The Havdalah Project

The Havdalah Project
Written by Edward Guttman

What we are doing
The SAJ Hebrew School is creating opportunities for kids and their families to share joyful and engaging Jewish experiences. Our goal is to extend these experiences beyond SAJ into your homes and back again, creating greater connections among our families and the congregation.

The Havdalah Project is our pilot program — our chance to try some new ideas and learn what works. We decided to start with Kitah Gimmel. Future events, activities and experiences will be extended to other classes.

How we got here
The Havdalah Project was conceived by the SAJ Hebrew School Steering Committee, which met approximately once per month and used a combination of text study and discussion to develop and refine a shared educational vision. One of our first outcomes was a vision statement, which we think articulates the SAJ Hebrew School’s core goals. The draft of this statement is shown below.

• The SAJ Hebrew School nourishes the whole life of our children. We will develop the Jewish self as a way of connecting with the world at large. Our open environment reflects the Reconstructionist tradition which invites all questions to promote a shared search for meaning. We foster a culture of respect, enriched by the diversity of our community.
• The school's experiential approach to learning inspires children and their families to embrace the joys and journeys of Jewish life. Our explorations of Jewish culture, arts, history, holiday rituals, Hebrew language and prayer engage and animate our learners.
• Children at SAJ develop connections to values and traditions that span generations. They are empowered to engage in spiritual practices and to grapple with complex issues of belief and faith. Our students go forward with a rich foundation in Jewish life as they become active participants in our synagogue and responsible citizens of the world.

We then went through a process of defining specific outcomes that should result from the pilot, and determining how we assess the pilot’s success.

Coming out of this pilot, the Hebrew School Steering Committee will solicit feedback from you through a survey and general discussion through venues such as email and a Facebook page. We’ll communicate what we’ve learned and share ideas and next steps for future activities. And we will revisit the above vision statement, revising it as needed based on what we learn from the pilot as well as input from you and the broader the SAJ community.

Our process has been guided in part by Lifnei LOMED, a UJA-sponsored organization that has developed a methodology for creating contemporary models of Jewish learning. More information about Lifnei LOMED can be found at http://www.sajes.org/congregationallearning.php.

Why Havdalah?
Our goal for the pilot program is to facilitate an experience that is new and challenging yet repeatable and accessible. We know that many SAJ families celebrate Shabbat together, and have developed traditions marking its start on Friday evenings. However, observing the end of Shabbat and the transition to the new week on Saturday evenings is a less common practice.

Havdalah allows us to set aside some time to acknowledge the special and holy time of Shabbat, distinguish it from other activities and think about our hopes and goals for the week to come. It also provides an opportunity to do something that can span weeks and allow new experiences and ideas to develop and flourish. Because Havdalah encourages a person to use all five senses — tasting wine, smelling spices, seeing the candle flame, feeling the candle’s heat and hearing the blessings — we can focus on individual senses as learning themes for each of the four at-home weeks of this activity.

What the pilot will look like

We are sending each Kitah Gimmel student home with a "Havdalah kit" containing all the materials and prayers families need to practice the ritual (except wine/juice and matches). Gimmel students will also learn about Havdalah rituals and concepts in Hebrew School.

Shabbat ends on Saturday after the appearance of three stars in the evening sky. We’ve used this as inspiration for a weekly family project. This is how it will work:

• Each week prior to Shabbat, Kitah Gimmel families will receive an email with information (which will also be shared on the newly launched SAJ Hebrew School Facebook page) about the theme for the week, including discussion questions. They will be guided to decorate the stars enclosed in their kits, using their family’s discussion as a jumping off point.

• After completing their stars, they will share their experiences and ideas with other families by posting a photograph of their decorated stars and a few words about the family's exploration in creating it on our Facebook page (or for those without Facebook accounts, e-mailing a post to havdalahproject@gmail.com for us to include on the Facebook page)

• On the Facebook page, we will also provide suggestions for additional activities if familes wish to explore further and to add more posts.

• All Hebrew School families will be invited to complete a short survey online before and after the pilot. Please complete them as families or individually. This will help us assess the pilot.

• If you do not have a child in Kitah Gimmel, we encourage you to visit this page and join us in the project through family discussions and posting with responses of your own.

At the Kitah Gimmel Havdalah celebration at SAJ on May 14th, we’ll use the stars in a creative project and share your other expressions from the prior four weeks together.

Current committee members are:
Joel Topcik — Committee Chair, parent of Vera (Kitah Bet) and Esme (future student)
Gary Drevitch — parent of Benjamin (Kitah Gimmel), Natalie (Kitah Bet) and Adam (future student)
Emil Freund — parent of Julia (Kitah Bet) and Max (Kitah Bet)
Edward Guttman — parent of Franklin (Kitah Gimmel) and Nora (future student)
Gerald Ginsburg — parent of Arianna and Ivan (teens/Bogrim ‘09 -’10)
Tirtzah Bassel — Head Teacher
Gidon Isaacs — Education Director
Rabbi Michael Strassfeld

If you are interested in participating in this committee, please contact Gidon at education.saj@verizon.net or (212) 724-7172

If you have any questions about this project along the way, please feel free to email Joel Topcik at jtopcik@gmail.com or havdalahproject@gmail.com