Storytime with Judy goes to Poland
All grades learned about the role of the Gabbai in letting people know when it's time to start Shabbat, collecting tzedakah, maintaining the synagogue and leading the Torah service, as well as what cholnt (Sabbath stew) is and how it cooked overnight in a special pot in the baker's oven. 3rd-7th grade also visited some beautiful synagogues and learned about yeshivot (religious academies). Can you imagine memorizing 400 pages of Talmud as part of the entrance exam?
- K/1/2 read "The Boy Who Prayed with the Alphabet" and got to practice Yoga poses and show their classmates their tzedakah boxes.
- 3/4 read "The Sages of Chelm and the Moon" and learned that Chelmites need a science refresher about the phases of the moon.
- 5/6/7 also read a Chelm story entitled "The Sun and the Moon" and held a debate about which is more important. Which do you think the Chelmites picked and why?
Check your activity packets for "may-do" activities applicable to your child's grade level. All activities earn shekels! It was great to see all your children after such a long break! See you next month when Storytime Goes to Iran to celebrate Purim!
Beresheet (Preschool)See you on February 7 for Day 4 of creation. Be working on those projects and share pictures of your work.
Kitah Gan (Kindergarten)Kita Gan’s continued storytelling unit focused on CHESED (kindness) - a theme so important that this is your homework MUST do this week is one act of kindness; for yourself, our family, for someone you don’t know, the earth, etc. Draw a picture of your act of kindness or have your parent take a photo and share it with me. Our Hebrew lesson focused on the letter Tet - a great yoga move and fun to write out. The Hebrew pages are this week's homework MAY do. Wishing you all a week filled with kindness.
Kitah Alef/Bet (1st grade/2nd grade)Today was a fun day for all of Kitah Alef and Bet. We reviewed letters Alef to Vav. We then learned more about the letter Vav and learned about some vowels as well. Like last week, the two vowels studied today were Kamatz and Patach. It’s crazy how in Hebrew two vowels make the same sound of AH. Our new word for Vav is Vered which means rose and Varod, Pink. We will keep learning about Kamatz and Patach for awhile so the kiddos can learn to sound out words in the future.
Our torah study was about Parsha Va-era. Moses and his brother Aaron go to Pharaoh. They tell him, "G-d said LET MY PEOPLE GO". Aaron throws his staff down on the ground which turns into a snake.The men do magic for Pharaoh and throw their staffs onto the ground too. Their staffs also turn into snakes. Aaron’s staff then ate all of their staffs. When Pharaoh says “NO”, G-d turns the nile river into blood. Then came the next plagues of frogs, lice, bugs, sick cattle, hail, and itchy skin. We also talked about being a mensch. That is someone of integrity and honor. We also talked about things they do at home for their parents which make them a mensch.
After that, my son Jeremysam read No Room For A Pup, a book about how teamwork and being a mensch allows for one to get the things that they really want in life. Homework this week is to do the Vav pages and the frog pages from the Torah packet. For Extra Shekels, they can draw a Varod Vered (a pink rose). Shavua Tov, Morah Jodi
Kitah Gimel (3rd grade)Hello everyone! The class was amazing today, we started as always with Addie’s Hebrew lesson. The kids learned a new word and practiced using that word with different images. They then practiced reading lines of Hebrew, choosing somewhat difficult lines for themselves and passing with flying colors. We then moved on to our CHAI lesson. For this week we went back to our chai book and focused on G’milut Chasadim. We talked about how we need to do acts of kindness for other people but to also make sure we take time to do an act of kindness for ourselves. They read Pirkei Avot 1:14 and discussed how we can take care of others and ourselves. We had different stories for the kids to choose how they would handle situations that needed a balanced act of kindness that would help them and the person in need. We ended today with Storytime, Judy showed us the colorful life of Poland Jews! HOMEWORK: CHAI - Page 47 (finishing drawing a picture of you doing an act of kindness for yourself and an act of kindness for someone else.)
Kitah Dalet (4th grade) From Morah Batyah (Wednesday): The 4th grade Hebrew classes (Aleph and Bet) had a popcorn and PJ party to celebrate the completion of Book 1 of Time to Read Hebrew. We played Hebrew Bingo and Hebrew Four in a Row, a variation of Tic Tac Toe with Hebrew words. We also watched "Lotus and Feather," a StoryBoard video. Back to work next week as we start Book 2 of Time to Read Hebrew. Many thanks and mazel tov to these students who have made great progress since last August.
From Morah Naomi (Sunday): Shalom Kitah Dalet ! Today we continued learning about what Tikkun Olam means and specifically how caring for our families is part of Tikkun Olam . We reviewed concepts from the last lesson about caring for ourselves and talked about how we can care for our family and perform the mitzvah of Shalom Beit. We read the story "It Could Always be Worse" about a man who lives in a crowded house where they are always quarreling and fighting. He asks the Rabbi for help and the Rabbi tells him to keep adding animals to his house. Eventually, the man feels like he is going crazy and goes back to the Rabbi. The Rabbi tells him to take all the animals out of his house. The man is so excited at how peaceful and quiet the house is now :) We talked about the lesson in that story as well as the Seesaw activity to share how we can help make our home peaceful too :) Don't forget to do the activity in Seesaw and put money in your Tzedakah box for our Mitzvah project. If you missed class or want to watch the recording again you can see it on Seesaw:
https://blog.seesaw.me/harshalomschool password: shalom
Kitah Hey (5th grade)From Morah Addie (Wednesday): We spent Wednesday night working on our D'var for our Shabbat service on the 23rd! Students learned about how the prophets Amos and Isaiah spoke up for social justice. Like them, we each picked a problem we see in the world and wrote a short speech about it.
From Morah Addie (Sunday): Today we spent Hebrew finishing up the first chapter in our second book. We started on a "big" Hebrew reading/translation section and everyone did great! During our time as a whole class, we practiced for our Shabbat service and got about halfway through the service. Rabbi Finestone will finish practicing with them on Wednesday (don't forget- different time & zoom codes this Wednesday! See HSRS @ Home email).
Kitah Vav (6th grade)From Rabbi Finestone (Wednesday): We practiced the Hebrew of the Modim Anachnu Lach prayer of the Armada, and then talked about the translation. This led to a great discussion about gratitude and the things in our lives that we often take for granted.
From Morah Michelle (Sunday): Today we concluded our study of the wisdom literature of the Bible with an exploration of the Book of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes). Ecclesiastes was almost not included in the Bible due to its conflicting and pessimistic views. Because of its controversial nature, Ecclesiastes was almost censored by the Rabbis.
We discussed censorship and we looked at a list of books that have been banned in the U.S. Students had an opportunity to study to look at passages from Ecclesiastes and to reflect on the question of why a book with conflicting messages would be included in the Bible. We ended class by writing questions to God.
Kitah Zayin (7th grade)From Morah Jennifer (Wednesday): This week we talked a little bit about the courage that it takes to be a good and ethical person, and the difficulties that can arise when we have to make ethical, albeit unpopular, choices among our peers. I have asked the students to play the virtual game “Fair Play” on the Anne Frank Museum website and come prepared to discuss the scenarios they chose and their experiences next week. The link to the game is below:
https://www.annefrank.org/en/education/product/27/fair-play/ From Rabbi Finestone (Sunday): We studied the Hebrew of the Reitzei prayer of the Amidah and talked about the different ways we observe and make Shabbat in our own homes and families. We then talked about the meaning of Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, and looked at three texts from the Mishnah, which taught about equality of people and equality of vocations. We had a good discussion about all the work that still needs to be done in order to achieve true racial equality in our country.
TeensNext class is January 26. See you soon!
