tbhrich

Chag Purim!

First of all, I wanted to congratulate and thank everyone for helping to put together a wonderful Purim carnival on Sunday.  The kids had a lot of fun with the games and our volunteers were so generous with items for sale, especially the Hamentashens. And of course, the Megillah Reading by the Theater Troupe was phenomenal!  It was so nice to have the carnival again and here’s to more exciting carnivals in the future.  Pushing ahead with our school year, the next Religious School session will be this Sunday, March 20, at 9:30 a.m.

And now for the recap.  Rabbi Dean led us in our Tefillah Service, including singing Purim songs.  Several of the kids and teachers came in costume.  We had unicorns, Paw Patrol, Super Heroes, and even George Washington (by yours truly).  Everything is topsy turvy for Purim!

The younger grades had a fun time learning about Purim and making Hamentashens with Jenny and Heather.  I for one can confirm that they tasted delicious, with flavors like Blueberry, Nutella, Apricot, and others.  They also made groggers and listened to stories.

The B’nai Mitzvah class performed a mitzvah by helping to set up, staff, and clean up after the Purim Carnival.  We will continue with our Purim projects next week.

 And that about covers it for now.  We can now look forward next month to our next major holiday of Passover.  In the meantime, see y’all on Sunday!

Best,

David  

Shalom Everyone!

As spring approaches, it is time for that wonderful holiday where it is almost required to have fun: Purim!  For the Religious School this Sunday, March 13, come dressed in costume as we celebrate the story of Esther, Mordechai, and the other characters from the Purim tale.

As I mentioned last week, I am pleased to announce that Temple Beth Hillel will once again be holding its annual Purim Carnival in person on Sunday, March 13, from 12:00 p.m.-1:30 p.m.  There will be booths, games, songs, and fun for the whole family.  In order to have the carnival run as smoothly as possible, I would like to ask the parents to please volunteer an hour or two of your time this Sunday to help with set-up, running the games, and/or clean-up.  I and the teachers will be right there with you and we deeply appreciate your help.  Please let me know if you would like to run a game or help with set up.

And now for the recap.  Rabbi Dean led our Tefillah Service with the highlight of moving from Exodus to Leviticus in our Torah readings.  The younger grades joined with Jenny in learning about the story of Purim along with the symbols of Purim, including hamentashens, grogers, etc.  The Bnai Mitzvah class continued to work on the Haftorah prayers and read through Chase’s upcoming Torah portion, looking at the theme of Creation.  For the second hour, we finished up our unit on the Ukrainian Jewish community.  We learned that Hasidism, Klezmer music, and the beloved story Fiddler on the Roof all gained their inspiration from the Ukrainian Jewish community.  We also learned Ukrainian Jews have in the past been presidents, prime ministers, champion chess players, olympians, actors and scientists.  It is truly a vibrant Jewish community that we can look up to and support in their time of need.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the Purim carnival!  And thank you in advance for all the parents who will help the carnival return to its glory after the shutdowns from Covid.  Shalom!

Best,

David

Hello Everyone!

And welcome back from Ski Week!  As we enter March we are once again on the cusp of a major holiday.  In a few weeks we will be celebrating the exciting holiday of Purim.  On March 13, I am please to announce, we will be able to restart the annual Temple Beth Hillel Purim Carnival, which will run from 12:00-1:30 p.m.  It will be a lot of fun!  We will also be having Religious School straight through March so all Sundays in March will have Religious School.  Our next session will be this Sunday, March 6, at 9:30 a.m.

    And now for the recap.  Rabbi Dean led our Tefillah Service before all the kids went to their classes.  The lower and middle grades have been working on the theme of Tzedakhah.  All the kids made their own Tzedakah boxes and discussed the key ideas and actions behind Tzedakah. 

     For the Bnai Mitzvah class, our focus was on the current crisis in Ukraine and how it relates to the Jewish community here and in that suffering country.  Our first hour was spent learning the Before Haftorah prayer while reviewing the Torah blessings.  For the second hour, the class researched the history of the Jewish community in Ukraine stretching all the way back over 1000 years ago.  We learned that Jews were welcomed into Ukraine during the Polish Empire, forced to live in the Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire, and suffered heavily in the Holocaust yet still survived through the 20th century.  Among the most fascinating facts we learned:

•  Ukraine today has one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe
•  The current President of Ukraine, President Zelinsky, who has done so much to rally the people of Ukraine, is Jewish
•  Back in 2019, Ukraine was the only country other than Israel to have both a Jewish president and a Jewish Prime Minister.

    Next week we will be learning more about this amazing community.

And that about covers it for now.  I look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday!

Best,

David

Shalom Everyone!

Happy Winter Olympics Season!  Hopefully everyone is enjoying watching the games and cheering on all the amazing athletes!  It’s a great time for sports!  Our next meeting will take place this Sunday, February 13 at 9:30 a.m. (after which we can all go home to see the Olympics and the Super Bowl at the same time!) and then we will be off on February 20.

And now for the recap.  Rabbi Dean as always led our Tefillah Service, and thankfully we were able to return inside the sanctuary.  Afterwards, the kids all went to their classrooms.  This week the middle grades joined Jenny and the younger grades in learning all about Tzedakah.  They played, did art projects, and learned the importance of giving in our community.

For the B’nai Mitzvah class, we took a break from our usual theme to concentrate on the sports season.  Our first hour was spent reviewing the Torah prayers before moving on to starting the Haftarah prayers.  Everyone in the class will be chanting all those prayers from memory before long.  For the second hour, the class researched Jewish athletes who have competed in the Winter Olympic games since 1924.  They seemed to generally come from the United States, Israel, Russia, Canada, the Soviet Union, and Hungary.  We even found a brother/sister American pairs figure skating team!  Next week we will continue our research and then make a visual display of all the athletes and the countries they represented.

And that about covers it for now.  Enjoy the Olympics and we’ll see y’all next week!

Best,

David

Hello Everyone,

We had another great day of Religious School this past Sunday.  Thanks to the reduced case counts, we were all able to go back to the classrooms.  Our next meeting will take place this Sunday, February 6, at 9:30 a.m.  We will also have school on February 13 and then be off on February 20.

  And now for the recap.  Rabbi Dean led our Tefillah Service before the kids went to their classes.  The younger grades got a wonderful surprise when the Fox family distributed T-shirts to everyone!  Everyone can wear them for next week’s classes!

  In the Bnai Mitzvah class, we resumed our work on the Torah prayers and are now moving on to the Haftarah prayers.  The students can now not only read the prayers but also chant them!  They have come a long way.  For the second half of class, we learned more about the Karaite community, who originated in Egypt.  There are a lot of differences, especially in Kosher laws, celebrating Shabbat, who gets to interpret Torah, etc.  It is always fascinating looking at the different ways Judaism can be celebrated around the world.  Now that we have looked at Jewish communities in Asia, Europe, and Africa, we will turn our attention to the Pacific and South America.  Should be interesting.

  And that about covers it for now.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  I’ll see y’all on Sunday!

Best,

David

Shalom Everyone!
And welcome back to Religious School. After a long hiatus, it was great to see everyone at the Temple again. Now that we have passed the holiday season, we will have regular classes every Sunday from now until February 20. Our next meeting will take place this Sunday, January 30, at 9:30 a.m.
And now for the recap. We all gathered outside for our Tefillah Service, led by Rabbi Dean. Afterwards, each class celebrated the fun holiday of Tu’Bshvat. The younger grades got to sample the 7 species (wheat, barley, grapes, pomegranates, figs, dates, and olives) along with a variety of fruits).
I taught the middle grades along with the Bnai Mitzvah kids this week. We started off by reading a rebus about the origins of TuBshvat and then they tested their skills with a TuBshvat puzzle. For the second half of class, we all got to participate in the tradition of tasting the 7 species along with 15 different fruits (symbolizing the 15th day of Shivat, the name of the holiday). They got to try regular fruits like apples and oranges along with more exotic fruits like Dragonfruit. They all liked some of them, others did not pass the taste test, but we all had fun trying out new flavors.
And that about covers it for now. Next week we will return to our regular subjects until the next major holiday of Purim. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Best,
David

Shalom Everyone!

I hope everyone is doing well.  I wanted to let everyone know that this upcoming weekend is a holiday weekend for MLK Day so we will not be having Religious School or Hebrew School this upcoming week.  Our Religious School will reconvene on Sunday, January 23, at our usual time of 9:30 a.m.  For that week we will be having a belated celebration of TuBshvat.  We will also be restarting Hebrew School on Monday, January 24.

I also wanted to let you know that there will be a program happening on Monday, January 17, called “Passion and Perseverance: A MLK Day Celebration at the North Richmond Farm” hosted by Urban Tilth.  It will take place at 323 Brookside Drive in Richmond from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. 

Please let me know if you have any questions.  We’ll see everyone back on the 23rd!

Best,

David