This week, Year Six have been studying Judaism as part of their R.E lessons. At first, the children learned all about what followers of Judaism believe and created fact files all about the religion. They learned that the synagogue is a sacred building where Jewish people go to worship; a Rabbi is a Jewish spiritual leader; the Torah is a Jewish sacred text; and the Star of David is the symbol of Judaism.
Next, the children went on to learn about different Jewish celebrations. Rosh Hashanah, which literally means ‘the head of the year’, is the Jewish New Year. Jewish people visit the synagogue to worship and pray. At home, Jews have a special evening meal. A special part of the meal is eating apple dipped in honey. At Rosh Hashanah, Jews greet each other with ‘L’ Shanah Tovah!’ which means ‘Have a good year!’. Year Six designed cards to mark the occasion and to say Happy New Year to their Jewish friends.
In their final lessons, the children built huts, known as Sukkots which is the most obvious way Jewish people celebrate the festival of Sukkot. This festival remembers the years that the Jews spent in the desert on their way to the Promised Land, and celebrates the way in which God protected them under difficult desert conditions. The children enjoyed making and decorating their huts. What a fun way to end our R.E topic!
