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
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