» Hands on Learning!
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Close your eyes. Imagine a space where children and adults alike can come together and learn about Judaism. Where they are excited to explore the coming holidays, and are actively involved.
There’s the sound of a saw going, the slow scrape of sandpaper against the side of shofar, as it is honed into an instrument of education. See the smiles on the faces of students as they pick up what they have crafted, raise it to the sky and blow, the sound cutting clear across the day, loud and triumphant. The children are at the front of the lines, ushering in Elul, ushering in a month of prayer and return.
Dare to dip your fingers into the golden oil that spills from the press. See the eyes of students widen, as the force of their strength yields oil for the lighting of the Menorah. They sit awed, learning about the miracle of their people, making a connection in their heart to their vast heritage. Their hands do not shake as they light the Menorah, they are steady and sure, guided by all those who came before. Here, we reignite the flame.
Long quills dip into small pots of fresh ink. The tentative hand prepares to make its mark, to write a Torah letter, and give life to the symbols that crown it. Each hand writes a letter just like the ones from a Sefer Torah. They are part of the everlasting symbol of our people. Now, they feel in it their heart and soul. The Torah is not merely a thing, it is alive, it lives inside each of them.
Heat rises from the small pot that bubbles with wax. Eager hands await their chance to take their wicks and dip. Once, twice, thrice, and again until the wicks have become a candle. Not just any candle, but a Havdallah candle, used at the end of each week to separate the holy from the non-holy, the day of Shabbos from all the other days of the week.
It is hectic here, all hustle and bustle, clouds of flour fill the air, rolling pins strike surfaces all around the room, leading a rhythmic thunk-ka-thunk. The cloud is ticking, and hands are kneading, the oven is heating, Matzah is being made. Not by men hard at work in a factory, but by young boys and girls who rush to and fro, tasting what it is to be part of the creation of Matzah, one of the most important parts of Pesach.
This is Living Legacy. A world-wide Chabad organization that has taken root in Cleveland. That has been nurtured by so many, and now lies in the hands of Rabbi Chayim B. Alevsky. It travels from school to school, from communities, organizations to old age homes, teaching, inspiring, and giving students of all ages the chance to partake in their Judaism in a very real way. The spark was always there, now it has the chance to be a flame.
For more information or to schedule a workshop visit
MitzvahWorkshops.com.
For more info. contact Rabbi Chayim B. Alevsky at
[email protected] or call
216-282-0112.
Agudas Achim - Canton
Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple
Anshe Sfard - Revere Road Synagague
Beachwood Commons
Beth Israel - The West Temple
B'nai Jeshurun Religious School
Chabad at CWRU
Chabad at Oberlin College
Chabad of the West Side
Etgar
Friendship Circle
Fuchs Mizrachi School
Gross Schechter Day School
Hebrew Academy of Cleveland
Hillel at Kent State University
Jewish Comm. Board of Akron
Jewish Family Experience
Jewish Family Services
Jewish Federation of Cleveland
Kol HaLev
Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage
Mandel Jewish Day School
Menorah Park Senior Living
Montefiore
NCSY
Park Synagogue
R.H. Myers
Solon Chabad
Stone Gardens
Suburban Temple - Kol Ami
Temple Am Shalom
Temple Beth Shalom - Hudson
Temple Emanu El
Temple Israel Ner Tamid
The Temple - Tifereth Israel
Torah L.I.F.E. Institute
Waxman Chabad Center
Wiggins Place
YABI
Yeshiva Derech HaTorah
Yeshivah High of Cleveland