4th Grade gets Connected

Hello again 4th Grade families!  We also introduced the value of Kesher: Connection. (Not like connected with glue, like, the opposite of feeling lonely.)  Our scholars had massive class brainstorms on the following topics:

• At Yachad, to whom do we want to feel connected?
• How can we feel connected with our Torah heroes, from long ago? (their answers included: hearing/writing/illustrating Torah stories, protecting the Torah, acting like our Torah heroes, going through similar experiences, with prayers and blessings, and many more.)
• Finally, how can we connect with God?**This came with a strong stance that different Jews believe different things, and it’s totally fine — ie, Jews can believe, or not believe, or be unsure about God, and it’s all great.
• In some of the classes, we briefly tried a bonus question: How can we get connected to Jews in the FUTURE, who aren’t even born yet? (If you have a child with an abstract mind, go for it!)

For a deeper look, we also talked about how the Torah says that humans are made in God’s image, so, some scholars say that if you connect with other people, you’re automatically connecting with God.  It says God made the earth, so if you connect with the earth and protect it, you can automatically connect with God that way, too.  If God is Truth, like in one of our t’fillah prayers, then connecting with truth means connecting with God – that can mean telling the truth, and it can mean doing math and science!  So, whether we believe in God or not, connecting with people, and the earth, and truth — those are also super great things to connect with.

Please feel free to continue this conversation at home with your own child’s specific beliefs, leaving room for them to believe, or not believe, or change their minds at any point in their lives, and still be full-fledged Jews.  After all, wrestling with God is a great and longstanding trait of the People of Israel.  🙂

More questions for parents:

• What does this family do to stay connected? Do you have family members far away that you still feel close to?
• What happens when you pray together in a community? — Because, you may have noticed, sometimes you feel connected to each other, sometimes you may even feel connected with God, and sometimes nothing in particular seems to happen!  What’s up with that, why do some times feel so different than others?  (Suggested moral: You just have to try your best each time, and see what you might feel that day.)
• How does this family connect with nature?  How do we connect with our own creativity?  (And optionally: is that connecting with God the Creator?)
• How do we connect within ourselves, such as our own innermost thoughts and feelings?

Enjoy!

And reminder, 4th Grade families can all connect with each other, at our upcoming Kabbalat Shabbat B’Yachad and other events: