Posted March 7, 2024

This year, Kitah Hay – 5th grade has been on a path of service in the context of Jewish learning. For their final project, they dedicated themselves to researching & addressing a cause through charitable actions.

A Message from Mr. Sleep:

Shalom Families,

This year in Kitah Hay – 5th Grade, we have embarked on a path of service in the context of Jewish learning. Through learning the teachings of the 12th Century Spanish philosopher Maimonides, we came to understand the hierarchy of the mitzvot (commandments) of tzedakah (righteous giving), from contributing items of material significance to creating lifelong opportunities for those in need. We learned that we are charged to make the world a better place through our own kindness, empathy and action!

As we have done before, our class split into four groups, each dedicated to researching and addressing a cause through charitable actions. Each of these groups will have a week in the spotlight, where they will reach out to you and mobilize the Yavneh community onto their particular path of service.

Children’s Health (Lucile Packard)

Supporting the LGBTQ+ Community (Trevor Project)

Helping Refugees (Nova Ukraine)

Improving Children’s Access to Recreational Activity (America Scores)

In this spirit, on Tuesday, March 12, our class heads to the Jewish Family Services of Palo Alto to volunteer in their pantry and lend a helping hand. We have set out a food donation bin outside of room 208. We ask anyone reading this to donate one or more non-perishable items by sending them to school with your child on Monday. We will deliver the donations in person to the JFS when we arrive!

We want to thank everyone for your amazing support and enduring commitment to tikkun olam.

On behalf of Kitah Hay,

Mr. Sleep

Click on each group’s project tab below to learn more…

Nova Ukraine

Greetings Yavneh Families!

Our names are Ella, Kobi, Aviv, and Akiva. and we will be supporting Nova Ukraine. This organization sends money, clothes, and food to refugees from the war in Ukraine. You could help Nova Ukraine by putting used or new tech in the donation box on the left side of the lobby. Nova Ukraine can help people start new and better lives here in the USA by providing humanitarian aid and embracing them with open arms. In a few weeks, we will take the tech box one way or the other to the headquarters in Stanford, CA.

In Leviticus 25:35 it says, “If your kin, being in straits, come under your authority, and are held by you as though resident aliens, let them live by your side.” Also when you are given authority over someone else, you aren’t allowed to charge them money for necessities like housing, food, and water. In Judaism, we also have many Midot, one of them being equality. Equality means that everybody deserves the same opportunities to live life. Nova Ukraine gives the refugees from Ukraine the opportunity to live life to the fullest.

In order to help our cause, we are putting up a “Support Stand” in the lobby. The support stand will have:

A banner you can sign
A donate bin, (details in the first paragraph)
Our poster (It includes a QR code)
Please come to our event and donate to Nova Ukraine but mostly spread awareness and spread love to everyone.

Here is a link to their website.

Warmly,

Ella, Akiva, Kobi, and Aviv

The Trevor Project

Hello friends at Yavneh,

Our names are Solly, Evan, Lyla, and Jason. We’re supporting the Trevor Project and all Queer people out there in the world by spreading awareness and donating to the Trevor Project, so they can help, too. If you don’t believe it matters, read these statistics straight from the Trevor Project website. “40% of LGBTQ+ young people who felt accepted by a parent or caregiver had 40% lower odds of attempting suicide in the past year. Last year, our crisis intervention team served over 500,000 contacts. Having even one accepting adult in an LGBTQ young person’s life is associated with significantly lower odds of attempting suicide.”

What’s Jewish about this is that on the Periodic Table of a Mensch there is a value that says understanding. What we’re trying to do is understand and support Queer people and trying to help with awareness. Yavneh is all about community, accepting and understanding Queer people is making a better and fuller community.

The way we will spread awareness is by doing an event where we have a prize wheel with different items, like wristbands, pencils, stress balls, and stickers, there will be an item that says Donate, they can donate, but only if they want to. This helps Queer people, because we’re letting them know they have allies out there even though most don’t accept them. Everyone should have a supportive community.

Warmly,

Solly, Lyla, Jason, and Evan.

Lucile Packard Children's Hospital

Hello, fellow students and families!

This is Riley, Millie, and Eldan. This year, in 5th Grade, we are tackling Service Projects. Our cause supports children with Cancer in the Bay Area, specifically at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto. What many don’t realize is just how many children have cancer in the Bay, how many children in the world suffer from cancer, and how much that can affect their lives. Again, though spotlights are shown again and again on children with cancer, it is hard to grasp how intense the disease(s) truly are.

This cause is also deeply rooted in our faith, as our Torah teaches Bikur Cholim, or tending to the ill. These kids, who are really just like us, really need our help. By donating, even the smallest amount, to a child with cancer, could mean their life is safe. Everyone can also help raise awareness, which is just as impactful as donating money. Just raising awareness can make these kids feel seen, and protected.

To raise awareness for our cause, we’ve created wristbands bearing the motto and the logo of Lucile Packard: “Heal Humanity!”. You can make a donation of your choosing and receive one in the Lobby.

We are making the wristbands, not just to raise awareness, but the money we make from selling the wristbands will be donated to Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. We really care about these lives and some kids can’t get help, so if you help us raise awareness, we can help Lucile Packard save even more child lives.

Heal Humanity at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.

Thank You,

Millie, Riley, and Eldan

America Scores

Hello Yavneh Community,

Our names are Jonathan, Noam & Ezra. We are in the fifth grade and we are working on a service project. We had to choose a cause to help and support. We chose to help organizations that provide children in need with Sports & Recreation. Sports & Recreation matters because sports helps kids become less stressed. Sports & Recreation also helps with leadership in game and out of games. For example, sports can help you be a team captain that can make plays to win the game. To win games you need to make plays. But off the court, you also need to be a leader. For example, if you are working on a group project and all the people in the group are messing around you need to be the leader and stop everybody from messing around to work.

Our cause connects with Judaism because in the periodic table of being mensch, some values are Compassionate criticism (תוכחה) honesty, Courage (אומץ לב) and teamwork (אבודרט צבת). Being a mensch is important because being a mensch means that you bring better into peoples life therefore people will treat you how you treat them.

To spread awareness, we are going to make a banner that you can sign if you want to. We will send the banner to America Scores in the Bay Area. Another thing that we are going to do is a soccer tournament held in the JCC field (TBD date and time). The tournament will not be a competitive game. Rules will be below. The match-ups will be Kinder-First, Second-Third, Fourth-Fifth and all of middle school will be divided into two teams so it won’t get too competitive and there will be injuries.

Warmly,

Jonathan, Noam & Ezra.