It's Saturday night, the sun has set and the call has to be made: do we cancel school tomorrow? The northeast wind was howling, but power was still on in the home of this reporter, and so too was the internet, so access to an enormous amount of information we didn't need was still readily available. Millions of dollars of news coverage could be said in 5 words: it is snowing a lot.
Even though the snow was to stop at 5AM on Sunday, and be a real bluebird of a day by 10AM, we wondered how much goodwill with our SCFLP families would be squandered if we made them get up early on Sunday and shovel? And how much grumbling would tilt our wee Hebrews toward loathing religious instruction because they were denied a chance to play in really perfect sheleg? These are the factors we consider when trying to hold a space for a Jewish community in a secular world where it snows. Sorry, shelegs.
The mayor of Gloucester made it easy for us: a parking ban was in effect until 12PM on Sunday. No parking? No shul. See you this Sunday!
TUESDAY MIDRASH MAKERS spent the first half of our program in the sheleg in the gan out front. It was high enough to make מנהרות minharot, or tunnels. (see picture above) Yes, we threw sheleg at each other, but at one point a student spoke up with cavod: "let's make something together instead of fighting" We broke up the sheleg party just long enough to study Ivrit with our coaches for 30 minutes, online and in person,and then back out into the sheleg we went.
Well , some of us. Soli and Violet stayed inside to do even MORE Ivrit with Phoebe which was very gratifying.
