C. A. I. Religious School

Weekly Update 05-16 & 23-10

Dear Families,

Thank you for a wonderful year of learning and community.  Here are a few highlights.  Under Rabbi Haaz’s guidance we started Torah T’ameem (Torah musical notation) training in 5^th Grade and will add Haftarah T’ameem next year.  We began a relationship with area continuing care facilities, meeting and singing with residents.  Keetah Hei (5^th Grade) created and staffed a booth at the Lisa Goodman Purim Carnival the proceeds of which went to a charitable organization.  I’m sure this will become a tradition for future carnivals.  Our Small Synagogue School Partnership activities expanded to include Jewish Literature Day and Pesach Palooza, and 2 more synagogues joined our group.  We explored new rituals such as Birkat Hahodesh, the Blessing for the New Moon and we looked with new eyes at established rituals.  Our older students are now sh’leeheem tzeeboor (prayer leaders) for our school Tefeelot (Prayer) services and our Junior Congregation is more interactive.  Kadima/USY had better participation and more activities (including a Shul-In!) than in years past.  Last, this weekly update is new this year. It has proven to be a great vehicle to let families know in a timely fashion what their children are learning, giving them a tool to continue conversations started in class.

A group of unsung heroes in all the great things going on at Religious School is the Education Committee.  It has been an engine of thoughtful change and a source of invaluable feedback.  Among the initiatives it has spearheaded are 1) helping with logistics for family events such as the Hanukkah party, Tu Bishvat Seder, and Purim carnival, 2) sending home Hebrew support materials for students to use over the summer, 3) realigning curriculum to allow greater choice and ownership by students, 4) changing schedules to promote cross-age learning opportunities.  A heart-felt todah rabbah (thank you) to committee members Lisa Caron, Wendy Wilkins, Marci Swede, and Diana Lane, chair.

            Over the summer I will be in the office.  Feel free to stop by for a visit, call or email.  Rabbi Haaz and I are also available to meet with any religious school student who would like a Hebrew refresher.

            Kol tuv (All the Best),

            Joanna Schnurman

            This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

            860.346.4709

Whole School Announcements:

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1) Progress Notes/Hebrew support materials will be sent out in the beginning of June.

2) Registration packets for the 2010-2011 School year will be mailed in early August.

3) The first day of Religious School will be Sunday, September 12.

Class Activities:

 Sheerah (Music):

This week and last we explored B’kol Echad, the songbook of USY (United Synagogue Youth).  It was especially fitting because Rabbi Haaz started our congregation using this book during Pray-Eat-Sing dinners and after Kiddush on Saturday mornings.  Selections were by student request.  We shared “Hinei Ma Tov”, “Lo Yisa Goy”, “Mipi Eil”, “Tzur Mishelo”, “Yom Zeh M’chubad”, “Eileh Chamda Libi”, “L’chu N’ran’na”, and “Rom’mu”.

T’ameem (Chanting)

 May 12^th we continued learning haftarah t’ameem.  Working in pairs or small groups, the students are picking up the new system well.  Their investment in understanding how t’ameem work is paying off.

Gan Y’ladeem (Pre K –K)

May 16^th We started our morning with free choice (children chose their own activities) which is very appropriate for our morning’s theme – Shavuot.  We ended our free time with a fun puzzle building race. Once we put the puzzles away it was time for remembering those who are need by collecting tzedakah.  We talked to God in our Tefeela service; Sarah did a great job as our Hazzaneet.

After talking to God we discussed Shavuot when God talked to us directly and gave us the 10 Commandments.  We reviewed the 10 Commandments and why they are important.  To help us remember what the 10 Commandments are and to have as a decoration for the holiday, we made tablets of our own with the letters alef through yood.  In Hebrew letters are used for numbers.  We listened to the story The 11^th Commandment: Wisdom of Our Children in which children around the country were asked, “If there were an 11^th commandment what should it be?”  Morah Rebecca joined us for our classroom Sheerah.  We sang “We Sing Shabbat”, “The Color Song”, and “Hal’lu”.  Following Hafsakah (Bagel Break) and a second Sheerah (it was fun to sing with the big kids) we listened to Sammy Spider’s First Shavuot, by Sylvia A. Rouss. 

May 23^rd As a preview to next year, Gan Y’ladeem had free play using play dough with Keetah Alef/Beit.  After Tefeela (Prayer), students met individually with Mrs. Bennett for a fun review activity allowing the students to show the Hebrew letters and vocabulary they’ve mastered this year.  Next it was time for a birthday party – Israel’s.  Israel is so important to us that we decided to celebrate twice: first on its Hebrew birthday, 5 Iyar and again after its secular birthday May 14.   Like we do for all birthdays we made a cake and decorated it with the birthday “person’s” age, 62.  We got to practice our Hebrew name for 6 (sheish) and 2 (sh’tayeem).  We sang Yom Hooledet Samei-ah (Happy Birthday) and listened to the story It’s Israel’s Birthday, by Ellen Dietrick.   After Hafsakah (Bagel Break) and Sheerah (Music) we made a 10 Commandments ark while we listened to 10 Good Rules, by Susan Remick Topek.  After we completed them we wrapped up our morning by making our own Kotel (Western Wall) in observance of Yom Yerushalayeem (Jerusalem Day) when Israel unified all of Jerusalem and Jews could pray at the Kotel once more.

Keetah Alef/Beit (1^st & 2^nd Grade)

May 16^th As the year winds down it’s time to take stock of what we’ve learned, have fun, and learn something new.  After Tefeela (Prayer service), we reviewed our consonants and vowels using Alef-Bet wheels.  Alef-Bet wheels are great review tools.  There is a card for each Hebrew letter.  Each card has a window behind which is a wheel.  Each wheel has all the vowels on it.  As the wheel is turned a new vowel is visible in the window under the letter.  We turned our attention next to Life Cycle events.  We recalled Hebrew words we’ve learned: abba (father), eema (mother), bat (daughter), ben (son), ah (brother), ahot (sister), mishpahah (family).  We talked about how when baby boys are born they have a ceremony of b’reet meelah (circumcision), and girls have a seemhat bat (naming ceremony).

May 23^rd After a fun start to our day with Gan Y’ladeem and Tefeela (prayer) we reviewed the Hebrew letters and made folders for all our work.  The children have worked so diligently all year and it really shows.  With our review done we talked about Yom Yerushalayeem (Jerusalem Day) which marks the day that Jerusalem was unified under Israeli control.  It allowed Jews to pray at the Western Wall for the first time in many years and has been declared a minor religious holiday by the chief rabbinate in Israel.  Following Hafsakah (Bagel Break) and Sheerah (Music) it was time to gather together as a class for the things we liked best: listening to stories and playing Hide the Hebrew Letter.  We listened to Before You Were Born, by Ron Schwartz, When I first Held You – a Lullaby from Israel, and 10 Good Rules, by Susan Remick Topek.  During Hide the Hebrew Letter we took turns hiding cards printed with a Hebrew letter and then helped our friends find them by saying ham (hot) or kar (cold) to direct them.

Keetah Geemel/Dalet (3^rd & 4^th Grade)

May 16^th This week we became marooned on our own desert island and spent time developing and discussing our new set of 10 Commandments. We read stories about Ruth, Naomi, and more of our ancestors seeing how their choices affected their lives and ours. We also discussed the effect our choices have on our family and friends. We will take a final vote on our commandments next Sunday. We also all completed our Hebrew evaluations. Remember to practice, practice, practice.

May 23^rd We finished up our own 10 Commandments. Be sure to look for them in September. After Hafsakah (bagel break) we spent some time outside with Keetot Hei and Vav (5^th and 6^th Grade) in Hebrew Relay and Hebrew Reading Tag. Have a great summer!!!

Keetah Hei (5^th Grade)

May 16^th On Sunday Keetah Hei worked on worksheets involving the two stories we had read about King David and the prophet Nathan, and his battle with Goliath.  We discussed, explained and reinforced our understandings of the meanings in those tales.  We also had Sheerah with Morah Rebecca, during which we practiced the Ashrei.

May 23^rd Today Keetah Hei completed the last two lessons in Mah La’Asot (What Should I Do?).  We discussed how the Jewish perspective permits a pregnancy to be terminated if it puts the mother’s life at risk because the fetus is not considered a viable life until it is born, and also ran through several scenarios where prospective parents were faced with the question of whether or not to terminate a pregnancy and under what circumstances Judaism permits this.  After Sheerah (Music) with Morah Rebecca Keetot Geemel, Dalet, and Vav (3^rd, 4^th, and 6^th Grades) joined Geemel/Dalet in a rousing game of Hebrew Reading Tag outside.

Keetah Vav (6^th Grade)

From Mrs. Waldman: May 12^th Shavuot was the focus.  We learned it: 1) occurs 50 days after the beginning of Passover, the 6^th of Sivan 2) comes at the end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest 3) is also called Yom haBeekkooreem (Day of the First Fruits) and was marked by joyful pilgrims marching to Jerusalem to offer up baskets of the first of their harvest. In their honors we sampled some fruit that is listed in the Torah as growing in Israel.  4) In rabbinic times Shavuot became observed as the anniversary of the giving of the Torah on Mt Sinai (Z’man Mattan Torateinoo). 5) The Torah reading includes a recitation of the 10 Commandments.   We found them in the Tanakh, Exodus 19:1-26, and read them for ourselves. 6) Under the Kabbalists, it became customary to observe an all night vigil devoted to Torah study. 7) It’s traditional to read the Book of Ruth which features Ruth accepting the Torah during the harvest time – thus bringing the holiday’s 2 themes together.  She was also the great-grandmother of King David.  8) Dairy foods are a tradition on Shavuot.  The legend is that the Israelites had just learned the laws of kashrut (how to keep kosher) and realized that their pots weren’t kosher.  They vowed to eat only uncooked dairy until they could get new pots.

May 23^rd Today was a day to review all the Hebrew we’ve learned, look at our summer assignments, and have some fun.  Our review included more than 40 vocabulary words, plus the roots, prefixes and, and suffixes create hundreds of words or phrases.  We read and translated the blessings before and after reading Torah and reviewed the use of the letter meim at the beginning of a sentence.  Looking ahead, students were given their Torah portion, their haftarah or haftarah blessings to practice and translate.  It’s important to keep using the Hebrew skills they’ve worked so hard to attain.  For the fun part of the morning, Keetah Vav (6^th Grade) joined Keetot Geemel through Hei (3^rd -5^th Grades) for Hebrew Reading Tag on the green.

Oleem (7^th Grade)

May 16^th This week we watched the powerful film, Unlikely Heroes which chronicles the efforts of people who resisted the evil of the Holocaust in very different ways.  There was a financier who raised money to buy Jewish children’s freedom from the Nazi’s; the rebbitizen who housed refugees, and won the release of Jewish refugees from the advancing Nazi’s with the strength of her personality; the singer who lifted the spirits of his fellow prisoners and mocked his captors without them knowing, the partisan who lived in the woods and fought on the run following the murder of his family, and the impersonator a blond haired, blue eyed Hungarian Jew who pretended to be an Iron Cross or SS officer to take Jews out of Nazi prisons and put them in safe houses.  Throughout the film the message that one has a responsibility to resist evil with whatever strengths one has be it a head for numbers, a beautiful voice, anger, or the right “look” combined with bravery.  We’ll finish our discussion on next Sunday.

Next Sunday, students should wear clothes that can get paint on them.  As has been our custom for several years, Oleem students will get to add to the art on the walls in the Rainbow Room.

May 23^rd Students who have not yet had their b’nei mitzvah met with Morah Rebecca to review the Torah and Musaf service.  They joined a discussion in progress with the Bogreem (Confirmation class) reviewing the past year’s topic’s of study and suggesting topics for next year.  Topics that appealed to the group were 1) tzedakah and the ethical handling of money 2) bioethics 3) modern Israel, including studying Modern Hebrew. While we talked we rolled and counted coins collected as tzedakah.  It was a great way to do a mitzvah while talking.   After Hafsakah (Bagel Break) and Sheerah (Music) the class added their names to the walls of the Rainbow Room.

Bogreem The Bogreem (Confirmation class) has a two year curriculum in which one year focuses more heavily on text study and the other on how to make Jewish choices as a young adult.  As we transition from a text-centered to hands-on year it’s important to ask 1) what worked? 2) What didn’t? 3) What are you interested in studying?  There wasn’t a consensus on items 1 and 2 (some folks really liked the emphasis on ethical conundrums involving money; some would have liked a broader spectrum of topics).   What to study next year elicited thoughtful responses including bioethics and other science/technology related questions, a continuation of money and ethics, perhaps looking at Judaism’s take on various economic philosophies, and the class favorite - modern Israel including learning conversational Hebrew.  While we discussed we also rolled the coins collected as tzedakah this semester.  Ethically handling money for the benefit of others seems a fitting end to this year’s studies.