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.
