Tugging on our Circles

People everywhere live tucked within concentric circles which affect them and on which they have an effect. From family to friends, school, shul, camp, work, each plays a role in varying degrees depending on the person. It seems to me, though, that in a community like this, the "gravitational" force which connect those circles to the individual are that much stronger.

When a student in our school is seriously injured, everyone is hurt, everyone is jolted. When the seat in shul next to his father is empty, everyone feels the loss. When he appears at the community Barbeque contest, everyone notices. When he is welcomed back to shul, everyone cheers. When he comes back to school, he is embraced.

Welcome back!

Kernels of Prayer

Every tefillah counts... as does every kernel of popcorn. Each morning as the second grade davens, Morah Deena Yarmush walks through the classroom with kernels of popcorn. On the desk of each child is a plastic cup into which Morah Yarmush will drop a few kernels of popcorn when the child is davening nicely. But davening, of course, is much more powerful when done bi-tzibbur, together with others. Therefore, when the second grade finishes davening, the popcorn kernels from each cup are poured into a jar representing the tefillot of this special tzibbur.

Of course, popcorn kernels aren't much fun unless they're popped. So, when the jar fills up it's time to pop them and for a tefillah popcorn party. Today was the first of what we hope will be many such parties. Yasher kochachem, second grade!