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 6th 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
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