When Rain Sticks During a Deluge

We met in January to welcome in the month of Shevat, giving special attention to the upcoming (at that point) holiday of Tu B'Shevat.  It was pouring down rain and neighboring towns were in a declared state of emergency due to flooding, but we made rain sticks anyway.  It won't always be this rainy.
We talked about the fruit celebrated at Tu B'Shevat and analyzed which type of fruit(s) best represent us?  Are we hard on the outside but soft on the inside, like an orange? Or the opposite like a peach?

Our next gathering will be Sunday, February 26th to welcome in the month of Adar, or the joyful month.

December gathering to celebrate Kislev

Kislev was nearly coming to a close when we met on December 18th, but we explored its themes anyhow, since Hanukkah was about to begin and Kislev has such rich stories about courage and bravery.  We looked at women of valor from Judith vs. General Holofernes to contemporary examples of Jewish women writers, artists, athletes, stateswomen, and others.  We choose words that identified some of their admirable qualities and made bracelets for ourselves with those words to serve as inspiration.  I hope some of you have worn your bracelets and that you had a fabulous holiday from school.  Tevet is more than half over now and we are looking to the month of Shevat arriving at the end of January.  Our next gathering will be a few days before the new moon, on Sunday 1/22.  With the new year for the trees (Tu b'Shevat) coming soon, we'll be exploring Jewish spirituality and nature. Please bring a cardboard tube from a paper towel roll.

A mid-November, not so Rosh Hodeshy gathering

We last met in mid-November, at the height of the Heshvan moon, on account of my anticipated two-week absence spanning Rosh Hodesh Kislev on Thanksgiving weekend.  For our mid-month meeting, I borrowed material from the Tevet gathering plan, and we focused on our bodies as temples.  We explored some Jewish yoga and used that experience to create some movements to go along with the morning blessings.  Have you been trying to do the morning blessings?  It only takes an extra minute when you wake up, and it can really give your day a sacred starting point.  We also talked about feeling fabulous about our amazing bodies, and getting rid of habits or thoughts that don't nourish our bodies and spirits.  We closed by making cards for each other that I sent out last week.  Hopefully you've received your card from everyone by now.

Here are a few of the girls giving a physical interpretation to part of the morning blessings.

Our mixed up months will actually work out perfectly though.  On account of the holidays, we decided to meet on December 18th (right before the start of Hanukkah and instead of the 25th - which would actually be Rosh Hodesh Tevet - out of respect for interfaith families).  So for our December gathering we'll use the Kislev material which focuses on Hanukkah!  Then starting in January we'll be more closely aligned to the proper dates of the remainder of the school year.
I look forward to seeing you next weekend.  We have some fun craft activities planned for the evening.

Rachel and Leah

We had a great gathering last night and we explored and created our own midrash for the complex relationship between Rachel and Leah.  Here are two wonderful pictures drawn by Tala and Abby.  Remember that the November meeting has been moved from the 27th to the 13th.  It won't exactly be at Rosh Hodesh, but we'll make due.  Thanks girls for your flexibility!

Coming Up: Heshvan

The new moon is fast approaching and will be here shortly before we get together this Sunday evening to welcome in Heshvan.  We'll look at the biblical stories and midrash about Rachel and Leah and explore the complex and powerful nature of sisterhood through some theatrical games and other creative activities.  I hope to see you then.

Our First Gathering

Ten middle school girls gathered to celebrate Rosh Hodesh together for the first time last night. We had a good time learning some new songs, snacking on apples and carmel dip, talking about Rosh Hodesh and thinking about teshuvah and lashan harah in light of the coming new year. The girls wrote notes to themselves about their personal goals for teshuvah and they will get those cards in the mail next week.

I really enjoyed getting to meet all the girls, and I look forward to watching this group grow together.  This is a really special opportunity to build sacred community and potentially life-long friendships.  Thanks to all the girls for coming and giving it a try.

If you haven't already registered, make sure to do so and to submit payment to TBI.  Here's a link to the registration form if you need it.  Our next meeting will be Sunday, October 30th.  Please note, the November 27th meeting will be changed.  The girls will decide next month when to have that meeting, probably, December 4th instead, with the next meeting just two weeks later on December 18th.  Remaining dates for the year then are January 22, February 26th, March 18th, April 22nd, May 20th, and June 17th.

Taste of Rosh Hodesh

We had a small but successful gathering at TBI on June 20th. Not very many of our 6th-8th grade girls were able to come, but hopefully those that did had a good time and are enthusiastic about participating in the program this coming fall.
Be on the lookout for more information next month about signing up, dates and more. I'm looking forward to doing this with you.