Shalom Religious School Parents!

The Kindergarten Class this morning talked about the importance of caring for others. They learned about great Jewish values such as "Shalom" (peace), "Ahavah" (love), "Kavod" (respect), "Rachamim" (compassion), and "Chesed" caring. We asked, "When do we use these values in our lives... toward others?" They made a tree listing all of these values to wear around!

The 1st Grade Classes learned Hebrew words that have to do with the Jewish value of "Ahavah" or in English: love. They made cards with the Hebrew word "Ahavah" for their family and friends. They also had a great time in Music with Mrs. Rose learning some exciting songs for Purim!

The 2nd Grade Class today learned the morning blessings including "Modeh Ani." The students learned to the Jewish band Kol B'Seder singing Modeh Ani. They made an acrostic poem for being thankful and related that thankfulness to the morning blessings.

The 3rd Grade Class in Hebrew, tried out their new classes today. We welcomed two new 3rd grade teachers, Melissa Sherman and Dane Perelstein. There are now two 3rd grade Hebrew classes, which was great this morning! The students worked on Chapter 15 and 16 in their books and broke up into reading groups. Parents, please remember to be using the at-home CD Rom for homework. If you have any technical questions, feel free to call or email me and I will try to talk you through them!

The 4th Grade class in Hebrew today broke up their Hebrew class into four stations. Each rotation aimed to teach Hebrew in a different way. One station was Hebrew reading games on the chalkboard, another was speed reading in workbooks, the third was Jenga Hebrew reading and the fourth was reading out of the prayerbook. In their Judaica class the students learned about the importance of Holiness. They also found a way to take their own personal meaning out of the Kiddush blessing. They recited the blessings and serviced grape juice. They also listened to "Holiness," by Peter and Ellen Alard, a song about being Holy.

The 5th Grade Class in Hebrew played two different Hebrew games this morning, working on Hebrew reading, understanding and comprehension of the prayers. The kids' Hebrew abilities have been improving rapidly these last few weeks and we are very pleased with the recent progress. In their Judaica class, the students learned about the NILI, a Jewish spy group who cast their lot with England in World War I and the Aaronson family who ran the group.

The 6th Grade Classes in Hebrew did a diagnostic quiz to see how everyone is doing with Hebrew reading and writing. They also did fun coloring activity to learn some new vocabulary words. Lady Gaga made a guest appearance in Hebrew instruction this week! In their Judaica class, the students spent time learning about blessings and specifically the blessing before the Torah that they'll learn for their Bar/Bat Mitzvah. They talked about what the blessing means and had them write them in their own words.

The 7th Grade Class learned this morning about the value of Tzedakah or charity and did a lesson about what is a covenant with God. They are working from a new Tikkun Olam curriculum that ties in Jewish values with action projects in and around our Temple community. They then learned about V'shamru and Shabbat with music teacher Sam Pollak.

The 8th Grade Class met on its own for the first time today with teacher Barry Daroe. They began discussing where they fit in the larger "Jewish Picture" and will be learning about other religions in coming weeks. For now they are focusing on learning about the different branches of Judaism and their ideologies.

The High School Classes had a great morning today. The Confirmation class discussed the concept of being a "good Jew" and the different ways to accomplish this goal. They discussed Reform Judaism verses traditional Judaism and the difference between ritual and meaning. The Israel class started learning about the Israel / Palestinian conflict from the angle of how Israel is treated in the media. The class on Sexuality in Judaism spent time this morning discussing peer pressure in our lives, how we let it affect us and how we deal with it.