Thank you to everyone who participated in our 6th-8th Grade service last Friday.  It was very special to see so many young families there!  Thank you also to all of the 3rd-5th Graders who have signed up for parts in your special Friday evening service on February 17.  If your child would still like to participate, there are spots available. The K-2 students will be leading prayers by class for their service on Friday, March 23. 

Federation camp scholarships are available.  If you would like to apply for a scholarship, please let me know, and I will mail you a form.  The deadline is Friday, February 17.

The 3rd Graders have all received parts for their Siddur Dedication Ceremony on Friday, April 20.  Hope to see you at this special evening for the 3rd Grade class.

The 5th and 6th Graders will be participating in the World Wide Wrap on Sunday, from 10:00-11:00 am.  This program introduces the students to Tefillan through both a video and practicing wrapping the Tefillan.  It would be great if 5th and 6th Grade parents could also make it to this important event.

Mark your calendars for the next Shabbat Family Experience on Saturday, February 11.  For the following Shabbat Family Experience (Saturday, March 10) we will be meeting at Handmaker for some special programming with the seniors.  

Sunday, February 12 is our Tu B'Shevat in the Park.  We will be meeting at McDonald Park at 9:30 am and having three rotations (a Tu B'Shevat Seder, planting parsley seeds and Israeli dancing) in addition to going on a nature walk.

Please watch your mail for information about our Spring Fundraiser, "The Phantom of Shushan."  I will be there and hope to see you.  

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Teachers' Classroom Recaps:

Kindergarten – Elana Weiner 

This week we learned the letter lamed. We talked about the lulav that we shook on Sukkot and how shaking the lulav reminds us that G-d is everywhere. We drew pictures of our favorite places to remind us that G-d is our favorite places too! We also started working on our very special prayer that we are going to lead at our Shabbat dinner and services coming up in March.  

1st Grade – Renee Hulsey

The first graders are such a wonderful group of kids!  I love working with them!  This week we reviewed all of the Hebrew letters and vowels we've learned so far.  Then, we realized that we can already read a few words!  It was very exciting for them to read the flashcards with the words "Shabbat," "challah," and "Torah."  We also had a very lively, hands-on Q and A with Rabbi Herman in the Chapel while we looked closely at a Torah.  Next week I've promised the students that we will each make our own Torah!

2nd Grade – Emily Riley-Saxton 

This week in 2nd grade we continued our study of the Hebrew months including discussing Tu B'Shevat.  We are in Chapter 10 of the workbook while also doing the Hebrew script workbook and a Hebrew primer.  We reviewed vowels and practiced oh vs. ooh using our bodies (oh when you hit your head and ooh when your hit in the stomach).  We finished the week with Simon says Hebrew body parts. 

The 3rd graders did a great job on their quiz and booklets after studying Deborah and Mt. Tabor.  Their mini maps are progressing as they add more or more places to mark and label.  They are becoming quite the Israel Map Navagators! In Hebrew this week, they focused on the letters "Pey" & "Samech", with their key word, "Pesach".  They took hope a practice page so they can practice. (The more practice the better).  I do hope to see you and your child at the Shabbat Dinner on February 17 as well as the Tu B'Shevat in the Park on February 12! Awesome job 3rd graders!

4th Grade – Rebecca Grossberg 

This week in 4th grade we learned about the upcoming holiday Tu B'shevat and played a few fun games. In Hebrew we began our unit on the Mi Chamocha. We are looking forward to more fun activities this Sunday!  

The fifth graders made paper dolls for our life cycle unit.  They cut pictures out of magazines that represent parts of their identities and pasted them on their dolls.  They will utilize the dolls through many Jewish life cycle rituals: from birth to death. 

6th grade students had a passionate discussion about how we can use labor unions as inspiration for action in our own lives this week.  We used the lives of several notable pro-labor Jewish personalities such as Rabbi Stephan Wise, Editor Abraham Cahan, and labor leaders Sidney Hillman and David Dubinski.  In addition we discussed the devastating Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire in which 150 young women, the majority of them Jewish, died. Students also began work on their murals depicting several famous Jews and events from the 1930s.  They will present these in class on Sunday.  

The 7th and 8th Graders are continuing to get ready for their Yom HaShoah service.  They also helped feed the homeless on Wednesday as part of Operation Deep Freeze: Project Hospitality.