Hebrew Update

 Dear 4th - 6th grade families,

 It was another great week at religious school! The kids are all getting back into the swing of things nicely :) 

Sunday morning began, for all three grades, with Tefillah in the small chapel lead by Cantor Gutman.  

The 6th graders played an aleph bet game, and also practiced reading different letter and vowel combinations from their reading books. Look-alike letters can pose a problem for some readers, and we will continue to work hard on learning ways to differentiate between them. We then practiced the prayers before and after reading from the Torah.  

In the middle of the day, the kids all went to the Electives (Chugim - חוגים) that they chose: challah braiding, Gaga Ball, Drama (Teatron - תאטרון ), and Jewish pop culture. This is a new addition to our Sunday schedule this year, and the students seem to enjoy it.  

The 4th and 5th graders also read from their reading books, and the focus was on blessings. We discussed how our tradition offers us daily reminders (blessings - ברכות) that allow us to turn simple daily events into special ones, and how every ברכה begins with the same 6 words, or "formula". Ask your kids what the 6 words are. We continued the lesson by reading and learning several different blessings that we say over various things that we eat and drink.

On  Tuesday, instead of the usual Torah service, the 6th and 7th graders participated in a very special program -- The Amazing Torah Service Scavenger Hunt, created and lead by Miles Greenspoon, our newest Ramah Detroit Fellow. The students were divided into 5 separate teams. They were given different locations in the synagogue and religious school where they needed to run to (the kids loved the running part!) and an activity to do at each station. Once they completed the activity, they then needed to locate the clue in that area for their next location and activity. The program provided a fun and creative opportunity to become familiar with the components and procedures of the Shabbat Torah service, and the students all had a great time! 

The 4th and 5th graders continued reading together from their books, this time focusing on the prayer Yotzer Or - יוצר אור.  This is the prayer we say at the beginning of the morning prayer service, when we give thanks for the wonders of creation, including light (אור ), darkness (חשך )and peace (שלום ). We then discussed the 2 ways in which God brought light into our world -- nature's light from the sun, moon, and stars, and the light of Torah's wisdom. We also discussed 2 ways in which people can add light -- by performing acts of loving kindness, and by contributing to the Shalom in our family and community. Then for the last few minutes of class, we played a game of tic-tac-toe using various words found in the prayer.

 It was a very productive and educational week, and everyone learned a lot! We look forward to seeing everyone again on Sunday.

Wishing you a peaceful Shabbat, 

Morah Donna Katz

Morah Dona Levinson 

Morah Toby Schlussel 
Morah Aliza Zachor