By ShinShinim, Kyla and Eden
Guest Columnists
We want to start by saying that we miss you all very much and are excited to come back to Louisville after our trip home. February was such a fulfilling and exciting month for us! We had the opportunity to lead activities and see our events come to life, meet new people and strengthen our relationships.
Before our trip home to Israel, we led an activity teaching the kids about Jerusalem at both religious schools in the community – LBSY and JLAB. All the students wrote notes we took to the Western Wall in Jerusalem!
Our first cooking event was a huge success. Each participant got to take home two traditional Ethiopian dishes: missir wat – a spicy lentil dish – and Ethiopian dabo bread, which in Ethiopian culture is traditionally eaten with coffee. Eden shared her parents’ story of immigrating to Israel and spoke about Ethiopian Jews and their rich history. We offered insights about Beta Israel (Jews of Ethiopian origin) and the lost tribe of Dan. Learning Eden’s personal story about her Ethiopian culture was very special. Eden was honored to have had the opportunity to share something so near and dear to her heart. We’ll be continuing our cooking classes in March, April and May and hope to see you at one of them!
We had a wonderful Women’s Vision Board event Feb. 11 at the Trager Family JCC facilitated by Brittany Derrenbacher, an evening where women explored their Jewish identities and talked about themes of self-love.
This month, we also put up pictures of the hostages in the newly planted Nova Grove, located in front of the Trager Family JCC. This project is so meaningful to us, and we are filled with renewed hope that all the hostages will be returning home soon. Being back in Israel for part of this month, we had the chance to see how truly strong the people of Israel are, how we all come together and support one another in times of need. Our experiences also tied in perfectly with the Feb. 13 holiday of Tu B’shvat, the New Year for Trees and a celebration of renewed life.
We are so excited for the month of March and everything that is to come, especially the community- wide Purim extravaganza!
To close, starting now and every month we will teach you a new Hebrew word. February’s word is Ahavah – which means “Love.”