Just in time for Yom Ha’atzma’ut, Nancy Hersh, Director of Education at Beth Hatikvah, Chatham, New Jersey told us about a charming Israel program she held for her second graders and their families.

     In early April, our second graders celebrated the completion of The Great Israel Scavenger Hunt with a family program at the home of their teacher, Katia Segre Cohen. In preparation, Katia assigned each child a research paper about a city or region in Israel.

     The program began with the children decorating a giant cake in the shape of Israel. Katia had baked the cake, cut it out in the shape of Israel, and frosted it with white icing.

The children decorated the cake with a variety of edible items that represented geographical areas:

Each city was represented by its own food:

Haifa: Pretzel sticks, shoestring licorice, and Cheerios became the cable car.
Safed: Braided shoestring licorice became a braided candle.
Tel Aviv: Tootsie rolls and pretzel rods glued with frosting represented the Shalom Tower.
Jerusalem: Yellow starbursts and Mary Jane candies glued with frosting became the Kotel.
Eilat: Pretzel sticks and gumdrops formed a date tree, while "Swedish" fish swam in the sea.

     After decorating the cake, everyone enjoyed an Israeli dinner of falafel, hummus, baba ganoush, and Israeli salad. (We also provided a pasta dish for the children who didn’t like the Israeli food!) After dinner, the children presented the reports about their cities. Rabbi Amy Small then led us in Havdalah. We distributed pre-printed Havdalah booklets for each family to take home to use in the future. We concluded the program with dessert - the Israel cake!

     The feedback was incredible.  One mother said, "This was such a wonderful evening. It was so nice to meet the other families in this type of a setting." A father concurred: "The teacher is so creative; now I understand why my child enjoys Hebrew school so much. Another parent added: "Gee, I wish we had fun like this in Hebrew school when I was growing up." And the greatest endorsement? The kids kept asking, "Can we do this again?"