Morah Gawel class update

Hello all!

WE had a fantastic lesson on Sunday and the kids were wonderful.  We have had some great weeks with lots of great learning ; I am going to miss them the next few weeks!  We went to Adler hall and watched a clip from the movie The Croods.  If you have not seen this movie yet, rent it on Netflix. It is a blast and appropriate for the whole family. My teens still love it too!   The Croods live according to a very rigid set of rules: Anything new is bad, stay in the cave, always be scared.  The mission of the family is to stay together and to stay alive.  Why these rules?  Because the world around them was scary! The world was dangerous!  They were outnumbered by "the unknown."  

We then transferred this knowledge to the plight of the Israelites.  They had been enslaved for 400 years, they were recently liberated, but had NO IDEA what this meant. They were outnumbered by the unknown.. they were vulnerable and weak, they were fragmented and the only way to keep them together?  RULES.  The 10 big ones.  And then, since we are such a cranky bunch, 613 were added on… but for the moment: 10.

WE also discussed how ALL OF US were at Sinai for the revelation of the big 10.  I showed the kids the pictures of my family, going back to 1887 in Lithuania and I showed them each generation from then until now.  My ancestors actually had the whole black coat and hat thing going on.  I have walls of photos of cranky looking old Jewish guys who were rabbis.  :)  The kids found this SUPER interesting.  If you have any old photos, it is time to take them out. The kids wanted to hear the stories!

We discussed TRIBEHOOD and how we are all a tribe.  Ask the kids how a handful of jellybeans is like the Jewish people… (some good, some sweet, some look good but are not so good, some look bad and taste great, and all together, we make quite an assortment! )

Have a wonderful Passover,

Leah

Morah Hollenberg Update

Dear 6th Grade Parents,

This week we continued our discussion of פֶּסַח (Passover), delved into some customs about matzah, and shared our family customs with one another...all while we made my family recipe for Matzah Brie. DELICIOUS!

Last week my post was accidentally omitted from the blog. Since it didn't make it onto the blog yet, here is a recap of what we covered...in our previous class we focused our attention on some aspects of the Passover Seder. We considered instances in the Seder where the number four appears (the 4 cups of wine/grape juice we drink, and the 4 questions) and thought about the significance of the number four. We learned that originally the four questions were not the canonized questions we find in the modern Hagadah and why they have changed. We also discovered why early on in the Seder the youngest asks questions of all those gathered, And then, we learned that the number four represents four aspects of our slavery in Egypt and, as a result, we celebrate these four components of our freedom at the Seder. 

Best, 

Morah Hollenberg

Kitah Zayin Update

Hello 7^th Grade Families,

This week our class discussed the difference between chesed (kindness) and tzedakah (charity). We looked at textual sources examining how to perform these distinct Jewish values, and we also explored the reasons for doing so. The Torah states that we should not abandon the stranger because we were strangers in the land of Egypt. We talked about how important it is to be kind and welcoming to people even if we don’t know them, and further, if we see someone that is a stranger (for example a new kid in school) we should introduce ourselves and try and make them feel comfortable. We ended by watching a video on the kindertransport during WW2 that resettled Jewish children from Eastern Europe to England where they knew no one, as they tried really hard to integrate into a new society. The stories of English families welcoming in these Jewish children should serve as an example for us to be welcoming and inviting to the vulnerable strangers we encounter today.

Next Sunday we will explore the Jewish value of respecting the elderly with a guest speaker from Jewish Senior Life who is also a CSZ congregant, Barbara Giles. She will be doing an interactive program with the students on how we can relate to the elders in our lives.

We  forward to our continuing Jewish journey with your learners. Have a peaceful Shabbat.

David and Erin

Morah Toby Schlussel

Dear Parents,

This past Sunday we began our day with Tefillah. We stayed in the small Chapel afterwards to discuss and learn a little more about Pesach (Passover) using the Haggadah (the text we use at the seder).

We continued  reading in the HASEFER booklet to improve our fluency in Hebrew reading. We played the game of reading baseball during reading time to make it fun and exciting. The students really enjoyed this new approach.

 The 4th graders read pages 48 and 49.

The 5th and 6th graders read pages 56 an 57 .

Please encourage your children to review these pages at home.

On Tuesday, again the students had a choice of two different venues for Tefillah, the teacher run minyan or Cantor Gutman's tefillah session.

Immediately after, the 4th graders had the opportunity to see a You Tube short video about a spontaneous singing of Hatikvah on a commuter train in Jerusalem
. We took the time to see this because we discussed the Hatikvah in class  Sunday,  and I thought the students would be interested in seeing  and hearing  the beautiful singing of the Jewish National Anthem in this surprising and unique way.

All three reading classes got together for their lessons.The 4th graders practiced reading the Pesach kiddush and we discussed the significance of having the holiday fall on Shabbat and taught them the correct way to say the blessing when this occurs.The 5th and 6th graders practiced singing the Ma Nishtana (Four Questiions) all together and then we talked about the 3 key concepts of the seder: Pesach, Matzah , and Maror. We ended the day by separating the children into multiple groups and they worked on holiday worksheets. Everyone seemed to enjoy this.

Have a Shabbat Shalom and I hope to see everyone on Sunday.   

Toby Schlussel

Morah Katz Hebrew Update

Dear 4th-6th Grade Families:

 Most of our tefilla and classroom reading was done out of the Passover Haggadah this week.  We brushed up on our Hebrew Passover vocabulary, blessings, Four Questions (מה נשתנה) and Order of the Seder.  Your student is ready to play an active role at your family Seder. 

On Tuesday all 3 reading classes got together for their lessons. We talked about the 3 key concepts of the seder : פסח (Pesach) מצה (Matzah) and מרור (Maror). We worked in multiple groups on holiday worksheets.

Shabbat Shalom!

Donna Katz

Morah Levinson,Zachor, and Sable Hebrew Update

Dear 4th - 6th grade families,

We had a wonderful week in Hebrew school! It is so great to watch everyone's  confidence increase as they improve their reading skills. It's such a pleasure to have the opportunity to teach our students. :)

During class on Sunday, we got a lot accomplished. We began by reading in 2 groups from our books, and were able to finish quite a few pages. While reading, the 4th graders came across a very tricky letter / vowel situation involving the letter Vov and the vowel that makes the sound "oh", and we reviewed this extensively. Ask your 4th graders to explain to you what they learned. We also played a game of Hebrew baseball with our flashcards, translating each word as they read them correctly. At the end of the day we practiced the מה נשתנה (Four Questions) 4 different ways -- we read them from the הגדה (Haggadah), sang them together as a class, sang them in a "round" and finally went around the room and had each child (by memory) say one word of the first question with each student following where the previous student left off. They did an awesome job! 

Tuesday, all 3 reading classes got together for their lessons.
The 4th graders practiced reading the Pesach kiddush. We discussed the significance of having the holiday fall on Shabbat, and taught them the correct way to say the blessing when this occurs.
The 5th and 6th graders practiced singing the מח נשתנה (Four Questions) all together, and then we talked about the 3 key concepts of the seder : פסח (Pesach) מצה (Matzah) and מרור (Maror). We ended the day by splitting the kids into multiple groups and they worked together on holiday worksheets. It was a great afternoon!

Wishing you all a peaceful Shabbat.

B'shalom, 

Dona Levinson 

Edna Sable 

Aliza Zachor

Morah Dresner Update

Dear Parents,

We learned our next letter Pay. We learned how to read the Hebrew word pesach. Students had to select pictures that began with the Hebrew letter Pay which they all did successfully. We worked on word building and each student read words with letters that they have learned. There were some words that contained letters we have not yet learned but the students carefully looked at the alphabet hanging in the classroom and were able to figure out which letters applied to the correct pictures.

We also did an exercise with the sound of the letters Chet, Kaf and Resh. I gave the students a word such as challah and they had to tell me if the Chet was at the beginning, the middle or the end. We worked on several words that contained different letters and the students had to distinguish where the sound fell in the word. Beginning, middle or the end. It was a challenging exercise but they all did an amazing job sounding out each word and figuring out the correct answers.

I hope you enjoyed the beautiful seder plates your children made in class and proudly decorated.

We continued talking about Passover (Pesach) and discussed the different types of foods we eat and we reviewed the story of Passover and each student wanted to know what each item on the Seder plate represented.  One student asked if they could taste the Maror and I told them I would bring some in on Sunday for them to sample. 

One of the important things we discussed in class was the important part of the seder which means "order" and Haggadah, the Hebrew word for "Telling" which is the name of the book we use to guide us through the seder. We discussed how the Israelites traveled through the wilderness until they reached the Sea of Reeds. The students were curious what the waters looked like when they split so we watched a clip of the movie Prince of Egypt which showed what the water looked like when the Israelites were freed from slavery. They were amazed and it was easier for them to understand and believe what had happened many years ago. They know that the entire Egyptian army had drowned and the Israelites were free.

We will wrap up our unit on Passover on Sunday and begin talking about Yom Hashoah and Yom Ha'atzma'ut when we return from break.

I want to wish all of you a Happy and Healthy Passover to you and your families.

Thank you for sharing your amazing children with me. I learn from them as much as they learn from me.

Pesach Sameach!

Lisa Dresner Wais