Shalom Religious School Parents!
Message from Rabbi Benjy Bar-Lev, Director of Education
Due to technical difficulties, last Sunday's Parent Newsletter was delayed until now. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Shalom Religious School Families,
Welcome back! We definitely missed everyone during our Winter Break, and it was great to have the building full of life again this morning! As always, the whole building was buzzing with activity! If you haven’t joined us on a Sunday morning, please plan to stop by, enjoy a cup of coffee and see the school in action. There’s a lot going on here.
You’ll notice in the newsletter this semester one key difference. In the Highlights section each week, you’ll see specific topics covered in each and every class here at Talmud Torah Religious School. While these summaries will be brief, we are hoping they will be springboards for parents to start talking to their children about Sunday mornings. We hope you like the changes!
As always, go to www.tbsohiokt.com to see pictures from this morning and the Men’s Club Bowling Party this afternoon!
Here are some of the Highlights from the morning:
- The new format for K-2 services was a big hit! The service began at 9:10 a.m. and I told a story about making music for God. I welcome any feedback about the new time and format of the service.
In the 3rd – 8th grade service, the kids set goals for this semester at TBS. We had a number of bima dancers leading us with great dance moves during a few of the songs.
- The Kindergarten class talked about the new year, discussed the difference between the lunar and solar calendars, learned about the holidays that come in each month and made their very own beautiful calendar wheels!
- The 1st Grade class learned about the importance of forgiveness through the story of Jacob and Esau in the book of Genesis. Each student discussed a time when he or she forgave someone.
- The 2nd Grade class focused on Shabbat blessings. Students made their own Shabbat blessings song book! They enjoyed challah, grape juice, lit the candles and listened to lots of great Shabbat music in class today.
- The 3rd grade students talked about Parshat Vayikra - which deals with sacrifice, giving gifts, and drawing closer to God. As a class, the students talked about how it feels to both give and receive gifts and went on to think about what kind of gifts they would give to God if they had the chance. The students had a great time and learned a lot!
- The 4th Grade class learned about Keva and Kavannah, the idea that some prayers are fixed that we read, and some prayers come from our hearts. They learned using the music of Debbie Friedman and Craig Taubman.
- The 5th Grade learned about the exciting story of Sarah and Aaron Aaronsohn who founded Nili, a ring of Jewish patriots who spied for England during World War I.
- The 6th Grade class welcomed one another and jumped back into their exciting lessons from the Chai curriculum.
- The 7th Grade started discussing a unit on lifecycle events in Jewish life. They learned about what a cycle is, where they were in the Jewish cycle, and how it pertained to their lives
- The High School (8, 9, 10) started their new classes today. The class in Going Green discussed how Judaism and the environment are related. The Purim class started discussing the holiday of Purim and began the process of brainstorming for the carnival. The South Park class (Jews in the media) started the class by reading an op-ed on the situation in Gaza from The Dispatch and discussing how Israel has been portrayed during the last few weeks. Finally, the cooking class started its culinary adventure by making mandel bread. Special thanks to Mindy Agin for running to get the class more oil when they ran out! No miracle there, I guess.
Important Announcements:
- Next week K-2 service is at 9:00 a.m., 3-8 service is at 10:30 a.m.
- Naomi Friedman, the JCC Youth and Camping Director will be at TBS on Sunday to discuss all the day camp options the JCC offers during the summer. She’ll do a presentation at both services and will be available to chat all morning.
- Club 56 has their Undernight THIS SATURDAY at the Temple from 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. We’ll eat dinner, play games, hide-and-seek in the Temple, do a scavenger hunt, and watch a movie. Please RSVP to me (rabbibenjy@tbsohio.org) if your child is planning to come!
- The next JuBeSTY event is Sunday, February 8th – join JuBeSTY for a bowl-a-thon! It’ll be awesome! Details to follow!
- Friday, February 6th will be Camp Shabbat and LaBagrut all in one! This fun filled First Friday service will feature a story by Rabbi Ron Klotz, director of Goldman Union Camp. A number of our students will also ceremonially receive their First Aliyah materials. Join us for this great night!
Have a great week!
L’Shalom,
Rabbi Benjy
