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Dear Parents,

What a great week in Kitah bet!! On Sunday we had  an experiential learning day of Pesach. Your children helped make "Maror". Proud to say everyone  tasted it and many came back for more. They also created a bowl to  use at the Seder for  either Maror, salt water, or Karpas.

On Tuesday we joined the entire school for a "Chocolate Seder". Kitah Bet was well represented and participated  as part of our learning community.

During our brief time together, I hope your children got a taste ( no pun intended) of this joyful holiday. I shared some fun Pesach stories, we listened to some Pesach song parodies and played a Pesach memory/matching game to familiarize them with the Pesach story and celebration.

There is an app available for the  4 Questions that you get  for your i-phone or i-pad.   It is something your kids  can play with for the next couple weeks to learn the 4 QUESTIONS  and there are also activities to play.

I am looking forward to hearing about your seders and Pesach when your children return to class.
Wishing you all a chag kasher v'sameach. Happy Passover.

Davida

We will not have class again until April 23.

7th Grade Class Update

March 30, 2017

Dear 7th Grade Parents,

We had a meaningful visit to the Holocaust Memorial Center this Sunday. After our docent-led tour, we heard from a survivor, Mr. Martin Lowenberg, about life in Germany pre, during, and post WWII. He spoke to us about the importance of love and the terrible consequences of hatred. 

On Tuesday, we prepared for Pesach by enjoying a chocolate seder with the rest of our friends in the CSZ Religious School.  We learned about the structure of the seder while eating some delicious chocolate sweets, and we had a very competitive search for the chocolate afikoman.

We do not have another Sunday class before Pesach. I wish you all a chag Kasher v'sameach! Happy Passover!

Best, 

Morah Hollenberg and Moreh Fidel

Kitah Vav Update

March 27, 2017

Hi All –

We had an eventful 6^th grade week out of the classroom: First the Jewish Historical Society field trip and then the Chocolate Seder! The kids were busy, busy learning and moving and grooving this week. I hope that they have an EXCITING spring break and a restful Seder and that they get whatever fun, rest, sleep or silliness that they need to in order to keep their eyes on the prize from April til the end of school.

I know that it is hard to imagine, but HOW is it that the school year is almost over?  It always seems to just creep up on me! 

At your Seder table this year, ask your child to share a bit about how Anti-Semitism played a role in the Passover story.  Ask your child why Pharaoh was afraid of the Jewish people, and what Pharaoh did to resolve this issue.  It is also worth noting how this Anti-Semitism has continued to play a role in history from this point until – quite sadly – today. The kids discussed at length why they think that people have continued to dislike and fear Jews, and they know the stereotypes that have been repeatedly associated with the Jews.

Next year, may we all celebrate our Seders in Jerusalem and in, God willing, a world free of Anti-Semitism and hate. In the meantime, thank you for sharing your thoughtful, children with me. It is my pleasure to play, pray and learn with them.

Warm regards and Happy Passover,

Leah

Dear Parents,

We are in Pesach mode in Kitah Bet . Unfortunately we do not have as much time as I had planned for, to cover the material but we will do the best we can. Your children should have brought home their Elijah/ Miriam cup for you to use at your seder.This Sunday we will be making Maror and a serving dish for either the Maror or salt water.
On Tuesday there will be an all-school Chocolate Seder.

We are continuing with our Hebrew reading and last week we learned the the Hebrew letter "Tet" and a new vowel. As aways, there are practice reading sheets for your child to practice at home with you.
Thank you for partnering with me in this.

Shabbat shalom,

Davida

Kitah Hey Update

March 22, 2017

Dear Parents,

What a great week of Jewish learning we have had! Thanks to Mrs. Rachel Rose, our class created a beautiful stained glass mural which will hang in the newly refurbished wing, outside of the boardroom at CSZ. This was our Project Based Learning unit on Passover. Our learners analyzed the Poetry of Pavel Friedmann's "The Butterfly". Creating a comparison between the Holocaust and Passover  The learners expressed small acts against injustice can ultimately create an environment where hate cannot flourish. The art piece will be displayed during the Michigan premiere of "the Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezin" premier Spring, 2017.

We are planning our field trip this Sunday, March 26 to Jewish Detroit, sponsored by the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan. Please make sure your child is here at CSZ to board the Bus at 8:45 am.

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

Shabbat Shalom

Cillia Kleiman

Kitah Vav Update

March 21, 2017

Hello friends! It has been another busy week at CSZ and I cannot believe that it is spring. I know I sound so old, but WHERE DID THE TIME GO?!  I swear it was Sukkot yesterday. Then again, in my mind 10 years ago was 2005, so what do I know….

Alas, some important housekeeping:

THIS SUNDAY IS THE JEWISH HISTORICAL BUS TOUR OF DETROIT:

If your child is in 6^th grade and did NOT RSVP for this trip, you do NOT have religious school on Sunday. 

All children who RSVP'd and sent in permission slips prior to Wednesday will board the bus at the FRONT entrance of CSZ at 8:45 a.m. PROMPTLY.  The bus will LEAVE at 9:00 a.m. The bus leaves rain or shine.  If school is canceled for some reason, the trip is canceled as well.

Eat a hearty breakfast and dress for the weather.

The bus will return no later than 1:00 pm. Ask your child to text you when they are on the way back to CSZ, but ask your child to stay OFF of his/her phone during the trip, please.

Please remind your child to be on his/her best behavior during this trip; several other synagogues are sharing the bus with us and we want to represent the BEST of CSZ and our children!

In other news:

Sunday the kids finished up their research on the history of propaganda and antisemitism and how Jews have been portrayed in the media. They found many patterns throughout a span of 90 years.  It is quite troubling.

On Tuesday we moved back to the Torah and to the consequence for Pharaoh’s antisemitism, he set the Jews up to fail.  The Jews were given a ridiculous amount of work to do and not enough materials to do.  What did we do? Did we band together to get the job done?!  Heck no!  We whined. We complained. We blamed each other. We pointed fingers.  We got UGLY.  Some things never change J

The kids studied what happens when groups of people feel maligned and oppressed and desperate. We discussed how this translates to modern day (still very relevant in everyday life) and how we can do things DIFFERENTLY to get a better result.   How did we do this?!  With LEGOS of course.  Ask your child what on earth Legos have to do with the Exodus story.  I hope something sunk in!

Til next time.  Enjoy your break and have a wonderful Passover!

Leah

7th Grade Class Update

March 19, 2017

Dear Parents,

     This Sunday we learned about the media coverage and other sources of information that was leaked to the world about the anti-Semitism and the German intention to annihilate Eastern European Jewry. We also discussed the American response to Hitler's Final Solution.

     We learned about the St. Louis ship which was supposed to protect 900 or so Jews from death at the hands of the Nazis and how its occupants were denied entry to Cuba and the US only to be admitted by other European countries which were later occupied by Germany.

     Then we spoke about our responsibilities to foreigners facing persecution and current perspectives on taking in refugees in the US. We discussed the balancing of taking care of Americans in need and foreigners and the challenges that arise with these issues. We kept the conversation factual and did not discuss the political issues at all.

     Finally, we visited the maker space to make butterflies which will be displayed in CSZ for the DSO Defiant Requiem series.

     Next Sunday, 3/26/17, we will meet at the Holocaust Museum in Farmington Hills for our lesson. There will be no 7th-grade class at the synagogue next Sunday, 3/26/17.

Best,
Morah Hollenberg

Dear Parents,

Purim was a lot of fun. On Sunday we packed Mishloach Manot for you and the community. We had a Megillah reading, and some more Purim fun in the classroom.  With Purim behind us,  it means only one thing... Pesach is coming!! On Tuesday we began to learn about Pesach.

We finished lesson 14 in our  Hebrew reading books this past Tuesday . My hope is to complete our reading book by the end of the year. Ever time we meet I hope to complete a lesson, now that they have the basics of decoding.

During the next few weeks we will be creating items for you to use at your seder and teaching your children the 4Questions so they can participate in your family seder. Through our Torah study of the book of Shemot we have been learning the back story to our celebration of Passover. In the coming days I hope we can connect our history and celebration of Pesach together for your kids.

.
Shabbat Shalom

Davida

7th Grade Class Update

March 15, 2017

Dear 7th Grade Parents,

This week we had an awesome time celebrating Purim together! We made mishloach manot to give to friends, made parcels for the poor, listened to the Megillah and enjoyed all sorts of treats. We certainly enjoyed socializing together as well!

We also took some time to discuss and prepare for our upcoming trip to the Holocaust Memorial Museum. We are eagerly anticipating our discussion with a Holocaust survivor at the museum. 

On Tuesday, we learned about various Jewish resistance attempts and learned about specific instances of righteous gentiles risking their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.  We also learned the history behind the liberation of the camps, and we read firsthand accounts from Allied soldiers about their first encounters with the extermination camps.

Please let us know if your child has any particular concerns or questions that you would like us to address.

Best, 

Morah Hollenberg and Moreh Fidel

Hebrew Highlights

March 15, 2017

Dear Parents,

This past Sunday was Purim and our classes began the day assembling "Shalach Manot" for our families and for friends. 

We continued by discussing,reading and exploring the Megillah of Esther with Rabbi Starr and Rabbi Dahlen. 

We continued onto Chugim.  Each student chose the Chug she/he wanted to attend. They all related to Purim.  We finished the day with our Hebrew Classes focusing on Purim.

We began our day on Tuesday with Teffilot led by Cantor Gutman. The 4th and 5th grades began their study of the Pesach Hagaddah which we plan to continue  in the coming weeks leading up to the holiday. 

Shabbat Shalom,  

Toby Schlussel

Kitah Gan Katan Update

March 28, 2017

Hello Parents, 

Sunday was extremely busy in our classroom. Since last week we learned the whole story of Passover, this week we talked about what the term Seder means.  (Your children  will be able to explain  to you what chametz means too). Seder is Order. We have a specific order in which we lead the Seder. Chametz is wheat bread that we can't eat on Passover.  

We talked about what makes something chametz.  In order for matza not to be chametz, it has to be in the oven for 18 minutes.  If it is longer than 18 minutes it means then the dough becomes chametz and we can't eat it on Passover. 

We made our very own book on Passover: ex (Seder plate, Seder plate what do you see) you could do this at your Seder dinner.  The children also made their very own Afikoman bag. They had to do their own sewing with thread and they put jewels on them. We hope that you will enjoy their beautiful work! 

Have a wonderful  Passover Holiday! 

Morot Zoya,  Alexis and Emma 

March 23, 2017

Hello Parents, 

We had a very busy Sunday morning.  We started learning about the holiday of Passover. We acted out the whole story. How the Hebrews were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt.  How he made us work every day and every night. The Hebrews didn't even get paid for all their hard work.  

God sent us Moses to get us out of slavery. But Pharaoh harden his heart and said,  " No, No, No, I will not let them go!"  There were 10 bad things that God did to the Egyptians, at the last plague the death of the first born sons ( of course we told the children,  that the babies got sick) only then did Pharhoh let the Hebrews go! 

This Sunday we will finish the story and bring home lots of Goodies.

Have a great weekend

Morot Zoya and Alexis 

March 15, 2017

Shalom To Our Gan Katan  Families:

We had a fantastic time celebrating the Holiday of Purim! It was a lot of fun seeing our friends dress up. 

Our morning was filled with fun things. 

• First, we packed shaloch manot to our friends at Yad  Ezra. Then we packed for our families. 

• While we packed we also played really cool games with our friends. 

• Then we went to the chapel and all the clergy were there dressed up as Trolls! It was very funny to see our Rabbis and Cantors wearing different color wigs and tutus! 😃

• We got to hear the Megillah and when we heard the name of Haman, we used our groggers that we made and shook them so hard to erase his evil name. ( Booooooooooo Haman).  We got to dance around the chapel that was a lot of fun! 

• We then ate cookies that had three corners,  They were shaped like the hat that  Haman used to wear.  Boooooo!!!  

It was a lot of fun celebrating  Purim with your children! Thank you for sharing them with us!!!

Enjoy your families!!!

Morot Zoya and Alexis 

Kitah Hey Update

March 15, 2017

Dear Parents,

We had a fun filled week starting with the Holiday of Purim and continuing our JHSM's Traveling Trunk interactive in class lessons during religious school on Tuesday. 

We continued our studies on how the many Jewish Social service organization began and developed to help the needs of our community from 1880-1920. The students learned how they began and where they were housed and what agencies they developed into today, helping all of the Jewish community. 

Please fill out the Waiver/Permission slip sent home with your child and return to me as soon as possible for our upcoming trip on March 26. 

You should have all received an email about the trip with details. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Shabbat Shalom
Cillia Kleiman

Morah Gawel Class Update

March 15, 2017

Hi All –

FIRST:  PLEASE RSVP for the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan’s Settlers to Citizens Bus T our of Historic Jewish Detroit.  The bus loads at 8:45 a.m. on Sunday, March 26^th at CSZ and leaves PROMPTLY at 9:00 a.m.  WE DO NOT HAVE REGULAR RELIGIOUS SCHOOL ON THIS DAY FOR THE 6^TH GRADE, AS THE KIDS WILL BE ON A FIELD TRIP.   ALL CHILDREN NEED A TOUR WAIVER PERMISSION SLIP.  You can click on the attachment or pick up one from the religious school. *****

We have had an eventful week, as usual.  One of these days I will tell you that it was boring, but I’m guessing no day soon! J  Sunday was Purim, and while we only had 3 kiddos in class, we partied like rock stars.  We had a special day filled with mishloach manot packing; all of the Purim Parcels were donated to Jewish Senior Life.  We also played carnival games with Ramah, made creative Purim Parcel containers in the Maker’s Space, and made hammantashen during chugim.  The entire shul smelled divine with the aroma of chocolate chips and cherry filling. I ate my weight in the forgotten hammantashen and leftover Hershey Kisses. Good times! The clergy put on a rocking Purim Shpiel for us and the Hebrew teachers finished the day off with some Purim learning.  Fun was had by all… all 3 that is!  But we were happy to have so many of you the night before at the Purim carnival.  It was a blast. 

On Tuesday we continued our discussion of antis-Semitism and Jews and how we have been portrayed in the media.  The kids looked at specific advertisements from every 20 years pre and post World War II and looked for the same themes and motifs that we saw in the images we studied last week. This work will culminate in creating some posters to help combat the Anti-Semitic sentiments in our own culture, and then we will move on and study our Exodus unit more in depth.

Looking forward to a WARMER week next week and more learning with you people,

Leah

Kitah Zayin Class Update

Dear 7th Grade Parents,

On Sunday we learned about the Warsaw Ghetto and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising led by  Mordechai Anielewicz, who was the first commander of the Jewish Fighting Organization in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.  I showed the class pictures from my trip to Israel including pictures from a kibbutz renamed in memorial to Mordechai Anielewicz. The class was really interested in learning about the Jewish past and future which we learned through the history of the founding of the State of Israel and the Partisan fighting which led to the establishment of the State of Israel.  

 

On Tuesday, we continued to learn about the Holocaust.  After learning about the ghettoization and transport of Jews into concentration camps around Europe, we transitioned to discussing the next step of the Final Solution: the death camps. 

 Although incredibly sad, the students handled the material very well.  We learned about the function of the death camps, saw firsthand footage of their liberation, and had a chance to view the photos of Auschwitz that I took when I traveled to Poland in 2012.   

Next week, we will discuss the liberation of the death camps further, while also learning about various examples of heroic Jewish resistance during the Holocaust.

 Please let us know if your child has an particular concerns or questions that you would like us to address.

 

Chag Purim Sameach!

 

Emily and Matt

Kitah Vav Update

Hello all! Happy early Purim! We hope that you join us tomorrow night for some CSZ Purim festivities! We have had a fabulous week, albeit one with some serious discussion.  We are in the  middle of discussing anti-Semitism, and its place within the narrative of the Exodus story.  Your child should be GOOD TO GO for retelling the Passover story this holiday!  We read the beginning of the text and discussed how the new Pharaoh was concerned with how MANY Jews there were and how he did not know Joseph. This mean that he did not know how the Jewish people had helped Egypt; he had no context for them other than what was in front of him.  What was in front of him?!  A whole bunch of Jews.  And he was worried. In fact, he was a bit paranoid.  Pharaoh thought that the Jews were going to join up with another army and try and defeat him.  Pharaoh did not like the Jews simply because he was scared of them.  It began with FEAR.

After we looked at the text, we moved on to look at various pictures from advertisements and cartoons that depict Jewish figures in antiemetic ways.  These images span from the 1930s to political cartoons from publications that are only weeks old.  We studied the various similarities in how the Jews are portrayed: big noses, hunched over, animalistic, vampires, hairy, homeless looking, beast like, greedy looking, beady eyed, blood sucking, controlling, crazy, big eared, ugly, insane.  We talked about WHY would Jewish people be portrayed in such ways?! We will continue discussing this and talk about why these images KEEP popping up in modern day publications.  We are also going to talk about HOW we can combat these stereotypes.

We have a FANTASTIC adult learning piece that ties into this, which is scheduled for Thursday, April 27^th at 7pm called Turning Words into Action which will be led by the Education Department from the Michigan Anti Defamation League. I highly recommend attending!

Have a wonderful holiday and can’t wait to see you IN COSTUME!

 Leah

Kitah Gan Katan Update

 

 Good Week to our Fabulous  Parents, 

 Sunday we were very busy learning  about the  holiday  of Purim. Purim is a very joyous  holiday for the Jewish people.  The wicked  wicked man named Haman wanted to kill all the Jewish people,  because  one Jewish  man named Mordachi did  not bow to Haman.  He told Haman we have only One God, and we don't bow to any other gods!! The wicked wicked man Haman was furious  with  Mordachi and wanted to kill off all the Jews.  But thank God for queen Esther who came to our rescue and told the king  of Haman' s horrible  scheme and saved all the Jewish people. ( Short Summary of the story)

 We had a fun time learning  about the story of Purim. Every time we heard the name Haman we Booooooooooooed him!! We made groggers  so that when we hear his name we could shake it to erase his name.  We made mask of either,  Haman,  Queen Esther or her uncle  Mordachi.  Boy did we have a blast!! 

 Hope you enjoy celebrating Purim with your families!!

Morot Zoya  and  Alexis 

 

Kitah Hey Update

Dear Parents,

 

We continue our unit on Jewish Detroit. Studying the challenges in Eastern Europe and finding Religious Freedom and Economic opportunity in the United States, specifically Detroit Michigan. The children took on the rolls of different immigrants and learned that they left Europe not knowing a word of English, but were  willing to work hard and be a full citizen and joined the U.S. Army.

 Our learners also studied and analyzing the poem "The Butterfly" by Pavel Friedmann. He was born January 7, 1921, in Prague and deported to Terezin , a Nazi concentration camp. The students analyses and compared the poem to the story of Passover. They came up with some amazing analogies. We will culminate this project with a display that will be presented to CSZ and can be viewed before Passover in the Synagogue Lobby.

Our class has lots of exciting experiences coming up this month.

 I hope to see you all this weekend as we celebrate the holiday of Purim here at CSZ both  on Saturday night and Sunday during religious school.

Shabbat Shalom,

Cillia Kleiman

Kitah Bet Update

Dear Parents,

We have continued our Purim fun with a Purim play ( costumes and all!) and a G-dcast video about Purim. Ask your kids about this, they loved it. On Sunday we have an all Purim morning where we will listen to the megillah and make mishloach manot for our family and the community . If you haven't already done so, please send in treats so we can perform the mitzvah of mishloach manot.

We are moving  along in our Hebrew reading. As we learn more letters and vowels, I am introducing new tools to help everyone decode to be able to put our letter and vowel sounds together to read. I have received some reading homework from your kids.  Thank you!! If you haven't been reading with them, it's not too late. Everyone can use the practice!!

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Purim Sameach!

Davida

Kitah Hey Update

Dear Parents,

Our class has started a new unit on the history of Michigan's and Detroit's Jewish community. We have had an educator from the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan work with the students this past Tuesday and for the next month.  They have brought Detroit's Jewish history to life, using an interactive curriculum designed for religious school students from 5th - 7th grade.  The students were introduced this week, to early pioneers who traveled by canoe from Montreal, Canada and returned for Rosh Hashanah every year. We played a game, using Yiddish expressions and learned about the ways these entrepreneurs made a living. It was lots of fun and the kids really enjoyed it. They were sent home with a form to fill out about their personal history. Please help them complete this for Tues. if they were absent I will give them a copy on Sunday.

Our class really absorbed the materials taught and had fun while doing so. We are all excited about be a part of this educational program.

Any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me.

 Shabbat Shalom,

Cillia Kleiman

Kitah Bet Update

Dear Parents,

We have begun learning about the holiday of Purim.  We made a match/memory game to familiarize ourselves with "Purim" words. We have read stories, watched a fun video and created a "grogger" from recycled materials. We will continue this week with some more fun Purim activities. On March 12(Purim) we will have an all school megillah reading as well as other Purim activities.
Be happy, its Adar!!

We are continuing our Hebrew learning on Sundays and Tuesdays and our Torah study on Sundays.
After Purim we will begin our Pesach learning  and your child will be making  some things for you to use at your family seder as well as learning  parts of the seder.

Shabbat Shalom,

Davida