Tashlich Trip: Belmont Lake State Park

Students in grades one through six traveled to Belmont Lake State Park in West Babylon to perform tashlich. This custom, traditionally performed between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, symbolizes casting off one’s sins into a body of water. The outing took place on a perfect sunny day and opened with a rousing game of “Shimon Omer (Simon Says),” led by Rabbi Fogel as the buses arrived. 

The students were divided into 13 groups of students from every grade, each with a sixth grader and/or teacher to lead. The first pre-tashlich exercise was a Forgiveness Circle; a soft ball was passed around the circle, with the person holding the ball sharing something for which he or she wants to be forgiven, or something to improve. This was followed by a Compliment Chain, in which the person holding the ball must compliment the person on their right or speak about a positive quality they hope to develop. The final exercise was Commitment Stickers. Each student received a sticker on which to write one specific commitment for self-improvement; the sticker could be worn on either the outside or inside of the shirt, depending on the privacy factor.

Students then headed to the lakeside for the traditional recital of tashlich. Rabbi Fogel explained that, while sins can’t literally be thrown away, tashlich offers an important opportunity to consider what behaviors and attitudes are holding us back from being the best possible version of ourselves. 

The outing ended with a picnic lunch and time to play in the park and soak up the sunshine, delighting all Mercaz students and staff and serving as the perfect end to a special tefillah experience.

Tashlich "Trip": ECC and Kindergarten Can Do It, Too

Students in the ECC and Kindergarten also engaged in experiential learning while performing the ritual casting-off of their sins. Their trip was a little shorter, involving a walk to “Lake Mercaz,” a paddle pool that was set up on the school grounds. 

Once at the pool, the Toddler class enacted throwing their sins into the water. After reciting the tefillah, students in Nursery Aleph, Nursery Bet, and Kindergarten collectively wrote their mistakes on diffusing paper, then placed the paper in the water and watched as the written evidence of their mistakes was washed away in the water. This served as a powerful example of Hashem’s forgiveness and the fresh new start offered at Yom Kippur. Students followed this up with a thoughtful discussion about things they would like to do better in the new year. Some suggestions offered by the Kindergarten class included treating their mothers nicely, not cutting into the line in school and, of course, never bullying other students. Several Nursery Bet students planned to treat their brothers and sisters better, as well.

These commitments were written on stickers, which were proudly worn for the rest of the day as evidence of all that our ECC students have learned about teshuvah (repentance). 

Pre-Rosh Hashanah Challah Bake and Tzitzit Tying

A two-day pre-Rosh Hashanah challah bake brought the whole school together in joint celebration of the New Year. Students from toddlers through sixth grade learned the symbolism behind the custom of eating round challah on Rosh Hashanah and enjoyed making their own, with older grades learning the technique to create an intricate round braid and younger students making a knotted or coiled challah with the aid of the “big kids.” We expanded our circle even more by inviting two special-needs adults from the Adler Center Academy at the Mid-Island Y-JCC to join the challah bake. Director of Programming Morah Phyllis Tessler invited one of these participants to recite the bracha and separate the challah, noting how fortunate it was to have a challah baker over bat-mitzvah age at Mercaz to perform this mitzvah. 

While all this was happening on the first floor, boys in grades four through six welcomed back Mercaz Academy grandparent Rabbi Dr. Elliot Grossman, who taught them how to tie their very own tzitzit. Each student received a four-cornered garment, and Rabbi Grossman demonstrated how to tie tzitzit according to both the Ashkenazi and Sephardi traditions–an even more intricate knotting protocol than the four-strand basket-weave round challot crafted by their friends downstairs. These tzitzit convey a personal message to the boys who wear them that no store-bought tzitzit could ever duplicate, and we are so grateful to Rabbi Dr. Grossman for this important lesson in Torah through avodah.

Bee-ing Nursery Aleph Lavan Proves a Sweet Experience

Nursery Aleph Lavan students were busy as bees in the days leading up to Rosh Hashanah, and they were focusing their attention on a very good question: Where does honey come from?

The children of Nursery Aleph Lavan had heard about beehives. After learning about the symmetrical cells where honey is stored, they painted their own beehives by dipping bubble wrap into yellow paint, recreating the look of rows of uniform cells packed full of honey. Nursery Aleph Lavan discovered that bees fly back and forth between the hive and the flowers that are their source of nectar, the ingredient needed for bees to make honey. 

Bees were incorporated in Nursery Aleph’s learning in many different ways. Students counted the number of bees that were “flying into the hive” for their math rotation station; their artistic skills were brought into play as they designed honeybee cards for Rosh Hashanah with the assistance of sixth grade helpers. Finally, the students of Nursery Aleph re-enacted the process of honey-making for a real insider’s look, taking turns “sucking” the “nectar” from the “flower” using a proboscis, which is a bee’s long tongue (the part of the proboscis was played by a turkey baster). Finally, the Nursery Aleph Lavan bees transported it to a honeycomb (an ice cube tray) inside the “hive.” 

Nursery Aleph students have mastered all the steps in the process of making honey, but don’t feel ready to produce any of their own just yet. Maybe next year?

Chag Ha'Asif in the GrowTorah Garden

This week in the Mercaz GrowTorah garden, we examined one of the four names for the holiday of Sukkot, Chag Ha’Asif, the festival of gathering. Farmers in Israel celebrate the harvest of wheat and other grains at Sukkot; here at Mercaz, students explored the garden for crops ready to harvest. Students gathered plants both for themselves and to donate for tzedakah, harvesting and tasting crunchy carrots, sweet ground cherries, and juicy tomatoes. Crops gathered to give to the needy included Swiss chard, squash, and assorted herbs. Some students even created beautiful bouquets of carrot flowers to bring home for the chag. 

Mercaz students felt the work they did gathering crops for tzedakah was a meaningful way to connect the harvest with the spirit of giving, and look forward to more opportunities to share the bounty of the GrowTorah garden this year.