Religious School Update – June 4, 2023

 

Hi Everyone,

   And so we have come to the end of the school year.  Our final session will take place this Sunday, June 11, starting at 9:30 a.m.  We will have our regular Tefillah Service and then we invite all the parents to remain for the Mensch Award ceremony.  Afterwards, we will end the year with a special ice cream/brownie/cookie treat for the kids along with some play time.  The teachers and I request that all parents please bring an ice cream treat or brownies or cookies for the kids (the teachers will bring something as well).  We will likely end school at around 11:30 a.m.  Finally, the annual membership meeting will take place 90 minutes later in the Sanctuary at 1:00 p.m. and we invite all the families to join us.

   And now for the recap.  Rabbi Dean led us in our regular Tefillah service before the kids went to their respective classes.  The younger grades had a great time painting a picture with their hands with Ms. Jenny.  For the middle grades, Heather reports that she introduced the kids to the concept of “Tikkun Olam,” or “Repairing the World”, a type of Jewish social justice.  She requested that all her students come up with a summer Tikkun Olam project they can do with their families over the summer break.  They also talked about making “Mensch Chronicles” that detail how to be a Mensch.  Finally, they reviewed the ideas and topics they have learned during the year and decided to donate their Tzedakah to the Milo Foundation.

   For the Bnai Mitzvah, we spent the first hour as always learning Torah and Haftorah prayers.  The students now have a good grasp of the Torah blessings and are currently on the Haftorah blessings, which we will pickup on once we return from summer break.  For the second hour, I had the students compare the observance of American Memorial Day with Israeli Yom Hazikaron, comparing and contrasting what each society values in its soldiers.  We also compared the exploits of Israeli soldiers who received the Medal of Valor (the highest military award in that nation) and Jewish soldiers who received the Medal of Honor in the American military.  The students debated what values each society reflected based on the deeds of these heroic soldiers.  They realized how much deeper meaning can go into something as simple as receiving an award for exploits on the battlefield.

  And that about covers it for now.  We look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday before heading off for summer break.  It has been a wonderful year!  Thank you to all the parents who helped make it happen.

Best,

David