Hey All! We are Hilli and Alon, this year’s Shinshinim here at Heschel. We graduated high school last June in Israel, and chose to embark on a year of service here in Toronto. Throughout the week we work at various Jewish institutions around town, with our primary institution being Heschel! We strive to connect the students to Israel’s culture, food, and language as we have grown to love it.
We’re slowly finding our place at the school, and this week has been particularly fun and memorable.
We started the week strong with grade six, where we led an activity about the Judean Desert, and focused on the question: why is this area of land a desert in the first place? We explained and demonstrated the phenomenon of a Rain Shadow (in Hebrew: מִדְבָּר בְּצֵל גֶּשֶׁם) through maps and a game.
In grade seven, we introduced the Jewish value of Hachnasat Or’chim, literally “welcoming guests”, which guides us as we approach the holiday of Sukkot. Through skits of funny situations, the class imagined how they would stay true to Hachnasat Or’chim even under tricky circumstances. And indeed, we received a warm welcome from the students in every classroom – thank you for making us feel at home!
We’ve also started our work with JK, SK, and grade two – we’ll share more experiences from those classrooms next week.
You can find us at the front entrance of school three mornings a week greeting students as they arrive. Thank you to all the parents who have come up to introduce themselves! Just so you know, here are some topics each of us would be happy to chat about:
Hilli: Flute & art
Alon: Hiking & urban planning.
We wish everyone a quiet and restful Shabbat and can’t wait to see you next week!
