A Super Sunday - Here's what happened on 11.20.11

Today was super busy! Our 6th graders went all over the building taking pictures as part of the Jewish Lens program. They also created a bulletin board that will teach the community about Yachdav and involve them in the program. In 5th grade Judaic Studies we reviewed the concept of Tzedek (justice). Each student was able to name multiple characters from the Bible who demonstrate just behavior. After reading quotes from the Bible about justice, the students created skits to demonstrate how we can express tzedek in a modern day setting. In Hebrew the 5th grade started 

Our First Kitah Kef (and other events from 11.16.11)

Kitah Kef (literally "fun class") is the collaborative program offered by the education and youth departments at Temple Judea. It highlights the best possible blend of formal and informal education. This past Wednesday, all of our 4th-7th graders competed in the Torah Board game. Pictures and video to come! Here is what else happened. In 4th grade Hebrew we played a game reviewing lessons 14 &15. We also worked on chanting the V'ahavta. In Judaic Studies we began the story of Cain & Abel with a discussion of fairness, anger and jealousy. In 5th grade Judaic Studies we talked about justice and wrote examples of justice and how to act with justice. In Hebrew both Maccabi Herzeliyah and HaPoel Kfar Saba studied the Maariv Aravim prayer--a parallel prayer to the Yotzer Or, for the evening service. We are going to continue with the Shema and its blessings. The 6th graders learned about the city of Haifa. In 7th grade we caught up in our small groups. Rabbi Siegal worked with students on the structure of the service, Erica reviewed the Avot V'Imahot, and Beth worked with students to create games to review important Judaic terms - like Talmud and aliyah!

Thanks to all the families who joined us for Family Moments!

Sunday, November 13th Spotlight

The 6th grade practiced the reading and chanting of the Birkot HaHaftarah and Aleinu. Please remember to bring the Siddur booklet every week. In Judaic Studies we read about Masada. In groups we made word splashes. Today in 5th grade we continued our study of Tzedek. After playing relay games with no rules, we discussed the importance of how to behave or act. We read the holiness code and chose our favorite section. 4th grade students learned the words mishpacha and chai today. We just have one more sentence in the V'ahavta to learn and we are reading Hebrew much more smoothly. In Judaic Studies we completed the creation story of the Garden of Eden. The D'var HaYom was "creation" and "brother." We began the story of Cain & Abel. The 3rd Grade added hey to the letters we already know. Today we visited Masada and learned about Josephus. 2nd graders learned the vav and koof. We began our study of the book of Exodus. The 1st graders drew a picture of God’s promise to Abraham that his descendant would be as numerous as the star in the sky and the grains of sand. Each child made a personal connection to this promise as they identified themselves with one of those stars and grain of sand.

Signing the Shema at Family Tefilah!

Kindergarten Family Program - It's Bedtime in the Morning!

Sunday, November 6th - Here's what happened!

Kindergarten

Our focus today was the Jewish commandment of Tzdakah. In keeping with our theme of love your neighbors yourself; we discussed when our “neighbors” need help, we give tzdakah to help those in need. We read the story the very best place for a penny by Dina Rosenfeld, and we talked a little bit about what we can do with the Tzdakah money we collect. We also decorated our own tzedakh boxes.

1^st grade

We had a very busy day learning about Abraham and Sarah. We learned that they were the first Jewish man and woman and they realized that there is only one God. They also teach us how to welcome others and how to share. The value of welcoming the stranger is called Hachnassat Orchim. We made a picture of them welcoming visitors. Benny taught us new songs during music time. We ended the day at the sanctuary with Tefillah and a video about the fun to be had at Camp Coleman!

2^nd Grade

We enjoyed singing with Benny in Tefilah. We played a Hebrew game & heard the feather story.

3^rd grade

The third grade continued our hebrew study by adding the nun to our collection of letters and vowels. After

November 4th - Religious School Highlights!

Shalom! Today the 7^th grade learned about the different levels of Tzdakah. In groups, we brainstormed different material and non material ways to help the poor. Then every group was given an envelope with strips of paper and on each piece of paper was one of Rabbi Moses Maimonides' 8 levels of Tzedekah. Each group was challenged to put the pieces of paper in order from the least to the most generous ways to give. Then the groups compared their ladder to Rabbi Moses Maimonides ladder and got the chance to defend their order. 6th grade started a project about Tel Aviv & the Dead Sea. We made a posters about why tourists should visit these places. In Hebrew we played a vowel game and we practiced the shvah rules. The students mastered the blessing before the Haftarah reading. They read aloud to the class to receive a "pass." We also read the Aleinu. In 5th Grade Hebrew we played Yotzer Or Bingo and worked on our Chanukah Song. In Judaic Studies we discussed our new unit “Tzedek” or Justice. First, we talked about fariness and how we define what is fair. Then, we read the story of “Abraham argues with God." Afterwards, we debated how we thought the story ended. 4th grade Judaic Studies discussed the inclination to temptation as Eve was tempted. Each student gave a personal example. In Hebrew we learned several new words. We played going up the mountain with out Hebrew reading words and we counted from 1-20 in Hebrew.

Mitzvah cooking for Camillus House