*Good Choices: In Deeds and In
Voices . . . Hakarat Hatov*
Dr. Jane Davidson writes: as we focus on gratitude and Hakarat Hatov this month of Kislev, it is interesting to learn that gratitude may actually have a more long lasting positive effect on all of us. Research has been done on gratitude, its causes and the positive impact it can have on health and well-being such as being more optimistic, and having increased enthusiasm, determination, and energy. One study indicates that children who practice grateful thinking have more positive attitudes toward school and their families.
Join your children in their focus on gratitude and Hakarat Hatov. Let us all take the opportunity to reflect on and appreciate what we feel grateful for, and hopefully reap the benefits in our own lives.
Click on this link to get more information about studies about the positive impact of gratitude. http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/labs/emmons/
Everyone can benefit from making good choices and showing their appreciation. For our faculty, Rabbi Yitz Greenberg gave the keynote address to our staff during last Thursday's Veterans Day in service programming. In line with "Good Choices: In Deeds and In Voices," Rabbi Greenberg, founder of SAR, spoke about creation and Hashem's world as "moving towards life." As we continue to populate the earth and fulfill Hashem's blessing of "P'ru Urvu," or "Be fruitful and multiply," we recognize that each person is infinitely valuable. Each person produces generations of people who continue to grow towards Hashem, becoming more G-d-like and living in a more and more perfect world. Rabbi Greenberg quoted from his handout on Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin page 37A, "to teach that...anyone who preserves a single soul, Scripture considers him as though he has preserved a whole world. And, (one human being was created) for the sake of peace among humanity, that one (human) might not say to his fellow, 'my ancestor was greater than yours.'" For these reasons, we must treat each other with the respect due to infinitely valuable beings. In so doing, we will continue to move together towards a more perfect world, the world of Hashem.
In our Lower School new signs have surfaced around the school with an activity to continue our focus on gratitude and appreciation of the people around us. Students are being encouraged to fill out a note to thank an adult or family member who has helped them or made a difference in their day. These notes can either be handed to the person directly, or put in a box outside Rabbi Krauss' office to let him know who deserves a thank you.
Some first graders read the poem, "The Gift of Color" by Mattie Stepanek, a child himself.
The Gift of Color
Thank You
For all the colors of the rainbow.
Thank You
For sharing these colors
With all of the fish
And all of the birds
And all of the flowers
That You have given us.
And thank You
For the colors of the
Heaven-in-the-earth
And of the
Heaven-in-the-sky,
And for sharing these colors
In the people of the world.
You give us color
As a gift, G-d,
And I thank You
For all these
Beautiful colors and
Beautiful things and
Beautiful people.
What special gifts
You have given to us!
The children then wrote what they are grateful for: the world, birthdays, mommy and daddy making me Jewish, the earth, junk food, friends, the internet, poems, school, my teachers, myself, my family, seasons, and Chanukah.
Other first graders read a poem about relationships, called "Thanksgiving". In it an anonymous poet wrote: Violins are thankful for wood, a jacket is thankful for a hood, ice cream is thankful for a spoon, astronauts are thankful for the moon. The children then considered other "thankful" connections and wrote: leaves are thankful for their colors, plants are thankful for dirt, the sea is thankful for shells, bandaids are thankful for boxes, bricks are thankful for houses, birds are thankful for trees, dark is thankful for night, and day is thankful for light.
One fourth grade class has a "Good Choices Box" in their class area. Throughout the week, if a student feels he or she has made a good choice, or a friend has made a good choice, he or she writes down the good choice on an orange star paper and anonymously places it into the "Good Choices Box." Every Friday, the morah shares some good choices with the class. We'd like to share some of the fourth graders' good choices with you:
When I was hungry, my friend gave me a snack.
Asking someone to play with you.
It was a good choice when I helped the morah take out games.
I made a good choice when I shared my magazine with my sister.
It was a good choice when I thanked the kitchen staff for lunch and the salad bar.
I made a good choice when I didn't sit next to someone who would distract me.
In our Middle School the 8th Grade Chesed Club is preparing to cook and serve a pre-Thanksgiving meal at the Young Israel of Pelham Parkway to a community of many elderly and indigent Russian immigrants, who in many cases do not know where there next meal is coming from. The meal will be prepared and cooked by the students of the Chesed Club in the SAR kitchen.
Good choices and showing Hakarat Hatov is happening throughout SAR, from the youngest to the oldest. We hope our good choices will continue within SAR and find its way into your home, the greater school community, and beyond.
*Pennies Are Being Harvested*
Second grade is continuing their Penny Harvest campaign. The bags are, penny by penny, filling up. The children are anxious to get as much money in the sacks as they can before the harvest ends in December.
Enjoy these comments from a random sampling of second graders about their involvement with the Penny Harvest:
Shimmy Wohlberg says we're giving money to poor people who maybe don't have homes.
Lucy Hecht comments that it's important to give tzedakah to people.
Elisheva Raskas added, you can give the money to poor or homeless people and that's nice.
Dafna Lent said that people who don't have enough money need food. And if they have money for food they may always be bored so they can get some toys.
Binyamin Fox says it feels good to give money to poor people so they can have clothes and food.
Raviv Allerhand shared that he asked his whole family for change and he had $7.00 to put into the sack.
Aaron Weinstein admitted that it feels good to give money for poor people but that collecting the money is not easy.
Ezra Cohen wants to collect the money so people can be healthy.
Arbel Rosen says it feels good to give to other people because we have money and now others can have money for things they need.
Avner Kronisch says we're donating because there are people who need to get stuff like food.
Judah Bloom agrees and added that poor people can use money for other things they need too.
Please join our second graders in their effort by sending in pennies to the Penny Harvest campaign.
*Are You Hooked On Books?*
"The books are awesome!"
~SAR 3rd graders
The annual SAR Book Fair is underway and generating excitement throughout the building! Students, parents and teachers alike have been enjoying making choices among the rich selection. There are options in many genres including: adult and young adult fiction and non-fiction, sports, intermediate readers, chapter books, easy readers and picture books.
The Book Fair will run until Monday, November 22nd, and will be open this Sunday November 21st during Parent-Teacher conferences. Enjoy!
