CBJ Religious School Newsletter Volume 11 Issue 1 Kindergarten s School Year Blast Off November 2017 Kislev 57 78 Our Kindergarten class has been busy, busy, busy. We jumped right into the year with the stories of Creation and Adam and Eve. Next, we celebrated the High Holidays. Besides eating apples and honey and round challah, each of the yeladim had the chance to try sounding two shofarot: one regular sized, and one really long shofar. Next, we visited the Sukkah and made beautiful stained glass fruit to decorate it. On Simchat Torah, we participated in the hakafot in honor of our Consecration. We chanted the Shema and Shehechiyanu and were welcomed by the congregation into our formal Jewish education with a blessing from the Rabbi and the gift of a mezuzah necklace courtesy of Sisterhood. We examined our class Torah and learned about all of the different parts, and what it takes to write a Torah. Did you know that every Torah in every country contains the exact same words? We were each a sofer and wrote our own Torah letters on special parchment with special black ink and a quill pen. Do you know what it means to be Jewish? We do! Do you know about God? We do! We even drew pictures of what we think God looks like. Please stop by the hallway downstairs and take a look at our creations. We are learning about the mitzvot, including tzedakah. We really love music with Sari and Arielle, and are happy that Ari and Miriam help us in class! - Debbie Weiss Bet: Who is Strong? The Bet class has begun the unit of Gevurah strength. We ve discussed that while physical strength can be important at certain times, strength of character is what s important in leading a good life filled with Jewish values. The students each answered the question, Who is strong? with their own thoughts about standing up for yourself and others, being kind, having conviction, etc. We then learned that the Rabbis wrote, Who is strong? One who has control of their impulses, and discussed its meaning. We learned about the characteristics of persistence, patience, confidence and resilience all being part of a strong person. We looked at some of the first chalutzim, pioneers to Israel and Moran Samuel, an Israeli disabled Olympian, and saw how they showed they had these characteristics. The students then chose someone they know who is a hero and wrote about how they embody one or more of these characteristics. - Judy Jury
Page 2 of 7 School Newsletter Dalet participating in Moving Traditions B nai Mitzvah program The Dalet students have been learning about Teshuvah, B tzelem Eloheim, and Gevurah. During the Teshuvah unit, they learned about recognizing mistakes, feeling regret, apologizing and asking forgiveness, and resolving to not do it again. In the B tzelem Eloheim unit, the students discovered that they should honor the image of God in themselves, recognize it in others, and understand how this concept influences their behavior and actions. The current unit revolves around Gevurah which goes beyond physical strength to include not only inner strength, but also spiritual courage. Dalet students are participating in the Moving Traditions B nai Mitzvah program. Each month we gather to explore a topic that teens grapple with as they approach their Bar/Bat Mitzvah. Topics include: becoming a teen, navigating friendships (inclusion & exclusion), self-expression (dress codes/ social norms for b nai mitzvah ceremonies/parties, etc.), parentchild expectations and guest-host relations. - Michele Sussman Dalet Hebrew What Ties Us to Judaism Elijah & Sarah In learning about Tallit and Tefillin, we read a midrash that says God will always be there to help you. This tied us to the project because it shows why and how God is a part of our Jewish lives. This project was the first project of our school year. It helped us get closer to Judaism because we got to express what makes us our own Jewish person. It also helped us learn about each other in a different way than we normally would. It shows what traditions we have and also our favorite parts of Judaism. We wrote a paragraph explaining what ties us to Judaism. Then, we drew a picture to further explain our paragraph. Heblish Riddles Ariel & Sam When we work on Heblish riddles it helps us understand how to read without vowels, which gets us ready to read from the Torah for our Bar/Bat Mitzvah. It also wakes us up and gets our minds ready to learn. Learning the Torah Service Liana & Emmett We began this year with reviewing the Torah service, looking a little deeper into it, and learning a little more about it. We practiced reading the Ein Kamocha and have learned the meanings of the words in the prayer. - Natalie Gurin
School Newsletter Page 3 of 7 First Grade Focuses on Mitzvot First grade has been busy! We are excited each week to learn new letters of the Aleph Bet and to practice them in our centers, machberet, and especially with body letters. We have been spending a lot of our time learning about different mitzvot, and how we can make a difference. We started the year by learning about Derech Eretz and we earn class pom poms when we show Derech Eretz in the classroom. When the jar is full, the students get to plan something special to do in the classroom. We are on track to be planning our first special event for our last Sunday before winter break! We also had the amazing opportunity to help families over Rosh Hashanah by delivering food baskets for Maot Chitim. The students were amazing and put smiles on so many people s faces. I hope many of you will join me over spring break as an individual family to do the Passover delivery. It will take place this year on Sunday March 25 th. Please let me know if you would like more information. Finally, we learned that there are actually 613 different mitzvot we are supposed to be doing in our daily lives. Wow! That means we are constantly thinking about doing a mitzvah every day! We also tested out the theory that there are as many pomegranate seeds as there are mitzvot in the Torah. We each had a chance to count (and then eat) some pomegranate seeds. We actually came up with about 575 seeds in our pomegranate! That s a whole lot of mitzvot! - Erica Veronie The Aleph class has been working hard on our Torah project. All the students recently made his or her own Yad. They decorated all the pieces and decided how they wanted to put all the parts together. The students came up with some great designs and had lots of fun putting them together! - Peggy Weiner Aleph Torah Project
Page 4 of 7 Gimel s Trip to Israel School Newsletter Throughout this year we are learning about Israel. Each week we are exploring different places in Israel. Our job is to become tour guides/ travel agents and create the best possible trip to Israel by the end of the school year. Each trip will then have a pamphlet describing all of the locations that will be visited and what a person can do at each location. Be on the lookout for these exciting trips to be announced in the Spring. Students will also be mapping out their trip digitally using Google MyMaps. In the meantime, here are some highlights of places we have been learning about in Israel. You can go see a movie or musical similar to what we see in the United States. - Abby L There is a variety of different music that you can listen to in Israel. - Nathan You can go to different stadiums and go see different Israeli sports teams play. - Jonah You can climb Masada. - Arielle and Eli You can see Theodor Herzl s grave on top of Mount Herzl. - Paige You can go to the Roman Ampitheatre in Caesaria, perhaps you can even catch a rock concert there. - Meredith and Madeline You can go see the Museum of Art in Tel Aviv. - Julia You can go float in the Dead Sea.- Zak The Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth and one of Israel s most popular tourist destinations. It contains mud that has nourishing minerals for your skin.- Bethany and Asher You can go and watch popular singers from around the world perform. - Laney They have some of the same restaurants as we do with a kosher option (like McDonalds/ McShwarmas). Makenzie You can visit the Kotel and even drop in a note. You can now even explore the tunnels under as well. - Gillian and Meredith In planning your vacation keep in mind the rainy season is from October-April. Madeline In Israel you can even express yourself in certain places using graffiti. Talia You can go to the white city in Tel Aviv where everything is white. Arielle They play many of the same sports that we have in America and they especially love soccer. Reese There is artwork throughout Israel that is representative of life. Abby Beach sports in Eilat take place in the Red Sea and are a ton of fun! - Bethany We can t wait to unveil all of these exciting projects. More information still to come but you should be excited to. - June Fox & Marc Sender
School Newsletter Page 5 of 7 Gimel Hebrew Hebrew through Movement: Stephen & Jonah Our Hebrew through movement program is great and we learn a lot of new Hebrew words, especially actions, by doing the actions. means fast and means go/walk, so if someone says, we go/walk fast because we can t run in school. Fly Swatter & Rolling Dice Games: Talia, Madeline, Arielle The fly swatter game helps us learn the words to a prayer and it helps us to remember where the words are in the prayer. The game helps us get better at reading the prayers while having fun! Another game we play is the rolling dice game. When we roll a dice, whichever number we get, we sing the prayer in a different tune. It helps us get the prayers in our brain by singing different tunes. It shows us that one song doesn t always have to be sung in the same tune. It s a creative and learning game that gets the prayer in your head. Prayers: Meredith, Tessa & Ronin We reviewed the prayers we learned last year before beginning to learn new ones. Etz Hayim was a challenge to relearn in a new tune. Mrs. Gurin is teaching us the best way to do this. - Natalie Gurin Gimel-Dalet Kallah
Page 6 of 7 Heh Make Their Tallitot School Newsletter In the beginning of the school year Heh students learned about Tallitot. With the help of Orin Rotman, the students learned about how and when they should wear their tallit as well as the numerical representations it holds. The students got to choose their fabric and atarahot and the Tallit were then sewn by Jayme Ernsteen and Kitty Hoffman. Thank you to Sisterhood and the parent helpers who made our project run smoothly. We hope your students will enjoy their special tallit and that it will always provide them with terrific memories. Heh Visits Chesed Food Pantry In Heh we ve had an opportunity to explore various topics ranging from Israel to B tzelem Eloheim to Gevurah to a Fingerprint activity. We also went to restock the Chesed Food Pantry and learned about the wonderful things Chesed does for families in need. Israel/Judaism: In this unit we covered Kol Yisrael, Our Jewish Homeland, making a historical connection and the meaning behind Hatikvah. We also completed our Finger Print Activity. This project is a combination of how we see ourselves as a Jewish person, recognize our Jewish identity, and who we are as people (our likes). We spent time learning about two of our new curriculum units from Shalom Learning; B tzelem Elohim (Honoring the Image of G-d) and Gevurah (Inner & Outer Strength). Right now we are working on a research project about Jewish heroes and what makes them strong. - Tammy Scheibe
School Newsletter Page 7 of 7 Building Jerusalem One LEGO at a Time