Rabbi Offner's Installation Weekend

What a wonderfully busy weekend and great day at Religious School!  Mr. Calvert was sick, so we didn't have music, but we had plenty of other things going on to keep us learning.

The third and fourth graders continue to build their skills with Hebrew.  They read words in their text books, played games to practice the words and their pronunciation and began practicing reading the Sh'ma ad Barchu!  Homework is to practice lines 4-7 on page 158 in their Hebrew text books.  Students should also bring in bottles, can and caps for their Tzedakah projects.  Many Madrichim  worked with our students today to help them be successful!  They were great additions in the third and fourth grade today, helping the younger kids read their Hebrew!

Fifth graders worked in groups to practice their Hebrew reading, working on pages 35-39 in their Hebrew texts.  Ask you child to show off what they know if they brought their books home!  Students also talked about the early stages of lifecycle events, including a Brit,  and Pidyon Haben.  Mr. Singer connected our modern day traditions to stories of our past!  Their homework is to read chapter 1 in their lifecycle books.

The sixth graders went on a scavenger hunt for the Hebrew roots Hey Lamed Lamed (praise) and Shin Lamed Mem (whole/completeness) in the the Religious School Tefilah prayer book and the bigger Mishkan Tefilah.  The students also practiced reading the Avot V'Imahot and G'Vurot.  The students also worked with their new classroom aide, Scott, as they practiced these prayers!  Students will have another quiz one week from today, so keep studying!

Seventh graders have been preparing for their class service this Friday night.  They will be presenting a short play as their D'var Torah and practiced in class today.  Students also reviewed roots, prefixes and suffixes as they worked on their Hebrew and read this previous week's Torah portion, Chaye Sarah.  As a reminder, the 7th grade class will have their class dinner prior to services this Friday, November 16th at 6:15.  Parents, please check your email for further details.

The eighth grade talked about the commandment "to Honor Thy Mother and Father."  The class came up with 10 commandments to honor family and maintain healthy family relationships.  They also briefly discussed the election results and the ramifications of the election on various hot topics.  Similarly, the ninth grade confirmation class talked about the election in their class.

First graders had a sub as Miss Greenberg is off becoming Mrs. Siegel!  Students moved forward through their study of the Hebrew letters, practicing Gimmel and Dalet in class.  They completed the pages in their Hebrew book that help them form the letters and practice each letter's sound and got a chance to write the Hebrew letters on the chalk board!  They also went to the library where Ms. DeRusha read "The Very Best Place for a Penny" by Dina Herman Rosenfeld and "A Holiday for Noah" by Susan Remick Topek.

The second grade class finished up some art projects and read the next story in the Hebrew letter book, nun!  They also talked about Tzedakah and began preparing to make family trees.  The students talked about their Hebrew names.  Their homework is to fill out the family tree information sheet that they took home today.  Since they were learning about names, Mrs. Pozzi read the book, "The First Gift" by A. S. Gadot.

Now, Tefilah is always something special, but we did quite a few special things today  Rabbi Offner asked the twins in our Religious School to join her on the bimah and lead the V'Ahavtah in honor of this week's Torah portion, Toledot, the story of Jacob and Esau, the first Jewish twins!  She also called up the students that will become B'Nai Mitzvah next to lead the congregation in the Amidah.  In honor of Veterans Day, Rabbi Offner spoke about peace, honoring those that have fought for our country and have given of themselves to ensure that we are safe and then we sang Oseh Shalom.  As many of you know, Rabbi Offner's installation service was this past Shabbat.  Since most students were unable to attend, we took the opportunity to make out own brit with Rabbi Offner, asking her to be our teacher and committing to learning from her!

Thanks for another great day!  See you on Wednesday or next Sunday!

-Miss Nancy Kahrimanis