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
Religious School Update January 27, 2022
January 27, 2022 by tbhrich • Beit Midrash
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