Dr, 780-3968) Present: Nancy, Dinah, Judy, Julie, Cheryl, Sue S, Rebecca, Jon, Craig & Zann (Ellen, Robyn & Harley offered input before the meeting)
Common Values- As a group, what are the core values we are trying to impart and live through being part of a Jewish Learning Center?
We each wrote what we believed were the core values of JLC on small slips of paper. Then as a group, we organized them into the following five categories. In parentheses is a synopsis of the different ideas listed by the group for that category.
- Jewish Identity (an interest in heritage, a place children learn about themselves in community)
- Jewish Learning (learning culture: historical and in stories, liturgy, wisdom, tradition past and present)
- Tikkun Olam (extending help or service to others, applying essence of Judaism to our lives)
- Fun/ Celebratory (arts, play, music, ritual)
- Community (a place to affirm community and the spirit of our Chavurah, a loving, caring community, a place where Jewish children enjoy being with other Jewish children, a Jewish community for kids and families, a safe and sane environment where positive group norms are established and preserved)
Diverse Learners- We have a high percentage of very diverse learners and students that need special attention. What vision will guide us in meeting the needs of all our learners? Parents offered the following learning styles favored by their children:
Learn by Teaching- Bayla and Mira
Reading- Cole, Tova
Song- Gabe
Experiential Art–Learning- Cole, Savannah, Gabe, Wylie, Tova, Mira, Bayla
Consistency with Variety (consistent pattern, structure & ritual) – Desi, Cole, Wylie
Visual- Elly, Mira, Cole
Auditory- Elly, Mira, Gabe, Bayla
Moving/ Kinesthetic- Mira
Lots of Stimulation- Tova
The following strategies were suggested:
- Offer classes that are skills-specific, that group by skill level and interest rather than grade level.
- Use a learn and teach model for the B’nai Mitvah kids, perhaps starting at sixth grade. Kids would spend half the time learning and the other half teaching what they learned. Some parents thought their kids would like to do a voluntary homework assignment, reading or an experience, if they got to turn around and teach what they learned (Tova and Sawyer).
- Develop common intentions and values around behavioral norms.
- Develop consistent strategies to support those behavioral intentions and values.
Extending Jewish Learning- Again, given our “common values,” what Jewish learning, if any, do we want to provide for our students over the age of 13? What should we do, if anything, to bring in younger students?
Some ideas discussed about teens were:
- offer a Jewish learning class that extended to age 15.
- have a weekly evening Island teen group
- car pool to other groups in Seattle.
Some ideas about bringing in younger students were: invite families with kids to a Shabbes dinner with one or two other JLC families this summer.
Follow-up: It was suggested that teachers take the results of the meeting and come up with a plan that can be presented to the JLC parents, perhaps at a follow-up meeting.
HAPPENING IN SEATTLE
Yesterday’s Mavens, Today’s Foodies
Food is culture, ritual, nourishment, and memory. Food tells our stories, and cookbooks tell the stories of our food. The Washington State Jewish Historical Society is creating a cookbook called Yesterday’s Mavens, Today’s Foodies: Traditions in Northwest Jewish Kitchens. It will include recipes and photographs to tell the stories of Jewish families throughout the Northwest. Through the lens of the kitchens of your grandmother, your children, and you, we will see a slice of our unique history that illuminates our Sephardic and Ashkenazic traditions, and combines them with the pioneer spirit of the Pacific Northwest, its bounty of food products, fresh produce and its growing “foodie” culture. Your stories, photographs and recipes can be emailed to assistant@wsjhs.org or sent to directly to Lisa Kranseler c/o WSJHS 2031 Third Ave, Seattle, WA 98121.
Questions? Contact Cindy Masin at 206-232-2626 or cindy.masin@gmail.com, or Carol Starin at 206-325-1631 or costarin@aol.com.
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