Community Made

The Mystery of the Forbidden Fruit

Which forbidden fruit does Adam and Eve eat in the Garden of Eden? This stop motion short created with twelve 11 year old campers at Camp Ramah Wisconsin seeks to answer that question. The campers worked in teams to study Jewish texts, write a script, record their voices, draft their counselors into making music and finally, animate the video with their own cut paper props and characters. It was a deep, and satisfying way to spend 2 weeks together in this artists’ beit midrash.

“After two weeks of meetings and discussions, scripting, designing, and hundreds of snapshots…none of the students had seen the whole project put together yet. They sat in the back of auditorium on wooden benches with about one hundred of their friends and staff from all over camp. While the general audience was chatting and flirting, the animation group was clearly focused on the big screen hanging from the ceiling, waiting for the show to begin. As soon as the film appeared, you could see the excitement and pride on their faces. Their peers were remarkably silently focused, with the exception of whispered amazement at animated effects. After the credits rolled, the room burst into the loudest applause of the day, and members of the group were beaming with pride. Some high-fived and some were still fixed on the screen, clapping so hard you could see their unabashed sense of accomplishment. All the hard detailed work, extensive planning, group decision making, and crunch time pressure dissolved into a celebration of achievement, pride, and community recognition. I was proud of them, but the most impressive and moving tribute to their work was this moment of authentic satisfaction and accomplishment as a team and as true creators.”
– Lom, BimBam Educator at Studio BimBam: Camp Ramah

Learn the Hamotzi Blessing

Learn the Hamotzi blessing that Jewish people say before eating bread made out of wheat, barley, rye, oats, or spelt flour. (And famously, challah, the special braided bread, on Shabbat!) The name of the Hamotzi blessing, by the way, comes from the Hebrew מוציא “he removes.”

This karaoke video was recorded and painted by kids in the third and fourth grades at Temple Sinai of Oakland.

The words they are singing are:

ברוך אתה ה’ א‑לוהינו, מלך העולם, המוציא לחם מן הארץ.‏
Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu, melekh ha’olam, hamotzi lehem min ha’aretz.
Blessed are You, Adonai, Who brings forth bread from the earth.

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The development of this project was made possible by the generosity of the