Newsletter

Religious School Bulletin Dec. 14, 2012

By Debra Lytle - Friday, December 14th, 2012

Religious School Parent Bulletin December 14, 2012

I hope to see everyone at our MITZVAH 613 Torah Fair on Sunday, Dec. 16. (Please see more details below.) Parents are expected to accompany their children to the Fair, not just drop off and pick up. The Torah Fair is an exciting opportunity to celebrate our congregation’s 83rd Anniversary through dedicating a new Torah Scroll.  Please join us at 9:00am for breakfast, a family art project, decorating and eating “cookie Torahs,” a sing-along and more… it’s all free!

Each grade in religious school will be collecting Tzedakah through the end of the year which will go towards purchasing part of the Anshei Israel Torah. We hope that you will join in this important Mitzvah (commandment).

We have many volunteer opportunities with the Religious School. If interested in helping, please contact Rabbi Ben Herman.
Opportunities include:

·        Telling a story in the Kindergarten / 1st Grade class

·        Helping with and / or creating an arts & crafts project

·        Cooking (and / or setting the menu for) a Religious School Shabbat Dinner

·        Helping set up a Family Shabbat Dinner

o   Setting silverware and plates

o   Choosing and assembling flowers for the dinner

o   Helping set the menu for a dinner

·        Helping plan a Religious School Shabbat Service

·        Religious School Passover Family Workshop

o   Helping Rabbi Herman plan the workshop

o   Helping facilitate programs at the workshop

·        Serving as a driver for a class field trip

·        Being a guest teacher for a day in a Religious School class

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Sunday, Dec. 16MITZVAH 613 Torah Fair, 9:00 – 11:30am, Rabbi Breger Hall
Your family is invited to join us for this milestone event marking a year dedicated to celebrating Congregation Anshei Israel’s 83rd anniversary through the dedication of a new Torah scroll. Enjoy free breakfast, a family art project, decorating and eating “cookie Torahs” and a sing-along. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to celebrate, and become part of our congregation’s history!

Sunday, Dec. 16Adult Hebrew Marathon, 1:00 – 5:00pm, Library
Interested in learning how to read Hebrew? Join Rabbi Herman for this four hour crash course in Hebrew reading. There will be follow-up classes beginning in January 2013. The price is $18 for members and $25 for non-members, which includes all materials. For more information and to RSVP, contact Rabbi Ben Herman.

Teachers’ Classroom Recaps:
Kindergarten/1st Grade-Renee Hulsey
Happy Hanukkah! The Kindergartners and 1st Graders had loads of fun at Religious School Sunday. We sang songs with Moreh Dan and then joined with some of the older kids and enjoyed a Hanukkah play with dreidel, latke and shekel props, decorated and tasted delicious Hanukkah cookies, and lit candles and did more singing with Morah Nichole. Lastly, we enjoyed playing dreidel with our friends. It was a wonderful way to celebrate Hanukkah!  Enjoy the winter break. We’ll see everyone on Sunday, January 6.

2nd Grade – Natalie Guerin
Hard to believe we're half way through the school year! In Hebrew we have learned to read 18 letters; in our Bible series, we read "Let My People Go," and we've started a series called "Let's Discover God." The children have earned their first big reward for good behavior and they voted on a pizza party. It will be held on a Tuesday in January. I will be phoning the families to find a day that all the children can attend. Hope you all enjoy your winter vacation time!

3rd Grade – Laura Olesen
Shalom, I hope your Hanukkah is a joyful one! We had a great time Sunday at our different stations celebrating Hanukkah! Calligraphy, cookie decorating, candles, and more! On Tuesday, the children took home the booklets that they made on the Galilee and Haifa, as well as their packets with the website, so they can download prayers they are learning for their consecration! I encourage all the students to take advantage of this tool and practice their prayers. Have a wonderful break. Looking forward to seeing you all when we return in January.

4th Grade – Sarah Artzi & Rodin Molina
Sunday we celebrated Hanukkah and the class had a wonderful time at each of the stations they visited. On Tuesday in Hebrew, students finished their prayer book pages, began work on their prayer book covers, and timed their Hebrew reading. In Judaics, we read a book on the history of the holiday of Hanukkah and the story of the Maccabees. The students followed along with worksheets, filling out facts. We discussed aspects of the story and why the history is important to our celebration of the holiday today. Following that, we celebrated the end of the year with a few silly Hanukkah-themed stories from the village of Chelm.

5th Grade – Courtney DeYoung
The 5th Graders greatly enjoyed the Family Hanukkah Workshop, and one of the highlights was making colored candles out of hot wax. On Tuesday, they went over their quizzes about cities in Israel, which included how many kibbutzim there are in Israel, how far below sea level the Dead Sea is and the year of the Six-Day War. Each student researched topics like these and created a quiz based on his/her findings.

6th Grade – MeMe Aguila
Sunday was a great day as we participated in the Hanukkah Workshop activities. We made candles by dipping string into hot wax, learning first that this is a slow process and takes patience as you continuously dip the wick into the wax to build the layers. Everyone really enjoyed doing this. On Tuesday, we met with Rabbi Eisen. We learned the Jewish connection to the Status of Liberty: that Emma Lazarus's poem is inscribed on the base.

7th – 8th Grade – Jacob Kotz
The 7th and 8th Graders read and discussed two articles about the settlements which are being built in Israel in the E-1 block as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reaction to the UN resolution to admit Palestine to the UN under “observer status.”

Rabbi Ben Herman