The 7th grade boys and girls are focusing on different forms of literature that chronicle the ghetto experience for Jews during the Holocaust. We are beginning by analyzing and discussing the poem "The Butterfly" by Pavel Friedman, a young boy who was living in the Theresienstadt ghetto. In the poem, he describes the moment he saw a beautiful, delicate yellow butterfly. The butterfly flies away, "wanting to kiss the world goodbye" because he is appalled by what he is witnessing.
In our discussion, we noted how amazing it was that even during such a terrible time, Jewish children had opportunities to create art, both in words and in images.
We are then going to read the short story "A Chicken for the Holidays" which addresses a young boy's desire and then quest to bring home a chicken for Rosh Hashanah. The author, Bernard Gotfryd, uses beautiful language and imagery to convey the atmosphere of fear in the ghetto, in the streets, and in the forests. The story stresses the Emunah and commitment to Halacha that the family has, as in the end, they do not eat the chicken because it was not shechted according to Halacha.
