Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide

• Talk with the children. Discuss how the class might create a sacred space where
they can talk to God. How do we talk to God? Quietly or noisily? Happily or
sadly? With all of our bodies? With our hands? With our minds? With our hearts?
Be receptive to all of the children’s answers, and seek to expand and extend their
feelings and understandings.
• Seize the teachable moment. Use the children’s personal experiences as they are
shared with their classmates to create sacred space in the classroom. Some
examples might be:
the birth of a sibling or a cousin
a bar or bat mitzvah a child in the class has attended
the marriage of a close relative or friend
the miracles of nature and the cycle of the year (first snowfall, first flower
in spring, a rainbow, and so on)
the sad events that may be part of a young child’s experiences, such as the
death of someone close to them or the loss of a beloved pet
Each of these happy or sad events calls for a Jewish response and provides the
opportunity, under the wise and sensitive guidance of the teacher, to create sacred
space within the classroom.
• Hiddur mitzvah – Hiddur mitzvah is a way children can express their creativity
and spirituality. The Hebrew word mitzvah means commandment and hiddur
means to make beautiful. Thus, the concept of hiddur mitzvah can be viewed as a
directive to make commandments and their fulfillment beautiful. Jewish ritual
objects required in mitzvot should be as aesthetically pleasing as possible in order
to glorify God and the commandments. If children create these pieces themselves,
using beautiful materials and their own designs, this too infuses the ritual with
added meaning and ownership.
• Music and movement - It is clear that music stirs the soul. When the children
listen to Jewish and other beautiful music, play instruments, sing, and dance, their
whole bodies and beings express their feelings and spirituality. Using sign
language while saying prayers such as the Shema or Modeh Ani also engages the
whole body, so that the spiritual can be expressed in a sensory manner.
• Focus – You can explain the custom of shutting our eyes when we say the Shema
or bless the candles as we light them in a way that helps the children connect to
God. We close our eyes so that we are not distracted by things happening around
us and we can think more clearly of God as we sing the prayers.
Children are spiritual beings, and God has a fundamental place in the Conservative
Jewish early childhood classroom. Working together formally and informally, both
teachers and children can grow their relationships with God, allowing these relationships
to become integral parts of their lives.
Vision for Conservative Early Childhood Programs: A Journey Guide
USCJ Department of Education
Maxine Handelman
Handelman@uscj.org
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