Newsletter

Week of Sunday, November 19th, 2023

Dear Parents,

It's hard to believe that we're at Thanksgiving break already! This week two of our classes covered the story of Jacob and Esau. The Ilanot students learned that Jacob tricked Isaac into giving him the blessing for the first born by dressing up as Esau. The Devorim class read the story and discussed why Jacob tricked Isaac into giving him the blessing over Esau. The Nesharim class spoke about Joseph this week and had an in depth discussion about different kinds of forgiveness.

The Parparim class continue to learn and explore more mitzvot. This week the students discovered that many of their interests, such as living a zero waste life, fall in line with Jewish values and mitzvot. They can't wait to learn more mitzvot that align with their interests.

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

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 Jacob and Esau. Isaac had to distinguish Jacob and Esau by their arms because he was old and losing his eyesight. To emulate Isaac's loss of sight, the students took turns being blindfolded and had to try to identify the other students by touching their hands and arms. It was not an easy task, but the children enjoyed guessing whose hand or arm they touched. They finished their class by learning that Jacob became the foundation for the 12 tribes of Israel. They then drew their own Israel and filled it with words and illustrations of what Israel means to them.

Parparim Update

Teacher: Scott Hart

This week the Parparim class spoke about giving thinks and expressing gratitude in their lives. They discussed the mitzvah of giving tzedakah and why it's important to help those who are not as fortunate as they are. Reeva and Zachary then made their own tzedakah boxes to have at home. They didn't want to stop there and asked about other mitzvot like not wasting materials and how to lead a life that creates less waste. This led them to discover the Jewish value of Bal Tashchit, meaning "do not destroy". The students were thrilled to to see that their interests can be so easily related back to their Judaism. They look forward to discovering more mitzvot and values that coincide with their interests, no matter how much they change from day to day.

Devorim Update

Teacher: Sierra Sager

This week the Devorim class read the story of Jacob and Esau and talked about deceit and disagreement. They then joined the Nesharim class to read the story of Joseph and his brothers. This led to a bigger conversation on forgiveness and understanding that people do not always intentionally set out to hurt others.

Before joining the Nesharim class, the Devorim class began a crafty class project to create a dreidel garland to decorate their classroom during Hanukkah.

Nesharim Update

Teacher: Ali Perez

This week the Nesharim class read the story of Joseph forgiving his brothers for abandoning him. They discussed the many ways Judaism interprets forgiveness (mechilah, selichah, kapparah) and the delicate balance between forgiving others for their mistakes & forgiving ourselves for our own.

If you were Joseph, would you forgive your brothers?

If you were one of the brothers, would you forgive yourself?