Big Questions at Yom HaMishpachah

Year 6 students and their parents came together yesterday morning for our second Year 6 Yom HaMishpachah (Family Day) event. Yom Hamishpachah/Family Day, which falls on the 30th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat, marks the anniversary of the death of Henrietta Szold, who died on this day 81 years ago! In the 1990s, Yom HaMishpachah was instituted in Israel - a day to celebrate all families and to bring them closer together through activites.  

Szold was an American Jew whose father was the Rabbi of one of the oldest Reform congregations in the world. She was the founder of Hadassah, a Jewish women’s volunteer organisation, which supported tipat chalav (well-baby clinics), Hadassah hospitals and the Youth Aliyah program. Even though Szold herself did not have children, because of her amazing contribution to children across Israel, she is known as "the Mother of all Children."

We honoured Szold's legacy by bringing our families closer together through doing limmud - learning Jewish texts together. Students and their parents learned Pirkei Avot, which deals with how to live ethically and with some big philosophical questions of life, and discussed and debated some key questions together. Six students were even brave enough to volunteer to share the contents of their discussion with everybody!

At the end of the event, Coordinator of Jewish Experiential Education Josh New, taught about Pirkei Avot 2:16 -- "It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you free to neglect it", before playing guitar and singing it in Hebrew, inviting families to join in.

Thank you to all the families who joined us for this morning of learning together.

Ilan Bloch, Director of Jewish Life and Learning