Morah Donna Katz

On Tuesday there was only one minyan in the small chapel. After Teffilot , we began the Hebrew lesson of the day. The weather was so nice , that at the end of the lesson we spent a few minutes outside, learning the names of the colors of the playground equipment in Hebrew. Ask your children how to say blue in Hebrew.

We covered pages 61 and 62 in the HASEFER with the 5th and 6th grades.

We covered page 53 with the 4th graders in the HASEFER.

Please review these pages with your children.

Have a Shabbat Shalom. See you all on Sunday.   

Morah Donna Katz

Hebrew Update

Dear 4th - 6th grade families, 

Sunday morning we combined all 3 of our reading group classes. We spent our time together focusing on the holiday of Lag B'omer. Every Jewish letter has a number value which is determined by its position in the Hebrew alphabet. The Hebrew word "lag" is written with the Hebrew letters lamed (ל) and gimmel (ג) which, together, have a number value of 33. Therefore Lag Baomer means the '33rd day in the Omer' (the 49 days between Passover and Shavuot). This works out to be on the 18th day of the Hebrew month Iyar. We told the students the story behind the holiday, had discussions and also explained to them how it is celebrated in Israel, with children building beautiful bonfires and picnicking with their friends. One very important person in the story of Lag Baomer is rabbi Akiva. To further enhance their understanding of the history behind the celebration, we divided the class into groups and had the students research information about the rabbi on their smartphones, ipods and iPads. They of course welcome any and every opportunity to use technology in class, so this was especially fun for them! Each group shared the facts that they discovered, and a few of them were pretty surprising!  Please ask your child(ren) to tell you what they learned about the holiday as well as about the rabbi.  

On Tuesday we were lucky enough to have beautiful, sunny weather, so we took advantage of this and had our lessons outside -- it was such a pleasure! We played several reading games with our books as well as with flashcards. As usual, the kids played (worked) very well with each other.  It's so wonderful to watch them have fun as they improve their Hebrew reading skills. :)

We look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday. Enjoy the gorgeous spring weather this weekend!

Shabbat Shalom, 

Dona Levinson 

Edna Sable 

Aliza Zachor 

Morah Schlussel Update

Dear Parents,

This past Sunday our students chose which minyan they wanted to go to. Cantor Gutman's minyan concentrated on the teffilot that the students will help lead and participate in at  Shabbat services. Some of the students actually led various prayers instead of Cantor Gutman.

One of our Hebrew teachers was out ill and so we combined all the 5th and 5th graders into one class .  We did the same with the 4th grade group.

The lesson was about Lag Ba'omer. Ask your children what it means  and what it is. We had groups of students use their internet hand held devices to do some research about the holiday and about a great Rabbi, Rabbi  Akiva, who lived during the Roman period of Jewish History and was very involved in the history of the holiday. Ask your children about him and what happened to him at that time in history.
The students upon completing their research, shared what they found with the class. Each group had the opportunity to do this and everyone was very interested in hearing about what their classmates found.

We discussed the custom of cutting a boy's hair at the age of 3 and how in the ancient city of Meron Israel on Lag Baomer this custom is still performed today.

We spoke about the large bonfires that are lit all over Israel on Lag B'Omer.

We also learned a song called "Amar Rabbi Akiva". Ask your children to sing it to you.

It was a different lesson that what we usually do, but the students were so interested in learning about Rabbi Akiva's life and how his wife sacrificed so that he could become a great Torah scholar. It was a great lesson with a different approach.

 On Tuesday there was only one minyan in the small chapel.
 After Teffilot , we began the Hebrew lesson of the day. The weather was so nice , that at the end of the lesson we spent a few minutes outside, learning the names of the colors of the playground equipment in Hebrew. Ask your children how to say blue in Hebrew.

We covered pages 61 and 62 in the HASEFER with the 5th and 6th grades.

We covered page 53 with the 4th graders in the HASEFER.

Please review these pages with your childresn

Have a Shabbat Shalom. See you all on Sunday.   Toby Schlussel

Morah Hollenberg Update

Dear 6th Grade Parents,

This week we continued our discussion of the Omer with a particular focus on Lag Ba'Omer (the 33rd day of the Omer which we celebrate next week). We spoke about some of the Jewish mourninging rituals focusing on the ones we practice during the Omer. And why and how we celebrate Lag Ba'Omer. We learned the significance of the bonfires we enjoy on Lag Ba'Omer, and why children shoot bows and arrows and many three year old boys get their first haircut (upsherin) on this special day of celebration. Thankfully we had a beautiful weather day on Tuesday so we enjoyed our learning outside under a tree.

Best, 

Morah Hollenberg

Kitah Hey Update

Dear Parents,

We continued our Torah study this past week. Our class discussed the Jewish Values, the Torah is teaching us through the stories it tells us.

Abraham & Sarah became the father & mother of a great nation - עם ישראל - Israel. They showed us how to live and advocate Justice. They exemplified the meaning of Hospitality. Opening up their home to anyone who was in need.   Keeping Shalom Bayit-  Peace in the Home - by compromising. The life they lived was authentic and a wonderful example for their children, family, servants and friends. They too followed Abraham & Sarah's teachings. They too became Team Players - part of עם ישראל. Believing and committed to the Covenant with God.

The kids discussed how they practice these values in their life at home and in school. Being grateful, sensitive, happy, content and kind.  Tuesday was a beautiful day & we had a beautiful session.

Shabbat Shalom

Cillia Kleiman

Kitah Aleph Update

Dear Parents,

We have almost completed the entire alphabet, still have a couple more letters to go. We have learned the letter Resh. The students practiced reading their word building. They are able to read words up to five letters. Each student took their time in pronouncing the letters and then put the word together. They felt so accomplished when they realized they got it right. It was so nice to see how happy they were and we moved on to finding letters that did not belong in sentences. One exercise involved circling the letter that matched the letter in a box. Whatever letters were left over, they had to form a word and one of the puzzles was pizza is on the table. They had to draw a picture from the hebrew word and they were able to read the words beautifully.

We learned new words in Hebrew such as juice, leg, rocket, radio and we reviewed words such as hand, head, sukkot, lulov, etrog, etc. Everything is coming together and the students are eager to learn now that the letters and vowels make sense. Sentence reading has become easier once they learned the letters.

We began talking about Lag Ba'Omer and will discuss more about it on Sunday. The students learned it is a short way of saying "the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer." We count 49 days of the omer from the second night of Passover and that on the 50th day we celebrate the holiday of Shavuot.

Hope all of you enjoy the rest of your week and I look forward to seeing your children on Sunday.

Thank you,
Morah Dresner Wais

Kitah Bet Update

Dear Parents,

Today we were small in number but accomplished a lot. Sorry to miss so many  today.

We reviewed our Hebrew learning from Tuesday, and completed a worksheet of our Hebrew "words we know".

We learned the parsha ha'shavua, and learned about foods that are  and are not kosher from this Torah parsha.

We continued working in our bracha book and learned the brochot for Shabbat evening. We then made a challah cover. Next week we will be making challah .

We began our unit on Israel. We put together a map puzzle of Israel and highlighted Jerusalem in our learning today. I shared the story "And Shira Imagined" with your kids. Ask them what Shira imagined as she traveled through Israel. We figured out how old Israel will be on her birthday this week. Ask your kids for the answer to this. On Tuesday we will having an all-school Yom Ha'atzmaut program.Hope to see everyone on Tuesday.

Davida

A GOOD NAME

This week, our Kitah Dalet students had the opportunity to study Torah with Rabbi Starr.  Each Sunday for the past eight months we have turned the words of Torah over and over again, examining the laws passed down from generation to generation, and ultimately finding meaning in these ancient words.  We talked about Jewish laws, customs, and traditions, and how words of Torah are passed on to help us build a relationship with GOD and our community.  By finding meaning in the words of Torah, we work together to guarantee the future of Judaism.

In Parsha Lech Lecha, we learn about the commandment of Brit Milah.  In a class with ten boys, and four girls, Rabbi Starr with the perfect teacher, and he explained the covenant of circumcision in a meaningful and sensitive way.  With diagrams and great detail, he explained that Brit Milah makes us closer to GOD, and builds a special relationship between GOD and the Jewish people.

After taking a much needed break, we talked about our names and the importance of respecting the name we are given.  We talked about who we were named for, our Hebrew birthdays, and then made birth announcement posters.  Stop in and see some of  displays in the classroom, your children have quite a bit to say about who they are, and the qualities they are developing to help them be strong, knowledgeable, and educated Jews. 

Morah Schlussel Update

Dear Parents,

This week at Shaarey Zedek Religious school was a little different from other weeks at school.

On Sunday, the 5th grade classes had the opportunity to go on a Jewish Detroit tour. They had been  prepared for this trip by a docent from the Jewish Historical Society and the trip was a very meaningful experience. One of the highlights was the former Shaarey Zedek building on Chicago Blvd

For  the rest of the students , the day began with Teffilot. The students had a choice of one of two minyanim that they could go to.

After minyan, our sixth grade classes spent a good part of the day learning with a "Sofer" (a Jewish scribe) about Teffilin. They learned about how they are made, what they are made of , what is written on them, when one wears them  etc.They even got the chance to try to writ one of the letters with a quill.

During the time the 6th grade was with the Sofer, our 4th graders were learning with their Hebrew teachers.

My 4th graders covered page 52 in the Hasefer and in honor of Yom Haatzmaut,which was celebrated Thursday, we read page 68 , the Hatikvah.
After reading it and timing ourselves reading it and competing against each other in that way, we also sang it.The children had a great time doing that with the Hatikvah.

My 6th graders also reviewed reading and singing the Hatikvah on page 68 in the

Hasefer.

On Tuesday, instead of Teffilah, we went right to class. I had the 5th grade  for the first part of the day and we covered page 60  and the beginning of page 61 in the Hasefer and then we also had a chance to review the reading and singing of the Hatikvah on page 68.

Please review all the reading pages that we covered in class with your children. This will reinforce what we learned in school and will really help them to become good Hebrew readers.

The remainder of the day on Tuesday was spent doing an activity about getting to know Jews from around the world. All the students went to four stations to learn about Jews from Morocco, India, the Western Americas and Israel. They all had passports that were stamped after visiting each of those four parts of the world.

In my station, Morocco, Morah Edna , who was born there , told us about how Jews celebrated the end of Passover with a feast called the Memoona. She taught us a few words in Moroccan as well.

To close out the day we went to an Israeli Shuk where we ate falafel, humus, and pita bread and candy from Israel.

It was a great Yom Haatzmaut activity celebrating Israel's Independence Day.

Have a Shabbat Shalom and I hope to see everyone on Sunday.  Toby Schlussel

,

Morah Levinson

Dear 4th - 6th grade families, 

We had a great week of learning together in Hebrew school!

Sunday, the 4th graders paired up and worked on reading specific lines from their books with each other. After 5 minutes, when they heard the sound of the bell, everyone switched partners and continued to practice their lines together. We did this several times, and then at the end of the exercise the kids read their beautifully mastered Hebrew lines to the class. Everyone did a great job learning their lines, as well as working together with their classmates. 

The 6th graders spent the day working on perfecting their reading of Hatikvah - Israel's national anthem. We timed the students' reading, and the goal was to see how many words they were able to read in a minute without any mistakes. They did an excellent job!

On Tuesday, we only met with the 5th and 6th graders at the beginning of the day. We did some reading in our books, and then we taught the kids different ways that people greet each other in Israel. We went around the room and everyone had a chance to have a short conversation with a classmate or teacher in Hebrew. The kids were especially interested in learning that there are different ways to say words to people based on their gender.

Next the whole school met in the lobby for a wonderful "Jews Around the World" program which was created and organized by Darrien Sherman (our Ramah fellow) to celebrate Yom Ha'atzmaut. This program allowed all of our students the opportunity to learn about World Jewry. By "traveling around the world" (in various rooms around the school), the kids were able to learn about various Jewish communities: North American, Indian, Moroccan and Israeli,  through  discussions and activities. Once their "passports" were stamped and full, we all met in "Israel" (the library) for a delicious snack of pita, hummus, falafel and Israeli chocolates. Each child was required to ask for their food using common Hebrew phrases. It was a great program, rich with information and lots of fun!

We look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday. Wishing you a peaceful Shabbat with your friends and families!

B'Shalom, 

Dona Levinson 

Edna Sable 

Aliza Zachor 

Morah Katz Update

Dear Fourth-Sixth Grade Families-

We had a great week in Hebrew.  While the Fifth graders were touring old Jewish Detroit, the Fourth and Sixth Graders got to play the timing Hebrew game with Hatikvah. Some kids read the Israeli National Anthem correctly in under 9 seconds!!! Wow!!

On Tuesday, after a little Hebrew reading, we joined the rest of the school in a tour around the world, visiting all the different kinds of Jewish communities and heritage.  Then we sampled some great Israeli cuisine.  It was a great way to celebrate Israel's Independence Day.

I wish everyone a restful and enjoyable Shabbat.

Donna Katz

Kitah Zayin

Dear 7th Grade Parents,

                On Sunday the students discussed and prepared for Tuesday's field trip to the Holocaust Museum. We talked about DP camps that the survivors lived in and how they continued to stay Jewish after all they had been through. We used our new technology and wrote on the SMART board ways that the students could continue being Jewish and what that meant to them. We then went next door to the kindergarden and first grade classrooms to do a joint project on Israel and Archeology. The students wanted to work with the younger kids because they said one way to stay Jewish, is to pass down Hebrew studies to younger generations. The students realized they were mentors to their younger friends and siblings.

                As adults, we have an even more important job in teaching that to kids. Although the students had a meaningful experience, it would have had more of an impact if there were more than three students in the classroom each Sunday morning. When someone prepares a meeting for a staff of 20, it is very discouraging when only the same three people show up for each meeting. David and I prepare lessons weekly and it’s difficult to have a meaningful discussion with at the most, three students. When we discuss, “What does being jewish mean?”  The importance of that is continuing Hebrew learnings after one has a Bar/Bat Mitzvah. We have seen the number of students decline after every students has their Mitzvah. We encourage them to continue their studies so that they can have a meaningful and spiritual connection with Judaism after they leave religious school. 

We hope to see you this Tuesday at the field trip as well as the remaining classes of the year. On May 3rd we have a special project with the Sisterhood and will be helping them make kuegel, for the congregation’s weekly Shabbat lunch. We hope to see as many familiar faces as possible so that we don’t have to cancel like we have in the past.

David and I love working with your students and we just want to make their religious school experience meaningful.

Thank You,

Morah Erin Ben-Moche

               

Kitah Vav Update

Hello all!  And so begins the "slog" from Pesach to the end of the school year.  In the 11 years I have taught religious school, this frame of time has always stood out in my head as the final mile of the marathon. Now I have no experience running marathons, but I can tell you that I get VERY tired watching them run that last mile. :) It requires hydration, sugar and some mental clarity that often requires digging into one's mental reserves for strength.  I don't know if it is the sunshine (pretend there is sun and warm weather out  your window now), a toxic build up of matzoh? or just the siren song of summer calling, but the kids seem to go haywire.. and the teachers.. truth be told, are a few steps behind.  

So, this year, I have decided to mix it up a bit. What does that mean? No idea yet... but I promise by Sunday, I will have something fun, exciting, new... that makes this SLOG into a JOG and we will have a great end of the year. No longing eyes looking OUTSIDE, because we will be out there.. .learning our Torah.

This week we had a non-traditional class. We were lucky enough to participate in the tefillin project and we listened to a sofer and to Chazan Propis explain how tefillin are made and how to wear them.  It is a process putting them on !  BUT BUT, with practice, it gets easier. I urge you to have your child check out some of the youtube videos on how to put them on, or.. even better... to come to tefillah on Sunday morning before Hebrew school, and one of "The Fellas" (the older guys who daven every morning) will help your child put on tefillin. The synagogue has tefillin for people to use, and they are a WONDERFUL present to give prior to a bar/bat mitzvah!  The kids will be called to Torah in the morning, the week before "the big day," and the boys wear tefillin, and we would LOVE for the girls to too.

My daughter lays tefillin. She did NOT when she had her bat mitzvah, but she began this year and she LOVES it. It really makes her connect more while she is praying. My son began wearing them the Thursday before his bar mitzvah.  He was given my father's pair to wear and as he was going up to Torah, I was literally pulling bobby pins out of my hair and using them to secure the tefillin to his head. Lesson learned: TRY THEM ON BEFORE THE BIG DAY :) But now he has the hang of it, and hence.. my hair can still look great when he wears them :)

 Personally, I don not wear them, but I am going to begin to.  Watching the kids put them on this Sunday, it made me think "Hey! I should try that."

Some of the kids were a bit discouraged, because it is a skill putting them on. Please remind your kids that practice makes perfect- AND that they will be PROS before the big day! 

I hope you have a spectacular week!

Morah LEah

Morah Kleiman Update

Dear Parents,

Happy Yom Haatzmaut!  It has been a week of Reflection & Celebration.

This week our class with several other religious schools went on a tour of "jewish Detroit". Thanks to the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan and our guide Ruthy Goldstein, who is a member and grew up at CSZ. 

We used the booklets that the kids worked on in class and continues to learn about the early Jewish settlers in Michigan.

The highlight was visiting the old CSZ building on Chicago Blvd. We were all in awe of the beautiful Sanctuary, which is still in good shape. The present Congregation welcomed us & as one student said" I didn't think the first time I was in a Church would be during Hebrew School.

It was a very interesting, educational morning.

To celebrate Israel and remember those that gave their life to protect Israel we had a school wide program that was great fun." Jews around the World " helped us learn about communities from around the world. While traveling around the world to different countries our learners were engaged in thought provoking discussions and activities.  At the end the kids got to celebrate Israel by eating falafel, pita & humus. It was a terrific program.

Looking forward to another productive week ahead!

Shabbat Shalom

Cillia Kleiman

Kitah Bet Update

Dear Parents,

Today we were small in number but accomplished a lot. Sorry to miss so many  today.

We reviewed our Hebrew learning from Tuesday, and completed a worksheet of our Hebrew "words we know".

We learned the parsha ha'shavua, and learned about foods that are  and are not kosher from this Torah parsha.

We continued working in our bracha book and learned the brochot for Shabbat evening. We then made a challah cover. Next week we will be making challah .

We began our unit on Israel. We put together a map puzzle of Israel and highlighted Jerusalem in our learning today. I shared the story "And Shira Imagined" with your kids. Ask them what Shira imagined as she traveled through Israel. We figured out how old Israel will be on her birthday this week. Ask your kids for the answer to this. On Tuesday we will having an all-school Yom Ha'atzmaut program.Hope to see everyone on Tuesday.

Davida

Kitah Aleph Update

Dear Parents,

We have been busy learning, celebrating and creating. On Sunday, we colored the Israeli Flag and talked about Yom Hashoah (Day of remembrance) and Yom Ha'atzma'ut (Israel Independence Day).  We discussed how Israel was conquered and the Second Temple was burned, the Jews were forced to scatter among the other countries of the world. There was no longer was a Jewish state.  We talked about why we celebrate Yom Ha'atzma'ut.  The students learned every year we celebrate the birthday of the country (Israel). They also learned that Israel is too far to travel to for a party so instead, we have our own party here and have our own celebrations.

Tuesday, the students traveled to different countries and had their own passports with questions about various topics. After they answered the questions, their passports were stamped and they moved on to the next country including Israel. At the end of our travels, we went to the Shuk and ate falafel sandwiches in pita bread with hummus. The students had so much fun learning about the different countries and learned that most people in Israel speak Hebrew while many of them speak English as well. We discussed different cities in Israel and how interesting it is to float in the Dead Sea because it is so full of salt that no fish can live in it. We talked about Jerusalem being the capital of Israel. This was a great learning experience for the students and they all had a great time sharing different experiences with other students from different grades.

We will continue learning the rest of our letters and continue our word building and reviewing vowels. As always, thank you for sharing your children with us, its so exciting to see how things are finally connecting for them. Their hands on experience is a great way for them to learn while actually going through the experience themselves.

Looking forward to seeing your children on Sunday.

Have a great week!

Morah Dresner Wais

THERE'S ALWAYS SOMEONE JEWISH

The students in Kitah Dalet have been talking about building community and what a group of people need to become a strong and viable community.  In Parsha Lech Lecha, we learn Abraham is told to leave his home, and move to a land GOD would show him.  Abraham takes his family and a few belongings, and puts his future in GOD's hands.  Abraham's faith in GOD is the basis for all we do as Jews, and even today, we trust in GOD to help us do the right thing.  

In our Sunday morning block, we talked about what makes a working community, and shared our ideas about why the Jewish community has been in existence for thousands of years, while similar communities have disappeared. We talked about the things that make us strong, and what our ancestors did to guarantee our survival.  We decided all Jews share a common religion, language, food, land, and value system.   We talked about the Jewish people being spread all over the world, but with these shared beliefs, we find a common thread.  These threads have helped us endure through hardships and antisemitism, and have made us stronger as a people. 

On Tuesday afternoon, we observed a moment of silence for the fallen heroes and soldiers working to protect Israel, and we celebrated Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel's Birthday.  We learned about the Jewish communities in India, Morroco, North America and Israel, and came together as our Shaarey Zedek Religious School Community, eating falalfel, hummus, pita, and chocolate in true Israeli style.   

Kitah Zayin Update

Hello 7^th Grade Families,

I hope all of you enjoyed your Passover holiday. After our break, we got back into our Tuesday night unit on social action and responsibility. We watched a video (using our brand new interactive projectors) that explored the issue of world poverty. We explored questions such as: if there are so many wealthy countries and wealthy people around the world, why is there poverty? And what does our Jewish tradition teach us about our responsibility to “break the silence”? We explored Jewish texts and had stimulating discussion.

Next Sunday we will be delving into issues related to the Holocaust, setting the stage for our trip next Tuesday to the Holocaust Memorial Center. We encourage all of you to join us as this will be an invaluable opportunity to have a guided tour around the museum with Fred Findling (Charlie’s grandfather) sharing with us his survival story. It should be a powerful experience, and we hope to see you all there.

Have a wonderful weekend and Shabbat Shalom… and Go Wings!

David and Erin

Morah Katz Update

Dear 4th-6th Grade Families-

It was so nice to see everyone back at school on Tuesday.  The kids have their favorite Hebrew reading games and we have been trying to play as many of them as possible.  It's truly amazing how much more precise, fluent and smooth their reading has become.  They are correcting themselves and eachother, before I even get a chance to do that.  It's truly a pleasure to see.

We will continue reading and gearing up for the upcoming Spring holidays.  Yom HaShoa (Holocaust Memorial Day), Yom HaZikaron (Israel Memorial Day), Yom HaAtzmaut (Israel Independence Day), Lag BaOmer and Shavuot are all coming up and have their own unique blessings and prayers that we will be learning.

I wish you and your family a restful and enjoyable Shabbat!

Donna Katz

Morah Levinson Update

Dear 4th - 6th grade families, 

We hope that this email finds you well, that you all had a fantastic Pesach with family and friends and enjoyed the break. 

It was great to see the kids back in school on Tuesday! We started the day as usual in Tefillah, and then in our classroom we did a lot of reading in our הספר books as well as some review. The kids continue to make progress, however even after a short break it can be very easy to forget things we have learned! As always, we encourage our students to peek at their reading books at home whenever possible. Even the smallest amount of practice when we aren't in school helps to reinforce their skills and greatly helps the learning process. During the summer this is especially important. 

We look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday. Have a peaceful Shabbat and enjoy the beautiful spring weather!

B'Shalom, 

Dona Levinson 

Edna Sable 

Aliza Zachor 

Morah Schlussel Update

Dear Parents,

I hope you had a wonderful Pesach holiday and enjoyed the school break. I enjoyed the time I was able to spend with my family.

This was a short week due to the holiday vacation. We only had school on Tuesday.

We began the day with Tefillah. Again, the students had the choice of two prayer services .

The students participated beautifully in reciting and chanting all the prayers with Cantor Gutman's service. He reminded them that there were still some opportunities to be part of the "choir"  during  Shabbat and Holiday services this year. We would love to see them up on the Bimah with him and Hazan Propis.

In our 4th grade Hebrew class, we reviewed page 50 and most of page 51 in the HASEFER book.

In the 5th and 6th grade class, we read pages 58 and 59 in the HASEFER book. We also had a little time to play " Shimshon Omer". This time we had some of the students be Shimshon. It gave them the opportunity to review  the Hebrew words for the different parts of the  body ie. legs -raglaim, head- rosh, eyes- aynaim, mouth- peh, hands- yadaim,  etc.

Please make sure your children review the pages we read in the book before our next session.

Have a Shabbat Shalom and  I hope to see everyone on Sunday.

Toby Schlussel

Morah Toby Schlussel Hebrew Update

Dear Parents,

I hope you had a wonderful Pesach holiday and enjoyed the school break. I enjoyed the time I was able to spend with my family.

This was a short week due to the holiday vacation. We only had school on Tuesday.

We began the day with Tefillah. Again, the students had the choice of two prayer services .

The students participated beautifully in reciting and chanting all the prayers with Cantor Gutman's service. He reminded them that there were still some opportunities to be part of the "choir"  during  Shabbat and Holiday services this year. We would love to see them up on the Bimah with him and Hazzan Propis.

In our 4th grade Hebrew class, we reviewed page 50 and most of page 51 in the HASEFER book.

In the 5th and 6th grade class, we read pages 58 and 59 in the HASEFER book. We also had a little time to play " Shimshon Omer". This time we had some of the students be Shimshon. It gave them the opportunity to review  the Hebrew words for the different parts of the  body ie. legs -raglaim, head- rosh, eyes- aynaim, mouth- peh, hands- yadaim,  etc.

Please make sure your children review the pages we read in the book before our next session.

Have a Shabbat Shalom and  I hope to see everyone on Sunday.

Toby Schlussel

Morah Hollenberg Class Update

Dear 6th Grade Parents,

This week we continued our discussion of the Jews Exodus from Egypt and looked ahead to the upcoming Holiday of Shavuot. Then we focused our discussion on the auspicious time period we are currently in--the Omer. We spoke about the importance of refining ourselves during this time when we anticipate receiving the Torah and evolving from a large family in Egypt to a Nation at Mt. Sinai. Then we learned about the biblical commandment to count the days from the second night of Passover until Shavuot, how to fulfill this commandment, and why it is important.

Best, 

Morah Hollenberg

Kitah Hey Class Update

Dear Parents,

It was great seeing the Kids back in CSZ  this week. They were eager to share their Passover experiences with me & the rest of the class. It sounds like everyone had a good holiday!

This week marks the observance of Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Memorial Day, This day was inaugurated in 1953, by the Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion, and the President of Israel, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi. It is observed throughout the World.

Our class discussed this Special day of Remembrance and each child was asked to bring home a yahrzeit candle to be lit in memory of the six million jewish men, women and children who perished in Europe during World War II. It was a tragedy, which we shall never forget. We discussed the story of Anne Frank, the learners were very familiar with her story. We talked about visiting the Holocaust Museum in Famington Hills where they can see a sapling of the Tree that grew in back of Anne Franks House.

I hope the kids will attend this Sunday's field trip to Jewish Detroit. It's very exciting and interesting trip.

Any questions feel free to call me

Cillia Kleiman

Kitah Bet Overview

Dear Parents,

Great to see everyone yesterday. Your children shared some of their Pesach highlights with the class.

Some mixed feelings about Pesach food, but otherwise a good family time.

We are in the home stretch of religious school . We will be concentrating on our Hebrew reading, working on our bracha book and  learning about "Eretz Israel". 

We missed Bella and Nathan on Tuesday. Hope to see everyone on Sunday.

Davida

Kitah Aleph Update

Dear Parents,

Welcome Back!  I hope everyone had a nice Passover and ready to be back. We are reviewing the letters and vowels since its been awhile and will be moving on to our next letter. We talked about Yom Hashoah and Yom Ha'atzma'ut and the students are learning the difference between both holiday's.  We are working on a Shabbat project where each student is given construction paper, doilies, glue sticks and stickers. The idea is to create a picture of what Shabbat means to each individual using their hands only with the materials they were given. Your students will be bringing home their masterpieces and I hope you enjoy their hard work. We will continue talking about Shabbat and Holiday's.

We will be working on the next letter this Sunday and reviewing sentence building.
We will also be working on our Chai workbook Lesson Shehecheyanu which is a special blessing that we say at certain times when we do something for the very first time or for the first time during the year.

Attached are some pictures of your children. Some were acting out Passover events. The students were building with blocks pretending to use mortar to hold the bricks together, some were designing their Seder plates and the rest were just pictures of the children working on various projects.

We still have more to learn and review before the year is over...enjoy the rest of your week. Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday.

Thank you,
Lisa Dresner Wais

Laws, Rules, and the 613 Commandments

It was nice to see so many of our students back in class after the long Passover Holiday.  We took a few minutes to share some of our holiday highlights, and jumped right into our group discussion about following rules and laws.  Several of our students were quite unruly, and this presented a difficult situation for those who wanted to learn.  We had a lively discussion about being respectful to others, and how we feel when we are disrespected or disrespectful.  We talked about the commandments in the Torah, and how many of the commandments we follow are meant to help us be the best we can be by bringing us closer to GOD and to others.   We talked about being responsible for our actions and the importance of working together for the better of a group.  Students were asked to go home and share some insights about what behaviors are expected of them in school and at home, and I look forward to a productive and enriching Sunday morning discussion. 

Kitah Hey- The Four Sons Groups

Kitah Hey - The Seder Plate Group

 Beautiful Seder plate foods prepared for our community presentation.

Kitah Hey Presentation - Elijah's Cup

Morah Katz Update

Dear 4th-6th Grade Families:

It's been a fun and educational week at Religious School. We have been doing a lot of Passover Seder blessing and song practicing.  I'm excited for you student to show off all he/she knows at your Pesach table.  From the order of the Seder to the Ma Nishtana, the kids know their stuff.  

On Tuesday, we participated in a Pesach Scavenger Hunt around the school and everyone had fun, while brushing up on their Passover trivia.  

I wish your family a very Happy and Healthy Pesach and relaxing vacation.  

Shabbat Shalom!
Donna Katz

Kitah Zayin Update

Hello 7th Grade Families,

This past week our class started a unit on respect for the elderly. We had a great program led by Barb Giles (who works for Jewish Senior Life and is a fellow CSZ congregant), in which the students looked over text from the Torah about our responsibility to the elderly and learned to empathize with the elderly by experiencing what many of them go through every day. Just a couple of examples, Barb brought in glasses with vaseline/pinholes to simulate macular degeneration and cataracts, and asked the students to try and pick up coins wearing thick gloves to simulate arthritis. It was a very meaningful experience which stimulated conversation about what the older people in our own lives truly mean to us.

On Tuesday, we looked over the Haggadah as a class in preparation for Pesach. We also took part in a school-wide chametz scavenger hunt around CSZ. Hopefully through their studies your children will be able to contribute in a meaningful way to you family's seder.

Happy Passover to you all, and may this holiday bring with it redemption and peace for all of us and all of Israel.

Chag Sameach.

David and Erin

Morah Kleiman Update

Dear Parents,

Our Kitah Hey class has had an amazing week!  This past Sunday, watching the kids present their  interpretation of the Passover Seder was inspiring. Their excitement & joy for the holiday were so prevalent. I am so proud of the kids! I know they will have an interest & knowledge to share with you and family during Passover.

On Tues. We had an fun & educational program brought to us by the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan. Dr. Cheryl Blau gave the kids some interesting background information about our upcoming field trip. She spoke about early Jewish Settlers in Michigan who helped open up Trade & Travel to this part of the country. The kids played a game, learning a few words in Yiddish "Iz Mir" "Nu" "Zay Gezunt" , while learning about the many Jews who settled all over the State in the late 1800's. They received a Map to take home, have a look at it, it's so interesting.

Our class trip to "Jewish Detroit" is April 19. Please respond to Allison if your child is planning to attend. It's a terrific trip.

Wishing you all a Happy Passover

Chag Kasher V'Sameach

Cillia Kleiman

Kitah Aleph Update

Dear Parents,

We learned our next letter Pay. We learned how to read the Hebrew word pesach. Students had to select pictures that began with the Hebrew letter Pay which they all did successfully. We worked on word building and each student read words with letters that they have learned. There were some words that contained letters we have not yet learned but the students carefully looked at the alphabet hanging in the classroom and were able to figure out which letters applied to the correct pictures.

We also did an exercise with the sound of the letters Chet, Kaf and Resh. I gave the students a word such as challah and they had to tell me if the Chet was at the beginning, the middle or the end. We worked on several words that contained different letters and the students had to distinguish where the sound fell in the word. Beginning, middle or the end. It was a challenging exercise but they all did an amazing job sounding out each word and figuring out the correct answers.

I hope you enjoyed the beautiful seder plates your children made in class and proudly decorated.

We continued talking about Passover (Pesach) and discussed the different types of foods we eat and we reviewed the story of Passover and each student wanted to know what each item on the Seder plate represented.  One student asked if they could taste the Maror and I told them I would bring some in on Sunday for them to sample. 

One of the important things we discussed in class was the important part of the seder which means "order" and Haggadah, the Hebrew word for "Telling" which is the name of the book we use to guide us through the seder. We discussed how the Israelites traveled through the wilderness until they reached the Sea of Reeds. The students were curious what the waters looked like when they split so we watched a clip of the movie Prince of Egypt which showed what the water looked like when the Israelites were freed from slavery. They were amazed and it was easier for them to understand and believe what had happened many years ago. They know that the entire Egyptian army had drowned and the Israelites were free.

We will wrap up our unit on Passover on Sunday and begin talking about Yom Hashoah and Yom Ha'atzma'ut when we return from break.

I want to wish all of you a Happy and Healthy Passover to you and your families.

Thank you for sharing your amazing children with me. I learn from them as much as they learn from me.

Pesach Sameach!

Lisa Dresner Wais

Class Update

Dear 4th - 6th grade families, 

This past week we continued to learn and study about the holiday of Pesach through reading, singing, playing games and participating in fun activities.

On Sunday we reviewed and practiced the מה נשתנה (the 4 questions) in a couple of interesting ways: we passed out a sheet to each student which had the sentences of the questions divided up and numbered into 23 seperate phrases, in order. All the kids sat around in a big circle on bouncy balls, and going around the circle, each kid read a sentence until all 23 were read. We did this twice, for extra practice. Next, we had a cup filled with sticks numbered 1-23. Going around the room, everyone randomly picked a stick and then read the corresponding sentence. Then we all sang the questions together as a whole class.

Next we did some reading from our books in small groups. The children are continuing to make wonderful progress with their reading accuracy and fluency! Then we divided the class in half. As one half played a fun Pesach word memory game, the other had a good time completing a holiday word search with Hebrew words, reading each word aloud as they were discovered.This was a little tricky and challenging, but lots of fun. When they were done, the kids switched activities. The 4th graders also had the opportunity to play a fun Pesach board game -- each child received a paper with a black and white seder plate on it. As they rolled the die and moved along the board, every time they landed on a seder plate item they needed to read the Hebrew and English name for it and then color it in on their sheet. The object was to see who would have a fully colored seder plate first. (But at the same time they were learning lots of Pesach vocabulary words...sssshhhh!!) We had a very full Sunday of learning and fun!

On Tuesday we only met with the 4th grade and we combined all 3 classes.  We practiced the 4 questions, and had a "sing-off" between 2 different teams to see which one could sing the words most accurately. We are all very impressed with how well they did! We also reviewed the order of the Seder along with the hand motions. Ask your kids to do this for you at your Seder :). At the end of the day, the entire school gathered for the last 45 minutes and participated in a Pesach scavenger hunt which was organized by Allison. The kids had a wonderful time!

Wishing you all a peaceful Shabbat and a very Happy Pesach! 

B'Shalom, 

Dona Levinson 

Edna Sable 

Aliza Zachor

Morah Schlussel Class Update

Dear Parents,

We began our day this past Sunday with Tefiillah . Again the students had a choice of which minyan they wanted to go to.

Cantor Gutman told us about the wonderful response from the members of the Congregation that were at services this past Shabbat to the participation of our students in leading the service from the bimah. He was very proud of the wonderful job the  children did  and is looking forward to having more students participate next time.

We reviewed some of the Pesach Haggadah highlights with the Cantor. I surprised the students with a Yiddish rendition of the "Four Questions"

During our class time we continued reading practice in the HASEFER book.

The 4th grade covered pages 49 and 50.

The 5th  and 6th grades studied page 58 and 59.

Please have your children review those pages.

Tuesday was a special day for us at Shaarey Zedek religious school. Instead of Tefillah that day, we went directly to our classes.

I and the other Hebrew teachers spent the first 45 minutes of the day with all  the 4th grade students. We reviewed the 14 parts of the Seder. How to sing the order and the significance and meaning of each part.
 The 5th graders had a special class with a docent that prepared them for their "Jewish Detroit" experience that they will go to on April 19th, 2015.

The rest of Tuesday was a fun and educational Pesach experience. We had a Pesach scavenger hunt prepared and organized by our own Assistant Director of Education, Allison Gutman. The children had to find the "Chometz" using all the clues. They were searching for clues all over the building.

The winning team  got big chocolate  bars and everyone else got assorted candy as well.

We are on vacation now until Tuesday, April 14th.

I want to wish you and your families a wonderful and festive Passover. Enjoy the vacation and time with your families and I will see all of you on the 14th.

Toby Schlussel

Morah Hollenberg Class Update

Dear 6th Grade Parents,

This week we continued our discussion of פֶּסַח (Passover), focusing on the Seder itself. We discussed the Mah Nishtanah and did an exercise which focused on why the traditional Seder virtually begins with the youngest at the table asking questions. Then I gave the class the opportunity to ask their own questions about the Passover Seder and explored the beautifully illustrated  Katz Haggadah with the class. The illustrations provide imagery of biblical commentaries on the story of our Exodus from Egypt.

 !חַג כָשֵׁר וְשָׂמֵחַ  (Have a Happy Healthy and Kosher Passover!)!

Best, 

Morah Hollenberg

LET KITAH DALET GO!!

Just as our ancestors were freed from slavery, we too see freedom in our midst as we prepare for our much anticipated Passover holiday.The students in Kitah Dalet have been busy examining parts of the Haggadah, and looking deep into the commandment in the Torah to teach the story of Passover from one generation to the next.  Students had the opportunity work in small groups, or chevruta, researching the reason behind the Four Questions, or as we learned, one question with four parts, and we have been chanting these phrases together all month.  

The Seder arouses questions, presents new tastes, and is certainly interactive.  The songs, questions, smells, and tastes serve as a ploy to involve the children, and it is for this reason that we tell the story of our flight from slavery to freedom through the senses.  We explored the meaning behind the items on the Seder Plate, and  talked about the different ways we are reminded that we were once slaves and now we are free.  Each item on the Seder plate has a double meaning, one as a reminder of our past, and the other a reminder of our hope and future.   

In our Torah Core Class, we talked about GOD being fair and just, and feeling pain when punishing the Egyptians with the plagues.  We again talked about having free will, and the ability to make our own choices.  We used this core foundation when talking about the plagues and the Egyptians.  The Egyptians had choices to make, and they chose to follow a bad leader, and thus they suffered the consequences. We again reminded our students that we have control over the choices we make, and we have the obligation to do the right thing. To complete our Ten Plague discussion, we talked about spilling our wine and reviewed the the Ten Plagues.  Please ask your children to share some insights about how to spill their wine at the Seder.  

Finally, we talked about the commandment to "Let All Who Are Hungry Come and Eat," and the value of Tzedakkah on Passover.    We talked about the being GOD'S partner, just as Moses and Elijah were, and working to help make the world a better place.  The Haggadah is rich with life lessons, and our students have a foundation to share their thoughts and ideas at your family Seder.  Many of our students brought home enrichment packets to share at your Seder, as well as a Bag of Plagues. We encourage you to push them to share their knowledge, as they are really quite capable.  From our home to yours, we wish you a wonderful Passover Holiday, and look forward to seeing you on Tuesday, April 14, 2015.