blogs/masa

Hillel said, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”

We kicked off winter break with a wonderful Hanukkah party. I am glad so many families were able to join us, and I hope that you all enjoyed it as much as I did. Scroll to the bottom of this post for some pictures (including pictures from the photo booth that used the green screen app)!

We returned from break ready to learn. Friday Masa students are already beginning to prepare for Purim spiel with Debbie, hearing and discussing Jewish stories with Rabbi Brent, and making Shabbat challah boards and challah covers with me. I hope you’ll be able to join us this winter at Mini Minyan and potluck, Fridays beginning at 5:30. Our students have gotten a lot of practice leading services, and they often bring some beautiful insights to the songs we sing.

On Sunday, we continued our exploration of Pirkei Avot by learning a verse from Hillel: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” The students discussed what it actually means to “be for myself.” Our youngest students focused on the task of getting to know themselves, while the older students considered different interpretations and understandings of the verse (as well as practicing reading the verse in Hebrew).

Our students have been stepping up to take on a lot of responsibility, from the gan (kindergarten) working together to clean up after snack, to the B-mitzvah class working together to learn the Amidah while Ellen was away for the day.

Coming up, we have Masa every Friday (4:00-6:00) and Sunday (9:30-12:30) this month. It will be nice to get back into our routines!

The Purim Carnival will be on Sunday March 8, from 11:00-1:00. I hope that everyone will join us. Please watch this space for updates about how you can help out!

Click here to see more images from the Hanukkah party!