There’s an awesome blessing we say when we see a rainbow. It goes a little something like this:
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה אֱלהֵנוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם
זוֹכֵר הַבְּרִית וְנֶאֱמָן בִּבְרִיתוֹ וְקָיָּם בְּמַאֲמָרוֹ
Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha-olam,
zocher ha’brit vene’eman bivrito v’kaiyam bema’amaro.
Blessed are you, Adonai Our God, Ruler of The Universe, who remembers the covenant, is faithful to the covenant, and keeps a promise.
This promise is sourced in this week’s parasha, Noach, which we read together at school, complete with our ark full of animals, animal onesies, and rainbows. Noach appears like the “home run” of parshiot (weekly Torah readings) because it hits all of the right notes for children – it talks about animals, it involves counting, and it taps into this notion that when we make mistakes, even ones bad enough to incur the wrath of others (say, by flooding the world for example) that there’s a way to fix things and do better. It brings beauty and light to the world and others. And it holds us to account for actions while encouraging us towards improvement.
All of these notions are the basis of our school’s signature character skills program – our Keshet of Kavod (Rainbow of Respect). Traditionally, middot, (Hebrew for measurements) are positive character attributes that we study in order to come closer to the concept of tikkun – repair. Each class will take time this week to decide what they think are the most important middot for us to focus on. We’re inviting you, our wider school community, to have a say, too!
Please take a look at this google form, complete with videos to watch and explanations of our program. You can select which middot you would like us to focus on. All of our school choices will be announced at Kabbalat Shabbat on November 4th – come join us in the Beit Kehillah for the big reveal!
B’kavod – respectfully,
Jamie
