Kitah Bet Update

Dear Parents,

As we continue to move along in our Hebrew reading I ask you to please review with you children what we are doing in class by  reading the "parent-companion " worksheet with them. Most of you should have lesson 3 at home. Please let me know if you do not have it.

 We are continuing our Torah study weekly, with the rest of the world as the Torah is read. Last week we read the parsha "Lech-Lecha". As part of our learning we learn that Abraham and Sarah received new names. We segued into a lesson about our names. Your children should have brought home some homework for you about their names. Please fill this out with them and return it to class on Sunday so they can share the story of their name with the class.

 We will continue this  week learning the parsha Vaera and Toldot as we learn about hospitality and welcoming guests.In this lesson I will teach your children about the importance of the Jewish  virtue of welcoming people to our home, to our classroom and community. I will also use this opportunity to teach about Thanksgiving with a Jewish twist.

 This past week I sent home two riddles for your children to answer, many of the e-mails were returned. Please respond to this e-mail so I will have the correct e-mail to reach you at. Allison Gutman is sending this e-mail out for me.

 Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom  & Happy Thanksgiving

 Davida Robinson

Hebrew Update

Dear Parents, 

 This week has flown by and I wanted to let you know what our classes accomplished. 

We began both Sunday and Tuesday with teffilah led by Rabbi Dahlen. He expanded on the discussion we had about the purpose of prayer and the Torah reading being the  re-enactment of receiving the Torah  on Mount Sinai.

We practiced putting on the tallit and the bracha we make when we put it on. The students each put on the tallit, made the bracha,  and told us what it felt like when they wrapped themselves in the tallit. 

 

Chugim were so much fun on Sunday. We added a few new options. Ask your children about the Chug they attended. I helped with a Hebrew Name Chug that related to the parsha "Lech Lecha", that we read in the synogogue this last week.  We made necklaces and bracelets with our Hebrew names on them. They were really colorful and artistic. 

In our Hebrew classes, we continued sharpening our reading skills and we played a game with reading Hebrew word flash cards. 

 I want to wish you an early HAPPY THANKSGIVING . We all have a great deal to be thankful for. 

 Shabbat Shalom,

 Toby Schlussel

7th Zayin Update

Dear 7th Grade Parents,

As you know, last week we began learning the Torah commandment to "Love you neighbor as yourself."

This week we studied a Jewish folktale and texts which illustrate and expand upon this Mitzvah. We learned about the friendship of Jonathan and David in the Torah and a folktale of friends who are willing to sacrifice their lives for one another. Together we figured out the boundaries of friendship.

Then we focused on another Mitzvah, bikur cholim--inquiring about/caring for the sick. We made chicken soup to distribute to sick congregants. Boy was it tasty!

On Tuesday we reviewed the story of Abraham convalescing after his brit milah and how God visited with him to perform this important Mitzvah of bikur cholim. Then we discussed what qualifies as bikur cholim and how to be respectful of the sick individual in our performance of this mitzvah.

I wish you all a great weekend and good health!

Best,
Morah Hollenberg

Kitah Vav Update

Hello All!  Hope you are having a wonderful November.  Someone told me the other day that Thanksgiving is in a week.  Just for the record: That CANNOT be true. I absolutely REFUSE to allow it. I mean WHAT?!  I literally packed up the sandals and swim goggles that were tossed about ( and I mean that quite literally.. it was quite the scene) the mudroom YESTERDAY.  In the Gawel house, we said our goodbyes to summer yesterday. I feel like I still have a season to get through before Thanksgiving.  And alas, the world moves on… So, a few helpful housekeeping dates to keep in mind:

We HAVE religious school on Tuesday November 15, Sunday November 20, Tuesday November 22.  Can’t wait to see you there.

 We are OFF – That is NO RELIGIOUS SCHOOL ON: November 27^th

 Regularly scheduled programming returns: Tuesday November 2^nd

Life at CSZ 6^th grade:

We are off and running and in the full swing of things.  Until the Winter Break, we will be running a dual curriculum.  On TUESDAYS we will study the Torah service during Tefillah with Rabbi Dahlen and our D’var Torah workshop will be with Rabbi Starr.  It is imperative that your children do everything possible to BE HERE ON TUESDAYS.  These lessons are going to prepare them for their bar/bat mitzvah dates and give them the skills they need to participate fully in Jewish synagogue life.  IT is also an hour and a half a week of UNDIVIDED attention from our fantastic rabbis, and that, my friends is truly amazing.  Those two men work their tushies off and both put in insane work weeks.  Personally, I cannot stress how much it says about CSZ and the value that we put on our youth, that both rabbis have dedicated this time to preparing our 6^th graders for their B’nai Mitvah and lifelong Jewish learning journeys. I also know from personal experience how important it is for your children to have a relationship with the Rabbis.  Both of my kids consider Rabbi Starr as one of their “Designated adults” that they trust and respect and look to for guidance.  It is invaluable.  The time that your children spend with Rabbi Dahlen and Rabbi Starr WILL help shape their Jewish futures, and I am so pleased that they get this opportunity. 

 It is also important for your child to be here Tuesdays, because the information that they receive those days IS NOT repeated on Sundays.  On Sundays we will continue with our study of the narrative strands in the parsha Vayera, and looking at the Jewish values, lessons, ethics and behaviors that stem from that parsha.  IF your child must miss a Tuesday session, please make sure that he/she emails me or talks to me ASAP, so that I can fill him/her in on what was missed.  This workshop will culminate at the end of December with a written D’var Torah that will be published for the class, and delivered in front of the class and their families.

On SUNDAYS, we are working on reading Vayera.  We are finishing up our lessons on visiting the sick and welcoming guests.  This past week we put both lessons to work and we helped out our kindergarten teacher, who is recovering from surgery.  This week she was unable to pick up children or get down and play with them, so we hosted her class and offered personal 1 on 1 play, learning and snack time.  Each 6^th grader was paired with  a 3-5 year old and was given the task of replicating Abraham’s behavior in the text we studied.  The kids had to visit with Morah Emma and inquire as to her health and recovery, welcome a preschooler guest into our indoor playroom, offer him/her food and drink, spend 20 minutes attending to his/her needs and then instilling 1 lesson that was gleaned from our reading of the text.  This could include: being kind to others, helping those who are sick, putting others’ needs before our own etc…  The kids were ROCKSTARS.  Our support staff and our early childhood staff sat and watched with their jaws open and they kept saying “those 6^th graders are INCREDIBLE… I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS… THIS IS SO GREAT.” The kids were kind, patient, attentive, helpful. They were rockstars.  I am so proud.

This upcoming Sunday we will continue with our Varyera learning and move into the laws of kashrut. This is one of my favorite lessons – we toss angry birds at plastic pigs.  More on this later.

Have a fantastic week and a meaningful Shabbos.

Warm regards,

Leah

 

Kitah Hey Update

Dear Parents,

 Our Torah class was greeted by our Matriarch Sarai, her husband Avram led the learners in and Sarai proceeded to tell us about her travels to the Land of Canaan (Israel). She traveled with Avram and nephew Lot & his family from Haran to Canaan through Egypt. She told the class about her Covenant with God. God promised her husband that his descendants would be as many as the dust on the earth & stars in the sky. After which their names were changed to Abraham & Sarah.

 We learned that their possessions, cattle & servants became plentiful & started to cause some problems by getting each other's way. Abraham suggested to Lot that it was time to separate. There was plenty of land for both of them & asked Lot to choose whatever part of the land he wanted for his daily. Whatever was left Abraham would keep.

 The Jewish value taught was that of "Shalom Bayit" Peace in the Home. To keep the family on good terms Abraham compromised.

 We discussed ways in which the kids practice Shalom Bayit at home or in school. Many realized that we all compromise throughout life on a daily basis.

 If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Shabbat Shalom,

 Cillia Kleiman

Kitah Gan Katan

Shalom to our Wonderful Families:

 Sunday  was a very busy day for us at Kitah Gan  Katan .  We learned about Noah and the Great Flood. God did not like the way people  treated one another. They were very mean. So God went to Noah and told him, " go tell  my people  to do Tishuva ( repenting ), or I will bring upon the whole world a great big flood." The people did not  listen to Noah and ignored  him. God then said, " I want you to build  a big ark ( boat ) and bring all the  animals two by two, and bring your family with you. I will bring the flood for forty days and  forty  nights. "

That's what God did. When the flood ended ,  God made  a rainbow as a promise  to us, that He will never flood the world like that again .  

We were very busy making flood with the ark and a beautiful  rainbow  to remind us that God always keeps his promises. 

 Shabbat Shalom,

 Morot Zoya and Alexis 

7th grade Update

Dear 7th Grade Parents,

As you know this week we participated in the community wide Fall Fix up. Helping folks in Metro Detroit winterize their homes was a great launching off point for this week's lesson from the Torah to "Love you neighbor as yourself."

On Tuesday we learned this Torah commandment and explored what it means according to the Rabbis and ourselves. Then we delved deeper into what it really means to "Love your neighbor as yourself" through various real life scenarios. We began exploring the boundaries of friendship and Jewish values.

On Sunday, we will be continue our learning of v'ahavta l'reacha kamocha (loving your neighbor as yourself) as our tweens prepare soup for CSZ members that are homebound or ill.

Best,

Morah Hollenberg

Hebrew Team Update

Dear Parents,

I hope you had an enjoyable holiday season. Now that we are back to a regular schedule, we finally had our first full week of school in a long time. 

 On Sunday, we began with Teffilah.  Allison Gutman led Tefillah on that day and we spent a few minutes reviewing some of the highlights of the Hoshana Rabba Tefillah Service that the students participated in together with the regular Shaarey Zedek minyan.  We don't often get the opportunity to join the regular minyan on a Sunday morning, so this was a special occasion and the  Hoshana Rabba service was a unique opportunity.

 

We continued the day with our regular Hebrew classes for 6th graders. We reviewed important reading skills. Chugim was next on our schedule  We added a few new chugim this week. Ask your children which one they were involved in. 

 We concluded our day with 4th and 5th grade Hebrew. We continued to strengthen our reading skills during that time. Tuesday, again began with Tefillah led by Rabbi Dahlen.He had a discussion with the students about the Torah. We learned that the Torah service is a replication of when God gave Moses and the Jewish People the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai. The responses to the questions he asked were very interesting and thoughtful. Ask your children about this discussion. 

We continued honing our Hebrew reading skills with the 4th and 5th graders and ended our day with a quick "Shimshon Omer" game. 

I hope to see all of you with your families this Sunday, November 6th  for our annual "Fall Fix Up" . 

 Have a Shabbat Shalom.

Toby Schlussel

Kitah Vav d'var Torah Update

Hi All! 

 FINALLY! The holidays are over and we can return to our normal schedule!  Well, sort of.  This Sunday we do NOT have regularly scheduled religious school. Instead, we are participating in JFS’s Fall-Fix Up program.  Children should come to CSZ with their families for registration, placement information, and breakfast.  Then kids will go WITH THEIR FAMILIES to the designated sites to help winterize elderly Jewish clients’ homes.  It is a meaningful day that we have participated in for years.  So bundle up, put on some comfy clothing and we can’t wait to see you there.  Make sure to register first, however.

 Housekeeping:

 We are trying to teach the kids about respect for our sacred spaces.  Please help us remind them to 1) take off baseball and winter caps when they enter the building and put on a kippah. 2) Take off and hang up (gasp!) their coats before entering tefillah.  I keep telling the kids that adults don’t wear their coats into services, and we should also respect this sacred space.  I have also taught them about these magical things called: sweaters and hoodies, that they can wear if they are cold.   It was mind boggling, but I am sure that with time, they will see the light. Fingers crossed.  My room tends to run VERY hot, so layers are also a good idea. You can literally enter 3 dramatically different temperature zones

 Literal Housekeeping:

 Speaking of sacred spaces, or any space… if you can help remind your little loved one that we should leave ANY space the way we found it, even better, if possible.  We are working on “if you opened it, shut it/ if you took it, put it back/ if you dropped it, pick it up.”  Trust me: I work on this at home with my own kids. I get it.  I don’t know what happens between preschool and middle school, but some basic procedures that used to be drilled into their heads starts to erode.  I chalk it up to the fact that their brains are busy now with so much knowledge.  Ok: I know that is garbage, but it helps me not kill my kids.  And I know as parents that we have bigger things to worry about than messy rooms and toothpaste caps that never got put back on.  But the tossing of the kippah on the floor as Child X runs down the hall or the dropping of the candy wrapper on the floor by Child Y because the garbage can was too far away… can be curbed a bit.  Sadly, our cleaning staff does not have time to clean this giant building from head to toe every day, so every little bit helps.  Otherwise, Morah Leah has to put her broom and windex hat on, and it is not how I always want to spend my days. And there is no judgment here. I’ll send photos of my daughter’s room, to make you feel better.  It’s a war zone.  My son’s room is military grade clean.  This is disturbing for so many other reasons. But that’s another story, for another day….Thanks for your support. I’ll put a word in on my end so that they clean their rooms too!

 Etc….:

 While I know that your kiddos have a busy life and there are often conflicts with religious school, if at all possible, PLEASE TRY TO HAVE YOUR CHILD COME EACH TUESDAY IN NOVEMBER.  We in our second year of our B’nai Mitzah Readiness initiatives and Rabbi Starr will be running a D’var Torah workshop on TUESDAYS in November for your children.  This is an amazing program that places your kids with one on one time with the Rabbi.  He breaks down how to write a d’var Torah and then works with the kids in writing workshops to help them complete it.  Every child will write a d’var torah. The beautiful part about this is that your child will have practice writing one BEFORE he/she has to tackle the d’var for his/her big day.  It helps relieve the stress and anxiety off of the kids (and parents) of writing this.  Worry about what color the flowers are going to be or whether or not Uncle Joe is going to make a wise crack on the bima, but don’t worry about your child’s d’var Torah.  We have that covered!

 The kicker:  IF YOUR CHILD MISSES A TUESDAY IN NOVEMBER, he/she will need to see me to get the work to make up.  There will NOT be time on Sundays to do this in class, as we will be moving forward with our 6^th grade Torah curriculum.  If your child runs into trouble, feel free to contact me and we can work something out.  I am here to support your child. I am happy to help edit, come up with ideas, explain text.  But your child will need to do the work. Rabbi and I have carefully planned each lesson, so there is PLENTY of time for your child to complete this project.  Last year we had 100% participation.  It can be done!  And you will be invited to come and listen to your child deliver his/her d’var torah in December.  There will also be a printed publication of every child’s piece, so that you can share with Bubbe and Zayde and keep it for the scrapbook.

 A detailed email went out last week about this program, but again: feel free to contact me with questions or concerns.

 Other Stuff: If you have any leftover kosher candy from Halloween, I’d love donations. We use it as a part of our class each week for our “learning Torah is sweet” component.

 And Now: The Big Show:

 Sunday we were WELCOMED in to class with warm cupcakes (thanks to our religious ed chug bakers), pretzels,  juice boxes and “go and make yourself comfortable” directions. The kids were like “what the heck is going on….” “is there a catch?”  Alas, no catch. The theme for the day was Hachnasat Orchim or welcoming guests. Last week we began our portion of Vayera, where the kids read about how Abraham was recovering from his bris, and 3 strangers appeared by his tent.  This week we continued with it to learn about the 2 mitzot that are introduced in the beginning of the text. First, Abraham (at 99) is recovering from his surgery. So. Much. There…

 The portion begins with God visiting Abraham.  Immediately after this line, we learn that Abraham looks up and sees 3 strangers and he literally RUNS to greet them, feed them, comfort them.  This portion shows us the importance of welcoming the stranger if Abraham interrupts his visit with God to welcome 3 strangers (who happen to be angels). God does not respond to this action with thunderbolts or plagues.  Clearly, God approves.

 The kids looked at all of the verbs in the text and noticed that God: appears, Sarah creates things, and Abraham does things.  Abraham begins the passage by lying under a tree, and by the end of the passage he is standing.  He is literally healed by his action of welcoming these strangers.  This passage shows us that 1) we comfort the sick 2) we welcome strangers (we talked about the modern day interpretation of this) and 3) we DO Jewish. We are people of action.

 The next time we meet we will expand on the text and discuss the next few lines, which tell the story of the angels (strangers) telling Abraham that his wife will have a baby.  This is one of my favorite sections, as we talk about lying in Judaism and Laughing in Judaism.  Lying and laughing… what’s more interesting than that?

The kids were great in class. Open, excited, engaged.  It is funny. Last week we were outside, reenacting the story with props, and the kids were “meh.” This week we are in class with text in front of us and they came alive.  I had thought in advance the kids might have been squirrelly today, since we were not doing an activity, and believe me: this group needs to move!  However, they surprised me.  This is always a good thing. It shows me that I should never make assumptions! Kids keep you on your toes and I love that!  I will continue to think of new ways to keep the kids engaged, learning and excited about living and learning Jewishly. Either that or I need to give them cupcakes more often. Heheh.

 Thanks for sharing your precious kiddos with me each week. They are joys!

 Have a fantastic weekend,

Leah

Kitah Zayin Update

Dear 7th Grade Parents,

I hope you had a wonderful month of Tishrei celebrating the Fall Jewish holidays! This week we focused on the Torah which we began again this Shabbat. We spoke about what the Torah is and what makes it a Holy text.

Then we discussed the first chapters of the Bible, Bereishit/Genesis. We studied the text of the creation story found at the beginning of the Torah . That lead to discussions of science and Torah and which account of history is correct. In the end, we agreed that both versions of history are correct that that they are not in conflict. Once we were able to set that controversy aside we thought about the divinity of the Torah. We learned that the Torah is G-d speaking to us. We thought about the Torah as a blueprint for us to live our best possible Jewish life. Then we learned that prayer is our opportunity to speak directly to G-d and how canonized prayer is a useful tool in our conversations with G-d.

We also thought about how we would introduce the important information in the Torah to the Jewish people if we were to play the role of God. Some students wrote poems, others drew pictures of the essence of the Torah. It was a great exercise and provided us insight into our different world views.

On Tuesday we continued our discussion of the meaning of the Torah focusing on some of the mitzvot like kashrut and shatnez. Then we explored the importance of and difficulties language raises.

Shannah Tovah!

Morah Hollenberg

Kitah Hey Update

Dear Parents,

 It was nice having a full week of religious school! I was so happy to see most of our learners.

 We have begun our studies of the Torah, beginning  with Avram & Sarai (Abraham & Sarah) before they accepted the convent with God. We discussed what Jewish values they possessed that made them the right choice to be our first Patriarch & Matriarch. Through the study of our sacred scripture I will help the students feel that the Torah is real in their daily lives.  Avram & Sarai were the right choice because they were good people. Always taking care of their relatives & community.

 I hope you will be able to join me this Sunday with your children as we use those lessons learned from Abraham & Sarah & help JFS prepare home bound older adults for the winter months.

Shabbat Shalom

Cillia Kleiman

Gan Katan Update

Shalom to our Wonderful  Families:

 Today we were busy focusing  on the Miracles of God's  World. Creation.  We talked  about  how God created the world in six days and on the 7th He rested, Shabbat. We went through each day of creation, we talked about the first man on earth and how  God created  him. Than Adam asked God that he would like a wife just like the animals  have a help mate. God had to put  Adam  in a deep sleep in order to create Eve. 

 

 

 As our projects we made the World. The kids had a great time painting. They learned  that God created  the world  and God created me..... We also made little  puppets Adam and Eve.

 Thank you  for sharing your children  with us!

 Morot Zoya and Alexis