Week 4 came and went with engagement, enjoyment, and energy! We are continuing to do nametags, as we still have new friends enrolling in school. I encourage you to continue to ask your children their friends', teachers', and madrichim names. This will help your kiddos (and you) remember from week to week!
Our 4th grade parents had a get-together last week, and it was great to see everyone getting to know each other and building community. If you haven't heard from your grade level yet, please let me know so I can assist in getting a get-together on the calendar.
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), please register them ahead of timeHERE .
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 Today we learned about Yom Kippur. We learned that it is the day of atonement where we ask God forgiveness for our sins. We talked about what we could ask God for forgiveness for and made a class list. Then we colored a sheet with Rabbi on it blowing a shofar at the end of service. Ask your child: 1. What is Yom Kippur? 2. How many hours do we fast?
1st Grade We continued our discussion of what mitzvot are. We made mitzvah leaves for our mitzvah tree, and started really talking about why doing mitzvot is so important. Ask your child: 1. What did you write on your mitzvah leaf? 2. What is a mitzvah you did today?
2nd Grade This week we learned about Yom Kippur, an important Jewish holiday following Rosh Hashana. We learned by reading the story of Jonah and the Whale that we cannot run away from our mistakes. We then shared our family traditions and what we plan to ask forgiveness for. Ask your child: 1. Why do we celebrate Yom Kippur? 2. Why is the story of Jonah and the whale important?
3rd Grade Judaics - Students will be introduced to Sandy Koufax who was considered the finest left hand pitcher that ever played baseball. He was respected by all. Today, 50 years later Koufax is remembered, not for what he had accomplished, but for what he didn't do. He refused to play on Yom Kippur. Through class, students will learn how making a tough decision always comes with a price but can also make an impact for year to come Ask your child: 1. Do you think not playing on Yom Kippur was an easy decision for Sandy Koufax? 2. Have you ever had to make a tough decision? What was the outcome of your decisiion?
Hebrew To start off the lesson, each child will open up their Siddur and go over familiar prayers in search of words that are used to describe God. After writing down 10 words on the whiteboard, we will narrow the list down to 5. Each student will choose 3-4 words from the remaining list that they believe applies to themselves, and explain why they chose those words. After a classroom discussion about how we are all similar to God in different ways, we will talk about Rosh Hashanah and how it is the celebration of God's creation of the world. Ask your child: 1. Why do we eat apples and honey on Rosh Hashanah? 2. What is the name of the Hebrew month that Rosh Hashanah is celebrated in?
4th Grade Judaics I was actually quite surprised on how many calming techniques the students came up on their own. We talked about some additional ones. But the best part was learning to recognize the signs of frustrations turning into anger and how to 'slow it down' . We talked about examples of seeing the build up in others and trying not to add to the situation. We learned that fear of the unknown can manifest as anger, and in our setting it is certainly ok not to understand and ask questions. Anger is a normal emotion and it's ok to be angry, it how we handle our anger that counts. Ask your child: Students can be asked about techniques to calm themselves down. They can be asked how it feels to become frustrated when they aren't understood, or to witness a friend's or family member's frustration.
Hebrew We are continuing with the lows this time - being sensitive to the poor, widows, orphans etc. and the important of true justice. Ask your child: 1. Do you think the Israelites took Moses' suggestions about the lows? why? 2. How would you react to that if you were on of them? 5th Grade Judaics This week we discussed the story of Noah and the Flood! Students took turns reading the portion (in English). We focused on how this story portrays God and Noah as complex characters. Ask your child: 1. What did they think of Noah the person? 2. Were they surprised to learn about Noah's role in allowing us to eat meat and in justifying slavery?
Hebrew We will look together at the Hebrew calendar to find how unique is the Hebrew calendar. We will find together all the special holidays, months and Sabbath. We will also learn the Hebrew months and how they related to Israel and create our own Hebrew month calendar. Ask your child: 1. How do we know which month is it thorough the Hebrew calendar? 2. What is your favorite month and why?
6th Grade Today the students learned about the first three groups that made Aliyah to Israel, understandably named: 1st aliyah, 2nd aliyah, and 3rd aliyah. Ask your child which aliyah they were a part of (they were split into groups and assigned an aliyah to learn about). When did they leave their countries? Where did they come from? Why did they leave? What were they hoping for in Israel?
Students were also introduced to the 1917 Balfour Declaration, but we’ll talk more about that important decree in later weeks!
7th Grade This week we learned about the importance of the Talmud. We also continued our lessons on friendship in Judaism and learned how important it is to make friends and about the value they can bring to our lives. The students deepened their learning with projects. Please ask them what they did to connect deeper to the texts. Ask your child: 1. How is friendship a value in Judaism? 2. How did you connect to the texts in a deeper way?
8th-10th Grade - Confirmation Academy Hi parents,
Today we delved into Jewish Spirituality, and how stories are the modality of choice in Judaism to convey values and truths.
Two stories, the Seer of Lublin and R’ Zusya, were told and worked through in hevrutah (partnerships) to lift up what it means to place yourself into a space to realize your very best self, and how self-realization must be an active pursuit to see success. This was, of course, put into context of our Confirmation Academy study, Temple Emanu-El, and the upcoming High Holidays.
Thanks for sending us your kids.
Shavuah Tov,
-S
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Cantor's Notes
Hello K-2 parents!
I am having a wonderful time singing with your kids! We are learning about the Shofar, with The Shofar Blast Song; we are learning about “being in the moment” with a song called Hineni- yes the kids are learning some Hebrew! And we have learned about God with our “One God Yah!” Song.
Additionally, we are preparing for Consecration, which takes place on Simchat Torah, October 20th with Shema.
Wishing everyone a sweet new year!
With thanks and blessings, Cantor Lauren Adesnik
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
My name is Laura Drukman. I will be your child’s art teacher at Temple Emanu-El. Currently, I teach art at Pleasantdale Elementary in DeKalb County. This is my 18th year as an elementary school art teacher.
In addition to my experience teaching art in the public-school setting, I also taught art at Torah Day School of Atlanta for 2 years, as well as at Pirchei Boys Camp for 2 summers. I lived in Israel for 5 years, and I am well versed in both Hebrew and Judaica.
My goal is to provide my students with a variety of enriching hands-on opportunities to express their creativity and connect to Judaism through the medium of art. I am looking forward to working with your child.
Sincerely, Laura Drukman
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Ropes Course Trips!
Bond with your class (3rd-8th grades) at the JCC ropes course on the following dates: 9/22 - 8th Grade 10/6 - 5th & 6th Grades 10/27 - 3rd & 4th Grades Drop off at 9:30. Pick up at 12:00.
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) .
Temple Emanu-El 1580 Spalding Drive Atlanta, GA 30350
