The Charlotte Jewish News - March 1999 - Page 10
Lubavitch of North Carolina
Carolina Shabbaton
Creates Island in Time
Jewish Day SchooFs Fourth Grade Class
Experiences a Book
Imagine being away with your
family on a remote island with one
hotel to accommodate your lodg
ing and dining, no outside com
munication, only with those who
are staying with you on the island.
Sounds adventurous? This is pre
cisely what 250 people
from across the
Carolinas experienced at
the Carolina Family
Shabbaton held in
Columbia.
The last weekend of
January was transformed
in to a splendid family
Shabbat excursion that
lasted for 25 uninterrupted hours.
The Quality Inn Hotel in North
Columbia was converted in to a
Synagogue and kosher dining hall
all in one. The main ballroom radi
ated with the brightness of the
many Shabbat candles that were lit
just prior to the onset of Shabbat.
The Lubavitch rabbis of the
Carolinas led the services. Rabbi
Hesh Epstein Director of Chabad
of Columbia welcomed the guests
with his warmth and wit. Rabbi
Pinny Herman of the Lubavitch
Center in Raleigh explained the
services as the large congregation
read the prayers and joined in
melodious songs of Shabbat.
Children’s services were created
and led by Charlotte’s Chanie
Weiss, Judaic teacher at the Jewish
Day School, as well as the many
exciting children’s programs that
were held throughout the week
end.
The main dining hall was nicely
decorated with Shabbat items and
was packed wall to wall with
Jewish families enjoying delicious
kosher Shabbat cuisine. Rabbis
Binyomin Weiss and Shlomo
Cohen prepared a special song
book for the Shabbaton and they
led the enthusiastic crowd in
delightful Shabbat songs.
There were a variety of work
shops and discussion groups,
which gave people an opportunity
to explore their Judaism in an
intellectual and meaningful way.
The most attractive workshop was
“Stump the Rabbis,” where ques
tions on any Jewish subject, rang
ing from philosophy, sci
ence to practical
Judaism, were presented
to panel of rabbis.
For many of the
Shabbaton participants,
this weekend was the
first time they kept a
totally observant
Shabbat according to
religious halachic guidelines.
Many people were able to share
experiences and stories with
guests from other Carolina com
munities learning how to adjust to
a more religious lifestyle.
The children in the group
enjoyed meeting other Jewish
children who share similar values
and observe a more orthodox level
of Judaism. Some of the children
delivered prepared words of Torah
while others performed with song
and dance.
Saturday night, at a festive meal
that marks the departure of the
Shabbat the guests provided their
own entertainment. Rabbi Doron
Aizenman of Chabad of Myrtle
Beach introduced his sons who
performed a violin diio of Jewish
music.
Janice and David Cantor of
Charlotte hosted “Jewish
Jeopardy” on a variety of Jewish
topics. Dave also led some men in
Chasidic Israeli dancing. A special
video presentation of the
Congressional Gold Medal honor
ing the Lubavitcher Rebbe cap
tured some historical moments in
our nations capital and gave par
ticipants a good feeling as they
concluded a wonderful and enrich
ing Shabbat experience. ^
To read a book is not the same as
experiencing a book. Mrs.
Lipscomb’s fourth grade class
recently experienced Sadako and
the Thousand Paper Cranes. This
is a true story about a girl named
Sadako who was living in
Hiroshima, Japan, when the atomic
bomb was dropped on the city. Ten
years later, she developed leukemia
and eventually died as a result of
radiation from the bomb.
Prior to reading the book, the
class explored information about
World War II. They examined
newspaper articles with informa
tion about the destructive force of
the bombs and learned that the
bombardier for “Little Boy” was
from North Carolina. Next, the stu
dents responded to the picture
books, Hiroshima No Pika and TTie
Faithful Elephants as they were
shared and di^ussed. Each book
was written in the hope that future
generations would learn from the
horrors of the bomb and not repeat
these mistakes. Background infor
mation was gathered about the dis
ease of leukemia.
While reading this book, stu
dents kept a personal response
journal in which to record their
emotional reactions to the text.
They listed examples of Japanese
culture that they discovered while
reading: food (bean soup, pickled
radishes, rice balls), family tradi
tions (daily prayer, supporting each
other, Kosheshi dolls), holidays
(Peace Day, O Bon), and customs
(altar shelves in the homes, good
luck symbols over doors). These
notes were then organized into con
cept maps, with the main ideas sur
rounded by the details, in order to
help the readers categorize infor
mation gathered through reading
the book.
In keeping with the Japanese
observance of Peace Day, an annu
al memorial to those who died from
the atomic bomb, the class con
structed paper lanterns and wrote
Motti Groner, Michael Krendian, and Mushka Weiss with their paper
crane at the book review.
the names of loved ones inside as a
memorial to them. Instead of float
ing these paper lanterns down the
river with a candle inside (as the
Japanese do), the students mounted
their colorful, construction paper
lanterns on a bulletin board with a
curving blue strip of paper at the
bottom to represent a river.
The author of Sadako and the
Thousand Paper Cranes, Eleanor
Coerr, used many similes in her
writing. This is a literary device
that enables readers to picture in
their minds what is being
described. After locating and list
ing their favorite similes, students
selected one to illustrate for anoth
er bulletin board display. Some
examples of those which were cho
sen include “Sadako was sure that
[she and her best friend] would
always be as close as two pine nee
dles on the same twig,” “girls who
ate like hungry dragons,” and “[the
heat of the atomic bomb] prickled
my eyes like needles.”
In the book, Sadako’s best
friend, Chizuko, visited her in the
hospital and shared the old story of
the crane: if a sick person folds one
thousand paper cranes, he or she
will again become well. Mrs.
Lipscomb taught the class the
ancient Japanese art of paper fold
ing, origami, and the enthusiastic
children soon filled the classroom
with colorful paper cranes of all
sizes. These were strung together
and hung from the ceiling as a
striking visual display. Other origa
mi shj^s were soon discovered
and folded, with the help of addi
tional resource books and an origa
mi video from the library. The
crowning touch was the jumbo
turquoise-colored crane with a
three-foot wingspan that was made
by a group of proficient paper fold
ers.
Final activities used to help the
students apply what they had
learned from their experiences
were to examine the causes and
effects of World War II and to write
haiku, a form of poetry developed
in Japan centuries ago. This type of
unrhymed verse is a three-line
poem with just seventeen syllables
in a five-seven-five syllable pat
tern, and it uses exact words and
precise images to evoke ttto power
of human emotion.
These fourth graders did not just
read this award-winning novel.
They experienced it, responded to
it, and made it a part of their lives.
Sadako and the Thousand Paper
Cranes is a book that will long be
remembered by Mrs. Lipscomb’s
fourth grade class. O
It’s Morning at Preschool; Do You Know
Where Your Mommy Is?
Four-Year-Olds Say The Cutest Things!
By Kimberly Mapes, Teacher of Four-
Year-Olds at The Jewish Preschool on
Sardis
Four-year-olds have a unique
insight on many matters. Their
perceptions often make adults
chuclde in appreciation. When I
randomly asked the question,
“While you’re at school, what do
you think your Mommy and
Daddy are doing?,” I received the
following responses.
Moms, here’s how your chil
dren think you’re spending your
mornings;
• “My mommy does what mom
mies do. Sometimes it’s errands.
Sometimes she just drives, and
sometimes she gets us ready for
karate.”
• “She goes home, plays house,
and then plays cards.”
• “When she’s not working in
her office, she plays with our
dog.”
• “Hmmm... she’s a clinical psy
chologist. She prints stuff on her
computer. Then she has a lunch
break.”
• “My mom does boring things,
like errands.”
• “She goes to her friend’s
house, and then they go to the nail
polish store.”
• “My mommy teaches kids at
her work.”
The children had to really think
about what their moms do. But,
they were definitely sure of what
all you dads do:
• “Sometimes Daddy works.
Other times, he plays golf.”
• “He makes money at his work.
But not on weekends. On week
ends, he’s with me!”
• “He goes to First Union to
work on his computer and make
phone calls.”
• “He goes on trips so he can
make money.”
• “My dad works. I’ve never
ever gone to work, so I don’t real
ly know what he docs!”
• “Daddy checks people’s bones
to see if they hurl.”
• “My Daddy goes to the office.
He’s the boss so he can order peo
ple around.”
• “He goes to the hospital to sew
up people. After that, he goes to
the oftice.”
• "'Daddy has to go to wurk to
pby with markers and crayons “
Wt'!!, Momn and Dadi, no mat
I
ter how you spend your precious
time, we thank you for all you do
each and everyday for your chil
dren! Your efforts enable their
school days to be filled with learn
ing, hugs, smiles and laughter! O
Jonfan ,jnd Bmihu
gra.Urc M the Itwish !ht%
had Tu B’Skr.ai Snier for firjt