Kitah Vav Update

Hello all! We had a very productive week.  On Sunday we learned about the rules of kashrut.  In our text, it says that Abraham gave his guests meat and milk, which elicits a big eyebrow raise?  Hmmm… why not kosher.  Now many people say that this is because the Torah was not given to the Jewish people at the time of Abraham, but the rabbis tell us that the Torah is not a linear text.  However, our sages tell us that Abraham was SUCH a good host, that the proper amount of time went by between the eating of the milk and meat.  This always makes me smile. Hopefully we all get to sit around the thanksgiving table long enough for the proper time to go by to have dairy ice cream for dessert. And may we all have room in our bellies for that ice cream!

We watched a quick program on Keeping Kosher in LA. The kids were fascinated.  I was too, but more because I want to go to LA to eat at KosherTaco!  The program showed a kosher meat market, butcher, wine shop, bar, restaurant and home.  It was a great way to learn about the complex laws of keeping kosher. We also spent a few minutes talking about ecokosher and what it means to be kosher today.  Should we only eat organic? Vegetarian? Eat items that are not individually wrapped?  The kids were full of ideas.

On Tuesday we continued our D’var Torah workshop. The kids had Miles, our Ramah fellow, talk a bit about parsha Toldot (his actual bar mitzvah portion), we studied the text some more, and they got a D’var Torah sample that I wrote  a few years ago.  This Sunday we will look at a new portion with Rabbi Starr and begin writing.  Your child will have several class periods to work on his/her d’var torah, but he/she will also need to work on it at home.  We are aiming for the middle of December to have this project completed. They don’t need to be long, but they need to include: 1) an explanation of a portion of the text 2) a connection to that text 3) an insightful question about the text 4) an insightful possible answer to this question. We will be talking about this at length in class. I think that this unit will really help prepare the kids for writing their own d’vrei torah on the big day!

Be well and have a great Shabbat,

Morah Leah

Kitah Bet Update

Kitah Bet

We are continuing in our Hebrew learning on both Sundays and Tuesdays. Please check your children's  take-home folder for homework for you to practice reading with them.
On Sunday we have been learning the parsha ha'shavua.  I have also started a small Thanksgiving unit with a Jewish twist. Ask your children about the story "Rivka's First Thanksgiving". We will start our Chanukah learning this week. I hope to see everyone in class on Sunday.

Davida

7th Grade class update

Hello to our wonderful parents,

We at out 7th grade classroom,  had a very interesting topic that we talked about. We started the class out with a little speech from the prime minister of France. He was talking about anti-Semitism. How if Jews in France are being attacked,  then the country of France are also attacked!  He talked about what had happened last Friday and how the country of France need to stay as one. The whole class got really onto it. We decided as a whole that we would write a letter to our President of United States. Tuesday we continued learning about kashrut, we talked about which symbols identify what is kosher and what is not.

For Sunday, we asked each student to bring a couple bullets of what they would like to ask or say to our President.

Shabbat Shalom! 😃

Morot Rice and Hollenberg

Kitah Hey Blog

Dear Parents,

Our learners have been busy working on their PBL - Chanukah projects.  We have four groups;  Torah, Mitzvot, Israel & Environment. The kids are working beautifully in the group they have chosen. It is special to see them collaborating & studying together!

We have talked about the " Miracles "of Chanukah & how they can incorporate them in their project.  Please ask your child what those "Miracles " were & any creative ideas that, they & you might have to use them in the their Chanukiah. Chanukah will be here soon & I wanted to remind you to please make yourself available and join us for our presentation on Sunday, December 13.

If you have any questions or  not hesitate to contact me.

Shabbat Shalom
Cillia Kleiman

Hebrew Update

Dear 4th - 6th grade families,

On Sunday we began the day with a Tefillah service lead by Cantor Gutman. As usual, the kids all participated nicely and it was a pleasure to hear their voices singing the prayers together.

Both the 6th grade class and the 4th and 5th grade class worked on practicing lines in their reading books, and then we also learned, discussed, read and sang the different brachot that we say during Chanukah (it's right around the corner!) We sang a few Chanukah songs together, as well. We ended the day with a fun game of Hebrew tic-tac-toe :)

Everyone enjoyed participating in their chosen Chugim (electives). As you know, this is a new addition to our Sundayschedule, and everyone seems to like it very much. It is a great way to break up the day and have some fun!

On Tuesday, the 6th graders had yet another successful Torah Lab, practicing and participating in the various parts of the Shabbat service. With each Tuesday that passes, they are becoming more and more comfortable and familiar with the different aspects of what will happen on their "big day".

The 4th and 5th graders continued reading together from their books, and we reviewed the letter "tsadee" - צ. In honor of this letter, Morah Schlussel taught the students the song/dance "Tsenah, Tsenah, Tsenah". It's a simple and very fun dance -- ask your kids to teach it to you :)

It was a great week of learning and reading together, and we look forward to seeing you all Sunday morning!

B'shalom,

Morah Dona Levinson

Morah Toby Schlussel

Morah Katz Hebrew Update

Shalom 4th-6th Grade Families:

We had so much fun playing Hebrew baseball, popcorn and "the mind reading" games this week.  We used the blessings in our book, relating to the creation of light and darkness, to play the group games.  We identified the roots of light (אור or), darkness (חשכ choshech), morning (בקר boker) and evening (ערב erev) to translate words from the siddur. 

In our Torah Lab this week, Cantor Gutman, practiced the Barchu blessings before and after the Torah reading Aliya.  Each student got his/her chance to practice saying the blessings and learned the key idea of TKD.  Touch the Torah with the Talit corner, Kiss the Torah with it and then Drop the Talit corner, as we begin the Barchu.

I wish everyone a peaceful Shabbat.

L'Shalom,

Donna Katz

Kitah Zayin Update

Dear Parents,

This week we participated in Fall Fix Up throughout the Metro Detroit community! It was loads of fun to help seniors in our community!

On Tuesday we began a unit learning about kashrut (keeping kosher). We played the game kashrut rocks because... and then learned about the Torah commandment not to cook a calf in it's mother's milk and what that means in a modern day kosher kitchen. We look forward to continuing our learning on Sunday!

Best,
Morim Hollenberg and Rice

Kitah Vav Update

Hello All! We had a fantastic week this week. Thanks to everyone who participated in Fall Fixup. The weather was beautiful; the kids were fantastic; the clients were happy! It was a win/win experience for everyone involved.  I know that I left the event feeling terrific.  My group helped a woman in Oak Park who was a Holocaust survivor.  She shared with us her story, showed us pictures of  her trip BACK to see the camp where she spent 4 years of her life, and she was so kind and grateful.  It was a treat.  I was honored to hear her stories and help her winterize her home.  I also can say that when I returned to MY home, and looked at ½ an acre of unraked leaves, it made me wish that I had the CSZ team behind me with rakes and bags. I have a LONG road of raking ahead of me! Anyone want to come over and rake? J

 On Tuesday, we were lucky enough to have Rabbi Starr speak with us about writing a D’var Torah. This is our workshop that we will be working on for the next month. Rabbi Starr introduced a text to them and showed them how to go about asking questions about the text.  He modeled the behavior during our session. The kids were PHENOMENAL.  The questions that they asked were SPOT ON. They were attentive, engaged, excited. It was such a pleasure to watch their young minds just spin.  Torah scholars in the making!

 We then moved on to read the next line in Vayera. This was about how Abraham got his guests milk and meat.  The kids had to answer the million dollar question: WHY is this weird?  Bravo to Noah M. for realizing.. wait “that is not kosher!”  We then looked up the rules of kashrut while playing a real live action Angry Birds game.  It was a blast.  On Sunday we will watch a short video on the rules of kashrut and discuss eco kashrut.

 Have a wonderful week and see you Sunday,

Leah

 

Hebrew Update

Dear 4th - 6th grade families, 

I hope that you all enjoyed participating in the Fall Fix-Up program on Sunday. It was such a beautiful day to perform a mitzvah for our community!

 On Tuesday, the 4th and 5th graders began our class time discussing the concept of "blessings over the commandments" (ברכות של מצוה). These are the blessings that we say when performing a mitzvah -- for example -- studying Torah, lighting Shabbat candles, blowing the shofar or sitting in the sukkah. We learned that almost every blessing over mitzvot begins with the same 10 words (adding 4 words onto the 6-word "blessing formula" previously learned). Ask your kids to tell you what the 10 words are. Then we practiced reading several different lines from various blessings. We also worked on the vowel that makes the "oh" sound, and how it makes the sound "voh" when it follows a letter that already has its own vowel. It can be confusing and tricky at times, but the kids did a great job grasping this concept. At the end of the day we played a fun game of "Hebrew tic-tac-toe", utilizing some of the words and letter/vowel combinations that we have been working on. 

We hope that you all enjoy a nice, peaceful Shabbat with your families, and we will see you on Sunday!

B'shalom, 

Morah Dona Levinson 

 Morah Donna Katz

Morah Toby Schlussel 

 

Morah Aliza Zachor

 

Kitah Hey Update

Dear Kitah Hey Families,

All learners in our Kitah Hey (5th grade) Religious School class have kicked off a Projected Based Learning (PBL) unit of curriculum focusing of the values and text of the Book of Maccabees. Project based learning engages students in curricular content in ways that are exciting, relevant, and meaningful. Projects present the children with choices in terms of topics, modalities, and methods of learning and exploring.  It is an approach that is being used in many institutions – secular and religious – throughout the country.  At the end of October, the children were challenged to re-imagine the ancient structure known as the Chanukiah; the original intention of the rabbis of the Talmud was that we would place our Chanukiah right outside our front doorway for the world to see (although placing it in the window, even for the rabbis, was an okay substitute). The goal of the ritual was to show the light of the Chanukiah with the entire world, for the purpose of pirsumei nisa: “publicizing the miracle.” Yet at the same time, this is a ritual we perform at home; even if we light candles at synagogue or in some other public space, we are still supposed to make sure we have lit them at home, too.  “Publicizing the miracle” is not only about sharing the story of the miracle of the oil and the Maccabees with the world, but also about finding a way to share our unique Jewish light – and the light of our home, our family, and our friends – with the broader world.

Our Kitah Hey students are working in small group to build a kosher Chanukiah that they feel reflects the middot (values) of the Chanukah story and Maccabees text. Our 5^h grade Religious School class will publicize the miracles of our community with a special Menorah lighting and Chanukah celebration on Sunday, December 13.  

Shabbat Shalom,
Morah Kleiman

Hebrew Update

Dear 4th - 6th grade families, 

 On Sunday, we started the day with a wonderful Tefillah (prayer) service lead by Cantor Gutman. Everyone did a nice job participating, and some of the students lead the Ashrei beautifully.  

 The 6th graders continued to practice reading the Ein Kamocha. Afterwards we read from our Hasefer books, played a reading game and also an Aleph Bet recognition game. It was a wonderful morning of learning.

Everyone started the new cycle of Chugim (electives). Some repeated the same one they had previously, while others chose to try something new. Fun was had by all! The chugim that are students participate in our Jewish Pop Culture, Challah Braiding, and Gaga (Israeli dodge ball).

The 4th and 5th graders from Morah Katz and Morah Zachor's class joined us for our reading class. We practiced reading a few pages in our Hasefer books, played a fun Aleph Bet game and then, at the end of the day Morah Schlussel lead the kids in an exciting game of "Shimshon Omer" (Hebrew "Simon Says"). They had a great time learning various names of body parts in Hebrew, and it also helped them move around and get out some of their wiggles!

 

On Tuesday in the 6th and 7th grade "Torah Lab", the kids were all divided up into different groups pertaining to the actual Torah service. They practiced with the teachers all the different parts of the service and the "honors" involved. They worked very hard and we will continue to hone these skills in the weeks to come. The Torah service honors that the kids are working on are:

Blessings before and after Torah,  Hagbah and Galilah (lifting and dressing the Torah), delivering the Dvar Torah,  serving as Gabbi (accuracy checker), Torah reader, Ashrei leader, and processional leader.

 

The 4th and 5th graders worked on their letter and vowel recognition packets, focusing mainly on letters that sound and/or look alike. Then at the end of the day as per the kids' request, we played another quick game of "Shimshon Omer". This was a fantastic idea, since everyone seemed to have LOTS of energy to get rid of! They are quickly learning the body parts in Hebrew; ask your children to share with you some of the vocabulary words they remember. 

 All of our students are on their way to becoming great readers, and we can see marked improvement with each passing class period. :)

 Wishing you a peaceful Shabbat, and we look forward to seeing you all on Sunday at the "Fall Fix-Up" program!

B'Shalom, 

Morah Dona Levinson 

 Morah Donna Katz

Morah Toby Schlussel 

 

Morah Aliza Zachor

Kitah Vav Update

Hello There! We had a fantastic Sunday and Tuesday this week. On Sunday, we practiced our Hachnasat Orchim (welcoming guests) by inviting our kittah gan-katan friends to a play date. We did this to reinforce the value of welcoming guests, that we learned in our narrative for this semester, Vayera.  Here, Abraham, who is recovering from a bris at the age of 99 (oy!), opens up his home/tent to strangers.  He literally RUNS around to get food and water to comfort his guests. While we didn’t wash our friends’ feet, we did sanitize their hands upon entering the room J And we offered them food and lots of play. We met in the Youth Lounge, so the kids were able to use a bounce house, slides, climbing gym as well as paint and play games.  Our kids were champs. They were each paired up with a special 4-5 year old friend.  To mimic Abraham’s disability (he had to welcome his guests even though he was recovering from a bris), I  had our children eat pretzels for a snack, BUT they didn’t have a drink.  The lil people had pretzels and juice boxes.  Three of our kids asked for water, and I told them that they had to wait til class was over (there was only 20 minutes in class after we had snack).  It was a good lesson for our kiddos to be just a tad uncomfortable and yet have to stay with their special guest and make sure that their experience was perfect.  For tweens it is especially hard to put one’s needs aside to help someone else; this usually comes with age and maturity. However, our kids were fantastic. I am so proud of them.  They really rose to the occasion and helped their buddies. 

This lesson was particularly meaningful because literally the moment we were scheduled to meet our kittah gan katan buddies, their teacher received a call that there was a death in her family.  So, we swooped in and took over.  The lil ones never knew that anything was wrong nor did they feel any anxiety because our 6^th graders made them feel special and they lavished them with attention.

This then transferred over to Tuesday’s lesson where we learned about the Jewish response to mourning.  We talked at length about the mitzvah of comforting and visiting the sick and mourners and I discussed how in our portion God visits Abraham, who is recovering from his bris.  We actually ACT like God when we visit those who are sick or mourning.  We made cards for Morah Zerkel and the kids wrote appropriate Jewish mourning verses on the cards.

This Sunday we have Fall Fix up. Please sign up, if you have not already.  This is Not a regular Sunday school day, so please make sure that you come with your child to help winterize a home of an Elderly Jewish family. 

Have a great week,

Leah

 

Kitah Bet Update

Dear Parents,

 During  the past two classes your children have started learning about   "g'milut chassadim". This will be an ongoing  area of learning for us. We will learn about Jewish values  through Jewish text, stories,  and activities. I told your children  about "Fall Fix-Up", a community wide volunteer day that they will have the opportunity to participate in this Sunday with you. It is a wonderful way to tie in our learning in  a very hands-on way. I shared with your children the book "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?"  The concept of the book is when we do something nice for someone else we fill our bucket and theirs. Fall Fix-Up is a great way to be a bucket filler.  I hope to see you all  on Sunday as we fill our buckets and probably also lots of bags of leaves!

 

Davida