Shalom Religious School Parents!

The Kindergarten Class learned about Simchat Torah. They learned that the Torah is written in Hebrew and that the last letter in the Torah is Lamed and the first letter in the Torah is Bet. These two letters together spell "leiv" which means "heart." The Torah is the heart of the Jewish people and the Jewish people are the heart of the Torah. They also made Simchat Torah mobiles as well.

The 1st Grade class learned about Simchat Torah and how we use all 5 senses with the Torah. They then made their own Torah scrolls and practiced writing Hebrew. They read a story and sang songs with Mrs. Rose.

The 2nd Grade class talked about Simcah Torah... The celebration of this wonderful holiday. They comparing it to the other holidays that Jews has just celebrated, emphasizing similarities and differences Susie passed around her "miniature" Torah for all the students to hold. They talked about the features of the Torah. The students decorated their own "breast plates".

The 3rd Grade Hebrew class kept working on their Hebrew letter recognition and reading small sections of letters. They continued using the animation to help learn. In their Religious School class they discussed Simchat Torah, colored their own Torahs and practiced writing Hebrew words in them. They finished the day in Chugim.

The 4th Grade Hebrew class worked today to make playing cards out of Hebrew letters and worked on fun reading games like Go Hebrew Fish, Hebrew Memory and Hebrew Hangman. The Religious School class discussed Simchat Torah in comparison with other Jewish holidays. The students all did a Torah art project and made and decorated breast plates for Torahs.

The 5th Grade Hebrew class started the day by working in the Mitkadem binders on some self-paced work. They then worked together on Hebrew reading skills. The Religious School class finished up with the real history of the macabees and the first war faught for religious freedom.They also discussed how you would make you feel if you were told by those in power that it was against the law to practice your religion. They ended the day in Chugim all over the building.

The 6th Grade Hebrew class continued working on their Hebrew reading and comprehension skills through individual and group work and with modern Hebrew. This week they learned how to ask "Mah nishmah?" (What's up?) and how to answer with b'seder (okay), kacha kacha (so-so), ein chadash (nothing's new), and sababa (awesome). They also did an exercise in transliterating words written in English letters to Hebrew letters. This activity is a good review of the sounds of the Hebrew letters and vowels, which will help the kids with their reading speed and accuracy. Finally they worked on the Mitkadem packets.

The 7th Grade class discussed a Jewish perspective of things we want to do, things we have to do that we don't like to do, and things we have to do but we do like. They also discussed tikkun olam and the impact each person can make as a Jew.

The High School Classes

• Seinfeld to South Park: In class the group watched an episode of "Family Guy" that focused on a number of Jewish characters. They then discussed Jewish stereotypes that exist in America in 2009.
• Tattoo Jews: In class the group discussed the situation of evangelical groups operating in our High Schools and started discussing some Jewish strategies of confronting teachers and friends who try to convert others at school.
• Pray Ball: Pray Ball had a shortened class where they discussed sports and ethics.
• Tikkun Olam Green Class: The Green class discussed the value of a vegetable garden in Jewish tradition and continued planning their garden that they'll start digging next week.

Chugim were wonderful again! Ask your child about his or her Chug!

Have a great week!

L'Shalom,

Rabbi Benjy