6th Grade off to a Great Start!

Hi All -

Today we had a FANTASTIC first day of religious ed. Sadly, half of our comrades were in a b'nai mitzvah meeting, so our "official day 1 with Morah Leah," will begin next Sunday. Today we had our mifgash (our centering of the day).  We began with a quick name game, moved on to a group activity that involved tearing papers, and ended with a quick quote and joke.  Our paper tearing activity involved the leader (moi) telling a blindfolded group to fold and tear a piece of paper a certain way.  Naturally, at the end of the activity, 90% of the kids' papers did not look like mine. We then discussed the importance of having 1) a good leader who gives clear directions and 2)listening and following those directions.  This brought us to our quote of the day, which is a Jewish proverb that reads "Learn first, then make your opinion."  We discussed how we need to actively learn to fully realize our Conservative Judaism.  Conservative Judaism, by definition, is CHOICE THROUGH KNOWLEDGE. We don't willy nilly decide to observe certain mitzvoth vs. others. We learn, we analyze, we decide what fits best for us and works for our own Jewish Spiritual Journey.  We discussed how this year we are going to learn a lot, and our job is for me to 1) accurately and effectively teach and for the kids to 2) engage and listen so that we all can make informed choices on our Jewish Journeys.  HOW?! You might say.  Well.  By entering the kids' world of course.  We spent the last few minutes coming up with lists of things that the kids like. What?  Well: I need to brush up on my Fantasy Football jargon, my Zac Efron knowledge, my Hunger Games motifs, my Minecraft skills, my Xbox 360 abilities, my Fault is In our Stars emotions etc… I am up for the challenge.  Together, we will make this class rock!

Next Sunday please have your child come in comfortable clothing that is weather appropriate.  We will be heading outside for our Field Day Torah Strong! Games.  I can't wait.

A few final housekeeping items:  please make sure that your son or daughter has BREAKFAST before he/she comes.  There are no bagels anymore.  Please make sure that your son has a kippah on when he enters the building and please make sure that your child comes with ideas, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn.  I promise to do my part to make the class fun, interactive, relevant and informative.

Please feel free to email me if you have specific questions: leahgawel@yahoo.com

See you Sunday, if not before,
Morah Leah

p.s.  Joke of the day : What Israeli prime minister succeeded the first?
A:  The second.

har har.  Clean Jewish jokes are hard to find. The kids were "like what?!?!  whatever."  bing batta boom!