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
RELIGIOUS SCHOOL – Oct. 11, 2024
October 11, 2024 by tbhrich • Beit Midrash
Hello Everyone,
And L’shana Tovah! As we head toward Yom Kippur and Sukkot, we will have a slightly different session this upcoming week. We will not be having regular classes in the morning so all the adults can recover from our Yom Kippur fast the day before. Instead, we would like all the families to come to the Temple at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 13, to assist in our annual tradition of putting up the Sukkah. With everyone pitching in, we are usually done in a couple of hours and the kids get to have fun with the decorations. We will resume our regular classes the following week.
And now for the recap. This past week Larry and Sol led us in our Tefillah service before going to our classes. In the younger grades they finished learning about Rosh Hashanah and have started learning about Yom Kippur. They have also been practicing the Shema prayer in ASL! Finally, the kids are reviewing the first four letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
In the Bnai Mitzvah class, the kids learned about the Torah Portion Haazinu and the poem recited by Moses to the Israelites on the eve of their entry into Canaan. They mainly tackled the subject of working for the benefit of others even if we ourselves do not get to experience the reward, like when Moses learned he could gaze upon Canaan but not be allowed to enter it. For the second half of class, the students put together their own T’Shuva, which they will carry out this week. Each student focused on something they were sorry for this year and how they will atone for their actions. The students also got to engage in a blindfold exercise to symbolize the trust we put in ourselves and our communities when we make sacrifices. They all learned a lot today.
And that about covers it for now. We will see everyone at the Yom Kippur services on Friday and Saturday and the Sukkah building on the 13th!
Best,
David