Shalom Religious School Parents!
Message from Rabbi Benjy Bar-Lev, Director of Education
Shalom Religious School Families,
Shanah Tova! Happy New Year! We
really brought the new year in with a bang at Temple Beth Shalom
this year! We've been busy the last few days with lots of fun-
filled and exciting services for our kids and their families. We
hope you found a meaningful way to celebrate Rosh Hashanah at Beth
Shalom. Check the bottom of this email for information on family
and youth programming for Yom Kippur, which starts next Sunday
evening, September 27th.
Please join our TBS Kehillat Torah facebook group! Get to know other parents and receive important updates in our group.
Search TBS Kehillat Torah Religious School! or click here for the group: TBS Kehillat Torah Religious School Facebook Group
Highlights from this Morning:
Because of a malfunction, we have very few (perhaps no)
pictures from this past Sunday. But please keep checking back, as we
take lots of great pictures each week! www.tbsohioKT.com
- The K-2 Students had a special Rosh Hashanah Service featuring
a story about appreciating all the good stuff we have in life.
Afterward, we continued to celebrate the birthday of the world with
singing and birthday cake!
- The Upper School and High School students had a special Rosh
Hashanah service, where the 6th graders did reading about their Jewish
identity and funny Jewish memories they had. We then broke
up into groups and made "infomercials" on the theme "Why
be Jewish in 2009." They were great!
- The Kindergarten Class in their brand new classroom. developed
some important classroom rules today. They read a story about an
apple tree and the special star inside an apple. They cut an
apple open, saw the star inside, and learned about patience and other
important values that God gives us. You can see their
responses to the story on the bulletin board in the Kindergarten room.
They also made shofars and finished making their apple faces
books.
The 1st Grade Classes ate apples and honey and talked about the
meaning of Rosh Hashanah and the different traditions that their
families practice. They then made their own versions of shofars
and had a mini shofar concert and parade for parents and staff!
- The 2nd Grade class read a book called Toby Belfer and the High Holy Days. They listened to a CD of Kol Nidre, one of the important and ancient prayers from the Yom Kippur service. They made their own machzo prayer books and shared them with the rest of the class.
- The 3rd Grade class had a busy day. In Hebrew Class, they started using Lesson 1 in their Alef-Bet Quest book and they talked about how to use the CD that comes with the program. In their Judaic Class, they learned about blowing the shofar, got to know their classmates a little better, and made artistic renderings of something that they want to improve for the new year.
- The 4th Grade class was also busy today. In Hebrew they made Hebrew nametags and reviewed the first part of the Aleph-Bet through some fun and exciting classroom games. During their Judaic class, they talked about Yom Kippur. They talked about fasting, atonement, Kol Nidre (a prayer in YK liturgy) and heard it in Hebrew and English. The 4th grade class worked on making their own machzor prayer books.
The 5th Grade class did many different activities. During Hebrew
they talked about the High Holy Days and reviewed some Hebrew
reading. They then worked in their Ramah packets. In their Judaic
class, they started their survey of Jewish history and learned
more about each other.- The 6th Graders spent their Hebrew time reviewing reading skills and practiced reading different combinations of letters and vowels. They also discussed times they felt most Jewish. They wrote their names in Hebrew and learned how to say "hippopotamus" in Hebrew. In their Core Judaic class, they reviewed Hebrew words and their Hebrew Word of the Week from last week and added to their list by learning the Hebrew words for apples and honey. They also began their study of the CHAI curriculum and discussed Yom Kippur.
- The 7th Graders did a great job helping in the younger grades during the first part of the morning. During their Judaic class, they took a more meaningful look at the story of the Akedah, or the Binding of Isaac and some of its different meanings.
- High High School broke up into classes today, played some opening
games and got to know each other better. The Green Class
began their plans to install and maintain a Temple Beth Shalom
Vegetable and Flower Garden. The South Park to Seinfeld class
discussed different clips that they would review together and spent
time playing games. Only the second bell classes met today
because of the Rosh Hashanah program.
Looking Ahead:
- There is NO SCHOOL next Sunday, September 27th in Preparation for Yom Kippur. See important Service Info below.
- On Friday, October 2nd, join us for First Friday: Sukkot Edition. Our entertaining and exciting First Friday Family Friendly service will revolve around Sukkot and we will be in our Temple Sukkah for part of the night. Dinner will follow. It'll be a great Friday service!
- Temple Families will be hosting Sukkot celebrations at their homes this year! More information will follow. The Herman Family will host guests in their Sukkah on Saturday October 3rd and the Naiman/Agin Family will host guests in their Sukkah on Saturday, October 10th. Details to follow.
- Pizza in the Hut: Sukkot at Rabbi Benjy's. At 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 4th Join other Temple families and Religious School families for Sukkot at Rabbi Benjy and Lauren's house hosted by your rabbis. We will eat pizza and dessert, sing some songs, shake the lulav and etrog and fulfill the mitzvah of dwelling in the sukkah. It'll be a great time!
- If you are the parent of a 6th Grader, please meet us on Sunday, October 4th at 9:35 a.m. in the Social Hall for an important meeting. We will be talking about the Bar/Bat Mitzvah process, how it all works, and will have time to take questions as well. Please try your best to be there!
- If you are a parent of a 10th Grader, please meet us on Sunday, October 4th at 5:00 p.m. at Rabbi Benjy's house for an important Confirmation Parent and student meeting. We will discuss the Confirmation program, the Confirmation trip to New York and much more. Stay for Pizza in the Hut afterward!
- Simchat Torah Celebration at TBS will be Sunday, October 11th during Religious School Hours. You won't want to miss this!
High Holy Information:
We are offering the following Family Friendly Options for Yom Kippur (Sept 27th and 28th):
6:30 p.m. Twilight Intergenerational Service featuring shorter liturgy and a story with props!
September 27
8:45 a.m. Elementary School Service in the Sanctuary
10:15 a.m. Pre School Family Service in the Social Hall
10:15 a.m. Teen Service Outdoors (at the creek)
10:15 a.m. Movie for kids who attended the 8:45 a.m. service
I know this was a long email! We look forward to seeing you around Temple at one of these great events!
L'Shanah Tovah, (happy new year)
Rabbi Benjy