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Preschool students stand with Ukraine

At Temple Beth Sholom in Roslyn Heights, the school community is one where families come together to support one another in times of need. While much of the focus these past two years has been on surviving and thriving attending school during the COVID-19 pandemic, attention and hearts turn to Ukraine.

Jen Schiffer, director of Early Childhood Education shared, “I often contemplate how to best teach children the importance of our school’s core values such as taking care of the world, friendship, and giving. In the news and in our community, I see so many organizations looking to help the people of Ukraine – from medical supplies to clothing to food – it’s hard to know what is needed most, and how best to help.”

In order to do something, and also to make it meaningful for the preschool children, the school decided to conduct a fundraiser on a Friday when the school celebrates Shabbat every week. Following Jewish tradition, the children traditionally bring in tzedakah, or money, to be collected on Shabbat and donated to a worthy cause at the end of the school year.

On Friday, March 4, the students and their teachers decided to devote their Shabbat tzedakah collection to be sent to Ukraine.

To add some spirit to the day, everyone was invited to wear blue and yellow to school to demonstrate their solidarity with the Ukrainian people. In asking the children to wear blue and yellow, the colors of the Ukrainian flag, the teachers were able to open up a conversation, in a developmentally appropriate way, about the war, the country and its people who need our help.

On the day of the event, the sun was shining bright as the children arrived at school donning their blue and yellow.

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As parents pulled up to drop off their children in front of the school building, dollar bills and change were dropped from outstretched hands into a communal tzedakah jar.

The Jewish value of tikkun olam, central to the school’s core values, is about improving the world. The teachers impart on the children the idea that no action is too small or too insignificant. The ‘Blue & Yellow Shabbat’ initiative helped to highlight this for the preschoolers. The children were beaming with pride as they did their part on behalf of the people in Ukraine.

At the end of the school day, as parents came for pick-up, they once again sought out the collection bucket with outstretched hands and even more to give. Whenever someone, student or grown-up, placed a donation in the bucket, the children said, toda raba which means ‘thank you’ in Hebrew.

“The direct beneficiaries from the community efforts, the people of Ukraine, were not the only ones who gained something. Our early childhood center students gained an appreciation and understanding of our core Jewish values. Our kehillah, our sacred community, which included parents, teachers and staff, also benefitted from participating in our event,” said Schiffer.

The grand total collection at days end came to $616.50. The money was donated to HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, a global Jewish nonprofit that protects refugees. The children at Temple Beth Sholom’s Early Childhood Center learned about the importance of giving, about showing friendship to others in need, and about how even the littlest hands can make a big difference in helping others.

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