Birmingham Temple - 1st and 4th grades
28611 West Twelve Mile Road
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
(248) 477-1410

Contacts: 1st and 4th grade teachers -
Jennifer and Jerry Grodsky –jgrodsky@twmi.rr.com

Participating students
1st Grade:
Matthew August
Lina Berman
Sarah Broida
Leah Daniels
Brandon Keil
Lior Kolton
Mallory Marshall
Ethan Reider

4th Grade:
Sam Babineau
Cameron Baller
Andy Berman
Michael Hirsch
Emily O’Leary
Victoria Patrick
Katie Voigt

 

Tikkun Olam Project

The 1st  & 4th grade classes at the Birmingham Temple spent the month of March 2007 working on a special Tikkun Olam project for the SHJ Jewish Cultural Arts Competition!  Inspired by discussions about our humanistic Jewish homes and our families (some of which include cherished pets), the classes engaged in a Tikkun Olam project aimed at “repairing the world” of less fortunate animals.  We researched suggested ways to support the Michigan Humane Society, and came up with two tasks: build “kitty forts” and sponsor a pet food drive at our Temple school.

We started by building “kitty forts” – simple cardboard boxes covered with construction paper and decorated by the children to serve as “security boxes” for cats to hide in while awaiting adoption from Michigan Humane Society shelters.  The boxes provide hiding places or perching spots, and serve to alleviate stress.  Because the forts can be taken home with the cats when they’re adopted, they provide comfort during the animal’s transition to a new home.

      

Glue, tape, scissors, and colored construction paper – the supplies were flying and so were energies and emotions as the kids really got into their projects, making them personalized and “homey” (to a cat!).  Some boxes included pictures of fish; one even had a drawing of a fireplace!  A 1st grader wrote on her box “Dear kitty: I hope you like this little box.  I made it just for you.  I love you!”
Fourth graders even tried adding a mezuzah to one kitty fort!

                  

             
         

The second grade class heard the excitement and briefly joined the fun!

Our “kitty forts” came out great!

And the kitties at the Humane Society enjoyed them very much!

          

 

After we finished our kitty forts, we made posters and hung them up around the Temple school asking for pet food donations.  Our pet food drive was quite successful!  We even got a few kitty toys and some cleaner too!

 

Working on a Tikkun Olam project was a natural extension of the 1st and 4th grade curriculum of the Birmingham Temple.  First graders discussed other forms of Tikkun Olam during this “unit.” They read books about Tikkun Olam and heard stories about other children’s efforts to “repair the world.” 

Fourth graders had an even more direct connection to the project, as one of the grade’s “ethical areas of focus” is Tikkun Olam.  The fourth grade spends time throughout the school year discussing how, through Tikkun Olam, they can make a difference for the Jewish people and the world.

When asked what participating in this project meant to them, the children replied:

1st Grade:
Mallory Marshall – “Happy – I felt good for helping the animals!”
Sarah Broida – “Happy, because I was with my friend Mallory!”
Matthew August – “Excited, because I never made kitty forts before!”
Lina Berman – “We worked hard, but it’s good for the animals!”
Leah Daniels – “Happy, because we’re helping the animals!”
Lior Kolton – “Normal!” (As in “it’s natural to help”)
Ethan Reider – “Making the kitty forts felt silly – helping the kitty cats!”
Brandon Keil – “I felt silly too, but I had fun!”

 

4th grade –
Cameron Baller – “It felt good to help the poor cats without food!”
Sam Babineau – “I felt so proud of what I did!”
Emily O’Leary – “I felt glad!”
Victoria Patrick - “I felt glad too!”
Katie Voigt – “I was happy that I could help!”
Michael Hirsch – “I felt good too!”
Andy Berman – “It was good to help!”

We liked these humanistic-like quotes from a page of the Humane Society’s website which emphasizes their Humane Education program and illustrates ways children can make a difference:

"To err is human, to forgive canine."
- Anonymous

"Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this."
- Anonymous

"Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms."
- George Eliot

“We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
- Immanuel Kant

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
- Gandhi

The children of the Birmingham Temple School’s 1st and 4th grade classes will take something away with them as a result of working on this Tikkun Olam project.  They learned that Tikkun Olam is a good thing to do, and that doing it not only helps those that receive the benefit of our efforts, but helps us too because we feel good about ourselves when we come together to make a difference in the lives of others. 

Thank you to the SHJ for sponsoring this competition!  It resulted in positive efforts here at Birmingham Temple, and those efforts were felt by those (cats and dogs) who needed our help the most!