Field trips

[magid]

Somehow inspired by Tapuz's comments yesterday, I started thinking about field trips for Jewish kids in New England.
Not the field trips that any class would take (art museums, planetariums, etc.), but ones that tie in more directly to being Jewish.

• Sweet Whisper Farms
  Shmuel  & Rivky  Simenowitz   (800) 660-9077
  P.O. Box 236,  Readsboro, VT   05350    
  E-MAIL: swfarms@together.net
  Sugarhouse Phone:  (800) 660-9077
  Goldmine Road, Readsboro
  Tour the farm, learning how to make maple syrup: which trees, how much sap is needed, when to tap trees, the boiling process, how maple sugar is made. Learn about the issues with making maple syrup kosher, how it differs from traditional practices to be it kosher. Learn about what organic practices are, sustainable agriculture, and getting organic certification.
  
• the Vilna shul in Boston, or the Touro shul in Newport, RI
  Learn about the history of either shul, and the history of the Jewish community in earlier times in the US. Learn about demographic shifts, why Jews came in the first place, and why they moved to other neighborhoods afterwards. Consider current trends: will the communities currently in the area stay where they are, or shift? What might cause shifts?
  
• National Yiddish Book Center
  Learn about Yiddish: linguistic roots, where it was used, what it was used for (historically, also currently), the culture reinforced by the language. Also learn about the process of saving books, physical rescue and book rebinding.
  
• Boston Holocaust memorial
  Learn about the Holocaust, of course. Also learn about the process of getting a memorial or other piece of public art made: space, design, artist, funding.
  
• Brookline, North Charles, or Malden eruv
  Learn the basics of what is needed to make an eruv (lechi requirements, things that are natural borders, and so on). Have someone in to discuss the issues with making an eruv (mapping for best routes, getting permissions from legal entities, getting insurance, getting rabbinical supervision, getting funds) and maintaining an eruv, with walks around some of the border afterward.