Shabbat and Holidays

The celebration of the Jewish holidays and the observance of Shabbat set us apart as a people. They also unite Krieger Schechter Day School as a community. Every Friday in every Lower School classroom there’s a Kabbalat Shabbat service, with grape juice and challah. We gather as a school to celebrate Purim. Individual classes and grade-levels have activities to enjoy and explore all of the holidays throughout the year. These experiences connect us to one another and to the broadest Jewish community. What our students learn in their Judaic studies classes and in prayer enriches family life, as students bring their knowledge of history, tradition and Torah home every day—and on holidays. These experiences create an emotional tie to Judaism that stays with our students through young adulthood and throughout their lives.

Holiday Highlights

TuB’Shvat

In honor of TuB’Shvat, the 6th grade presented “The Great Fruit Debate!” In three separate teams, 6th graders used speech, art and song/dance to convince our panel of judges that their team’s chosen fruit should become the newest fruit to be part of a TuB’Shvat seder. The fruits chosen by the teams, to represent modern American Jewry, were: pineapple, starfruit and cherry. The students worked amazingly well together, sharing ideas, brainstorming and putting together a fabulous production (complete with great treats for the judges!). It’s always fun when a Jewish holiday can be celebrated with a rap song, a 3-D art piece or a news report. In the end, starfruit was selected as the winner of the debate.

Purim

It was hard to escape the fun and excitement of Purim at KSMS. The day started off with the arrival of costumed Middle School students heading to a school-wide minyan, where they were later joined by the Lower School for Megillah reading. After prayers, 5th and 6th graders returned to their classrooms to find everything topsy-turvy. Teachers were not in their usual classes. Some students found their Hebrew teacher teaching Science and math teachers teaching Hebrew. Others had social studies teachers for Math and language arts teachers for Judaics. Students had a great time learning about each of their classes from an “unexpected” instructor. The whole school then gathered together again to watch the 7th grade Purim shpiels and to give out awards for the best costumes of the day. Kol HaKavod to all of our costume winners!