From the Mouths of Babes: Meaning Making during Challenging Times

Processing my thoughts out loud, and especially in conversation with others, is how I walk through the world. The more overwhelmed or confused I am about a specific topic or reality, the more I talk about it and ask others questions. Since October 7th, I've become increasingly "talked out" and sometimes weary of processing through speech. I have frequently said the words, "I have no words," or "I don't know what to say." I have felt this acutely over the last couple of weeks between the crisis at home and in our homeland, and the many days of intense processing and conversations the Jewish calendar provides during the month of Iyar: Yom HaShoah, Yom HaZikaron, and even Yom HaAtzmaut. This morning, I felt too exhausted to speak. I questioned whether I had the energy to teach the eighth graders as I do every Friday. As it turned out, we had an amazing class, and all the students spoke at unusual length with depth, humility, and courage. I have to wonder whether my spoken word burnout was to their benefit.

While I returned to my desk with renewed energy after that class, I still felt like I didn't know what to say after such an intense last couple of weeks- as if speech is too limited of a medium for times like these. So, I decided to see what the children said this week and had to say about their week because they tend to think out loud and are as uninhibited as I usually am. I read through all our "overheards" from the week (we actually keep a file that teachers add to!), and then through our weekly journals, which are written by students in 5th- 8th grade. I discovered that these kids said EVERYTHING there is to say this week, and the range of these words strikes me as adequate, respectful, and even meaningful during this time when many of us feel overwhelmed. And, so I share them with you:

Gan/Preschool

• "Hashem doesn't have a mouth."

• "I'm trying to teach my grown-ups to say please."

• "Is this song sad?"

• "This lemon is sour."

• "How did you know the bird was dead?" "His head fell off."

• "Dead is when you go to sleep and don't wake up. Ever."

• "When I stood with my friends, I made some burps."

• “The Earth will cry if we don’t take care of it.”

• “This was the best day of my entire life.” Student reflecting on Yom HaAtzmaut at school. 

Kevutzot/Elementary

• “A-R-K-A-N-S-A-S!!! A-R-K-A-N-S-A-S!!!”- Kindergarten-led cheer when they spotted an Arkansas license plate on Broadway. The driver got out of his car and enthusiastically joined.

• “I want to even remember the people I didn't meet, but it is hard because I do not know them”- Student reaction in the Yom HaZikaron room. 

• "When we talk about people who passed away, it makes me feel sad." Student reaction in the Yom HaZikaron room. 

• “My Ima was in Jerusalem. I hope my Ima was successful at her announcement.” Student describing a picture of her mother giving a lecture.

• “I was at the Koetl with my cousin. I liked being with my cousin. It was so much fun. I was crying when I needed to leave.” Student describing a picture of herself at the Kotel.

• “To bring this idea to life, we had a Kindness Snowball Fight!” Description of a social-emotional lesson.

• Younger Sibling to Parent, "Who scored?" Parent, "Your sister, but you were too busy singing Hallel to notice."

• “We also began chapter 42, ‘Meanwhile, back in Canaan…’” Description of class’ Chumash learning.

Chativah/Middle School

• “Why is this happening? Why are people killing each other in war?” Student reaction in the Yom HaZikaron room. 

• “Don't drink and drive. Or, if you're an Amora, don't drink and party. That's the moral of the aggadah we learned in Toshba this week, in which Rabba, who has become drunk at his Purim party, kills Rav Zeira.” Description of Talmud learning.

• "My sympathy has deepened for them, my heart has sunk, and my will to fight for them has strengthened." Reflection on learning about the 13 million children in the U.S. who live with food insecurity.

• “Is the Torah a history book? Is it a family memoir? Is it the collected mythology of a people?” Introduction to the summary of what the class learned in Tanakh this week. 

• “I find the tile floors in Israel so annoying! My feet are always freezing when we are there.” Comment during a conversation about the decorative use of painted ceramics in Israel, in everything from holy sites to bathroom floors. 

• "How were hot dogs easy to make when you have to take the meat from a lot of different animals?" Question in the context of learning about the history of the Federal School Lunch Program.

• “Years from now, you just may hear a Beit Rabban student compared to Martha Graham, the pioneering modern dancer and company director. If so, you can thank Coach Nicola for starting us on that journey, since she has assigned pairs of students to perform carefully choreographed moves.” Reflection on physical education this week. 

From the mouths of babes... these quotes from our students say it all: the profound and the prosaic, the joyful and the sad, the clear and the confusing. They are the words that I'm a little too exhausted to articulate, and they energize me to keep talking, to help our students make meaning during challenging times. In turn, it helps me make meaning as well.