From the Desk of Shira Reifman, Director of Keren Or |
Dear Friends,
"When the Hebrew month of Adar begins, our joy increases!" Perhaps this Rabbinic adage was never truer than this year, as Israel rolled out its incredible vaccine campaign and we celebrated the Purim holiday with a sense of hope and renewed happiness.
Although we are still adhering to strict Coronavirus protocols, we made sure that the children of Keren Or had a holiday season full of fun and special activities. Our students enjoyed a socially distanced outdoor concert, dressed in costumes, baked hamentaschen, received mishloach manot gift baskets, played carnival games and so much more. I hope you'll enjoy reading about a few of these activities in this issue of Keren Or HighLIGHTS.
One particularly special program took place in our vocational workshop where our older students created hundreds of mishloach manot gift baskets that they marketed and sold at a local outdoor mall. The theme of the basket was "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade" and it was filled with a variety of lemon-flavored treats. As we mark one year of the pandemic, I believe it's critical that we heed our students' message. Whether it be during Corona, or any other situation in life, we must work to find the sweetness in difficult situations.
Thank you for bringing so much fun and happiness to the children of Keren Or, during the Purim season and all year round.
May your life be filled with joy and sweetness,
Shira
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Gathering together as the Keren Or community to celebrate Purim has always been a highlight of the school year. Like many other events, due to Covid, this year's Purim celebrations had to be reimagined. The Wolk Family Music Patio allowed for the students of Keren Or to start Adar off with a socially distanced concert. The students, safely at a distance, listened to their favorite Purim tunes and brought them into the holiday spirit.
During the week of Purim, decorated hallways and familiar tunes filled the building. On school-wide dress-up day, every student arrived as everything between Israeli music icons, bakers, ladybugs, and dolls ready to celebrate. The students delivered mishloach manot to their friends and paraded down the halls. Later in the week students formed hamentashen, utilizing their motor skills and personalized aids to feel and roll out the dough, add in the fillings, and shape the cookies. These activities, among others, brought the joy of Purim into our halls while using every opportunity as a teaching moment.
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Purim in our Employment Program |
As part of our employment program, the older students made and assembled mishloach manot Purim baskets sold in and outside of the school. The students were split into two groups, the first group focused on packaging the treats, utilizing their personally-tailored visual and tactile aids. The second group created decorative ceramic elements for the package.
The group then sold the gift baskets at the Ramot outdoor mall, engaging in social interactions and learning how to handle money. Taking part in every step of the process, from making to selling and being involved in our larger community increased our students' self-esteem. Improving each student's skills and creating contexts for social interaction is central to Keren Or's goal of opening each student's world and preparing them for whatever comes next.
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Women's Division Final Virtual Museum Tour of the Year |
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A hallmark of Keren Or's Women's Division programming is an annual series of exclusive art museum trips. Each year, Women's Division members are treated to private tours of 5-6 special exhibits in the New York area.
In the summer of 2020, when it became clear that in-person tours would not be possible, we decided to offer a unique series of museum events broadcast via zoom from Israeli museums! Over the past 5 months, Women enjoyed tours of the Agam, Reuven Rubin, Nahum Gutman, and Janco Dada museums from Israel, as well as a tour of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. For the first time ever, women from across the United States and Israel were able to participate in these fascinating and enriching programs. The feedback has been phenomenal and – whether live or virtual – we're already looking forward to next year's museum events!
We want to thank all of the women who took a leap of faith with us and participated in our first ever zoom events. We are so grateful to them, and the entire Keren Or Women's Division, for their endless devotion to the children of Keren Or. Thank you for being a special part of the Keren Or family.
For more information about getting involved with the Women's Division, please contact Shira Reifman at [email protected] .
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350 7th Ave. Suite 1004
New York, NY 10001
United States
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3 Abba Hillel St.
Ramot 91234
Jerusalem, Israel
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