After learning how Jews were treated in the various U.S. colonies, Jewish Culture School students wrote these notes for a letter to President Biden about why immigrants should be welcome in the United States. They used some of the same arguments made by the Jews of New Amsterdam in their letter to the Dutch West India Company.
The sound of the shofar is meant to wake us up so we can look at ourselves and the world around us and decide how to change in the coming year. We asked the Jewish Culture School students to make pictures of what they wished the world would wake up to in the coming year. Here are some of their pictures:
Jewish Culture School students made applesauce cake for Rosh hashanah apart/together on zoom! Everyone’s was delicious!
The school-wide curriculum for the 2019-2020 (Jewish year 5780) will be “Jewish Ideas.” We’ll cover topics like Jewish views of Justice, Learning, Family, Being a Mensch, Israel or Diaspora and the Jewish Community. Our first session will be on September 8th from 10:30-12:30 at Aran’s Art Studio in Castro Valley.
Come learn about the fun ways we teach Jewish Culture in a hands-on and engaging way! We enjoy singing, dancing, and cooking in a Secular Humanistic Jewish environment. Students who attend this first day will paint mezuzahs and hear stories. Enrolled students paint for free; others pay $10 per mezuzah. Space is limited… make your reservations now! RSVP to culturaljews@gmail.com, or call 510-384-8756 with any questions.
Throughout this school year, students will be encouraged to discuss among themselves and with their parents topics related to these themes. The younger children will enjoy crafts related to the concepts; older children will learn the history and literature surrounding these Jewish ideas. Both classes will learn songs on these themes. And, of course, we’ll still be cooking, dancing, and hearing Jewish folktales.
Jewish Culture School is open to children aged 5-14 and culminates in a Brit Mitzvah ceremony.
Join us on Sunday, September 10 from 10:30 – 12:30 at Alden Lane Nursery as we begin our Jewish Culture School year! We will learn about (and taste) apples and honey. This is a great opportunity to learn about the Tri-Valley Cultural Jews and our Jewish Culture School, which focuses on Jewish culture and history. Our curriculum provides a hands-on, fun learning experience featuring dancing, singing, and cooking. We focus on Jewish culture and history. JCS is open to ages 6 through 14, leading to a Secular Bar/Bat Mitzvah.
Today the older Jewish Culture School students focused on images of the Jews in the art of the Middle Ages in Europe as a way to talk about stereotypes and propaganda that reinforces them. The students saw pictures of Jews with large hooked noses and ugly expressions meeting with Jesus, who looks like a white European, although he should have looked like a Jew. The students learned how stereotypes are used to divide people and discussed current events with this in mind. Then they made their own art depicting Jews. Of course, all of them are different!
The younger class talked about some famous Jews namely, Emma Lazarus and Albert Einstein and what it means to be part of the larger Jewish family that includes them.
Our students made two pots of tsimmis using different ingredients. Stidents discovered the concept of “too much of a good thing” when they added a LOT of honey to one pot!
