Newsletter

Week of Sunday, September 10th, 2023

Dear Parents,

This week was our first week of Shul School and it was such a joy to have everyone together again! There was a palpable energy of excitement in the halls this year as all of our students graduated to new classrooms. They were thrilled to see old friends and are looking forward to spending more time together this year. Read below to see what each of our Shul School classes got up to on Sunday.

Please Note: There will not be traditional Shul School this Sunday, September 17th due to Rosh Hashanah. Please join us for a special Shul School Rosh Hashanah Experience where the teachers will join with children's programming service leaders to run activities for their students during Torah Tots, Mini Minyan, and Junior Congregation.

Shana Tovah,

Chaviva Sands

Gan Update

Teacher: Emma Baron

Today the Gan class learned all about Rosh Hashanah! They read "An Apples and Honey Story" together and decorated their own tote bags by stamping them with pieces of cut up apple! They also worked really hard on Rosh Hashanah puppets. They made a puppet for each special item we use on Rosh Hashanah. You can help familiarize your kids with the items by reading a Rosh Hashanah story at home and having them raise the special item when they hear it!

Please note, the next Gan class will take place on October 15th.

Ilanot Update

Teacher: Penina Berman

This week the Ilanot class welcomed each other back to Shul School and welcomed the New Year. To bring in Rosh Hashanah, they decorated apples with images of the selves they want to be this year. Mila and Noa both wanted to be kinder and even complimented each other's art work. The students also played "Red Light, Green Light" Rosh Hashanah Edition. When the leader says one of the types of shofar calls, each child took as many steps as there are shofar blasts in that particular call. Eva won the game and was awarded two shekels. They can't wait for more fun next week at the Rosh Hashanah Shul School Experience!

Parparim Update

Teacher: Scott Hart

Devorim Update

Teacher: Sierra Sager

This week the Devorim class enjoyed a crafty day learning about the holidays in the Jewish year and discussing the upcoming holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. They began class with introductions and decorating the covers of their notebooks for the year. After, the Devorim class looked at a Hebrew calendar and counted how many Jewish holidays are celebrated during the year. They then made a physical representation of the calendar with beads. They used ordinary, simple beads to represent the days between holidays and ornate beads to represent the Jewish holidays. They finished up class by reviewing what the High Holidays are and how they can best utilize the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur to reflect on the past year.

Nesharim Update

Teacher: Ali Perez

The Nesharim class spent their first day of Shul School getting to know each other and getting excited for a BRIGHT new year! They told Ms. Ali they are especially excited to learn more about Jewish history and make unique crafts. They then fulfilled hiddur mitzvah (taking the time and making an effort to create beautiful ceremonial objects to enrich the religious experience) by decorating their Torah study journals. They also set a great example for the other students as how to be a mensch by sharing their special treat for the day with Officer KK.

As the oldest class, Nesharim is structured differently from the other Shul School classes. Each class begins with a reflection question that they revisit at the end of the day. For example, this week's reflection question was: What does being Jewish mean to you? Reflection questions allow the students to think about the day's topic and what they would like to share in class. Classes are mostly discussion based with related crafts and activities to supplement their learning.

The Nesharim class also serves as pre-B'nai Mitzvah prep. Once a month Rabbi Hoffman will join for rabbinic learning and twice a month Chaviva Sands will join the class for 30 minutes to practice and review prayers.