2/26 at Religious School!

We had a special family program for our 3rd grade families today - which is why you might have seen Theodore Herzl or Golda Meir at Temple Judea! Thanks to all our volunteers who made this such a great program.
Our 5th graders joined 5th grade students from all over South Dade for a program sponsored by CAJE-Miami and the Miami Jewish Film Festival. The group saw the movie "Hana's Suitcase."  We are proud of the participation of our students!  The movie focused on the issue of treating others with tolerance. After the movie, each student wrote an action step on the

Wednesday, Feb. 15th Highlights!

Here's what happened today at Religious School!

In 4th grade Hebrew we started to learn the Kiddush by reading, translating & singing. Some students were able to read the whole V'ahavta. We practiced reading Hebrew with sound alike letters and we sang a song like the "hokey pokey" to review the Hebrew body parts. In Judaic studies we spent time discussing midrash and how we can add our interpretations to Biblical stories. The class was asked to show how Sarah laughed when she was told that she was going to have a baby. The facial expressions were great and reflected surprise, thinking it was funny, non believing, and happy. The Davar Ha Yom was hospitality and we explored what kind of hospitality Abraham showed to strangers?

In 5th grade Judaic studies we talked about the different types of miracles: supernatural, communal and personal. Then we read the story of Daniel and the Lions Den. Finally, we

Sunday - 2/12/12 - a great morning!

It was wonderful having so many families here for the 2nd grade family program! Be sure to check out the photos! We also loved coming together to celebrate all of our February birthdays! Here is what was happening in all of our other classes:

Kindergarten

Empathy was the focus of our lesson today. We learned that when we can empathize with another person's feelings, we can better figure out how to be helpful (to treat them as we would like to be treated). We learned about Rebecca and her kindness towards Eliezer. We also read Bone Button Borscht by Audrey Davis, which speaks to the Jewish value of feeding the hungry, ma’akhil re’evim. 

1^st Grade

We learned that Joseph became a very rich and powerful man in Egypt. His brothers came to Egypt looking for food. They told Joseph how sorry they were for what they had done to

2nd grade Family Program!

We had a great family program today! More pictures

Happy Tu B'Shevat! 2/8/12

There were lots of fruits at Temple Judea to celebrate Tu B'Shevat! 

Here is what the classes did:

4th grade: To celebrate Tu B’shevat we read the story of Honi the Circle Maker who planted carob trees for future generations. Honi is mentioned in the Talmud. We ate almonds & figs. We also sang Tu B'shevat songs and finding the Hebrew letters on a tree and finding the fruits in a Hebrew word search. 5th grade: Tonight we had a very special Tu B'Shevat seder in the Grossman Room. We had a lot of fun - and almost everybody tried a new fruit or new food! 6th grade: For part of the day we worked collecting information on the quarters of Jerusalem. We also completed the study of the Kaddish, worked on our Yachdav bulletin board and celebrated Tu B'shvat with a short seder. 7^th Grade: The 7th grade celebrated Tu B'shevat by studying the value of Bal Tashkhit - The Jewish principle meaning “do not destroy." We studied this by discussing a Simpsons episode where toxic waste pollutes the environment and Mr. Burns tries to buy himself out of trouble. We watched the episode while eating a large array of fruits and nuts!

What happened at Temple Judea today! 2/5/12

Kindergarten

Today our focus was on the holiday of Tu B’Shevat, which is considered the birthday of the trees. We discussed the importances of trees and the need to preserve nature. We read the story Honi’s Circle of threes by Phillis Gersgaler and thought about how Honi demonstrated our “love your neighbor as yourself” theme. We also made tree pictures with oil pastels and decorated sugar cookies with green and brown m&m trees! Tu B’Shevat is Wednesday Febuary 8^th.

1^st Grade

Tu B’shevat is coming and the children learned about the importance of trees. We also learned that birds and trees have a special relationship. We made biodegradable bird feeders for the kids to take home. This activity reinforces the values of bal taschit – caring for the environment and tzar baalei chaim – showing kidness to animals.

2^nd grade

Today we read words in Hebrew. We enjoyed fruit for snack & planted plants fot Tu B’Shevat.

February 1st - A Special Tefilah!

There were lots of fun things happening today at religious school! One of the really cool things that we did was to have the 4th-7th graders all gather together for a special tefilah (prayer) experience. Benny led the music, but the prayers were all led by members of our 7th grade class. Shout outs to all of our volunteers who did an awesome job!
Ashrei leaders: Jacob Waldman & Harrison Herskowitz
V'ahavta leaders: Sara Aronfeld & Emma Nissim
Amidah leaders: Ilana Reiser, Brian Morrison, & Noah Bennett
English readings were done by: Lauren Pelletier, Cole Perez-Blanco, Catherine Kelly, Pedro Goldberg, Jonathan Hirschenson, Harlan Rifkind, Sylvia Ebenbach, & Catie Schwartzman

Sunday Morning - 1/29/12

Here is what our classes were up to today! We had a special Family Tefilah, where we began the tradition of celebrating all our students, teachers, and parents who have birthdays that month. It was great to see all the January birthdays!

Kindergarten

Today our focus was on Tu’Bshevat the birthday o the Trees, which is Feb. 8, 2012. We discussed the importance of trees in our lives and in Judaism. We read The Littlest Tree by

Jan. 25th - A Full Wednesday!

Today the 4th graders worked on review sheets of the Alef-Bet Quest book and played a game. We also did a fun lesson using modern Hebrew from the quest companion booklet. The 5th grade class talked about whether or not we think God knows the truth. First, we broke into small groups to read the stories of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, The First King, and Hagar and Ishmael. Then, the students broke into different groups and shared their thoughts from their first group with their new team. The 6th graders reinforced our knowledge of the Israeli government by making posters about the president, the prime minister and the supreme court. Each group had a chance to present their project. The 7th graders looked at the symbol of the tzedakah box and were challenged to design a 21st century tzedakah box that would encourage others to donate money.

Sunday, Jan. 22nd

Even on the "quiet" Sunday mornings there is a lot happening at Temple Judea. Here is what the kids were doing today:

Kindergarten

We continued talking about the Synagogue today. We read the story Bagels From Benny, about a boy who put bagels into the ark in his synagogue. We also mafe a beautiful mural with the art teacher, Mrs. Kutell. Next week we will begin discusing Tu B’Shevat

1^st Grade

The children reviewed the story of Jacob and Esau. We learned how Jacob got his name changed to Israel. Jacob missed Esau and wanted to see him again, but was afraid Esau would

January 18th - A full day!

All of our students had Kitah Kef today and went on a mitzvah scavenger hunt around Temple Judea. The 4th grade also had a pizza party because we finished our Alef Bet Quest book. The fifth grade furthered our discussion of honesty. First, we talked about optical allusions. Then, we read the stories of "Hannah and Eli the Priest" and "Bilam and his Donkey," pointing out the occasions in each story where the a single situation could be viewed from multiple perspectives. Finally, the students created their own optical illusions to share with their classmates. The 6^th Grade made a word splash reinforcing our knowledge about new Jerusaelem. And the 7th grade received a challenge to start a Tzedakah Revolution at Temple Judea.  The class accepted the challenge and we began brainstorming how to get other students excited about donating money to Tzedakah. 

Wednesday, Jan. 11th

Today in Hebrew our 4th graders learned the vowels oy and ooee and finished our Alef bet Quest books with lesson 20. In Judaic Studies the class discussed the meaning of the name Abram, what he would have taken with him when he left Ur, and what we would take if we had to leave our home? The fifth grade continued with the V'ahavta prayer and played Hebrew baseball as well as continuing our discussion of Emet or Honesty. First, we talked about why it is sometimes difficult to tell the truth. Then, we read the story of David and the Prophet Natan. Finally, the students met in groups and talked about different ways they can work to be more honest in a contemporary setting. In 6th grade we read the Ashrei. The students worked in hevruta rehearsing the text. The seventh grade had Rabbi Siegal as a guest teacher and did an MLK appropriate study of social justice!