Walk into the Girls’ Lunchroom on a random Thursday during lunch and you will catch a glimpse of the excitement that sweeps through the air as a result of this year’s Middos Program. Every Thursday, the Middos theme-song streams through the lunchroom and the girls sing and do motions as they internalize the ideas of YKW’s very own version of the “Mach a Bracha” song.
Every month, we focus on a different bracha, gleaning a practical message from each one. Each girl received a keychain, and adorable charms are added continuously, each one reminding the girls of another aspect of brachos that we’ve been focusing on.
At the first Middos assembly, in honor of Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan, we introduced the topic of brachos, discussing the importance of expressing hakaras hatov, as we thank Hashem with each bracha that we say. There was a school-wide Brachos Party, affording each girl the opportunity to recite the brachos aloud and then answer amen.
Another bracha we worked on was “Pokei’ach Ivrim,” appreciating not only the gift of sight but also the ability to see things properly and be dan l’kafzechus. Through intriguing optical illusions, it became very clear that things are not always the way they appear to be.
“Asher Yatzar” took the school by storm. Every time the girls read the bracha aloud from a placard, they deposited a pompom into plastic tubes outside the bathrooms, until they were filled with hundreds of pompoms.
For the bracha of “Asher Bachar Banu,” we focused on the fact that we are Hashem’s chosen nation and as such, we have a responsibility to live up to our reputation as Hashem’s representatives. We discussed the concept of Kiddush Hashem and have been trying our best to make a Kiddush Hashem in whichever situation we find ourselves.
It is our hope that the focus on brachos will carry through to the girls’ every-day life and improve their actions beinadam la’Makom as well as beinadam l’chaveiro.
