Wow! We had such a wonderful time on Monday! Monday we ignored the lesson plan for the night because we invited Rabbi Lowry to come talk with the children.
It was a wonderful sight. All these little faces lined up on a pew in a United Methodist sanctuary listening to a Jewish Rabbi tell stories about all the things he brought to show them. They learned about the Torah - genuine Torahs are hand written and take scribes an average of two years to finish; it is written four columns at a time and then sewn together.
Rabbi taught them about the Prayer Shawl and the yarmulke. He smiled when we first came into the sanctuary, as Aunt Martha and my husband had worked so hard to finish the yarmulkes the boys were wearing. The girls had head covers. It was nice for them to be able to learn the history of the item the were wearing. Rabbi told them that the Prayer Shawl was to remind them of the Ten Commandments. The children were so good! They were so quiet, just sitting there listening. It wasn't the quiet of a bored child, either. It was the silent sound of captured interest. Rabbi had them and he knew it! You can see it in the smile on his face!
The children got to see a very old scroll that contained the story of Queen Esther written on parchment. It gave me goosebumps. He showed us his Menorah and told the story of Hanukkah. Rabbi explained a little bit about Passover and all about the ritual meal that Jewish families have every year. He even brought a box of Matzo for the kids to have during snack time so they could taste something similar to what the Israelites had before they left Egypt. Just before we left to go downstairs, he showed the children how to play dreidel and sing the song that went with it. It was wonderful! They all thanked him with smiles and excitement!
Rabbi told me later that he loved working with children. "They are our tomorrow...they need to know our yesterday," he told me. He was wonderful with them, helping them understand that if God is our One God and we are His children, that makes all of us brothers and sisters. I am so thankful that Rabbi Lowry was able to visit with us. He was able to show the children that their world is not as small as they would think. It was amazing. Sitting in the sanctuary of a United Methodist Church, hosting a Non-Denominational VBS, and listening to a Jewish Rabbi teach a group of children about the origin of their faith. God's hands and angel's wings...
(Oh, Rabbi gave Aunt Martha and I permission to post his pictures on our blogs on one condition...his bolo tie has to be straight!!! LOL!!!)
2 comments:
Great photos Jen. Sounds like it was a wonderful learning experience for all!
I just loved reading this! Your VBS sounds like something our church did last year, even down to learning the dreidel song. (I taught that to the kids after learning it online; never occurred to any of us to get a real rabbi to come!)
What a neat experience for the kids to learn about Jewish traditions and the origins of their Christian faith from a rabbi. I think it makes the bible more real to them when they can actually see things, such as the Torah he brought with him.
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