Beit Midrash

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

Shalom Everyone!
Happy secular new year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season along with the kids’ break from school. Now that we have entered 2022, I had a few announcements. Unfortunately, the recent COVID spike has not spared our congregation. Because of the uncertainty surrounding the surge, the teachers and I regretfully decided to cancel the upcoming religious school session on January 9 for safety reasons. Currently, our schedule includes a break on the 16th and then resumes for the rest of the month on the 23rd and 30th. Although I know the 16th is part of a long weekend, would parents be interested in having a session that day since we will now not meet on the 9th? Please let me know your thoughts.
For those enrolled in the Hebrew School, I am pleased to announce we will resume our class on January 10 but it will be through Zoom rather than in-person for at least the next couple of weeks. I will send out the Zoom link on Monday.
Let us hope and pray that the recent surge will only last for a relatively short time (as happened in South Africa) and we can all see each other in-person again soon. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Best,
David

Shalom Everyone!

    Incredibly, we have now reached the conclusion of the 2021 Religious School Calendar.  I wanted to thank all the teachers and the TBH Board for creating a safe and productive learning environment for our classes this year.  It has been wonderful to see everyone back in person and we look forward to further adventures and activities in the coming year.  We will be on break for the next 2 weeks and return to our Religious School on Sunday, January 9 (which will also be Tu B’shvat!).

    And now for the recap!  Rabbi Dean led our Tefillah Service, as always.  The lower grades, for helping donate more than 40 jars of nut butter for the Food For Thought drive, received a party with yummy treats, including hot cocoa.  They also continued to learn about mitzvahs and why they are so important in Judaism.

For the B’nai Mitzvah, we had an especially exciting day of experimental cooking.  Several weeks ago, while studying the Japanese Jewish community, the students created a menu combining Japanese and Ashkenaz cuisine.  We put the menu to the test by making Tsukemono/Dell Pickle bowls, falafel and rice plates, Matzah Ball Miso Soup, Japanese Soda/Grape Juice mix, and Chase’s very own dessert creation of yogurt, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce.  Everything worked really well except for the falafels (yours truly needs more practice with frying).  All the classes got to sample the cuisine and it was a hit!  Creating new dishes made from different cultural traditions can bring such joy!

     And that about covers it for now.  Everyone have a wonderful break and we will see y’all in 2022!  Here’s to a safe, happy, and healthier new year!

Best,

David

Hello Everyone,

I hope we are all enjoying the much needed rain we are getting right now, along with the snow in the mountains.  We can yet hope for an easing of the drought as we head into the new year.  I also wanted to remind everyone that we have one more Religious School class this year, on December 19.  After that we will have two weeks off for the winter holiday and then resume on January 9 for Tu B’shvat!  A big thank you to all the families who donated nut butters for the food drive, which will be wrapping up this week.

And now for the recap.  Rabbi Dean led our Tefillah Service and then each class helped make beautiful decorative cards for the food boxes.  The kids are very creative artists! 

In the Middle Grades, the students reviewed the meaning of a mitzvah and what kids can do to make the world a better place.  They also learned what a hero is and found out that all of us can be heroes, in big and small ways.  They ended the day by learning the difference between Biblical and Modern Hebrew and started learning the Shema prayer in American Sign Language!

For the B’nai Mitzvah class, our first hour was spent practicing the Torah prayers.  We are currently learning the melody for the chanting and then will move on to the Haftarah prayers.  After the break, we started learning about the long history of the Egyptian Jewish community, which stretches all the way back to ancient Egypt.  Our main focus was on the Karaite community, a direct outgrowth of the Egyptian Jewish community, and the different traditions they have compared with the Ashkenazic community.  So far, one of the most notable differences is that the Karaite community can mix milk and meat as long as they come from different animals (so a bison burger with cheese from cow milk or a regular hamburger with goat cheese).  Next we will delve more into the characteristics of the Karaite community,

And that about covers it for now.  I look forward to seeing everyone next week for our last session of 2021!

Best,

David

Best,
David

Chanukah Sameach!

 Welcome back everyone!  I hope y’all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday filled with good food and family fun.  We have returned for our Hannukah celebrations!  This past week and this upcoming week will be all about Hannukah, with so many fun activities planned.  Our next extravaganza will be this Sunday, December 5, which also happens to be the 8th night of Hannukah.  I also wanted to remind you that our Hannukah Shabbat service will take place this Friday, December 3, at 6:00 p.m.

 And now for the recap.  Larry led our Tefillah service with the skill worthy of a Rabbi.  He does so much for our school, everyone give him a big thank you next week.

 The lower grades learned all about one of the most important parts of Hannukah: the Dreidel game!  Heather helped the kids make their own dreidels, drawing the key letters of gimel, hay, shin, and nun onto wooden dreidels they will use for their games this week.  Jenny led an art project creating a menorah with glue, paper, and fabric.  They can hang the pictures on the wall next to their menorahs at home.

 For the Bnai Mitzvah class, we first learned about the history of Hannukah, especially its origins in the revolt against the Seleucid Greek empire, why it happened, the different factions of Judaism at the time, and Hannukah’s roots in reviving Sukkot.  Next we carved the letters into our wooden dreidel using a screwdriver and hammer (very delicate operation).  Finally, we learned how to set up a proper environment for Hannukah, including having a mezzuzah and menorah by the door to surround the room with holiness and light, setting up the menorah so that the candles are placed right to left but lit left to right, the prayers, how long to let the candles burn, etc.  Parents will enjoy seeing their kids lead the lighting of the menorahs.

Next week we will continue our Hannukah fun with songs and dreidel games.  We look forward to seeing everyone there!

Best,

David

Incredibly the year is fast approaching its end and Hannukah is just around the corner!  We also have Thanksgiving coming up soon, so there is so much holiday spirit and family time in our futures.  We will resume Religious School, and our Hannukah theme curriculum, on November 28.  Also remember there will be a special Hannukah Shabbat service on December 3.

And now for the recap.  As always, Rabbi Dean led our Tefillah Service and introduced the families to several Hannukah songs. The lower grades had a great hands-on project this past week.  Jenny taught the kids how to bake Challah and each student got to pick their own toppings.  Sprinkles were the favorite!  The middle grades were also learning about the 10 commandments and what they mean.

For the Bnai Mitzvah class, we are now learning the melodies for the Torah prayers and will soon learn the Torah Service steps as well.  For our second hour we continued our exploration of the Japanese Jewish community by working on our Japanese/Jewish menu.  The class came up with some potentially tasty combinations, including Teriyaki Kugel, Falafel Rice Bowl, Soba Cholent, and Mochi flavored Hamentashens.  Once the menu is complete, we will get it printed up and distributed to the parents, who may be inspired to create some of these dishes.  We may even attempt to make one or two of them in a future class.

Everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We’ll see everyone in two weeks!

Best,

David 

P.S. Now that we are restarting in-person services, if you would like your children to attend one of the Shabbat services with you in the coming months, please forward a copy or picture of their vaccination cards, once they are fully vaccinated, to either me or Louise.  Thank you!