I love Kesher vacation care

It’s been a wonderful week at Kesher. Vacation care follows a more leisurely pace than the rest of the year, and it’s a great time to observe the quality of the interactions between kids at Kesher. They work together astonishingly, supporting one another, inventing games together, putting on spontaneous shows for one another, and having a whale of a time. Kesher kids are amazing, and Kesher is an environment which really allows them to build relationships founded on collaboration and Kavod.

They have also managed to clear the Desheh (lawn) of snow with their prodigious snow-sculpting projects!

See you all next week.

Tu B’shvat

For our Tu B’Shvat (the New Year for Trees) celebration, each of our groups prepared a special presentation

The Shorashim did a dance showing how trees grow, and presented materials they had worked on showing different ways of looking after the natural world.

Nitzanim presented art produced in the light of text study of texts from Bereishit (Genesis), and asking the question ‘how should we treat our environment?’ they explored various models – world as supermarket, world as factory, world as playground, and world as garden.

Anafim put on a show explicating a classical midrash in which God decares to the first humans ‘See all of this I made for your benefit. Look after it, for if you destroy it there will be no one to come and fix it for you.” (Midrash Shir Hashirim Rabbah). The Anafim’s show was somewhat dark, a depiction of a future wracked by environmental degradation and ensuing warfare, punctuated by a poignant reading aloud of the midrash. I was shocked and moved to see the depth of their feelings on this issue.

The Benayim presented sculptures made from  recycled materials.

A Tu B’shvat tradition is to eat as many unusual fruits as possible, in order to be able to recite the blessing ‘She’hechianu’ which celebrates new experiences, and landmark moments. We blessed and munched together on some yummy dry fruits.  Happy Tu B’shvat!

Benayim learning about cloning

The T’marim class is currently working on a series of lessons reflecting contemporary issues through the lens of traditional Jewish texts. Last week they were considering some of the ethical questions thrown up by cloning technology. Here you see a cloned set of T’marim doing the hard work whilst their genetically identical progenitors kick back with some hot chocolate in porter square.

Tending our garden

Genesis depicts us as stewards of God’s creation, responsible for using it’s sources in a responsible way. We are told to be respectful of our environment, prevent waste, and to take care not to cause unnecessary suffering to animals.  Shorashim considered two scenarios, one in which no one took care of anything in the world, and one in which everyone took care to look after everything.

Anafim began to consider the mitzvah of ‘Tzaar Ba’alei Chaim’ – not causing unneccessary suffering to animals. Framed as a negative responsibility, the Anafim thought about the positive responsibilities that this entailed when we bring animals into our domain. They concluded that when it comes to pets or working animals, we are in control of their lives and so we have extra responsibilities towards them, as ignoring their needs becomes an act of cruelty.