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Dear JCOGS family,

I’m excited to share this note from Beth Liberman, our Director of Education, as well as a special poem.

Last Shabbat, we gathered at Beth Jacob Synagogue for a family-friendly Shabbat service.  Jonah Ibson, our longstanding Jewish life curriculum teacher, shared the poem that he and his Jewish life class had created about Eitz haChayyim, the Tree of Life that is our Torah and our source of life.  Listening to the words, shared with you below, was a profoundly moving moment for me.  Keep reading and let yourself be moved.

Tihiyu bri’im, be well.  Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi David

A special note from Beth Liberman:

Curriculum at our Olam Chesed Education Center is like the rings of a tree. We take core concepts of Jewish life that are foundational to growing mensches, and we build upon them, year-by-year. 

In this fifth year of our thematic curriculum we are exploring the theme of חַי chai/life.  This year, as with each year, we build upon the previous years' themes: holy/kadosh > blessing/brachah > mitzvah > shalom.
 
These single-word themes harvested from our liturgy and the curriculum they inspire offer a roadmap for our children to explore and discover a relationship with the divine.

Lifecycles have been a prominent theme this year (l’chayyim!), with a mock baby naming, Mitzvah celebration, and chuppah in our sanctuary.  And we have also been noticing the word חַי in our prayers and songs. For Tu biShevat this year, we explored the Tree of Life, Eitz haChayyim as both a metaphor for Torah as well as our connectedness to one another and the universe as one. Enjoy these photos of the Eitz haChayyim ice sculpture that we built and the poem that our youth and teacher Jonah wrote together.

Beth Liberman
Director of Education
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Judaism is a tree of life

Judaism is a tree of life.
The roots are our lifeline to the ancestors who have come before 
and who keep us grounded.
The trunk is all of  the teachings that help us live good lives.
The branches and leaves are the questions we ask and all there is to learn.

Judaism is a tree of life.
The roots are all the twisting pathways and ways we can be Jewish. 
The trunk is the strength of our community.
The branches and leaves are all the ways we can be different but still connected.

Judaism is a tree of life.
The roots are how we cooperate, like the ways trees send nutrients to their fellows in need through their root systems.
The trunk is how we pass knowledge and wisdom between generations like water and food flowing up and down a tree.
The branches and leaves are the children, growing, and yet to be born.

Judaism is a tree of life.
Whoever holds fast to her will be happy.

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