Today was an exciting day for collaborative learning. The fourth graders joined Bet for a joint art project, a mural with individual pictures of image and colors that reflected their thing after Yom haShoah. We read the Sneetches by Dr Seuss and talked about what being different meant and prompted much discussion on how we treat each other. Beautiful artwork resulted.
We wrote a quick note on facebook to some friends in Israel to find out how it feels to have snow! We are also interested in knowing if Tu B’Shevat will be different because of the snow.
Here are more thoughts about what our students what to know:
Eve wants to know if there is enough snow for a snowman. Adam wants to know if there is enough snow for a snowball fight. Mac wants to know if there is enough snow to make a snow fortress. Sammy wants to know how many feet deep the snow is. Eli wants to know if there is enough snow to make a giant snowball and then roll it at somebody. Harry wants to know if there is enough snow to make an igloo. Lizzie wants to know if the snow is deep enough to make a snowman. Hannah wants to know if there is enough snow to make a model of a peguin. Sabrina wants to know if you know how to make a snowman. Sara wants to know if there are buds on the trees in the snow. Zoe wants to know if you know when the snow is going to stop. Lulu wants to know if there is enough snow to make a deep snow angel.
We are going to send these questions to Morah Lauren’s facebook friends who she knows from 1984 when she was a student at Hebrew University!
Findling the blessings in very small or ordinary things or events was a lively discussion in class, connected to Moses meeting God in a small burning bush. Do we always notice the marvelous things around us? The rabbis give us a midrash, a legend, that the lowly bush was a way to help us know that there is something divine in all things. We looked at the blessings for things like thunder and lightening, and even going to the bathroom!
We are lucky to live in a community where we are not faced with violence for being Jewish. Students listened to the true story of Billings, Montana in 1993. The people of the town faced down acts of violence against Jews by placing pictures of menorahs in their windows, even though they were not Jewish. Students then made colorful pictures of menorahs to place in their windows. Wishing you all a Hanukkah filled with light and blessings.
We had a super time with Rabbi Jodie in the sanctuary viewing the Torah up close and opened. We talked about how we beautify the mitzvah of reading Torah by giving the Torah very beautiful crowns, belts and covers. The students had great questions about when they read Torah at their bar or bat mitzvah. They commented on the little ‘crowns’ on the actual Hebrew letters, and the spaces between the columns and words. In class we also discussed possible Tzedakah projects and voted on where to donate the Tzedakah funds. The first campaign will be for helping sick animals. We also talked about Derech Eretz, good character and being a mensch. Everyone was very happy that Brian brought a challah to share. Thank you Brian.
The holiday cycle of Tishre has us changing gears very quickly! This week we created a mini sukkah!
The Kindergarten class was in charge of the frame of the Sukkah. They used illustrations and found natural materials to create the sukkah. The “roof” of the sukkah was created with sticks and leaves.
The Alef class was in charge of the decorations. They colored mini fruits and hung them on mini pipe cleaner loops to create a pipe cleaner chain.
The result was awesome and admired by each student! We have placed our mini sukkah into the real sukkah, for everyone to see!
There are three opportunities for families to celebrate Sukkot and Simchat Torah at RSNS this year.
The first is the Sukkot Program at 6:30pm TONIGHT (9/30) that includes pot luck dessert in the sukkah!
The second is PJ Library in the Sukkah at 5:30 on Wed., Oct 3rd! Includes art, songs, stories and dinner!
The third is the Simchat Torah celebration on Sunday, Oct. 7th! Be part of the renewing of the cycle of reading Torah as we unroll the entire scroll around the children of our community!!
**No Thursday Synagogue School on Thursday, October 4, 2012**
Today Rabbi Jodie showed us the Torahs in the Aron Kodesh, the Holy Ark, and the students had great ideas about why the Torah was heavy, and how it was an honor to carry the Torah. The students saw the different Torahs and which they might carry for their Bar or Bat Mitzvah, and even got to feel the weight together. There were wonderful questions and we will need another visit to get to open up the Torah and see it up close. We talked a little about Sukkot, welcoming guests, eating in the sukkah, shaking the lulav and etrog, and sang songs with Cantor Eric. We even practiced ‘Bruchim Habaim’, a Hebrew welcome of ‘blessed are those who come’. And the most popular part of the day was tasting the new requested fruit of the season, pomergranate, and saying the blessing over fruit of the trees. I was very proud of some students who tried one seed, and then realized they actually liked the fruit! Happy birthday to Elijah today. It was a fun day.