Talmud Torah has two goals related to assemblies and events: To build community and to make certain that they are learning experiences which seamlessly integrate with our classroom curriculum. In several of our past issues, we have highlighted how we are using our monthly Rosh Chodesh assemblies to augment the study of Jewish values in the classroom. This month, let's take a look at our two most recent assemblies: Pumped Up for Pesach and Yom HaShoah.

Pumped Up For Pesach Video

Our Pumped Up for Pesach assembly was truly a highlight of the year. We held the assemblies by grade level: Alef and Bet together, Gimel and Dalet together, and Hey and Vav together. At each grade level, there were four activities that the students "played". Younger students "became" a plague and had to match the English to the Hebrew and then stand in the right order. The older students did the same thing with the 14 steps of the Seder. 

All age levels played tic-tac-toe, but couldn't put their X or O on the board until they correctly  answered a question about Pesach.  Younger students played Memory, matching pictures with the correct description which were hidden on the board, while the older students had to build Moshe's family tree, starting with Avraham and Sarah. Finally, all age groups ran in the Seder Table Relay, racing to grab Seder plate and Seder table items and put them on a different table! Everyone had a blast, had a chance to demonstrate their amazing knowledge and learned something new!

For Yom Ha Shoah (Holocaust Memorial Day), we chose to combine its observance with our assemblies for Rosh Chodesh Iyar. Our Jewish value of the month was Chesed, Loving Kindness, and after talking about its importance and giving some examples, we transitioned to talking about the Righteous Gentiles who risked their lives doing acts of Chesed - hiding and/or saving Jews during the Holocaust. We used the recent holiday of Pesach to talk about the long history of anti-semitism, which includes Pharaoh, Haman, and Hitler. We then held a memorial service, where we lit six yahrzeit candles (one for each 1,000,000), read a six stanza poem of grief and hope by a Holocaust survivor, and then recited the Mourners Kaddish.

Susan Weinberg & Dora Zaidenweber

The Eiger-Zaidenweber Holocaust Center at the Minneapolis Talmud Torah was created by the Eiger and Zaidenweber families to provide a multi-purpose space for teaching and studying about the Holocaust. The room originated in 1984 as a classroom at the former Talmud Torah location in St. Louis Park and was headed by Max Weitz.

Susie Chalom, Talmud Torah of Minneapolis Head of School said "We wanted to honor the history of the center and the wishes of the family to make this a vibrant space, and having an exhibit of Susan Weinberg's paintings, which are an artistic response to the Holocaust, is a good place to start, since the viability of Holocaust education will rely on future generations to tell the stories of the survivors and the six million who did not survive."

The Talmud Torah of Minneapolis, the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest, the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota and the Tychman Shapiro Gallery at the Sabes JCC collaborated on exhibiting Weinberg's work. The first of the events was held on Sunday, March 4th, 2012. Participating in an interesting tour of the exhibit were Holocaust survivors, past participants in the Adopt A Survivor program, their teen partners, parents and teachers of Talmud Torah's Adopt A Survivor program, as well as Susan Weinberg, Dora Zaidenweber and members of her family.   All came together for an interesting tour of the exhibit, a  delicious lunch, and the unique story of Dora and Susan's journey.