The Ta'am - "Flavor" of This Year's Kindergarten
The Ta'am - "Flavor" - of This Year's Kindergarten!
by Stephanie Rotsky
It was wonderful to share that special morning with you a few weeks ago at the Ta'am Tov - Sweet Beginnings Kindergarten Family Education Program - where we celebrated the start of your child's school year and their Jewish learning at Rashi.
I thought I would send you my remarks from that morning that captured a glimpse of this beautiful group of students at the start of the year. Enjoy!
I recently
learned from my friend and Rashi colleague – Maya Dalzell – that the Hebrew
word – Ta’am – is a rich word with many meanings and layers and is
used in different contexts.
Many
of us understand the word Ta’am when we speak about the TASTE of a particular food – it could
be sour, spicy, tangy; it could be sweet. Ta’am is also understood as one of
the five senses
and also translated as "the sense of things - does it make sense or not?" It is also the same word we use to describe the emphasis we place on specific words when reading Torah. The word
Ta'im is thought of as "to experience something or take a bite of it..."
and also translated as "the sense of things - does it make sense or not?" It is also the same word we use to describe the emphasis we place on specific words when reading Torah. The word
Ta'im is thought of as "to experience something or take a bite of it..."
It
was when Maya explained that Ta’am can also be translated as the “flavor of something” that I got excited
and started to make a list in my head of how I have already experienced and
enjoyed the Ta’am – the flavor – of this year’s kindergarten students.
This
year’s kindergarten students...
· Care deeply for one another
· Love to giggle and make each
other laugh
· Ask deep questions and
shares deep ideas
· Look out for one another and
rally around one another when someone is sad or hurt
· Love Choice Time and to play
together
· Offer help and encouragement
to one another
· Show great curiosity and
wonder in their learning
· Sing with amazing ruach and joy
· Welcome guests to their
classroom with such kavod
· Are artistic, athletic,
musical and social
· Are hard-working
· Are becoming good friends
· Are friendly and loving
· Are starting to learn about
how they will make the world a better place
This
is an example of Ta’am Matok Me’od – a very sweet taste and flavor of this
year’s kindergarten kehillah.
Given that your children are already – in this short time - a blessing to their teachers, to one another and to the Rashi community, we can only imagine where this sweetness and unique flavor will take them collectively and individually this year and in the years to come!
Given that your children are already – in this short time - a blessing to their teachers, to one another and to the Rashi community, we can only imagine where this sweetness and unique flavor will take them collectively and individually this year and in the years to come!
