This week, the Preschool Classroom learned about Shavuot... They learned how Shavuot marks the day that the Torah was given to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai. That day was a very unusual one, with lightning, thunder and the earth shaking. Moses came down from the Mountain, his face all red and glowing, and read the Ten Commandments to the Children of Israel.
The Preschool teachers explained how in Biblical times, Shavuot was at the time when the Jewish people harvested their wheat crop and their last grain of the season, and began harvesting their fruit crops. An important part of the celebration of Shavuot in those times was the ceremony of bringing the "first fruits," or bikkurim, of the harvest to the Temple as an offering of thanks to God. The bikkurim were carried in beautifully decorated baskets. Families would gather together to walk to Jerusalem and they would sing, dance and have music playing whilst they walked. When they arrived at the Temple, they gave their offerings to the priests who would bless them. The preschoolers created beautiful - and colorful - bikkurims out of glue and string!
Our Preschoolers learned how we celebrate Shavuot: through greenery, studying the Torah and eating dairy foods.
On Shavuot we decorate our synagogues and homes with greenery, flowers and even fruits. This reminds us that on the day the Jewish people received the Torah, Mount Sinai bloomed with flowers. Using greenery also reminds us of the harvests. Each Preschooler decorated a beautiful flower to glue onto the classroom Mount Sinai.
The Preschool teachers explained how Jewish adults spend the eve of Shavuot staying up all night learning Torah. This custom is called Tikkun Leil Shavuot, which means ‘making ourselves better people on the night of Shavuot.' The Preschool teachers choose to focus on reviewing the Ten Commandments with the students. Each Preschooler created and decorated their own tablet with the Hebrew numbers one through ten.
Our students learned that on Shavuot we eat dairy foods (foods made from milk). These can include cheesecake, cheese-filled pancakes (called blintzes) and quiches. Some people also bake tall cakes to remind us how tall Mount Sinai was. Other people eat fruit, in particular the seven species of Eretz Israel (including figs, pomegranates and dates). The preschoolers helped make - and enjoyed - delicious homemade ice cream in the classroom!
Take a look at the beautiful art - bikkurims, flowers and tablets - and delicious ice cream our Preschoolers made this week!
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