Hello Everyone,
First of all, a huge thank you to all who helped us take down and put away the sukkah this past Sunday along with attending the Urban Tith lecture in the sukkah. As always, it is so wonderful to see our community come together for such a project. And I know we shall all come together again as we process the ongoing tragedy in Israel. We will have special prayers on Sunday for all the victims and their families so please bring your families and friends if they can come.
Unfortunately, I myself was absent this past Sunday but the Foxes made our school run as smoothly as ever. Rabbi Dean and Cantor Marney led us in our Tefillah Service, as always. Once all the kids got back to their classroom, all the teachers talked about the disturbing developments in Israel, some of the history of the conflict, and a few important ways to try to process these events.
In the Bnai Mitzvah class, Larry went over the blessing before and after Torah before hosting a discussion of the last portion of Deuteronomy followed by the first portion of Genesis. They compared the thoughts of the death of Moses and a description of the borders of Israel vs the creation story. Next, the students spoke about cycles of death & life and beginnings & endings, touching on what it means to live as a human and as a Jew. The class discussed how important it is to keep re-reading and examining the parshats of the Torah because as we age our perspective changes and more and different meanings can be discerned. The class then watched a reel/video Larry put together of last week’s Sukkot celebration (Shaking the Lulav) They also had a brief music interlude and then discussed family histories and how we are connected to people all over the world. Finally, the class spoke about the importance of names and honoring our family members who have passed to maintain that connection to our pasts and present.
In Kita Beit (Heather’s Class) We spoke about what is going on in Israel. After doing that we determined that this year the class Tzedakah project will be to help the needy and elderly in Israel. We then worked on our Simchat Torah project and why we continue to study and read the Torah year after year. We determined that we do so, in order to keep our culture and traditions alive. Hoping that if we follow the examples we can be our better selves. We ended class by examining the famous quote by Rabbi Hillel – “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”
In Jenny’s class (Kita Alef) they talked about Simchat Torah, decorated flags for Simchat Torah and worked on the colors in Hebrew.
And that about covers it for now. On a final note, Rabbi Dean will be retiring next year and the TBH Board is currently putting together a search committee to look for his successor. When we meet next Sunday, I will be asking for volunteers from parents who would be interested in joining the committee and assist in creating the next chapter of TBH’s history. Thank you everyone!
Best,
David
Religious School Update – Oct. 13, 2023
October 13, 2023 by tbhrich • Beit Midrash
Hello Everyone,
First of all, a huge thank you to all who helped us take down and put away the sukkah this past Sunday along with attending the Urban Tith lecture in the sukkah. As always, it is so wonderful to see our community come together for such a project. And I know we shall all come together again as we process the ongoing tragedy in Israel. We will have special prayers on Sunday for all the victims and their families so please bring your families and friends if they can come.
Unfortunately, I myself was absent this past Sunday but the Foxes made our school run as smoothly as ever. Rabbi Dean and Cantor Marney led us in our Tefillah Service, as always. Once all the kids got back to their classroom, all the teachers talked about the disturbing developments in Israel, some of the history of the conflict, and a few important ways to try to process these events.
In the Bnai Mitzvah class, Larry went over the blessing before and after Torah before hosting a discussion of the last portion of Deuteronomy followed by the first portion of Genesis. They compared the thoughts of the death of Moses and a description of the borders of Israel vs the creation story. Next, the students spoke about cycles of death & life and beginnings & endings, touching on what it means to live as a human and as a Jew. The class discussed how important it is to keep re-reading and examining the parshats of the Torah because as we age our perspective changes and more and different meanings can be discerned. The class then watched a reel/video Larry put together of last week’s Sukkot celebration (Shaking the Lulav) They also had a brief music interlude and then discussed family histories and how we are connected to people all over the world. Finally, the class spoke about the importance of names and honoring our family members who have passed to maintain that connection to our pasts and present.
In Kita Beit (Heather’s Class) We spoke about what is going on in Israel. After doing that we determined that this year the class Tzedakah project will be to help the needy and elderly in Israel. We then worked on our Simchat Torah project and why we continue to study and read the Torah year after year. We determined that we do so, in order to keep our culture and traditions alive. Hoping that if we follow the examples we can be our better selves. We ended class by examining the famous quote by Rabbi Hillel – “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”
In Jenny’s class (Kita Alef) they talked about Simchat Torah, decorated flags for Simchat Torah and worked on the colors in Hebrew.
And that about covers it for now. On a final note, Rabbi Dean will be retiring next year and the TBH Board is currently putting together a search committee to look for his successor. When we meet next Sunday, I will be asking for volunteers from parents who would be interested in joining the committee and assist in creating the next chapter of TBH’s history. Thank you everyone!
Best,
David