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Mazel
Toy!
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Testing The Waters
Day school students monitor water through JNF program.
r
Ann Arbor
ifth-grade students at the Hebrew Day
School of Ann Arbor and fourth-graders
and fifth-graders at Hillel Day School
of Metropolitan Detroit in Farmington
Hills participated in an international project
funded through the U.S. Forest Service and
Jewish National Fund. The project has its roots at
the University of Michigan.
On Friday, Oct. 10 (erev Sukkot), the students
joined the World Water Monitoring Day in corn-
memoration of the 30th anniversary of the Clean
Water Act. During this month, students through-
out the world, in both public and private schools,
monitored and tested the purity and pollution
levels in the water sources located near their
schools.
Hebrew Day School has registered the creek on
Birch Hollow Drive as an official testing site.
Hillel students drew water from the pond behind
the school. They used water-monitoring kits sup-
plied by the JNF, an organization responsible for
water conservation — among other things — in
Israel and the Middle East. The children tested
for the level of dissolved oxygen, acidity level,
temperature and clarity of water.
According to Hillel science teacher, Amy
Crowel, the students thought it was "cool" to
place the tablets in the water to test for percent of
dissolved oxygen and pH, and to watch for the
color change to occur. They felt like scientists
when they needed to identify what the color
change meant, she said.
Hillel Day School fifth gradersJamie Sacks, Jamie Gildenberg, Michelle Gross and Allison Margolis prepare to test
The data was registered on the
water.
www.WorldWaterMonitoringDay.org Web site
water. We begin with solemnity and move toward
the harvest season.
and added to an international database on water
hope and celebration — all through the use of
In addition, in ancient times, there was a water
quality. Students will be able to compare the
water.
libation ceremony in the Temple.
quality of local water with the quality of water in
Another exciting component to this water pro-
"Sukkot was the only holiday that involved
other areas of Michigan and the world.
gram is that students in all parts of the world —
water. In Israel, they would bring down torches
"We were trying to help the environment by
including Portugal, France, India, Australia, and
and then wash off the Mizbaiach (the ancient
making the water a better place," said Hebrew
Israel participated at the same time as the local
altar) with fresh water," Bernstein said.
Day School student Josh Bernstein.
students.
Water
is
a
symbol
of
life,
and
the
ceremony
was
The water monitoring has definite ties to
And what is the connection to the University of
marked with singing and dancing in appreciation
Sukkot. On the eighth day of Sukkot (Shemini
Michigan? The organization that promotes water
of this natural-flowing source.
Atzeret), in the morning prayer service, we begin
cleanliness (Earth Force) has its roots at U-M. It
And finally, the water ceremony reminds us of
the practice of praying for rain for the coming of
was originally called the Green Project and was
another water ceremony — the more private
started by professors William Stapp and Bill
tashlich ceremony — when we pray for the sym-
Dina Shtull-Leber, head of school at Hebrew Day
Mitchell. The organization is doing a TV show in
bolic cleansing of our wrongdoings, over flowing
J:a School of Ann Arbor, contributed to this story.
10/24
2003
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