Friday Feb 22

A Musical Kabbalat Shabbat
By Alison Levy, Musician and Tots Program Coordinator at Peninsula Temple Beth El (San Francisco)

Today we visited two wonderful and lively preschools. The first one, Gan Shibboleth, recently moved to a new big, bright space behind an elementary school, and the moment we walked in, they were singing and dancing! The school is very inspired by nature, and many of the objects in the classroom were made of natural materials. Rachel Hazan, the lead teacher of the school, is warm and fun and very enthusiastic. They also place a high importance on handcrafts, teaching the children how to work with their hands, how to co-operate and take care of one another, and how to care for their environment. They also stress the importance of welcoming the community into the classroom. We sang songs with them, worked on making leaf pictures, weaving, and soap shaving, and we visited their garden. They served us a lovely home-made lunch, complete with a beautiful frosted cake that said “Welcome!” I brought my ukulele, and Andrea and I sang a song and played a game with the children, naming colors in English and Hebrew. 

The next school, Gan Ta’inim treated us to a full Kabbalat Shabbat, complete with songs, dancing, movement, making a train around the room, and a Shabbat “ima” and “abba.” The teacher taught some Ashkenazi and some Sephardic tunes, which was such a treat. We were amazed at how many songs the children knew, and how much they could remember and sing. The teachers wore beautiful head-wraps, and were very warm and welcoming. 

After visiting the schools, we took a little trip to the beach and strolled in the sand, put our feet in the water, collected shells and rocks, and enjoyed the warm sunshine. It was so nice and relaxing after a busy week. We all then went to our host homes to get ready for Shabbat.

After our school visits, we all went to our home hosts to get ready for Shabbat. Yanira and I were incredibly lucky to stay with Liat Adi and her family. As soon as we walked into her home, we felt completely welcome and comfortable. Liat was just putting the finishing touches on all the dishes for Shabbat dinner, and served us a wonderful lunch of homemade Kubbeh soup - meat-filled dumplings in a light broth. We then had some time to rest and freshen up before Shabbat dinner at Shifra’s house. (Shiffra is the Director of Early Childhood Education for the Municipality of Haifa, and organized all our school visits while we were there). 

Shifra had asked me to lead a couple of songs for the Shabbat dinner, which was a huge honor! I brought along the guitar that Efrat (the teacher from the Forest School) had loaned me. Shifra’s home was absolutely beautiful, and there was a huge group gathered for Shabbat dinner - Liat’s whole family, Shifra’s family, Rachel Raz & Debbie Gardner from our group, and several other teachers and friends. It was a lively and fun group. I led the group in singing “Ozi v’Zimrat Ya” and “Hinei Ma Tov,” Shifra’s husband led the Shabbat blessings, and then came… the FOOD. 

This was my first Shabbat dinner in Israel, and it was amazing. It was like Thanksgiving, Pesach, and Shabbat all rolled into one. First course was fish - Liat had made two fish dishes, a marinated salmon, and a white fish in a Chraime sauce that was to die for. Then came the meat and veggie dishes - lamb, beef with mushrooms, pumpkin stew, and a slew of other delicious things. Plus salads, salads, salads! We ate ‘til we were stuffed and then came.. dessert! Cakes, fruit platters, nuts - it just went on and on. And of course, I had to try everything because you know, research. ;-)

What I noticed the most about the evening was that everyone had a smile on their face the entire time. The hosts seemed so relaxed and happy, even in the face of a backed-up kitchen drain and loads of dishes and guests to manage. Everyone was just filled with the joy of Shabbat, and this really stayed with me. I could see that Shabbat has such a profound meaning to everyone there, and it really is a holy time to cherish being together and unwinding. Sometimes in our busy American lives, it’s easy to forget this. But in Israel, it is a priority, a given, and a gift. 

Anyway - it was such a lovely night, and we rolled back to Liat’s full and happy for a good night’s sleep. 

The Gan Shibboleth parents made a lot of food for us.  Rahel Hazan keeps the community closely involved with classroom activities and the kids are skilled at welcoming guests.

We picked some leaves to make "Arab bread." 

 Gan Shibboleth uses raw materials to create clay that can be fired...

 The clay is baked to harden, and can be imprinted with natural materials and used for a matching game.

Grating soap...

A nature collage activity station.