A Judaism Experience

Today, saw the final part of our Diversity week culminate in a visit from a representative of the Jewish faith. Deborah worked with each class and covered Shabbat with Year 3. The children learnt how and why Jewish people celebrate Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, every week. The children got to set a traditional Friday night table and had the opportunity to taste the traditional bread called hallah. The children also learnt to write Shabbat in Hebrew. A whole school assembly was then conducted with a Jewish-related story and song. 

Year 4 looked at Jewish Holy Days - Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The children were taught that these important festivals come once a year and are a chance for Jewish people to reflect on the past year and think about the year ahead. They heard the shofar blown and considered its significance and had the chance to try apple and honey and then learnt the story of Jonah and the whale. This story is always read at this time of year and the children then used drama to explore it and its themes of forgiveness.

In Year 5, the children learnt about Passover in more detail. They revisited the story of the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt in ancient times and considered how and why Jewish people celebrate this festival of freedom today. They learnt about the Passover seder and drew their own paper versions of seder plates while considering all the significant things found on them. The children got to taste matzah the traditional flatbread eaten during the festival.

Year 6 studied the Torah and the synagogue with video clips and artefacts being used to help them explore the significant things found in the synagogue, such as the Torah, Tallit, Kippah and Ark etc. They learnt more about the Torah, what they are and how they are written. They role-played how Jewish people traditionally read from the Torah and considered the Bar/Bat Mitzvah, the coming of age ceremony for Jewish young people. They were also given a small craft activity to make their own mini Torah scrolls.

An extremely well delivered day for the children to learn more about Judaism.