Shalom Dear Kitah Vav (6th-grade) Families,
Well...we navigated this Zoomed-World with it’s pluses and minuses; although, we were online and not physically together, we remain very grateful for the technology that brought us together to learn, to pray and to play.
Each and every class we’ve counted the Days of the Omer. In the midst of these COVID-19 days, we don’t always know what day it is; but as Jews, we can count on our Jewish calendar to know exactly when to meet each other at our sacred-times, no matter what is going on in the world, and that is very reassuring.
Torah & Reading-Hebrew/Practice
During the Summer, please continue to practice Hebrew reading at least 20 minutes a week from a Tikkun, Siddur, or from your Bar/Bat-Mitzvah materials. In class we continued to review the Blessings before and after Torah and the Blessings before and after the Haftarah.
Holidays
We commemorated Yom Hazikaron (Israel’s Memorial Day for Soldiers and those that lost their lives for Israel) and celebrated Yom Ha’Atzma’ut (Israel’s Independence Day) together. For Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day), we viewed the Imax video of Jerusalem. In anticipation of Shavuot we have explored the custom of Counting the Omer for the 49 days between the second day of Passover until Shavuot. We discussed the bringing of the harvest and fruits to the Temple Mount. Shavuot is a harvest festival but it’s also the day we received the Torah at Mt. Sinai as a gift, and so we read the Book of Ruth on Shavuot. The connection of Ruth to Shavuot is that she chose to become Jewish and the narrative takes place during the harvest. She is King David’s great grandmother. It is traditional to eat dairy foods on Shavuot, which makes it unique because for most holidays we’d make meat meals, but why? According to Rabbinic tradition, one reason comes from Song of Songs, 4:11, where the Torah is compared to honey and milk. So, like milk, the Torah is life-sustaining to those who speak its words and live by the commandments. On the last day of school Zoom style, we made homemade ice cream to celebrate Shavuot...it was a dairy special treat!!
Thank you for “living and learning” with us during this unprecedented time of physical-distancing. We have shared our joys and hardships, and have been a wonderful community of support throughout these strange times. We hope you are all healthy and well!
B’Shalom,
Rabbi Daniel Ettedgui
Morah (Teacher) Niza Schear