Newsletter

Week of Sunday, November 12th, 2023

Dear Parents,

Our students are doing a wonderful job in their classes! The Gan class completed their Challah covers this week for their Shabbat boxes and can't wait to decorate candle sticks in a few weeks. The Ilanot class is hard at work learning stories from Bereishit and identifying the mitzvot in the stories. The Parparim class is learning the geography of Israel and how diverse the land is even though it is such a small country. Finally, the Devorim and Nesharim students are having thought-provoking conversations as they delve further into what it means for them to be Jewish.

Save the date for our children's Hanukkah party on December 10th! It will take place during Shul School and begin at 9am. All families and friends are invited to attend.

B'Shalom,

Chaviva Sands

Gan Update

Teacher: Emma Barron

This week in Shul School the Gan class continued their work on their shabbat boxes! They made challah covers and decorated the outsides of the boxes. They hope to finish the boxes and bring them home next time they meet! The Gan students also started talking about what a mitzvah is. They read 2 books about mitzvot and talked about what they do in class that is considered a mitzvah. Feel free to continue this conversation with your children at home!

Please note, the next Gan class will take place on December 3rd.

Ilanot Update

Teacher: Penina Berman

This week the Ilanot class learned the story of Rebecca and Isaac. Each of the students took on a role from the story: Noa played Rebecca, Eva played Abraham, and Tehila played Isaac. They play acted what their characters would have done and said. After, the Ilanot students discussed Rebecca's kindness and practiced what it means to empathize with others and their emotions. At the end of class they made their own Rebecca puppets!

Parparim Update

Teacher: Scott Hart

This week the Parparim class began their day learning two brachot. They watched a short clip about Israel and studied a map of Israel. The class found Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Eilat on the map. They spoke about how the Golan Heights are mountainous and the Negev is super hot. The students then drew their own maps of Israel adding some of the places they learned about in their illustrations. They learned Oseh Shalom and the misheberach (prayer for healing).

Devorim and Nesharim Update

Teacher: Ali Perez

This week, the Nesharim and Devorim classes read the story of Rachel, Leah, and Jacob and how Laban tricked Jacob into marrying Leah and had to continue to work for him to marry Rachel. They discussed how shalom (peace) takes many forms in Judaism. When should we fight back? When should we make peace? When should we just walk away? The students had many great questions about how Laban could be so mean to his family, and they talked about what to do when they encounter Labans in their lives: how do they choose to react? Because the Jewish people are called to seek peace and pursue it, the Nesharim and Devorim students made calming glitter jars- tools to help them seek peace in times of turmoil so they can pursue peace in the world.

Ms. Chaviva also made an appearance in our classroom this week to teach the Torah blessings and go over the motions for what to do when they are called up to the Torah for their B'nai Mitzvah.