Morim Lerner and Ben-Moche Update

Hello 7^th Grade Families,

Our class is progressing through our unit dealing with the Jewish value of community-building, and this past week we examined two very important rituals that aid in keeping our community together. Shabbat and holiday observance, in whatever way one chooses to celebrate, is an important component of the fabric that makes up our Jewish community. On Sunday we held a mock Shabbat dinner where we sang songs, performed the rituals together, and ate a variety of chocolate items which symbolized different components of the meal. On Tuesday we examined the Purim story through videos with differing lenses into various parts of the narrative. We also had a conversation about what parts of Purim each learner connected to.

We look forward to continuing our Purim lesson planning in anticipation for the holiday coming up this Wednesday night. We hope to see you all at the Purim carnival.

Have a peaceful Shabbat and a wonderful weekend.

David and Erin 

Morah Katz Hebrew Upates

Dear Fourth-Sixth Grade Parents-

I hope everyone enjoyed their quick break last week.  We are back and getting down to our Hebrew business.  All of our students have taken their assessments and, as I mentioned before, we have done some shuffling around in our reading groups.  

With the assistance of our amazingly capable madrichim, we are really encouraging the kids to put forth their best effort and become more fluent. We are concentrating on fluency of words located in the Musaf service. 

I am looking forward to seeing the parents who have signed up for our conferences over the next two Sunday mornings.

I wish everyone an enjoyable and restful Shabbat.  

B'Shalom,
Donna Katz

Morah Katz Update

Dear Fourth-Sixth Grade Parents-

I hope everyone enjoyed their quick break last week.  We are back and getting down to our Hebrew business.  All of our students have taken their assessment tests and, as I mentioned before, we have done some shuffling around in our reading groups.  

With the assistance of our amazingly capable madrichim, we are really encouraging the kids to put forth their best effort and become more fluent.

I am looking forward to seeing the parents who have signed up for our conferences over the next two Sunday mornings.

I wish everyone an enjoyable and restful Shabbat.  

B'Shalom,
Donna Katz

Morah Kleiman Class Update

Dear Parents,

Our class has been busy working on our upcoming Pesach Projects. Before splitting up into 5 groups, we studied the different names for the holiday of Pesach. When asked " What does eating Matzah remind you of?" Some of the kids answers were;

                         Slavery, Freedom, Exodus, Our Ancestors, Moses, Plagues

Our learners decided what interested them about Pesach. They are excited about their choices and have been working hard on researching and their presentations. Ask them about the subject they chose and why that interested them. They might have to do some research at home, if you could guide them, that would be helpful. Our presentations will be March 29. Please put it in your calendars!

The class has decided to donate our Tzedakah money to a local charity called Matan B'Seter. It distributes money to local Jewish families in need for Purim & Pesach.  This will fulfill the Mitzvah of Matanos L'evyonim on Purim  & Maos Chitim  for Pesach. Please send along Tzedakah money with your child this Sunday, so we have a nice donation for this worthy charity.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me. Thank you for letting me share in your child's Jewish education.

Cillia Kleiman

Morah Schlussel Update

Dear Parents,

This past week we began each of  our school days with Tefillah with Cantor Gutman or with Morah Katz and Morah Dworin. 

In our 4th, 5th and 6th grade Hebrew class we are continuing to polish and fine-tune our reading skills that help the students with the teffilot that we say every time we come to school and every time they pray with a minyan in the sanctuary. our focus is on the Musaf service. 

I want to remind you about the parent-teacher conferences on both Sunday, March 1st and March 8th during Religious School. Please sign up if you have not already  to meet with your child's Hebrew teacher.

I also want to remind you about the fabulous Purim celebration that Shaarey Zedek has planned for this coming Wednesday evening, March 4th beginning at 6 p.m.

Have  Shabbat Shalom,   

Toby Schlussel

Morah Hollenberg Update

Dear 6th Grade Parents,

This week we began discussing the holiday of פּוּרִים (Purim). We reviewed the basic story and the cast of characters involved. We also learned some interesting interpretations of the Megilah....like the fact that Mordechai may have been Esther's uncle or her husband. We thought about the sacrifices that Mordechai and Esther both made to save the Jewish people. Along those lines, we spoke about תַּעֲנִית אֶסְתֵּר (Taanit Esther--the Fast of Esther) the fast before Purim which commemorates Esther's three day fast before she met with King Achashverosh to ask him to save the Jewish people.  

Happy Adar!

Best, 

Morah Hollenberg

Morah Dresner Class Update

Dear Parents,

We completed letter Nun and practiced reviewing our vowels. The students are able to put together their own letters and vowels and can read some of the words. They have made tremendous progress since the beginning of the year and will continue learning the rest of the alphabet. We learned the difference between Nun and Final Nun and practiced writing the letters several times. The students had to figure out how to match pictures with the Hebrew words. For example, they recognized the picture of an Israeli flag and found the word Degel in Hebrew. They spent quite some time on this and were excited when they were able to figure out what sentences matched with the correct picture.

We also worked on letter recognition and practiced reading letters we learned and some we have not learned. The students enjoyed reading aloud and volunteered to read on their own.

We began talking about the holiday of Purim. We read a story and talked about Haman and why the shape of his hat is a triangle. We discussed that Purim is a holiday of joy and sharing. The students learned about making Mishloah-manot (gifts) and why its important to donate to those in need. The students learned about reading the Megillah and enjoying carnivals that take place at the synagogue.

The book is called Megillat Esther or simply the Megillah which means "scroll." The students asked if it was the same as the Torah. They learned the Megillah reading is different from other synagogue readings during the year. It is like a big party rather than listening quietly on a Shabbat service. We talked about mean Haman and why we shake the graggers when we hear his name.

There are traditions such as having a feast that can be shared with family and friends on the afternoon of Purim before nightfall because the commandment from the Book of Esther says, "days of feasting and merrymaking"

We shared our favorite flavors of Hamantaschen and many of the students talked about chocolate filling as their favorites because as one student put it, "not everyone likes fruit on the inside." We learned that Hamantashen means "Hamans pockets" and oznei Haman is Haman's ears. We worked on Lesson 7 in our Chai books and shared why mordechai and Esther were brave people in the story of Purim. The students also wrote how they can be brave.

We reviewed our Alef Bet and the students voluenteered to write letters and vowels on the board. It is a great way for them to learn from one another and they talk out their letters that they write while the other students guess what letter it is.

Enjoy the rest of your week and have a Happy Purim to you and your family!

Morah Dresner Wais

Morah Robinson Class Update

Dear Parents,

Welcome home to all my traveling families. We have been busy in our classroom. On Sunday we began our Purim learning with our Purim fun work packets and creating Purim masks. Today we continued learning, retelling the story as a group. Ask your child what they know about the holiday of Purim, the story ,and how we celebrate and observe the holiday.

On Sunday we will continue with some Purim shpiel in our room. As a school we will be making "mishloach manot" to deliver to the seniors in our community. Kitah bet is responsible for bringing zip-lock bags for this project. If you have not already sent them in, please send them with your child on Sunday .

We finished lesson 13 today and your child should have brought home reading to do with you.

We continued our Torah learning today, another vacation has put as a couple weeks behind the rest of the world in keeping up with the parsha hashavua. Today  we spent time talking about how important it is to have rules in our family, our school, our city and country and talked about family rules. Your children shared some rules of their family with the class. We then learned what the Top Ten Commandments are.  Ask your child if they can remember any of the 10 Commandments .

I am going to e-mail some Purim riddles for your children to answer. I think they will have fun with these. They can e-mail the answers back to me or write them down and bring them to class on Tuesday .

On Sunday we missed Addisyn Gold, Addison Jacob and Ivy.
Today we missed Nathan and Levi.
Hope to see everyone on Sunday.

Davida

Morot Levinson and Sable Hebrew Update

Dear 4th - 6th grade families, 

I hope you all enjoyed a nice break from school with your children!

 We completed our Hebrew assessments and began reading in our newly adjusted groups this week.On Sunday we divided the class in half and practiced reading in our books as well as with flashcards. On Tuesday we continued our reading and played a fun game of tic-tac-toe utilizing the letters of the alef-bet. For the last 15 minutes of class, the students from the highest reading group joined us and assisted our students with their reading in small groups. Everyone really seemed to enjoy this. :)

We look forward to meeting with you all to review your student's individual reading progress, on either Sunday, 3-1 or Sunday, 3-8.

Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom!

-Dona Levinson and Edna Sable

GOD MADE A PROMISE

Our Kitah Dalet students continue to study the text of Noah, and we are quite surprised to find so many basic mitzvot hidden in the Torah.  We talked about the commandment to care for all of GOD's creations, and we see first hand Noah caring for all of the animals, seeds, and plants, as well as for his family.  We also learn GOD holds us accountable for all that happens to his creations, and even today we are responsible for the natural resources GOD created that cannot be replaced.  As we read through the text, we found the promise GOD made with man, and we talked about the importance of keeping our word.  We talked about GOD being remorseful when destroying the world, and questioning his decision to destroy all of his creations. Finally, we talked about GOD'S promise to never destroy the world again through a flood.  We talked about the Hebrew word for promise, Brit, and how we will see this word again when we talk about the first Jewish men, Abraham  and Isaac.  

When talking about GOD's promise, students were asked to think about agreeing to do something, and then changing their minds.  We also talked about trust, and honoring their commitments.  Students created rainbows at the table, and made promises they agreed to honor.  Stop in and read their Brit, and remind them of their commitments.  

In our Tuesday afternoon rotation, we started to struggle with the idea of saving a life, or being kind to animals. We opened the discussion with the problem of saving a human or saving an animal.  We then debated what we have to do to respect the life of people and keep an animal from suffering.  Some students struggled with their decisions, and we talked about finding goodness in our struggles.  The Torah always wants us to think, and we are often faced with dilemmas that make us question what is right and what is wrong. Struggles make us work and that is just what we are doing in Kitah Dalet.  

Morah Gawel Update

Hello All! 

We had a happy, if somewhat small class today.  I hope everyone else was hitting the slopes or hanging out on a beach or doing something fabulous!  It looks like we hit the negative digits again this week.  The 50 million dollar question: WILL THERE BY SCHOOL?! Is -20 degrees at 6 am a cold day?  Inquiring minds wanted to know….

After our very serious weather conversation, the kids were led in Mifgash by our fabulous Sam Squared Madrichim Dream Team. Today they spoke at length about paparazzi, celebrities, and movies.  Most of the kids did NOT want to be a movie star.

We then saw a brief video on brick making in Egypt -- looks like no fun - and looked at some pictures of the process.  We then went back to the text and read about the Jews enslavement and how Pharaoh made the slaves make a lot of bricks, BUT he did not give the slaves the appropriate materials to make the bricks. What happened?  The Jews did not make enough bricks. So: the Pharaoh complained to the foremen, the foremen complained to the task masters, the taskmasters complained to the slaves, the slaves complained to Moses… AND Moses complained to GOD.  Moses had a basic child temper tantrum: " why me!" "You did this!" yadi, yadi.. heard it all before. And God takes it in stride. Because: he has a plan. And let's face it, God is used to cranky, complaining Jews. :)

We then saw some video clips of: Woody from Toy Story, Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games, Shrek from Shrek and Harry from Harry Potter.  We used Percy Jackson as an example and we discussed how Percy was an unlikely hero.  What traits did he hold: bravery, belief in a higher power, willingness to make sacrifices and a clear goal. Next week we will have the kids break up into groups and discuss the unlikely heroes mentioned above, and figure out what traits they hold AND what they have in common with Moses.  

Moses did NOT want to be a leader.  We have already seen that he ran away when he was scared, that he whines and points fingers at God, and he continually tells God that God has "the wrong guy." And yet: he is arguably our greatest leader.  I love that Moses is so human.  I can just imagine all of the charismatic leaders in our history pounding their fists at the sky and yelling at God. We are human. And yet: we don't need to be born leaders; leaders can be made.

Alas, I won't get into an existential Tolstoyian argument, but we will do a bit more learning on the subject next week.

Please bring in your items for our Purim Parcel project next week.

Stay warm!

Morah Leah

Kitah Zayin Update

Dear 7th grade parents,

This past week the students learned about community while relating it to the Super Bowl Public Service Announcements. The students chose a cause that they wanted to bring awareness about which was cyber bullying. The students then got out their director hats on and directed and wrote a PSAs on bullying. The students recorded it and watched it at Tuesday's class. After the video was created we talked about community and how we could help people by spreading awareness of a topic instead of just helping the community on a hands on level. After the video we created family trees and discussed our family generations. This leads us into our next unit which discusses respecting our elders.

As always, we love working with your children because they always have something amazing to share each week.

Please remember to RSVP to Allison regarding our March 8, field trip to the Repair the World House. 

Have a good break and we will see you Feb. 22

David and Erin

Morah Dresner Update

Dear Parents.

Sunday was productive as we learned our new letter of the week which was Mem. The students practiced writing the letter and continued reading sentences. Each week, we will increase the amount of letters onto words so we can expand their reading ability of new words. The students are now able to read a Hebrew word and translate it to English. Many of them are now raising their hands to read sentences which is a huge improvement from the beginning of the year. Their confidence has grown so much which makes a tremendous difference in their ability to read. 

We made an edible project for Tu B'Shevat which the students enjoyed very much. We talked about the birthday of the trees and how the greenery improves our environment. Each student shared their favorite types of foods that grow on trees and could barely keep their hands down to share with the class their ideas of why we need trees. Their enthusiasm is so wonderful to see because it shows how much they truly love learning. 

Tuesday, we continued working on our Chai lesson Avodah.  We talked about Havdalah and how it is saying goodbye to Shabbat.  We talked about how Shabbat occurs every week. Beginning on Friday night at sundown, ending on Saturday night at sundown. The students learned the Havdalah candle has two wicks instead of one and we discussed how God created the world in six days which they responded with, he rested on the seventh day.

 We worked very hard at matching sentences with pictures to make sure the students understand what they are learning. For example, the sentence said, I look for three stars up in the sky, or it may say the boy lives in the house depending what topic we are discussing. There are many photos describing Havdalah and photos that may not pertain to Havdalah and they had to figure out which picture matched the correct sentence.

Havdalah is a ceremony that divides Shabbat and the rest of the week. We compared the departure of Shabbat to a family member or a close friend who leaves for a long period of time and needs a proper send-off.  We discussed how ceremonies can be done in different ways and this was just one example. The importance of this lesson was that the students can remember how special Shabbat is and how the ritual of Havdalah is beautiful. We also discussed how Bar and Bat Mitzvahs are celebrated with a Havdalah service. We will continue working in our Chai booklets when we return from break.

Enjoy your week off. Have a safe and restful vacation.

Shavua Tov--
Lisa Dresner Wais

Morah Levinson

Dear 4th - 6th grade families,

After several days of testing, we have a completing the student Hebrew assessments. There will be an email forthcoming about your child's Hebrew reading. We are all very proud of the wonderful progress that the kids have and are continuing to make...and you should be, too! 

Reminder: We do not have religious school this Sunday or Tuesday (2/15 and 2/17). We will return on Sunday, 2/22. I hope you all enjoy this little vacation :)

Stay warm in these frigid temperatures! Wishing you all a peaceful and meaningful Shabbat with your families.

B'shalom, 

Dona Levinson 

Morah Hollenberg Class Update

Dear 6th Grade Parents,

This week we built upon last week's discussion of טו בשבט‎  (Tu B'Shevat)--the New Year for Trees based on the growing season in Israel. We learned about the Torah commandment of שמיטה (Shemitah) which literally means release. To this day Jews in Israel let the Land of Israel rest every seven years. We also began learning about the related Torah command to expunge debts during the שמיטה year. I look forward to delving more deeply into this discussion next week.

Best, 

Morah Hollenberg

Morah Robinson Update

Dear Parents,

I was so happy to see an almost complete class today! We missed Addison Jacob to get our 100% attendance.

Your kids were reading super-stars this morning. We  did several reading activities and learned a new letter. Your child should have the new lesson in their backpack to read with you. Please read with them to practice what we are working on in class.

During Torah study we continued in the book of Shemot ( we are still a couple weeks behind the rest of the world). We are making  a pictorial Torah of this most exciting book of the Torah. It is on the bulletin board outside our classroom. Please stop by with your child and have them teach you what is going on in the Torah.

I shared with your children what I think are two of the most monumental events in Jewish history. They both happen in the book of Shemot. Ask them what are!

Hint: the answer is leaving Egypt and receiving the 10 Commandments

We will have class this Tuesday and then we are on break. We return to school on Sunday February 23. If you are going away safe travels.

I will see everyone on Tuesday.

Davida

Morah Gawel Update

Hello All -

We had a terrific Sunday.   First, we made yads with our artist in residence; they are absolutely beautiful.  Then, we headed down for some mifgash. tHe kids had a quote from the Lego movie and a quote from the movie Miracle.  Both quotes were about being  a team and what teamwork means. We then discussed how often, even when we are in groups of people that we don't get along with, we find that we bond - or team up - in the face of a common adversary.  Case in point: fighting siblings suddenly become BFFS when trying to push an agenda past ye old parents…. We discussed how the Pharaoh had created Jewish taskmasters to be in charge of the Jewish slaves.  By having Jews turn on Jews, the Jewish people were easily divided. Since Pharaoh's biggest fear was that the Jews would rise up and join his enemies and rebel against him, keeping us fractured was a very logical plan.  Then, Pharaoh created unreasonable demands upon the Jews: we had to create a ridiculous amount of bricks in a short period of time, and then we had to create these bricks without having access to the proper materials.  We created an experiential lesson today that was based upon this model.  There were taskmasters and slaves, limited time and limited supplies.  The kids had to use only one hand, to mimic the emotional and physical trauma of the slaves, and they could not speak.  Taskmasters could speak.. or yell, for that matter!  The kids had to build 30 bricks in 8 minutes of uniform size. NOBODY was able to do this.  Then the kids had to put wheels on each brick (we had no wheels).  We recreated some of the desperation that our enslaved ancestors would have felt. And what did the kids do: they ganged up and got mad at the taskmasters.  This was exactly what  we had planned. NExt class period we will look closely at the text in the Torah and compare our experience to the actual text.

Have a great February break,

Morah Leah

Morah Schlussel Hebrew Update

Dear Parents,

This past Sunday we continued with our two minyanim. We are continuing to make good progress in both, learning to  read and  chant the prayers.

During our Hebrew classes we continued our reading assessments. While students were being pulled out by teachers and madrichim,  I taught the classes . The Torah portion was Yitro and we discussed one similarity between that parsha and the upcoming Purim holiday -  the importance of action of individuals. Ask your children what was a very important action that one Jew took during the splitting of the sea and during the Purim story.

On Tuesday, Hazan Propis came into Cantor Gutman's minyan and told the students about a city wide Zimriyah on March 29th. He began teaching the children two songs that he would like Shaarey Zedek students to sing at the Zimriyah. He gave them the song sheets and CDs to practice with. Put it in your computer and sing along with your children.This is completely voluntary . We are hoping to have a nice representation of Shaarey Zedek students at that Zimriyah.

We are completing our Hebrew reading assessments.

We are on vacation until February 22, 2015.  Have a good break and stay warm .

Shabbat Shalom,

Toby Schlussel

Morah Katz Update

Dear 4-6th Grade Families-

We are completing our Hebrew assessment and placing the students in their appropriate reading group level.  As a result, some reshuffling will occur and your child may or may not be in his/her previous reading teacher.  This is the ensure that all of our students are getting the best and most specialized attention. There will be an email forthcoming about your child's Hebrew class. 

We look forward to seeing everyone after our mid-winter break next week.

Shabbat Shalom!

Donna Katz

It's A Tree of Life

This week the students in Kitah Dalet began to talk about our responsibility to care for everything GOD created.  We talked about GOD commanding us to rule over everything and to also be a partner with GOD.  Students were asked to identify ways they ruled over all living things, and how they were also servants.  We talked about planting trees and flowers for our enjoyment, and our commitment to care for these living things once they are planted.  Our discussion about nature and creation brought us to the holiday of Tu B'Shevat and the importance of trees..  We compared trees to the Torah, and students were asked to find ways to support the idea that the Torah was a Tree of Life.  Students compared trees to people, as trees and people need the same things to live.  They also suggested that people can't live without trees, and Jews can't live without the Torah.  To illustrate their ideas, we created torn paper collage trees and have them displayed in our classroom.  Stop in a take a look if you are in the neighborhood.

Our Values and Ethics rotation took this discussion in another direction, and we began to explore the differences between nature and nurture.  We talked about nature and all living things, and looked at what responsibilities we have when caring for animals.  We talked about treating animals with respect, and what we have to do to care for these creatures who cannot care for themselves.  We again looked at the story of Noah, and talked about what GOD expects us to do when caring for his creations.  We will continue our discussions after our winter break, and explore the laws of kashrut animal testing, and the ethical treatment of animals.

Enjoy your mid winter break, and we will see you on Sunday, February 22, 2015. 

Morah Robinson Update

Dear Parents,

Today we began our Tu B'Shvat learning. Your children did a Tu B'shvat word search and some other worksheets. I shared with them two of my favorite tree books, "The Giving Tree" and "A Tree is Nice". Our discussion segued  into people who are "givers" and those who are "takers". Our next discussion  was about  Tu B'shvat as an Earth Day type holiday and  the biblical reason for the holiday. I explained why it's important that farmers in Israel know when their trees were planted. Ask your children about this. We will continue  with more Tu B'shvat  fun on Tuesday with an all school program and some "pomegranate magic" with Morah Robinson.

We learned two new letters today and finished lesson 10. Your children brought home a worksheet to practice their Hebrew reading with you .We played a reading game with flashcards and everybody was a rock star today!

Mazel tov to the Findling family on Charlie's Bar Mitzvah this past weekend.

We missed Ivy, Daniel, Ethan, Addison and  Addisyn today.

Hope to see everyone on Tuesday .

Davida

Morah Levinson Hebrew Update

Dear 4th - 6th grade families,

This week, the kids continued to enjoy the 2 minyanim that we now offer - one led by Cantor Gutman and the other by Morahs Dworin and Katz.

Sunday we began assessing the students on their Hebrew reading. So far we are seeing  lot of wonderful improvement and advancement. We also reviewed what we have been learning about the holiday of Tu B'shvat, which anticipates the coming of Spring. It was hard to imagine that the trees are beginning to bloom and springtime is just around the corner in the Holy Land, as we gazed out of our classroom windows at the frosty, snowy landscape!

On Tuesday, we continued with our reading assessments for the first hour of class, and then the whole school met together in the main lobby for a very special Tu B'shvat program. First, the kids had the opportunity to plant herbs which eventually will be donated to Yad Ezra. Next, they went around to different tables and had a chance to taste a variety items associated with the 7 species (שיבת מינים), which are described in the Torah as being abundant in the land of Israel. As each item was tasted, the kids rated them and recorded their choices and opinions. It was very interesting to see which things received the highest ratings! Ask your children to tell you all about this experience. Finally, the day ended with 2 beautiful birthday cakes (baked by Allison) and all of us sang Happy Birthday to the trees. It was a fantastic program full of learning and fun!

Enjoy the rest of the week, stay warm and cozy and have a peaceful Shabbat with your loved ones.

B'shalom,
Dona Levinson

Kitah Zayin (7th Grade) Update

Dear 7th Grade Families,

Last Sunday we had a very meaningful experience working at Yad Ezra packing food for the hungry in our community. It capped off our lesson on the Jewish obligation to feed the hungry and protect the most vulnerable in our midst. The learners filled many boxes with donated hummus and potatoes and heard from a speaker about the holy work that Yad Ezra performs. Attached are a couple of pictures from the experience. On Tuesday, we had a school-wide Tu B’shevat celebration marking the Jewish holiday that recognizes the rebirth of the trees. Along this theme, in class we watched a video on the rebirth of the State of Israel after millennia of dormancy.

Next Sunday we will unpack our Yad Ezra experience and challenge the learners on what we can do as a class to contribute to the community in the future. We will break into groups and create PSAs (public service announcements) focusing on issues and challenges facing our community. As always we will have a spirited tefillah/song session and have a text study about the definition of community.

Erin and I wish you all a Shabbat Shalom and a great weekend.


Please mark your calendar for Sunday, March 8. Our class will be volunteering at the Repair the World House in Detroit. Details will be sent next week.

Morah Donna Katz Update

Dear Fourth-Sixth Grade Families-

What a great learning week! We began our Hebrew reading re-evaluation and so far the results are remarkable.  Shaarey Zedek students are becoming great readers!  We have only completed testing on a little more than half the kids, but we are noticing a huge improvement in reading skills. They are reading more accurately and fluently. We are all very excited!

On Tuesday we got to engage in an experiential learning session about טו בשבט  (Tu B'Shvat),  the New Year of the Trees.  The class taste-tested the שבעת המינים (seven kinds), consisting of dates, olives, grapes, wheat, barley, figs and pomegranate.  Then we celebrated the birthday for the trees.

It was a fun and educational experience. I wish everyone a healthy and restful Shabbat.

B'Shalom,
Donna Katz

Morah Hollenberg Update

Dear 6th Grade Parents,

This week we continued our discussion of טו בשבט‎  (Tu B'Shevat)--the New Year for Trees. We learned about the name of this holiday which is literally the 15th of the month of Shevat and the 7 species of Israel. We also spoke about the connections between Tu B'Shevat, Purim, and Pesach.

Then we enjoyed a special טו בשבט‎ program with the entire Hebrew School. We sang the trees happy birthday and even enjoyed some birthday cake together to celebrate this birthday for the trees. I hope you and yours enjoyed a happy טו בשבט !

Best, 

Morah Hollenberg

Morah Dresner Wais Update

Dear Parents,

 In spite of the snowfall, we were very productive on Sunday. Increasing the amount of sentence reading along with adding new letters into the weekly lesson.  We began with the letter Lamed and practiced writing the letter multiple times. Each student read different sentences with two letter words and then increased it by three letters. My goal is to get them to the point where they are able to read sentences but that will take time until we learn the entire alphabet. There have been incredible improvements and we are working very hard at accomplishing the writing skills as well as the fluency of the reading.

 The students listened while I read sentences to them in Hebrew then they had to decide based on the picture which sentence matched.  They really concentrated and participated in explaining in English what the sentence stated in Hebrew.  I was so proud of them that they were able to figure out each sentence. This exercise is a great way to assess the students and see just how much they understand.

 We began talking about Tu'B'Shevat and the students colored a tree using their thumb and dipped it in paint to create their beautiful picture. We will be making a project next Sunday for Tu'B'Shevat. We talked about what this holiday means. We celebrate the New Year of the Trees.  It is celebrated on the 15th Day of the Month of Shevat. In Israel, our ancestors observed Tu'B'Shevat the date came at a time when trees seem to be born, or come to life. The winter rain ends, the air turns warm and the sap rises in the trees, green buds appear, and the world feels new. Although, this does not feel real to us because we still have cold Winter months ahead, we celebrate the holiday anyways.

We completed our booklet on G'milut Chasadim and we are beginning our Chai curriculum Avodah. We will learn about different holiday's, blessings, Havdalah, Pesach (Passover) etc.

We talked about blessings and what they mean. A blessing is a way of thanking god for the food we eat, fruits that grow on trees, happy occasions, and good things that god created. We recited the blessings for challah, grape juice, fruit and all things that come to being. Blessings are an important concept in Judaism because it is a way of acknowledging and thanking god for the many wonderful gifts we have in our lives. Saying blessings help us remember God's role in bringing us food and guiding us in respectful behavior. We will continue learning about blessings and next week we will discuss how Jewish tradition teaches us to say one hundred blessings a day.

The students tasted various foods from carob chips, to crackers, to figs etc and they rated each food item they sampled. We also sang Happy Birthday to the trees and enjoyed a piece of cake to celebrate.

 Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday...have a good rest of your week and enjoy your weekend.>

Shabbat Shalom!

Lisa Dresner Wais

Morah Schlussel Update

Dear Parents,

We did have school this past Sunday. The driving in the morning was nothing like the afternoon when it got really bad.

We began our day with our two minyanim. We spent the morning assessing our students Hebrew reading abilities  in 4th, 5th, and 6th grade. While individual students were pulled out to be tested, the rest of the classes were going over some Tu B'Shvat basics. Ask your children what Tu B'Shvat means. Ask them what we do here in the United States and what people in Israel do to celebrate it.

Did you know that even though it is very cold and snowy here, in Israel it is the beginning of Spring and the trees are beginning to bloom. Ask your children what the first tree to blossom in Israel is and what is the first bush to blossom here in Michigan. We started learning  a special song for the holiday, Hashkediah Porachat. I hope the students remember the words. We discussed the 5 fruits and 2 grains  ( 7 all together ) that are mentioned in the Torah that are associated with Israel. Ask your children to tell what they are.

On Tuesday, we had a very special day. We began our day with class time. We continued with our Hebrew reading assessment. While individual students were pulled out for the testing, the rest of the classes discussed what we were going to do later in the day and reviewed our Tu B'Shvat song. At 5:30 p.m. the entire school gathered in the foyer for a special Tu'B"Shvat program. We planted herbs that will be donated to Yad Ezra when they are fully grown. .We also had a chance to taste the different fruits and grains that we learned about that are associated with Israel. The students did a taste test and indicated what their preferences were by rating them on a sheet that each one was given.

The final activity of the day was eating delicious birthday cake baked by our own Allison Gutman in honor of Tu B'shvat, the birthday of the trees. 

Stay warm and safe and have a Shabbat Shalom,  Toby Schlussel

WALKING WITH GOD, OR GOD'S PARTNER?

The Torah provides us many opportunities to explore our relationship with GOD.  Our Kitah Dalet students have been looking at the story of Noah, and we have been talking about what it means to be a partner with GOD.  We shared our ideas of what a partner is, and what responsibilities we have to make a partnership work.  We talked about trust, and how the best partnerships are based on mutual trust and communication. We examined the relationship between Noah and GOD, and decided Noah walked with GOD, but was not GOD'S partner.  

In our classroom discussions, we talked about building relationships through trust, and what we have to do to earn the trust of our parents, friends, family, and teachers.  We talked about standing up and doing the right thing when we feel someone is being wronged, and how this helps makes us a trusted member of our community.  We talked about Noah working for GOD, but never having the strength to challenge GOD when GOD wanted to destroy the world. 

To bring our point home, we found partners and traveled around the synagogue on a Trust Walk.  On our first attempt, most of us opened our eyes, failing to totally trust our partners or build a relationship.  As we continued our travels, we began to communicate with our partners and became more secure in our relationships. We shared our feelings about trusting others, and challenged our partners when we felt they were not cooperating or treating us fairly.  Please ask your students to share their ideas about trust and partnerships, and what they have to do to earn your trust. 

On Tuesday afternoon we had a great time celebrating Tu B'Shevat, the birthday of the Trees.  Please ask you children what the seven species are, and which one they liked tasting the most.  Don't forget to check out the full moon tonight, it is magnificent! 

Morah Gawel Class Update

Hello all!

We had a snowy and small day on Sunday!  Most of the class was in the Bnai Mitzvah meeting, but 6 of us got some serious learning done!  We put our lesson for the day aside, so that 75% of the class would not miss the information, and instead, we focused one last day on our topic of discrimination and antisemitism.

I read the kids an article that Rabbi Jonathon Sacks wrote in the Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/print/WSJ_-C001-20150131.pdf

The kids were phenomenal; despite the GIANT vocabulary of Rabbi Sacks, the kids worked through the article with me and they were engaged and interested in what Sacks said.  Much like Martin Luther King Jr, Rabbi Sacks advocates for a "peaceful fight against hatred."  He urges us to not hate, and to join with others in solving the problem of antisemitism.  This was hard for the kids to understand.  They wanted to know, how can we not hate: Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Osama etc…  Rabbi Sacks response is that if we hate, we end up creating more victims, and if we allow ourselves to be defined by the bad that happens to us, we become victims, and we can never rise.  Take a look at the article above - it is interesting.

We then talked at length about discrimination and stereotypes and we discussed the stereotypes amongst Jews: Reform, Conservative, Orthodox.  We then moved to more specifics: CSZ, TI etc… What do people "think" about Jews in these shuls? How are we perceived?  We had a lot of laughs, because clearly we all are wearing fur coats and have lots of money and plastic surgery, BUT … what is the reality?  Why do we isolate? Why do we alienate? Why do we hate? Why are we jealous? Where do these stereotypes come from?

It was a great discussion.  

Looking forward to next week, when we delve into slavery and a little "Lego Movie Action."  I have a killer costume to wear.: Because you know I always have had a brick head… 

Enjoy the snow,

Morah Leah