Shalom Religious School Parents!
Message from Rabbi Benjy Bar-Lev, Director of Education
Shalom Religious School Families,
It was another busy and productive day at TBS this morning! If you haven’t had time to stop by and see the school in action, please do! We have coffee, newspapers, wifi and lots of entertainment ready for you!
Please be sure to join us on Friday for CAMP SHABBAT and La Bogrut! This Friday, February 6th, we will be celebrating Shabbat and Jewish camping! Director of Goldman Union Camp, (GUCI) Rabbi Ron Klotz, will join us on February 6th for this festive service. He’ll tell a great story and answer any questions you or your kids may have about our AMAZING regional Reform Jewish Camp. We will also be honoring those students who are about to begin the study process for their First Aliyah ceremonies. Feel free to RSVP to rsvp@tbsohio.org at anytime. We’ll be having a camp-style cook-out dinner (hamburgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers) in honor of Camp Shabbat.
Special Message from Gail Rose, Music Director:
Attention Young Jewish Musicians
Sign up today for the Justine Hackman Memorial Young Artists Competition. If you are in grades one through twelve and are currently studying to sing or play an instrument with a private teacher, you have the opportunity to compete for cash prizes and to play in the winners recital on May 3, 2009 at 7:00 P.M. The competition will be judged by professional musicians and each participant will receive helpful written comments from each judge. The auditions will be held Sunday, March 15th at Congregation Tifereth Israel from 12:45 P.M. - 4:30 P.M. Music must be memorized and auditions may not exceed five minutes for the Elementary Division (grades 1-5), seven minutes for the Junior Division (grades 6-8) and ten minutes for the Senior Division (grades 9-12). See the link below for more information and the entry form.
Send entry forms to Gail Rose by March 2nd. This is a very rewarding experience for musicians of all ages. All Jewish musicians are encouraged and invited to participate!!
Here are some of the Highlights from the morning:
- As always, please see pictures from this morning at www.tbsohiokt.com!
The Hannah Montanaberg Shtick continued this morning. They taught February’s Jewish value of Seveir Panim Yafot, which means greeting people with cheer. The students discussed greeting people in the hallways at school by remembering to say hello and smiling.
- The Kindergarten class learned some new songs to celebrate Tu B’Shevat (the New Year for Trees) and played instruments too! They then colored and heard a story about trees being planted in Israel. Finally, they planted a rooted ivy plant and parsley seeds to grow for Tu B’shevat in hopes that they will be big enough to use for Passover.
- The 1st Grade class continued a discussion about Shabbat this morning. They each told part of a silly story about a magical Challah. They are working to make two movies about a Shabbat adventure that we will post here on the Parent Website.
- The 2nd Grade class played “Jewgo,” the Jewish alternative to Bingo! They played using vocabulary words that they have been studying! Prizes will be given to the winners!
The 3rd Grade class had a great discussion about miracles that happen in our lives today and miracles that happened in the Bible.
- The 4th Grade class moved from their study of prayer to a study of Jewish customs in our lives and in our ancestors’ lives. They began watching the movie “Fiddler on The Roof” to highlight Jewish traditions then and now.
- The 5th Grade class continued their study with a film and discussion of non Jews who saved many Jewish lives during World War II.
- The 6th Grade finished a unit of study in the CHAI curriculum and had a Jewish game day by playing the Jewish edition of Apples to Apples. If you haven’t played Apples to Apples before, you’re missing out!
- The 7th Grade continued their lifecycle study by looking closely at the events surrounding birth and death in Jewish tradition. They studied the different viewpoints of Jewish tradition regarding these events and began to understand how Reform Judaism observes these lifcycles.
- High School
The Purim class continued planning and writing the script for the movie they are making called A Purim School Musical. Their movie, which portrays the Purim story in 2009, will be shown at this year’s Purim Carnival. We will have it available online as well.
- The Green Class discussed Bal Tashchit, the Jewish value of conservation. They discussed consumption and conservation, assessing waste and overeating, wants and needs. They continued planning the Green Fair to happen in the near future.
- The Cooking Class learned how to make bagels from scratch. They actually turned out looking and tasting like real bagels!
- The Jews of South Park class looked at more examples of Jewish characters in popular TV shows and discussed how the portrayal of those characters affects how we see ourselves as Jews.
Important Announcements:
- K-2 Service will be in the Sanctuary at 9:10 a.m.
- 3-8 Service will be in the Sanctuary at 10:35 a.m.
- Join us THIS FRIDAY for 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!
- Tot Shabbat Pajama Jam is Saturday, February 14th at 10:30 a.m. Join us for this brief service with singing, instrument playing and story telling. We will do a craft, eat a snack and have lots of fun! RSVP to rabbibenjy@tbsohio.org
- Because of another scheduled event, the JuBeSTY Bowling Extravaganza has been moved to SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15th.
- Join us for Shabbat Chai on Friday, February 20th. Shabbat Chai is our toe-tapping, warm and accessible Friday night service featuring our Shabband of guitars, piano, string bass, flute, percussion and much more! Singing, dancing and instrument playing from the congregation is encouraged! Please RSVP for dinner afterward to RSVP@tbsohio.org
Have a great week!
L’Shalom,
Rabbi Benjy
