Hamburgers, Hotdogs, and Haggadahs

Our first ever YISE youth non-youth event, “Hamburgers, Hotdogs, and Haggadahs” had a wonderful turnout. We had adults come out from a variety of different shuls to join in the learning of new ways to enhance their sedarim for their children/grandchildren this upcoming year. Between Rabbi Rosenbaum, Rabbi Silver, and me, guests shared that they got to learn about the emotional/spiritual connection to the seder through the 4 sons/4 cups/4 questions, gained a deeper connection to the ten plagues, and learned how to take a hands on approach to the décor and activities at the seder.

Participants eagerly took notes and listened attentively during this 1 hour round robin event. In addition to the learning, everyone enjoyed a delicious BBQ dinner. Special thanks go out to Rabbi Rosenbaum, Rabbi Silver, Josh and Mickie Breitstein, Adina Obstfeld, Yitz Sandberg, Tuvia and Carol Lazar, and the office and maintenance staff for all of their help before and at this event. I could not have done this without them. I would also like to thank all of the people that came out 2 weeks before pesach to make their sedarim more meaningful! As always, if you have any comments or questions, please feel free to email me at bkugler@yise.org. If you have any ideas for sedarim that you would like to share, please add them in the comments section below!

YISE/KMS Community Purim Extravaganza!!!

A little bit of snow did not stop roughly 300 people from pouring into the KMS social hall for our KMS/YISE Community Purim Extravaganza! Upon arrival, children and their parents were greeted by 3 huge inflatables (bounce house, pirate ship, and game center), multiple carnival games (Big Popper, Froggy Flyer, Skeeball, etc...), face painting, hamantaschen baking, mask making, and card decorating. Additionally, a large group of younger children gathered in the youth beit midrash for a purim story (Barnyard Purim) and a sing-along with local talent, Daniel Siesser.

 

Throughout the event, people got to enjoy cotton candy, a variety of snacks, and mingling with each other.  There was a wave of excitement every time another raffle winner got called over the microphone, and the music got everyone in the mood for the upcoming chag! We could not have done any of this without the efforts and happy smiles on the faces of our teen volunteers who greeted each person with a smile, and helped all of the children to have fun in a safe environment.  KMS was an incredibly gracious host, and we look forward to hosting them next year when the community carnival shifts over to YISE.

High School Boys Oneg

Our first shabbos oneg took place this past Friday night at the home of the Ginsburg family. We were blessed to have a wonderful turnout despite the freezing cold weather, as all of the chairs were filled shortly after our start time. The hosts went all out to put together a lovely evening with snacks, drinks, and a delicious chulent, which was finished by the end of the night (high school boys....would you expect any different?) :).

Rabbi Rosenbaum spoke beautifully and engaged the boys in a wonderful discussion. After finishing talking on the topic covered, the boys were so engaged that they followed up with a series of questions, which the Rabbi gave thoughtful answers to. And of course the night would not have been complete without singing. The ruach filled the room as a variety of zemirot were sung, and laughter filled the air. As people headed for the doors, the requests to have future onegs came filing in.

Please look out for future emails about the girls high school oneg, our Purim Extravaganza, and a wonderful Pesach learning (and eating) opportunity for parents, as well as our Yom Hashoah and Lag Ba'Omer activities.

Reignite Chanukah!!!!

This year, the first spark of Chanukah took place a few days before the actual holiday. YISE Youth and YISE nursery hosted over 250 people for our ‘Reignite Chanukah’ event! From start to finish, there was an excitement in the room as the kids walked in to the social hall to the sounds of joyous Chanukah music. Everyone was first treated to a few words about Chanukah from Rabbi Rosenbaum. Once Rabbi Rosenbaum finished speaking, Rabbi Wolvovsky took the stage and wowed the children with his fantastic olive oil press demonstration. The kids all had a chance to crush the olives before they went into the press.

As the demonstration concluded, all of the kids were treated to delicious sufganiyot. Everyone waited patiently as our fantastic teen volunteers managed the three lines and handed out the treats. After everyone had their sweet tooth satisfied, we opened up the 30 foot inflatable obstacle course, where children raced against each other to try and find the last jar of olive oil in the “Bais HaMikdash”. Laughter could be heard throughout the room, and the pure olive oil was found. 

Additionally, we also had several of our  craftsman working on building Chanukiyot out of recycled materials, children coloring “stained glass” Chanukah projects, and playing games of dreidel. While the gelt went fast, the smiles stuck around long after the chocolate coins had been finished. Each child who created a Chanukiyah out of recycled materials got to come up on stage and present their marvelous inventions. It was impressive to see the various ways that the Chanukiyot were constructed and how proud 

the children were of their work.

I would like to extend a tremendous thank you to all who helped to make this event possible, both by attending, and by volunteering. Our community continues to be incredibly supportive, and eager to bring their children to share in the fun and the learning!

Midrash, Manicures, and Milkshakes!!!

MIDRASH, MANICURES, AND MILKSHAKES!!!!!! What a huge success this event was for all parties! With 130 spots available, this event sold out 2 weeks in advance by girls/ladies from a variety of shuls and schools in the area. Upon arrival, the girls walked into the social hall, greeted by the relaxing and soulful music of Chaim Lanzbom and Yosef Karduner.

Once all guests arrived, Mrs. Zakem gave over inspiring words of Torah that were pertinent to the weeks parsha.  Following the beautiful Torah thoughts shared, everyone began to select their nail polish colors. Each person took out the complementary emory boards, shaped their nails, and started painting. Friends, mothers and daughters, and sisters, each took turns, working meticulously to ensure that they did a nice job. For those that were interested, Aviva and Yael Miller also brought their own materials, and painted other people’s nails. Parents shared that they overheard their daughters saying things such as “it was so much fun” and "We should do this every Saturday night"!

As the socializing and nail painting carried on, blenders were fired up, and 4 varieties of milkshakes were personally delivered to each person. While there were certainly many people sharing how delicious they were, the smiles on faces of each person were more than enough to confirm that we had created a tasty motzei shabbos treat!  Once all the nail polish dried, Ben Yehuda pizza was delivered, and the dining experience was complete!

I would like to give a tremendous thank you to everyone that came out for the event, to Mrs. Zakem for speaking, to Becca Kugler, Menucha Wolfe, Bassie Katz, Allison Lazar, and Adina Obstfeld for helping to make milk shakes and run the “box office”, to Barbara Price for being the mashgiach and helping with the milkshakes (plus setup and cleanup), to Debbie Unger for taking pictures, to Yael and Aviva Miller for donating their time to paint nails, to the custodial staff for setup and cleanup, to the entire office staff for helping me to purchase and store materials, and to Ben Yehuda Pizza.  We were also thrilled that at the end of the event, we were able to donate the leftover nail polish remover and emory boards to the Mikvah Emunah Society.

This event had an amazing turnout, and we look forward to continuing to create and provide exciting events for the community!

 

Rosh Chodesh Astronomy Observatory!

Our first middle and high school only event was incredibly successful! With only 60 spots available for our Rosh Chodesh Moon Viewing trip to the University of Maryland, we were completely booked within 4 days of announcing the event. The eagerness to be a part of this event spilled over into the actual event, as people arrived early and packed the room.

 

Dr. Jeremy Schnittman, our resident astronomer, opened the night by sharing a variety of interesting stories and facts about Rosh Chodesh and the moon. He engaged the crowd by turning out the lights and doing a student led demonstration, with one child standing in the back of the room aiming a flashlight, and another student standing in the front of the room with a hula hoop and tennis ball.  Dr. Schnittman made the learning come to life by showing how the moon orbits the earth!

After taking a few questions, we went to the building next door to 

have the opportunity to see the moon through the high powered telescopes! Prior to our arrival, the staff opened the roof on the building, and we were incredibly fortunate to have perfectly clear skies, and a beautiful moon to see. Everyone had a turn looking into 3 different telescopes, and we ended the night by saying Kiddush Lavanah, and having a maariv minyan.

Again, we were fortunate to have a wonderful mix of people from various communities join us at this event. We will continue to work towards being an inclusive and welcoming program that stays at the forefront of fun and exciting experiential Jewish education!

YISE Youth Rosh Hashanah Apple Picking

What better way to welcome in the Jewish New Year than to go to Butler's Orchard for some good old fashioned apple picking! The word has started to spread that our events are great, and we were joined by families from various other communities as well. The warm and friendly vibes could be seen and felt as people introduced themselves to one another, and got started on the apple picking. Throughout the orchard chants of “Dip the apple in the honey, make a bracha loud and clear” could be heard by adults and children alike. We spent roughly 40 minutes picking the best apples the orchard had to offer.

Once we finished picking apples, we drove a little further into the orchard, where they have a large field and picnic area set up, large playground equipment, and big slides with burlap mats for kids to slide down. Parents and children were in for a treat as we started off our activities with a few words from Rabbi Silver. Everyone learned a little bit about Rosh Hashana, and then we had an activity. Each family that came received a special YISE Youth apple cookbook, which had 5 delicious apple recipes. The kids had to decide which recipe that they wanted to make with their mommy and daddy for Rosh Hashanah, but they weren’t allowed to tell their parents which one they chose. Then the parents lined up back to back with their kids, and each recipe was called out. Parents and kids had to (without looking) stand at that recipe, and see if the parents could guess which recipe was their son or daughter’s favorite.

Next we moved on to our shofar blowing contest! It was quite evident that our kids had been practicing for weeks because we had some amazing tekiah gedolah blasts!!! Everybody’s neshamot were awoken by the sounds of the shofar, and surely everyone was reminded that the New Year was coming! The top two finishers won gift cards to The Candy Man, and all of the kids got a prize for being such great participants.

Upon completion of our activities, the children dispersed to the playground. Some climbed on the wooden ark, others on the train, and another group made their way over to the giant slides, using burlap sacks to slide down the hill!  Families ended off a beautiful day by joining together for a picnic lunch. 

Looking ahead, the YISE Youth department has a busy schedule. In the coming weeks, we will have our annual Sukkah Hop, the Youth Simchat Torah Kiddush (still accepting donations), and a middle and high school visit to the University of Maryland Astronomy Observatory, to learn about Rosh Chodesh from Astronomer,  Dr. Jeremy Schnittman, and to view the moon through high powered telescopes!