As we learned about the high holidays, Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, we have concentrated on the concept of forgiveness- Selicha in Hebrew (סליחה).
we talked about acknowledging our mistakes and starting over. We learned stories of people who made mistakes and how they overcame them.
The 3rd graders learned a lot of new Hebrew vocabulary connected with the high holidays. Then, we did Tashlich- a tradition that symbolizes throwing away our sins into the water. We did it both indoors and outdoors. On Friday before Yom Kippur, we walked to Klode park, where we had a beautiful Shabbat sing, sat in a group and discussed our process of Teshuva, and went near the water to throw small pebbles into the lake.
On Erev Yom Kippur, Tuesday morning, we used filter paper and markers and wrote the word “סליחה” on the paper. we then dipped our papers in water and we saw how the water washes the words away, leaving us with a clear new start.
I was also very lucky on the same day to join the 3rd graders on their repairing together program at Urban Ecology center where they met their partners from 3 different Milwaukee schools and had a beautiful program in nature together. It really brought us all into Yom Kippur with hearts full of friendship and a sense of community.
Wishing you Chag Sameach for the holiday of Sukkot which we will also celebrate together visiting the school Sukkah and with much more Jewish learning.