RELIGIOUS SCHOOL: Oct. 4, 2024

Hello Everyone!

 First of all, thank you to all the families who were able to attend the first Family Shabbat of the year. We had a great turnout and the kids got to have a lot of fun learning about Rosh Hashanah, eating snacks, and watching a movie. Our next one will be on October 26 at 5:00 p.m. so hopefully we’ll see even more families that night. In the meantime, the coming weeks will be filled with celebration as we embark on the High Holy Days, Sukkot, and Simchat Torah.  Our next session will take place this Sunday, October 6, with the Golden family graciously providing our special snacks for the week. And if you have not received your registration forms for the High Holy Day Services, they can be found in the main hall of the Temple. Finally, I would like to remind everyone that on the following Sunday, October 13, we will not have classes and instead will all meet at the Temple at 1:00 p.m. to help set up the Sukkah.

     And now for the recap. We started our Tefillah service with Rabbi Dean leading our families in prayer with the assistance of Sol, who is practicing for his upcoming Bar Mitzvah in January.  The younger kids were practicing writing their Hebrew letters while the middle grades worked on special projects for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The Bnai Mitzvah class started the first hour reading through a part of the Nitzavim Torah portion and considered what it said, its deeper meaning, and what it meant for us. They were also able to consider what is most important for keeping the covenant in their personal lives and comparing that list with what is most important for the survival of Judaism itself. During the second hour, we learned all about the symbolism of the foods we eat during the Rosh Hashanah seder and that Rosh Hashanah is only one of four new years celebrated in Judaism. I then had the kids consider what new foods they would add to the seder dinner and what other dates in the secular year we could observe as new years along with January 1. The kids mostly chose the equinoxes and solstices because of their connection to nature.

   And that about covers it for now.  We will see everyone at the Rosh Hashanah services on Wednesday and Thursday and Religious School on October 6!

 

Best,

David