C.A.I. Religious School

Weekly Update 05-15-11

Dear Families,

This morning we were treated to a cornucopia of great Israel-themed activities in honor of Yom Ha-aztma-ut, Israel’s Independence Day. At registration we were issued ‘passports’ which were stamped at each station and assigned to a table where we solved puzzles on Jewish and Israel themes. Rabbi Kohn began the official program with a reading of Israel’s Declaration of Independence. He also shared background on the source of Hatikva, (Did you know that it Hatikva was not officially declared Israel’s national anthem until 2004?), and concluding the opening ceremony with the whole group singing it. Then it was off to activities. Pre K through Grade 3 , Grades 4 through 9, and adults each cycled through their own set of sessions.

Session 1: PreK through Grade 3 learned Israel is a big exporter of flowers. They decorated a clay pot and planted in it a lily bulb. Lilies are very symbolic of Israel. There was a lily on the shekels ascribed to Simon the Hasmonean. Because flowers are so colorful they read Colors of Israel and listened to Morah Susie read the Hebrew version of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Session 2: The next stop for students was making a door hanger decoration featuring a map of Israel on one side and their own creations on the other. By having a color map they can see every day in their room, the students will absorb what Israel looks like and will it may prompt them to ask questions about Israel. While the students were working, Mrs. Bennett shared Joshua’s Dream with the group that had 2 Joshua’s in it and It’s Israel’s Birthday with the PreK-Grade 1 crowd.

 

Session 3: The last session for the younger group was Sheerah v’Rakud (Music and Dance) with Morah Rebecca. Students enjoyed songs that teach the Hebrew words for parts of the body, for colors. They learned Israeli line dances, did the Macarena to the “Popsicle Song” and finished with the crowd favorite “Father Abraham”.

 

Session 4: Grades 4-9 had their own fun. Morah Jodi helped the students realize they know more Hebrew than they thought and honed their Hebrew decoding skills with a Hebrew cognates games. A cognate is a word that means the same thing in more than one language. There are many words that are the same in Hebrew and English (e.g. pizza, business, guitar, London). In this game students were handed cards with cognates written in Hebrew. They had to race to the other side of the foyer and find the image matching the meaning of the word. We even included place names for Middletown, Meriden, and Wallingford to make it more fun.

 

Session 5: When we pray the Amidah we face Jerusalem. In synagogue it’s easy to know where that is, because we face the Ark which is always oriented in that direction. When we pray away from shul, knowing where Jerusalem lies can be more difficult. Our ancestors solved this problem by creating a style of art call a mizrach (east), which recalls Israel and are hung on the wall which faces Jerusalem. So following in our forebears each student made a mizrach of his/her own. The medium we used was heavy metal foil, embossed in a hamsa pattern and embellished with permanent markers and adhesive gemstones. The variety of styles and symbolism used by the group was impressive.

 

Session 6: Jewpardy!: Students were grouped in teams and asked questions for answers provided in categories such as Political Leaders, Geography, History, Economy, and Famous Israelis. I was in the classroom above the game, and I can assure the rounds were spirited and competition was fierce.

Adult Sessions:

Israel is so close to Jewish hearts that it can be hard to talk with each other about issues facing it when we differ on what we feel is best for our spiritual home. Rabbi Kohn led a talk among the adults on how to have difficult discussions about Israel. Using the wisdom of our sages, he laid out suggestions for how to approach working with others on charged topics.

Rabbi Haaz led a session describing the congregation-organized trip to Israel that will happen next year. A tentative itinerary was discussed as well as pricing. This trip is open to members of Adath Israel, B’nai Abraham and Beth Shalom Rodke Tzedek in Chester.

After our sessions we came back together for an amazing buffet of Israeli foods made from scratch including chopped salad, babaganoush, and humus. Other treats included olives, dates, raisins, oranges, and pita. We capped off the day by singing Yom Huledet Same-ach (Happy Birthday) to Israel and digging in to a HUGE birthday cake.

Next week it’s Lag B’Omer and the final day of Religious School. Feel free to bring a dairy or parve lunch and join us for a picnic at 11:30. If the weather is nice we’ll go out on the green. If the weather is iffy, we’ll picnic in the social hall. It’s a great way to end the year. This is also the day when we choose which organization(s) will receive the tzedakah collected over the course of the year. Please email me your suggestions for worthy groups.

Finally, Yashar Koah to all the students in Keetah Vav (6^th Grade) and the Oleem (7^th Grade) for helping to create a beautiful Shabbat morning service. Mazal tov to their families. It’s clear Jack and Katy are ready for their immanent b’nei mitzvah and that the 6^th Grade students are ready to start their year of Torah study not only for their b’nei mitzvah, but also the beginning of their lives as Jewish adults.

Kol tuv (All the Best),

Joanna Schnurman

Whole School Announcements

1. Wed., May 18 6:30 PM Education Committee meeting. All are welcome.

2. Sun., May 22 Lag B’Omer celebration and final session of Religious School. Please send email Joanna your suggestions for organizations to receive the tzedakah we collected this year.

A Request from Jesse Friedman:

Calling all cat lovers - cat sitter needed. I have a sweet, beautiful cat that is not permitted in my housing over the summer. If you have room in your heart and home, I'll provide food, litter and pay. Please contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Thanks!

Class Reports for Wednesday

T’ameem (Torah Chanting) by Rabbi Haaz

Keetah Hei (Grade 5):

This week we completed our final pattern of t’ameem, which contains the special music for the end of an aliyah.  We also continued to work on the 3^rd paragraph of the Shema.

 

Keetah Vav (Grade 6):

After a review of the haftarah t’ameem that we have completed, our class had a discussion about Jewish values and how we, as Jewish Americans, should respond to the killing of Osama bin Laden and to the suffering of our enemies.

Z’man Bakeetah (Class Time) 

 

Keetah Geemel-Dalet (Grade 3/4) by Morah Patresha 

Wednesday

Wednesday we completed our mensch posters and did a bunch of Jewish/Yiddish riddles. We also cleaned out our desks and got our classroom ready for its summer break. 

 

Keetah Vav (Grade 6) by Morah Daphna

Wednesday

In class this Wednesday we have a end of the year party to celebrate all we have accomplished this year as a class. We reflected on what we had learned this year and each student explained what they would take with them from class. Max told us that he really liked learning how to wrap Tefilin. Tommy said that he enjoyed working on his prayer project and felt he had learned a lot about the Torah service. Afterwards, we practiced the Musaf service together. It has been a pleasure to work with Keetah Vav this year, I look forward to seeing their continued success next year! 

 

Oleem (Grade 7) by Morah Jesse

Wednesday

Today, we finished our b'nei mitzvah project poster. It was a relaxed day.