Ma Koreh
Adam Carpenter | Head of Jewish Life Primary
Last Friday, Year K students and their families came together for their first Pathways ceremony. This was an opportunity to welcome the Year K students and their families to the Emanuel School community and to celebrate the learning of the students. Parents, grandparents and siblings of the Year K students joined the Years K – 2 school for a special Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony, where all of Year K were the guests of honour. Morah Bar-On led a spirited Shabbat celebration filled with singing, music and ruach. The theme for this Pathways ceremony was the importance of names, and the meaning and stories behind our names. Rabbi Ninio shared a lovely story about Adam naming animals in the Garden of Eden and I spoke about what the students can do to create for themselves a שם טוב – ‘a good name’. In preparation for the ceremony, Year K students traced their hand and decorated it. The hand was then given to their parents to write a special blessing or message for their child. The hamsa inspired artwork was framed and presented to the children by their parents. Year K students received a special blessing from their parents, the ברכת בנים – blessing over children.
Year K students received a special gift of delicious Aleph – Bet shortbread biscuits to symbolise the sweet taste of Jewish learning which they have started to experience at Emanuel School. They also received a special gift of a Shabbat bag, kindly provided by Montefiore Home, to welcome them into the Emanuel School community.
A big thank you/תודה רבה to Hagit Bar-On and Shirley Arad for preparing the Year K students, to Talia Hynek and Carrie-Ann Grieve – the Year K class teachers and to Lara Sperber-Ephron and her team of Year 10 Food Technology students for catering morning tea. Thank you to Ofer Levy who took beautiful photos to record this event for the school and our families.
