They’d heard the story of the Ten Commandments before. They’d read about the golden calf. But on Saturday, students at Vallejo’s Congregation B’nai Israel relived the experience of their ancestors at the base of Mount Sinai, when God handed down the law.
During an overnight event to mark their year-end celebration and commemorate Shavuot, 40 or so religious-school students were led through “the wilderness” surrounding the synagogue. They were led by a Moses with beard and staff, otherwise known as lay leader Bruce Silverman, who took them up to the foot of the “mountain,” otherwise known as the social-hall stage.
The room was decorated with large murals of desert scenes created by the students over the last few weeks. There was some greenery here and there, and a cardboard mountain graced the stage. As the children, led by Moses, entered the room and gathered at the base of the mountain, they were admonished to behave themselves. They then watched as Moses ascended the mountain, with lightning and thunder emanating from some unseen source.
The children of Israel were then divided into 12 tribes and instructed to create banners and cheers, which they later presented to the group.
Suddenly, a deep voice resonated from somewhere in the vicinity of the mountain. More thunder punctuated a reading of the Ten Commandments, as the children sat enthralled on the floor, faces upturned.
But Moses didn’t return. Someone in the crowd complained about the conditions of life in the wilderness. Others agreed that maybe things had been better in Egypt, where at least they’d known what their place was. The adults who were milling about — in their other lives, they were the children’s parents and teachers — demanded that Aaron, a purple-robed Barry Groody, collect everyone’s jewelry and fashion an idol.
The lights went out, and when they came back on, a golden bull appeared in the center of the room. Everyone joined hands and danced in circles around it, singing “Jump down, turn around and dance around the cow!”
Suddenly, Moses appeared at the foot of the mountain. Amid even more thunder, he berated the revelers, smashed the tablets he carried into smithereens and ascended the mountain again.
A discussion ensued about why Moses had been so angry. And when he descended the mountain again and presented the contrite Israelites with the tablets containing the commandments, a piece of blue sky above them opened up and a shower of tissue-paper flowers filled the room. Then everyone danced to Israeli music, and munched on popcorn and date-honey yogurt manna.
Many in attendance agreed that the recreation accomplished its objective. “There’s a part of the Midrash that says we were all at Sinai,” said the school’s principal, Melissa Silverman. “Now we really were.”
The children appreciated the simulation, too. “It was cool,” said Justin Salter, 10, “because it was like we got to learn about Moses going to get the Ten Commandments and about the 12 tribes.
“It was interesting and cool,” agreed 12-year-old Tobi Lessem. “At first I thought it would be corny, but it was fun making up the cheer, and the sound effects were neat. I know I’ll remember this.”
The younger kids were even more impressed. “I really liked it,” said Sam Hecht, 9. “It really made you feel like you were back then. My favorite part was following Moses through the wilderness.”
Hannah Groody, 7, agreed: “It was good. The scary part was the lightning and thunder. It sounded like it was really God talking up there. But it wasn’t God — it was really Courtney’s dad.”
Courtney’s dad, Steve Harris, said, “I wish they’d had something like this when I was a kid. It was a time for Jewish kids to experience Jewish fellowship. It was very nice.”
Added Silverman, “We hoped to give the kids the opportunity to see what it might have been like for one person to try to keep an entire people together. To show them how little faith we really had after seeing all the miracles. And even after erecting the golden calf, how, ultimately, God still believed in us.
“Now Shavuot is something they’ll never forget.”