Religious School Update – March 21, 2024
Shalom Everyone,
We have some exciting events coming up! Next week, on March 24, we will all be meeting for our regular Tefillah service at 9:30 a.m. All teachers will be dressed in costume and we encourage all students and parents to dress up as well. Rabbi Dean and Cantor Marney will be reading from the Megillah and lead us in singing Purim songs. It will be so much fun! We will then have regular class for about an hour and adjourn at 11:45 to get ready for the carnival, which will begin at noon. Finally, please mark your calendars for April 14, which will be the date for our field trip to the Oakland Zoo.
And now for the recap. As always, Rabbi Dean and Cantor Marney led us in our Tefillah service before we headed to our classes. The younger grades all learned the traditions and rituals of Purim. In the B’nai Mitzvah, we did a deeper dive into the meanings of Purim. Students learned about the extent of the Persian Empire of the time, what it means to draw lots (in their case choosing the date of Purim by rolling dice), and the unique features of the Book of Esther. Specifically, the fact that one verse contains all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet (one of only a few in the Tanach), the longest verse in the entire Tanach (clocking in at 43 Hebrew words when most average around 20 or so) and the fact that G-d is never mentioned in the entire book. We then read through the Book of Esther and discussed the sections that are not often told in the Purim tale. The kids were quite engaged and enjoyed learning more about Purim.
And that about covers it for now. We look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday for the festivity of Purim!
Best,
David
P.S. Please take a moment to sign up for bringing snacks in March along with hosting an oneg in March, April, May, or June. Thanks everyone!
Religious School Update – March 29, 2024
March 29, 2024 by tbhrich • Beit Midrash
Hello Everyone,
We wanted to thank all our families for all their help and support for making the Purim Carnival such a success this year. We especially appreciated all the efforts you made for manning the booths and helping with set up and clean up. This upcoming Sunday is Spring Break so we will not have Religious School on the 31st. Religious School will resume on April 7. And please mark your calendars because on April 14 we have secured tickets for the kids to go on a field trip to the Oakland Zoo. We have spots for 10 kids and 10 adults so any other family members will need to secure their own tickets (for 10:30 a.m.) We will be having a scavenger hunt where all the kids will try to find the appropriate animals at the zoo based on their Hebrew names, which all classes will be working on in class on the 7th. We are looking forward to the trip!
And now for the recap. Our special Tefillah service was led by Rabbi Dean and Cantor Marney, both in amazing costumes! It was also great to see all the teachers and kids in costume as well. Rabbi Dean read the story of Purim and Cantor Marney chanted a few of the passages from the Book of Esther. And of course all the kids provided the instrumental noise to drown out “Haman”. The younger kids then spent an hour with Heather learning more about Purim. The Bnai Mitzvah class learned about the different pieces of evidence for whether or not the Purim events could have happened as described. We came to the consensus that it was unlikely but parts of the story could have happened. The kids gave a lot of thought to the idea and came up with some persuasive arguments.
And that about covers it for now. Everyone have a great Spring Break and we’ll see y’all on the 7th of April!
P.S. Please take a moment to sign up for bringing snacks in March along with hosting an oneg in March, April, May, or June. Thanks everyone!
Best,
David