Shalom Religious School Parents!
Message from Rabbi Benjy Bar-Lev, Director of Education
Hello Religious School Families,
I hope you are all doing well! It was so great to have everyone back in the building on Sunday! It's certainly hard to believe that we only have five regular class periods left, and one special end-of-the-year session at Friendship Park on May 23rd!
As Spring has made it's way to Temple Beth Shalom, our students are starting a new and wonderful project. As you drive into the parking lot at Temple, you will hopefully notice the Kehillat Torah Vegetable Garden that is in the works. This vegetable garden will be a great way for us to teach about ecology in Judaism in a hands-on way, and the kids will enjoy working in the garden! Each class will have a different task in the garden, giving each class the chance to participate.
Check out today's pictures of the High School students preparing the garden! As always, see pictures from today at www.tbsohioKT.com
Highlights from This Morning:
The Kindergarten Class learned about Israel's Independence Day. They watched an episode of Hebrew Sesame Street about Tel Aviv and made Israeli flags. Please be on the look out for our Kindergarten Service Project!
The 1st Grade Classes also learned about Israel and Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israeli Independence Day. They learned all about the land of Israel, sang Israeli songs and did Israeli Dances with Mrs. Rose. They finished the day by making delicious edible maps of Israel!
The 2nd Grade Class did a study of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, through children's poetry about the Shoah. They also studied the poems, "I'm Ok and You're Ok" and "Jason's Wish" about how to stamp out prejudice. The kids learned a lot!
The 3rd Grade Class had lots of fun today. With Melissa and Marc they practiced prayers from the prayer book both with chanting and without chanting to work on Hebrew. They also played a Hebrew game. With Marvin and Dane the students were paired up and each pair read Hebrew to one another. In their Judaica Class, the 3rd graders started learning interesting fun facts about Israel and broke up into small groups in order to make Israel Infomercials! They will be recording them this coming Sunday!
The 4th Grade class split into small groups again today. One group worked on some Hebrew drills through worksheets, one group practiced reading, and the other group played Hebrew Bingo. In the 4th grade class, they did a study of the Shoah (Holocaust) by reading the book "I Never Saw Another Butterfly," and numerous poems by Children of the Holocaust. The students discussed ways that a tragedy like that doesn't ever happen again.
The 5th Grade Class did some assessments of the students in Hebrew. The kids are reading really well and have made great progress on Hebrew reading and comprehension. In their Judaica class, they learned about the end of World War II and the events that brought about the creation of modern Israel and the people who helped form them. They focused on Mickey Marcus, the American who came to Israel and helped form the modern Israeli army in 1948.
The 6th Grade Classes had a great morning. In Elle and Evan's class, they worked on the reading of the siddur (prayerbook). Afterward, they placed games using the board to reinforce reading and writing, and to give special practice to vowels. It was a fun day! Sam and Emily's class worked in small groups today to read the Mourner's Kaddish.
The 7th Grade Class also learned about Yom HaShoah today, along with Israel's memorial day and Israel's independence day. They discussed Holocaust memorials and how the Holocaust was crucial to the creation of the State of Israel. They then learned the song Eli Eli with Sam, which was written by Hannah Senesh.
The 8th Grade Class today spent the morning working in our Beth Shalom Vegetable Garden!
The High School Classess picked new classes for the last quarter. Their choices are a class about Music and Jewish Values, a class where they make their own Podcast, a class on Jewish Meditation and a class where they work in the vegetable garden.
Upcoming Events:
- Friday, April 16th, 6:15 p.m. Shabbat Chai! Join us for this fun and musical service. No Sermon. Featuring the Shabband of guitars, piano, violin, flute, percussion, mandolin, string bass and much more! It's a great service!
- Sunday, April 18th 12:45 p.m. JuBeSTY Pizza and Movie. Join other 7th and 8th graders for lunch at Cici's and a movie at the Stoneridge movie theater!
- Friday, April 23rd, 8:00 p.m. Join us for a service to celebrate the upcoming wedding of Rabbi Benjy and Lauren. This will be a more "adulty" event. They will be sponsoring a BBQ lunch on May 23rd to celebrate their wedding with younger families!
- Saturday, April 24th at 4:00 p.m. Tot Shabbat! Join us for a crazy fun time. . . we will make a delicious edible craft along with a great take-home craft as well! Lots of singing, stories and silliness!
- Sunday, April 25th at 9:15 a.m. 5th Grade Parents have an important meeting about First Aliyah (Bar/Bat Mitzvah) requirements and procedures. We will provide bagels!
That's it from here!
Have a great week!
L'Shalom,
Rabbi Benjy