On Shavuot we gather together the Spring Harvest and decorate our sanctuary (both in our Temple and in our home) with flowers and wheat and all kinds of beautiful growing things.
How to make this a personal practice?
Look back at your year… Gather memories, accomplishments, photos, meaningful moments. Capture these images all together and take the time to reflect on the seeds you have nourished all year.
Shavuot also celebrates the moment we received Torah on Mt. Sinai. How to honor Torah with our children?
With my youngest students, I like to collect mitzvot all year long. At the start of every class we think back over the week and each child tells of a moment when she or he took action to make the world a better place, to help another, to take care of the self. We write their mitzvot on a construction paper leaf. By the end of the year, we have quite a collection! Here are a few examples,
Paying attention by saying a “thank you” Bracha for the food we eat
Making the world “right” by contributing Tzedakah
Lighting Shabbat candles to take time in life to rest and spend time with each other
Sharing, helping, noticing, loving
See? These are things we do every day!
In celebration of Shavuot we gather our Mitzvah leaves. We look at a year’s worth of efforts and hard work.
We study the different kinds of Mitzvot we have done as listed in the Eilu D’varim prayer below.
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Posted in Activities for home and classroom, Holidays, Shavuot
