DFRS Blog

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Purim Carnival Logistics:
On Sunday, March 8, Temple Emanu-El will have their Purim Carnival with a Cause.
Have fun and do good with your community!

Please don't forget to bring your items from the sign-up genius.  They need to be in Beth's office by 9:00 am at the latest.

The shpiel starts at 10:00 am in the sanctuary.  Please plan to meet your child in the sanctuary at 10.

The carnival begins at 10:30 - ALL children in grades PreK through 6 must be accompanied by an adult.  Any child that doesn't have their parents will need to be picked in the office.

This year, all kids will get a Mitzvah Passport to keep track of their stamps to earn prizes...AND if you complete all of the Mitzvah opportunities, there is a SPECIAL Temple Emanu-El prize!

This event is FREE and open to the community.  Please bring your friends!

Please sign-up here for items needed for the carnival:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0845AEAD2DA6FE3-purim1

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Have Fun AND Do Good!

DFRS & Davis are joining forces for a SUPER FUN Purim Party on Friday, 3/6.

Temple Emanu-El is inviting all from the community to join us on Sunday, 3/8 for a Purim Carnival with a Cause!

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Have you been practicing?  Click on the links below for Hebrew Skills practice pages:
Kippah Lavan (white) LINK
Kippah Adom (red) LINK
Kippah Tzahov (yellow) LINK
Kippah Yarok (green) LINK
Kippah Kachol (blue) LINK
Kippah Sagol (purple) LINK
Kippah Katom (orange) LINK

• Please help your child remember to bring tzedakah weekly.  All tzedakah goes to the Community Assistance Center to stock their food pantry shelves.  Find out more about CAC by clicking HERE .

• Please review the "Important Early Pick-up Reminders" email that went out 1/29/20 if you need to pick up early.
• ​​​​​​​Bagels are on sale in the lobby at 8:45 ($1 bagel, $1.50 bagel with cream cheese).
• Hebrew office hours begin at 8:45 am.
• NFTY Hatikvah Kallah is registering now (early bird ends today)!

Grades 6, 7, & 8:
Spend the weekend with Rabbi Rachael and friends NEW and OLD!
Click HERE to register!

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Have you been practicing?  Click on the links below for Hebrew Skills practice pages:
Kippah Lavan (white) LINK
Kippah Adom (red) LINK
Kippah Tzahov (yellow) LINK
Kippah Yarok (green) LINK
Kippah Kachol (blue) LINK
Kippah Sagol (purple) LINK
Kippah Katom (orange) LINK

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This week in...

Kindergarten
Today we learned about Tu B'Shevat. We learned that it is the birthday of the trees and talked about how valuable trees are to our lives. We made Tu B'Shevat mini books to read at home! Ask your students: 1. What is Tu B'Shevat and why do we celebrate it?  2. What are 3 things that we can use from trees besides fruit?

1st Grade
Today we learned that Tu B'shevat is the birthday of the trees. We learned that many things we use come from trees. We also learned how trees help us in our every day lives. Ask your students: Why are trees important to us? Why do we celebrate Tu B'shevat?
 
2nd Grade
We had fun learning about Moses, the 10 plagues, parting of the sea and exodus from a multi-sensory approach.  We also learned about the Holiday Tu B’Shevat (Seder to follow next class). We had made plague puppet sticks and acted out scenes during reader’s theater. Ask your students: How many plagues were there? Why do we celebrate Tu B’Shevat

3rd Grade
Judaics
Our class was introduced to Natalie Portman.  A Jewish actress and a film maker.  She is a recipient of an Academy award and two Golden Globe awards.  Students will hear Natalie's life story and in small groups will discuss Natalies values and what qualified her to be called a hero (since childhood she was an advocate for animal rights as well as environmental causes.  She took part in Anti Poverty activities.  she traveled to Uganda as an ambassador of Hope for FINC International). Groups will return to class and present their thoughts to their classmates. Ask your students: 1) What words would you use to describe Natalie Portman? 2) What have you done to make the world better?
Applied Hebrew
This week, we began class with a fun game called Two Truths and a Lie. Every student had their turn and had to tell the rest of the class three things about themselves, two of which were true and one of which was false. The rest of the class then had to figure out which statement was false. After the game, we discussed how telling lies can be fun when they are part of a game, but can be hurtful if they are told in real life. That conversation transitioned us to reading the story of Jacob and Esau’s Blessing. The kids acted out the story, which can be found in Genesis 27. Ask your students: 1) How does it feel to be lied to in real life versus in a game?  2) Should I always tell the truth?

4th Grade
Judaics
We discussed the purpose of Mishloach Manot for Purim and identified what middot this aligns with. Ask your students: What is Mishloach Manot? Why are we supposed to give these gifts at Purim?
Applied Hebrew
Prashat Bo  Pharaoh still refuses to let the Jews leave Egypt, so G d brings more plagues on Egypt. Pharaoh still remains stubborn. Now the Jews get their very first mitzvah. They are commanded to set up a calendar based on the cycle of the moon. And this is the same Jewish calendar that we use today, over three thousand years later!  The Jews must each bring a sacrifice of a goat or a lamb and brush the blood on to their doorposts. We, today keep on marking our door post but now with a Mezuzah. Finally, Pharaoh let the Jewish people go. Ask your students: Why Pharaoh was stubborn and did not let the people go? Why is it important to have a Mezuzah on our door post and why we do it?

5th Grade
Judaics
This week we were able to visit Morah Laura in art.  We worked on beautiful woven trees to signify and symbolize the tree of life that is Torah and learning from Torah.
Applied Hebrew
We will review all the Midot we had learned in class, focusing on Bal- Tashlich. We will compare recycling and "FoodBank" between Israel and America. Lastly, we will make our won Bal Taschlich art project emphasizing our new action for a clean world. Ask your students: What is your new action for this world clean and how we can help you as a family?

6th Grade
On Sunday, the students learned all about who lives in Israel: The different types of Jewish identities, Christians, Druze, Muslims, Bedouin’s, undocumented immigrant workers, and more. They were each assigned a particular identity to learn about and become that “character” for a presentation to the class. To understand some of the issues in Israeli society related to these categories, students were asked a series of questions and based on the information they learned about their particular person, they got to take steps forward if those statements described something that they could do in society. By the end of the exercise, they could see who were the most privileged kind of people in Israeli society as well as who encountered more struggles. Some example questions were:

Are you able to get married in Israel in a religious (Jewish or other) ceremony?
Are you able to pray at the main Western Wall plaza, including reading from a Torah?
Are you able to be paid by the state as a member of the clergy?
Did you receive special privileges in your army service?
Do you have access to national healthcare system?

These kinds of questions helped the students to understand that, just like in America, there are still things in Israeli society that don’t necessarily work the way we might like to see. We had a deep conversation about how this doesn’t have to change our love for Israel. We can still love Israel and want Israel to improve. Just like we can love America and want America to improve or we can love a friend or family member and want them to become better people too.

In recent years, there has been a generation of young Jews across America and across religious movements that have come forward to say that they didn’t learn about any of the “imperfect” pieces of Israel, that Israel was always taught as this perfect land and that they should love that land no matter what. We at Temple Emanu-El believe in sharing and teaching a love for Israel and it is a privilege to be able to teach and navigate these difficult conversations that show a fuller picture of Israeli society in an age-appropriate context for 6th graders so that they can build on this knowledge in future years. 

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out!

Thank you so much for continuing to make your child’s religious education a priority, I have been able to go much deeper into topics with your children because of their excellent behavior and commitment to being present and engaged. 

FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY: I hope that you and your 6th grader will talk about the chance for them to attend NFTY 678 HaTikvah Kallah at Camp Thunderbird. It’s an amazing first opportunity to check out the youth movement for our Reform Jewish community and to meet other teens from across the region. Click  HERE  to learn more.

7th & 8th Grades
For the past three weeks, the 8th-grade and 7th-grade have focused their learning on Holocaust education. We began by reading the stories of children survivors of the Holocaust. One reason we began here was to provide the students with a connection to the horrors of the Shoah through the lens of someone their own age. The unimaginable numbers and figures are more comprehendible when we focus on one story at a time.
 
The following week we heard from George Rishfeld, a Temple Emanu-El congregant and survivor of the Shoah, spoke to the class about his story of survival. Not only is George a member of our congregation, but many of our students have studied Torah with him when they have attended Chevre Torah. The teens not only learned George’s story, but they also learned what it means to appreciate the privilege that comes with being Jewish in America today.
 
This past Sunday, we went down to the Breman Museum and heard from Murray Lynn, Ilan Weismark’s great-uncle and also a teenage-survivor of the Holocaust. Murray impressed upon the parents and teens the importance of Jewish education and standing up against anyone who would demean minorities. Murray taught us that one reason the Shoah took place was that regular citizens did not speak up when Jews were being persecuted. Therefore, it is our responsibility to stand up and speak out against prejudice.
 
Going forward, we are going to spend the next several weeks putting the knowledge of the past semester into practical application. Our 8th-grade and 7th-grade are responsible for teaching the rest of the religious school about the holidays of Purim and Pesach. On the surface, we want our teens to understand these holidays and be able to teach others; however, beneath the surface, we want these classes to see how the stories of Esther and Moses might connect with what they have learned about being Jewish today.
 
Start talking to your teen(s) about what it means to be Jewish today. Ask about what it was like to hear from George and Murray. Talk to them about the connection between the ancient story of Purim and Pesach and how we can see ourselves as fighting back against Jew-hatred today.
 
Important Event! HATIKVAH KALLAH
I hope you will send your teen to join Rabbi Rachael and 6th, 7th, and 8th graders from around the region for a weekend with NFTY at Camp Thunderbird in Lake Wylie, SC!
 
March 13–15, 2020
 
Registration Closes (transitions to “if spots are available”) on February 19th.
 
This is your first chance to introduce your middle schooler to the amazing NFTY community on a regional level. Many of you have already joined us for local NFTY 678 events, but a weekend away is an extra special opportunity to bond.
 
NFTY is the youth wing of the Union for Reform Judaism. And NFTY is unique because all events are driven by a partnership between teens and adults. In the case of Temple Emanu-El, Rabbi Rachael and I take a deep interest in the success and mentorship of our teens. No other synagogue in the region receives the amount of direct rabbinic interaction that our teens experience at Temple Emanu-El. 
 
Scholarships are available.
 
For more information and to register:  Click Here   Early-bird registration ends TODAY.

Don't forget:

• ​​​​​​​7th/8th grade field trip sign up HERE .

• Bagels are on sale in the lobby at 8:45.
• Hebrew office hours begin at 8:45 am.
• To accomodate our changing Hebrew Skills groups, there is some room and teacher movement. The changes are as follows:
  Red Kippah - Room 1203 with Ms. Denise
  Green Kippah - Room 1104 with Morah Sigal
  Blue Kippah - Room 1204 with Mr. E

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Have you been practicing?  Click on the links below for Hebrew Skills practice pages:
Kippah Lavan (white) LINK
Kippah Adom (red) LINK
Kippah Tzahov (yellow) LINK
Kippah Yarok (green) LINK
Kippah Kachol (blue) LINK
Kippah Sagol (purple) LINK
Kippah Katom (orange) LINK

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It is getting colder, and with the cold weather may come nasty weather.  Please make sure you have joined the DFRS Remind group!  Click HERE or follow the directions below:

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• Red Kippah - Room 1203 with Ms. Denise
• Green Kippah - Room 1104 with Morah Sigal
• Blue Kippah - Room 1204 with Mr. E

Don't forget:

• NO SCHOOL: 1/19/2020
• If you would like to be a Host Family for NFTY Winter Kallah, please be in touch by clicking HERE .
• ​​​​​​​7th/8th grade field trip sign up HERE .

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Have you been practicing?  Click on the links below for Hebrew Skills practice pages:
Kippah Lavan (white) LINK
Kippah Adom (red) LINK
Kippah Tzahov (yellow) LINK
Kippah Yarok (green) LINK
Kippah Kachol (blue) LINK
Kippah Sagol (purple) LINK
Kippah Katom (orange) LINK

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It is getting colder, and with the cold weather may come nasty weather.  Please make sure you have joined the DFRS Remind group!  Click HERE or follow the directions below:

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Don't forget:

• Chanukah party & services - 12/13/19 - registration & info below (REGISTRATION CLOSES TODAY)!

• NO SCHOOL - 12/22, 12/29, 1/5! SEE YOU BACK ON SUNDAY, 1/12/20!
• Snack Time: Students are welcome to bring a healthy snack with them on Sundays.
• IMPORTANT: Please remember, if you need to check your child out early, notify the office as soon as possible.  You will need to come to the office to sign your child out - teachers have been instructed not to let children leave the classroom unless someone from the office comes to pick them up.  Please help us with this security measure.

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The kids are encouraged to study their kippah level prayers (5 minutes each day), and ask to be tested when they are ready to move up a level.  Additionally, the kids can attend office hours with their Hebrew teacher at 8:45 am on Sundays. Click on the links below for Hebrew Skills practice pages:
Kippah Lavan (white) LINK
Kippah Adom (red) LINK
Kippah Tzahov (yellow) LINK
Kippah Yarok (green) LINK
Kippah Kachol (blue) LINK
Kippah Sagol (purple) LINK
Kippah Katom (orange) LINK

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DFRS Chanukah Party & Services
Join your family and friends to light the candles, spin the dreidle, eat the latkes, and have the fun!

Friday, 12/13/19 at 6:45 pm
Wear your festive chanukah gear and BYOB!

o   6:45-7:30 Dinner 
o   7:30 Shabbat Services & Chanukah Sing along

• Zimria will be performing
• K-2 will perform “I Had a Little Dreidel”
• 3-5 will lead Barchu/Roll into Dark/Shema
• 6-8 will lead Mi Chamocha

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This week in...

Kindergarten
This week we learned about Hanukkah. We learned about why we celebrate for 8 nights. We made our own menorah out of paper and paint. We also got to play a variety of Hanukkah games! Ask your child: Why do we celebrate for 8 nights?  What is the game we play on Hanukkah? 

1st Grade
We discussed the importance of Hannukah. We read and discussed about celebrating Hannukah. We did a magazine and red a book. We learned about the blessings of Hannukah. Ask your child: What different foods do we eat on Hannukah? What is the story of Hannukah?

2nd Grade
This week we revisited our Hannukah lessons. We had the students read aloud about the miracles of Hannukah and where we get our traditions for the holiday. We learned about dreidels, gelt, the lighting of the menorah and more! Ask your child: Why do we celebrate for eight days? What other ways do we celebrate?

3rd Grade
Judaics
Our students will be able to relate a few facts about the origin of Chanukah. They will discuss the victory of Judah the Maccabee and the miracle of Chanukah. They wil understand why Chanukah celebrates our right to practice our religion free of persecution. Students will divide into three group. Each will discuss a question related to our Hero Judah and present their thoughts to the class. They will end the lesson with an art activity: Creating a giant Chnukiah to decorate our class. Chag Sameah! Ask your child: What would you do if someone tried to force you to bow down to an idle? or do something else that violated your belief?  What did Judah do when he saw the Greeks trying to force the Jewish people to convert from their religion?
Applied Hebrew
To begin the lesson, the students read the story of Chanukah in small groups. After they finished reading, every group acted out their favorite part and the rest of the class had to guess which part it was. We then discussed how the story of Chanukah can be tied to our five senses: We hear the shofar, see the candle light, smell and taste the latkes and sufganyot, and play with the dreidel. In addition, we learned how to light the Chanukkiah followed by Chanukah songs.  Ask your child: What do the 8 days of Chanukah represent? How many days is Chanukah celebrated?

4th Grade
Judaics
Today we went to art with Morah Laura. We made visualiztions of the middot that we have been learning about.  The students created beautiful banners which will be on display outside of our classroom.
Applied Hebrew
Parashat Vayeitzei: ויצא On his way out of Israel Jacob stops to rest, he takes a number of stones and puts them in a semi-circle around his head as protection and goes to sleep. He dreams of a ladder on which he sees angels going up and other angels going down the ladder, these were the angels which God sent to protect him on his trip. God reveals Himself to Jacob and promises him that the land on which he is resting will be given to his descendants, his children and grandchildren and their grandchildren. When Jacob wakes up the stones had become one, he takes the stone and makes it into an altar as a sign that that place is a holy place. Jacob ended up marrying Leah and Rachel after Laban, his father in low deceives him and gives him the oldest daughter first.  Ask your child: What do you think about Jacob’s dream?  What do you think about Laban’s action?

5th Grade
Judaics
This week we learned about Parshah Toldot (Gen. 25:19-28:9)! We continued to follow the story of the descendants of Abraham by talking about Jacob and Esau, the children of Isaac and Rebekah. We discussed the consequences of siblings not taking care of each other, and how that can impact relationships long-term. Ask your child: Why is it important to take care of your siblings/close family?  What is something we can do to help support each other throughout our lives?
Applied Hebrew
We are going to learn the story of Hanukkah creating  a cartoon. We will ask the question, "What really happened in this time to the Jews and how were the Maccabees  able to defeat the Greesk?" We will watch a short movie about the story of Hanukkah and, based on the movie, we will create the Hanukkah cartoon.  Ask your child: How were the Maccabees able to defeat the Greeks?  Tell us the story of Hanukkah while we enjoy our gathering together.  

6th Grade
Another busy week this week! With the semester coming to a close, we spent our time on Sunday doing a big review game (Jewpardy, as I like to call it) of material we covered up until ths point.

If you’d like to play with your family, you can do so here: https://jeopardylabs.com/play/holocaust-and-israel-review 

We also had the chance to sit and learn from our Israeli Shinshinit, Nicole. She talked to the kids about the Israel Defence Forces. They learned what she is going to be doing when she returns to Israel (a special, elite unit that deals with cyber security and computer sciences), the number of years that men and women serve, the day in the life of a soldier, and some of the core values of the IDF.

I look forward to closing out the semester with our 6th graders this Sunday and we will have an exciting Spring Semester ahead!

7th Grade
We learned about Chanukah and prepared a Chanukah skit and follow-up lesson for Kindergarten through Second grade. We also had a chance to spend time with Nicole, our Shinshinit from Israel. Please make sure to come for our last Hebrew school before break for our skit and special time with the younger students and of course fun Hanukah games! Ask your child: What are you contributing to next weeks Hanukah skit and lesson with Kindergarten through Second grade? Tell me about the activities you did with Nicole, the shinshinit from Israel. 

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It is getting colder, and with the cold weather may come nasty weather.  Please make sure you have joined the DFRS Remind group!  Click HERE or follow the directions below:

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Don't forget:

• No School on 11/24 & 12/1!​​​​​
• Snack Time: Students are welcome to bring a healthy snack with them on Sundays.
• IMPORTANT: Please remember, if you need to check your child out early, notify the office as soon as possible.  You will need to come to the office to sign your child out - teachers have been instructed not to let children leave the classroom unless someone from the office comes to pick them up.  Please help us with this security measure.
• Chanukah party & services - 12/13/19.  See below for info and registration!

Only 2 (!!!) more classes until our semester break.  Students in Kippah Adom (red) through Kippah Katom (orange) should move up at least one kippah level before January.  

The kids are encouraged to study their kippah level prayers (5 minutes each day), and ask to be tested when they are ready to move up a level.  Additionally, the kids can attend office hours with their Hebrew teacher at 8:45 am on Sundays. Click on the links below for Hebrew Skills practice pages:
Kippah Lavan (white) LINK
Kippah Adom (red) LINK
Kippah Tzahov (yellow) LINK
Kippah Yarok (green) LINK
Kippah Kachol (blue) LINK
Kippah Sagol (purple) LINK
Kippah Katom (orange) LINK

It is getting colder, and with the cold weather may come nasty weather.  Please make sure you have joined the DFRS Remind group!  Click HERE or follow the directions below:

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DFRS Chanukah Party & Services
Join your family and friends to light the candles, spin the dreidle, eat the latkes, and have the fun!

Friday, 12/13/19 at 6:45 pm
Wear your festive chanukah gear and BYOB!

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This week in...

Kindergarten
Today we talked bout being thankful in the spirit of Thanksgiving. We read the story Something from Nothing, which talks about a boy whose favorite piece of clothing becomes more worn, however he is grateful for it and makes it into something better. We then got to play a game to talk about what we are thankful for. Each student had to close their eyes and choose a skittle from a bowl. The color of the skittle coordinated with a question of what type of thing/place/person they are thankful for. Lastly, we created Thankful Pumpkins to write our ideas out as a rememberance during this time of year.  Ask your child: What does it mean to be thankful? What are 3 things you are thankful for?

1st Grade
We learned that welcoming guests is a mitzvah. We made invitations to come to our house for thanksgiving dinner. We also read Not This Turkey! and Oy, Feh, So? We read and discussed Lets Discover Mitzvot: "Welcome Guests." Making people feel at home is Hachnasat Orchim.  Ask your child: How can you welcome guests to your home? How can you put your guests at ease? 

2nd Grade
This week we began our unit on Hanukkah. We learned about the miracles of Hanukkah. We spoke about how the Maccabees drove their oppressors out of Jeruselum. Despite their efforts, the Temple was still destroyed. Many miracles happened during this story but we focused on how one day's worth of oil lasted for eight; enough time to make more. Ask your child: Who were the Maccabees? Why do we celebrate for 8 days?

3rd Grade
Judaics
Judaics classes visited Morah Laura today to work on their art projects.
Applied Hebrew
During class, the students explored Abram and Sarai’s journey in depth and reflected on journeys they or their family have taken in their lives. We started the lesson by writing about a time the students tried something new and the challenges that were involved in doing so. We then had a class discussion about the difficult journey Abram and Sarai had from Haran. The students all gave their opinions and we concluded that Abram and Sarai showed tremendous faith in God as well as courage.  Ask your child: What was the journey that Abraham and Sarah went on? How does having bitachon help shape the way you live your life?

4th Grade
Judaics
We are learning Jewish Values, a kids version of Mussar.  Your children are sharing so much while we explore being a good listener, keeping our cool (slow to anger), healing the sick and supporting the fallen, and our latest topics of gratitude, humility and empathy.
 
For our last topic, empathy, we started with an art project with Miss Laura (Sunday before last).  Some of you saw their art work and some of the art work will soon go up on our bulletin board for all to see.  In yesterday’s class,  we defined empathy and then did dynamic partner activity.  Each pair of students (and this time I assigned the pairs-so our twins had to pair with someone other than their sibling and our sets of best friends were also split up), were given a scenario of ‘ What should you do?’ .  They discussed their scenario (from bullying to being left off the team to being singled out because of physical difference and others) with their partner, and then came in front of the class to present their scenario and what they could do to rectify or solve the problem. The interaction was really fantastic.  I sat in the student’s chair so they were ‘teaching’ the class.  The amount of thought and empathy that went into the discussions, is truly special.  Every single student participated, even those who don’t like coming up in front of the group!  Now this is a change from the beginning of year for sure.  Our shy kids are comfortable sharing and standing and reading in front of everyone.  This shows me that the environment that we are trying to build is succeeding!  Your children whether they know it or not, are practicing Middot, our Jewish values every day.

5th Grade
Judaics
Today we learned about Parshah Chayei Sarah (Gen. 23:1-25:18)! We discussed the purchase of land in the Caves of Machpelah by Abraham, which served as burial grounds from him and his family. We talked about the significance of the first purchase of land in modern Israel by our ancestors.  Ask your child: What were the names of Abraham’s two sons? What act by Rebekah made her stand out to Abraham’s servant?

Applied Hebrew
As Thanksgiving approaches our Madricha, Eli, will teach a lesson about Hakarat Hatoda - Gratitude. Eli will have some quotes related to gratitude. Every student will have on quote explaining the importance of being thankful. Later, students will build their own Alef bet "thank  you" and will finish the session writing a "Thank you" note to their parents.  Ask your child: I would like to read your "Thank you note"! Happy Thanksgiving :) 

6th Grade
As mentioned a number of weeks back, the 6th-grade curriculum no longer focuses on the Holocaust in the first semester, followed by Israel in the second. Instead, we’ve been integrating both topics based on a historical timeline. That said, we’ve had several lessons on the Holocaust in recent weeks. However, today, we jumped back to the story of Israel (which of course, included conversations still relevant to the Holocaust, as we’re only to around the 1939–1949 time period).

We briefly spoke about the British White Paper (May 1939) - which limited Jewish entry into the land of Israel (at the time: British Mandated Palestine). The students were able to draw connections between this border closing and its impact on Jews trying to escape Europe.

We transitioned from this date and discussed a little bit about what was happening in the interim years and then jumped to May 1948 and introduced the establishment of the State of Israel, the War of Independence, and Israel’s creation of a Declaration of Independence. Ask your child what happened immediately after the State of Israel was declared, which countries went to war with Israel, and what happened after the war.

We concluded the class with the students writing their own Declarations of Independence, focusing on how they would treat the people who live in their land.

7th/8th Grade
On November 17 we then had the privilege to learn from another fantastic member of Temple Emanu-El, Allison Padilla-Goodman, the regional director of ADL (Anti-Defamation League). This class was a combined  7th and 8th-grade lesson. Together, both grades discussed the hard questions about what to do when we face antisemitism and how we, as Jews, can prevent further prejudice and bias that other groups face. Allison shared about her own Jewish journey through growing up in New Orleans, traveling around the world, and how she uses her Judaism and Jewish values on a daily basis with ADL. Ask your child: What is one strategy you can use when faced with antisemitism?

Only 4 (!!!) more classes until our semester break.  Students in Kippah Adom (red) through Kippah Katom (orange) should move up at least one kippah level before January.  

The kids are encouraged to study their kippah level prayers, and ask to be tested when they are ready to move up a level.  Additionally, the kids can attend office hours with their Hebrew teacher at 8:45 am on Sundays. Click   HERE  for Hebrew Skills practice pages.

Don't forget:

• ​​​​​Snack Time: Students are welcome to bring a healthy snack with them on Sundays.
• IMPORTANT: Please remember, if you need to check your child out early, notify the office as soon as possible.  You will need to come to the office to sign your child out - teachers have been instructed not to let children leave the classroom unless someone from the office comes to pick them up.  Please help us with this security measure.
  ​​​​​​​

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This week in...

Kindergarten
We started to learn about the Torah. We learned that Moses wrote the Torah and that there are 5 books that make up the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). We also learned what a Sofer is and how important their job is to Torah making. We then got a chance to practice being a Sofer by delicately coloring in Hebrew letters.  Ask your child: Who wrote the torah? What does a Sofer do? 

1st Grade
We made mitzvah hands and talked about the good things we did to help others this week. We also made a list of ways that we can help our parents at home.  Ask your child: What makes your parents proud? What good manners can you use at home?

2nd Grade
This week we learned about the great flood. Noah built an ark and brought two of every animal onto it. It then rained for 40 days and 40 nights. After the flood, God gave us the rainbow as a promise. Ask your child: What did the dove do? What does the rainbow mean?

3rd Grade & 4th Grade had an amazing morning at the JCC ropes course.

5th Grade
Judaics
Today we began learning about Parshah Vayeira (Gen. 18:1-22:24)! We discussed the story of Abraham welcoming the three strangers into his home, and what Judaism teaches us about active hospitality. We will also talk about how we can be more hospitable and welcoming to strangers in our own personal lives. Ask your child: What is one time you [the child] were a stranger? How did those around you welcome you? Did they go out of their way to make you feel comfortable? What is one way we as a family can be more welcoming and hospitable to strangers and those we don’t know in our own schools/communities?
Applied Hebrew
We will continue learning about "Sh'lom Bayit" from last week. We had the pleasure to meet our Shinshinit Nicole. We are going to create our home with peace based on colors - every color symbolized "a state of mind." For exmaple, Red will be happiness and green will be calm. Based on the colors, every kid will create his "Drean Sh'lom Bayit" home.  Ask your child: What was your favorite color and why? How can we build together your "Dream House"?

6th Grade
This week we split into four groups and each group was assigned a person to study and present to the rest of the group. Please ask your children follow up questions about:
 
Primo Levi 
Elie Wiesel
Anne Frank
Adolf Hitler
 
Ask them where they were from, why they are famous, and anything interesting they remember about these historical figures. Please note, that for some of your children this was their first time hearing all or most of the Jewish names. We will continue to build on their knowledge from here and I know that many of the kids will read the stories of these Jewish people in years to come.
 
At the end of the prersentation period we reviewed quotes from those Jewish survivors and others about their relationship with God. We began to delve into how Jewish views of God changed in the generration immediately following the Holocaust and how that has trickled down to us today. We will delve into these issues more throughout the year.

7th Grade
This week we learned about the importance of being a part of a Temple community, and how and why we take care of our Temple. Then, we undertook the responsibility to care for our Temple by ensuring every seat had a siddur underneath that had all the pages. We fixed those that needed to be fixed. It was great to be able to learn Jewish text and apply it in a meaningful way. Ask your child: How did you help the temple today? Why should we be a part of a temple community? 

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Mazel tov to our consecrants and their families!

Don't forget:

• ​​​​​3rd and 4th grade will be at the MJCCA Ropes Course THIS Sunday, 10/27.  Email with waiver, drop-off/pick-up information, and rain plan coming soon!
• IMPORTANT: Please remember, if you need to check your child out early, notify the office as soon as possible.  You will need to come to the office to sign your child out - teachers have been instructed not to let children leave the classroom unless someone from the office comes to pick them up.  Please help us with this security measure.
• ​​​​​​​The kids are encouraged to study their kippah level prayers, and ask to be tested when they are ready to move up a level.  Additionally, the kids can attend office hours with their Hebrew teacher at 8:45 am on Sundays. Click  HERE  for Hebrew Skills practice pages.

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This week in...

Kindergarten
In addition to our visit to the sukkah, today we learned about a mezuzah, Aron Ha Kodesh and Ner Tamid. We learned where a mezuzah is placed and how the Sh'ma is inside of it. We got a chance to make our own mezuzahs. We also took a tour in our temple to see where the Aron Ha Kodesh and Ner Tamid are and talked about their significance. Ask your child: 1. What direction does the mezuzah face? 2. What is a Ner Tamid? 3. What is Aron Ha Kodesh?

1st Grade
Today we learned about sukkot. We discussed what a lulav and etrog are and what we do in a Sukkah. We did a magazine about sukkot. We will make fruits for the Sukkah and decorate it when we visit. We read The Very Crowded Sukkah. Ask your child:  1. What can we do in the Sukkah? 2. What is a lulav and etrog?
 
2nd Grade
Now that we are ready to restart the Torah we learned how God created the world. Starting with light and ending with a day of rest. Our first Torah passages show us the beginning of humanity and our first trials in the Garden of Eden. Ask your child: 1. What are the days of creation? 2. What happened in the Garden of Eden?

3rd Grade
Judaics - Students learned about the life of Theodor Hertzl and what he is famous for.  They listen to the first part of the story "Hertzl's Cypress." Class was divided into two groups and each one discussed a question related to Hertzl's dream for the Jewish people.  They then presented their thoughts to the class. Ask your child: 1. Why was Hertzl nervous about coming to meet with the Kaizer in Israel? 2. What did he want from Kaizer?
Hebrew Skills - Sukkot is a seven-day harvest holiday that arrives during the Hebrew month of Tishrei. It starts four days after “Yom Kippur” and is followed by “Shmini Atzeret” and “Simchat Torah.” Sukkot is also known as the Festival of Booths. In class, we learned about Sukkot by reading a story, completing a word search and singing a song. We also learned about customs that happen both in America and in Israel. Ask your child: 1. Why do we celebrate Sukkot? 2. How many days do we celebrate Sukkot?

4th Grade
Judaics - Gratitude is so important in Judaism that we have a holiday dedicated to it. Why does Sukkot happen right after the High Holy Days?  Being gracious and displaying it, really does feel good. Ask your child: 1. What does the Etrog represent physically and symbolically? 2. Why do we hold the 4 species together and shake them in a certain way?
Hebrew Skills - We will explore the holidays of Sukkot and Simchat Torah. We will look at why we celebrate them and what do we do in each one. Ask your child: 1. Why do we celebrate the holiday of Sukkot? 2. What do we do in the Sukkah? 3. What do we do on Simchat Torah?

5th Grade
Judaics - Students began their first major art project of the year.  They are working on a tree of life piece.
Hebrew Skills - Visiting the Sukkah and learning about the "Arbaat Haminim" the 4 species together with the Rabbi. In class we will dive into the meaning of every species understanding how the 4 species are relevant to our K'hilah and humanity.  Ask your child:  1. What are the four species? 2. What species do you  "wish to be" and why? 

6th Grade
The holidays are officially behind us, but on Sunday we still had a few things to celebrate! After Tefillah concluded, the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade stayed in the sanctuary to hear the leaders of our TEFTY (youth group) Teen Leadership Council present on why youth group is such an important part of their lives and why they’d love to see the 6th-8th graders get more involved in the year ahead. Although TEFTY is for 9th-12th grade, Temple Emanu-El runs lots of programs independently and with NFTY (our Reform Movement’s Youth Movement) for 6th-8th grade.

After the students heard from the teen leaders and had their questions answered they finally had the chance to learn from this year’s Israeli Shinshinit, Nicole. Nicole is with our Religious School students each and every week, moving from grade to grade and sharing her love of Israel. The Shinshinim program is for Israelis who have finished high school and are taking a gap year before going into the army. This week, Nicole played “get to know you” games so that she could get to know our students better and they could learn a little bit more about her! See if they remember the following: Where is Nicole from? (Tsfat) What was Nicole’s major in school? (Computer science) What will Nicole be doing in the army? (Unlike most Israelis, Nicole was selected to be in a special program for computer science, so she will be in a unit that specializes in using computer technology!)
 
Finally, Sunday was the last day of Sukkot, so we concluded the day in the Sukkah where the students had a refresher on the holiday of Sukkot with Rabbi Spike and everyone had the chance to shake the lulav and etrog!

7th Grade
The students learned about Ushpizin (guests) that we invite to our sukkah. Traditionally, Ushpizin are biblical characters who we "invite" to our sukkah to remind us of their stories and the values they teach us. Then, the students considered who they would invite to their sukkah if they had the opportunity. Thinking about what values their guest brings, what middot (values/character traits) their guest lives by, and why they would want to spend time with this guest in the sukkah. Ask your child: 1. Who did you choose to be your Ushpizin (sukkah guest)? 2. What character traits do you learn from that person? 

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Don't forget:
No School on Sunday, 9/29/19 - Erev Rosh Hashanah.  If your Kindergarten-Third grade student is attending Kids' Club during the ALEPH service (8-10:15 am) on Monday, 9/30, please register them ahead of time HERE .

If your 8th-12th grader would like to help with Kids' Club on 9/30 and/or 10/9, please have them fill out this form .

The kids are encouraged to study their kippah level prayers, and ask to be tested when they are ready to move up a level.  Additionally, the kids can attend office hours with their Hebrew teacher at 8:45 am on Sundays. Click  HERE  for Hebrew Skills practice pages.

IMPORTANT: Please remember, if you need to check your child out early, notify the office as soon as possible.  You will need to come to the office to sign your child out - teachers have been instructed not to let children leave the classroom unless someone from the office comes to pick them up.  Please help us with this security measure.

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This Week In...

Kindergarten
This week we learned about Sukkot. We learned that Sukkot is a harvest festival and that it happens in the fall. We also learned about what a sukkah is and were able to color in our own sukkah. Lastly, we made links of love to decorate a sukkah as a class. 
Ask your child: 1. What is a Sukkah? 2. What season is Sukkot in? 

1st Grade
This week we learned about Yom Kippur. We talked about fasting and attonement. We also talked about tashlich.
Ask your child: 1. What are they going to do differently next year? 2. Why do we fast on Yom kippur? 

2nd Grade
This week we learnged about the Jewish holidays following our New Years celebration, Sukkot and Simchat Torah. There are many fun and exciting traditions and celebrations to perform like building and decorating the sukkah and learning the prayer with the Four Kinds. Our celebration continues after Sukkot with Simchat Torah where we get ready to start the reading of from the beginning.
Ask your child: How do we celebrate Sukkot? What holiday follows after?

3rd Grade
Judaics
In today's class we explored the story of Moses, the exodus hero.  Generations after God makes a covenant with Abraham Moses draws the extended Israelite family together in the form of a nation with a structure and code of law, given to him on mount Sinai. We discussed with our students Moses' accomplishment and strengths. 
Ask your child: 1. From the story of Moses, tell us two or three attributes of him. 2. Do you think Moses qualifies to be call a hero? Why?

Hebrew
Today we went to art with Morah Laura.  We had a great time! 

4th Grade
Judaics
We learned that we are all a part of the greater Jewish, school, home communities.  Man-kind was NOT created to be by themselves.  We all need suport and we all have to support those around us.
Ask your child: 1. What can each of us do to help heal a friend or relative that is ill? 2. How can we support our soldiers and first responders?

Hebrew
The weekly portion is Ki Tavo, and it is the last massage that Moses is giving the Israelite, he is telling them about bringing their offering to the "Cohaneem", the Priests, and also take care of the "Levites", the widows and orphans.
Ask your child:  1. Why is it important to mention the fact that as a nation we need to take care of the needy part of our society? 2. Why it was Moses told them that right before entering the land? 

5th Grade
Judaics
This week we learned about Parshah Lech-Lecha (Gen. 12:1-17:27)! We discussed the relationship between God and Abram, and between Abram and his family. We also talked about the covenants between God and Noah, and God and Abraham.
Ask your child: 1. What disagreement led to Abram leaving his father’s house? 2. How does God in this portion seem different than God during the story of Noah?

Hebrew 
Its such a pleasure having a madricha leading a class, especially for high holiday like Rosh Hashana. We will learn about the symbols  of Rosh Hashna such as A head of a fish, writing cards and more. We will understand the deep meaning of the symbols and then, create our own apple with as special blessing to the earth.  
Ask your child: 1. What was the most meaningful blessing you wrote. 2. What would you like us to "bring to Rosh Hashana table" that we did not have until today and why?

6th Grade 
The week prior we made it to the early 1930s on our Israel timeline, talking about the various groups who were leaving Europe for Israel. This week we dove back into our Holocaust timeline and took a closer look at Hitler's rise to power, answering questions like:
-How did Hitler use propaganda to promote his ideas? 
-Why did so many people read his manifesto, Mein Kampf? 
-How did Hitler move from an appointed position of the chancellor to Fuhrer, Reich chancellor, and chief of the armed forces? 
Finally, our major discussion centered around the old oath for the military compared to the new oath after Hitler came to power.
Ask your kids about the main differences between the old oath and the new oath and how those differences affected the Jewish community.

7th Grade 
In Stephen R. Covey's book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he teaches, “If I really want to improve my situation, I can work on the one thing over which I have control - myself.” Our class, one week before Rosh Hashanah, centered around the idea of how we can add value to our lives. We explored a famous Jewish text where the character (Ben Zoma) asks 4 important questions. The questions are listed below. Please ask your child how Ben Zoma's perspective was different than we normally think. 
Ask your child: 1. Who is Wise? 2. Who is strong? 3. Who is rich? and 4. Who is honored? 

8th Grade - Confirmation Academy
Sunday was a busy Sunday for 8th-grade! We spent the morning at the MJCCA low ropes course, rock wall, and lakefront. My two big goals this year for the 8th-grade are Aelf) the madrichim-in-training will gain practical Jewish knowledge that they can use in their everyday life; Bet) the madrichim-in-training will create a community of like-minded peers and lifelong friends that they will grow with well into their adulthood.
 
Just as important as the time our 8th-graders spend in the classroom, our goal is to show the madrichim-in-training that they are a community of friends, family, and fellow leaders who can have fun together and support one another. First, our guides from the MJCCA helped us get out of our comfort zone with some silly games (yes, I played too!). Then, we went to the low ropes course for a relay race and balancing contest. Apparently, our 8th-graders have now set the record for the longest time balancing on the “surfboard”---7 minutes! In these activities, we worked on communication, patience, trust, and yes, of course, how to have fun. Afterward, we closed out the morning at the rock wall. Personally, rock climbing is one of my favorite activities, not only for the physical strength we get from scaling the wall but also for the mental strength we receive from the support of our friends and the sense of satisfaction we get for having conquered something.
 
I believe we will see the benefits of this day play out over the coming months and years. A group that knows how to work and have fun together will become a strong community of supporters and friends. 

9th-10th Grade - Confirmation Academy
In today’s Confirmation Class we continued with our Elul spiritual preparation for the High Holidays through the ‘girl with the flute’ story.
 
As part of this conversation, we delved into what is ‘awe’, and how our approach to the Yamin Noraim (Days of Awe) has a component of awe because of what is at stake: adjusting ourselves to get on track to be our best selves… or the opportunity cost of not doing that.
 
We also discussed various avenues for how prayer might work, and each one of our Confirmands expressed how these views worked (or did not) with what they themselves believed.
 
We finished with sharing some of our personal spiritual vulnerabilities, and in the context of the story, pivoted to view these as possible strengths for connection.
 
As always, it was a pleasure to be with them.

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Cantor's Notes

Hello Parents!
 
Your kids are becoming wonderful singers and prayers! Today we reviewed our Shema with our hand motions, and we also learned how to “tap our hearts” and open them up for ashamnu, our prayer that helps us say we are sorry and are ready to be better people and friends in the new year. We ended class today with a big chorus of Shofar Blast! 

Remember to join our High Holy Day family services! Some of what we have learned together might make an appearance!!
 
Bshalom,
Cantor Adesnik 
 
Additionally, we are preparing for Consecration, which takes place on Simchat Torah, October 20th with Shema.

Hello Zimria friends!
 
I am so enjoying singing with all of your kids! We have dived into working towards our Friday Night Religious School Shabbat on December 13th, as well as our performances for the Governor’s Mansion and Judas Maccabeus at TE.
 A couple of important dates coming up- please let me know if your child will be attending by rsvp’ing to the doodle. Thanks in advance!
 
As a reminder performances are NOT mandatory, you can still sing in Zimria even if you will not be attending a performance. I just need to have an accurate count for planning purposes.
 
Important Dates:
December 8th: Governor’s Mansion
December 13th: Religious School Chanukah Shabbat
December 15th: Community Wide Choral Chanukah concert and sing along
 
RSVP HERE List of Performances and  DOODLE LINK TO SIGN UP
 
With thanks and blessings,
Cantor Lauren Adesnik

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Ropes Course Trips!

Bond with your class (3rd-8th grades) at the JCC ropes course on the following dates:
10/6 - 5th & 6th Grades
10/27 - 3rd & 4th Grades
Drop off at 9:30.
Pick up at 12:00.

More info to come via email!

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Show your TE love with the COMFIEST shirt!

Order now by clicking  HERE  .

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Opportunities for Mitzvot
Weekly Tzedakah - help your children to remember to bring tzedakah weekly - any amount is GREAT.  All tzedakah will go towards filling the shelves with food at the  Community Assistance Center (CAC) .

Dear Temple Emanuel Families,
     For my bar-mitzvah project I am working with an organization called Soles4Souls. Soles4Souls is a shoe donation company that collects shoes and gives them to less fortunate people in third world countries. For example, they distribute to Honduras, Dominican Republic, and also African and South American nations. Soles4Souls also supplies village shoe dealers in small towns with shoes to allow them to make a profit, resulting in them putting food on the table for their children.
    If you would like to donate, there will be a blue box outside of the religious school office for you all to put shoes in.

Thank you,
Sam Dale
8th Grade, Madrichim-in-Training

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