Hey 1&2 (Sun/Wed) - Mary’s Letter
Dear Hey 1&2 (5th-grade) Parents,
This has been a very busy time of year with the celebration of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah. I hope that you and your families enjoyed all the festivities.
Here is a recap of what we have been studying:
Ivrit (Hebrew)
We continue to work on our Hebrew reading
New vocabulary words in modern and t’fillah (prayer) Hebrew are continually introduced
We are now working on prefixes
We are beginning to learn verbs in the past tense
In t’fillah, we are learning the words to the Friday night Kiddush as well as the themes of the Kiddush. We will also work on portions of the Torah Service
Hanukkah
Students enjoyed our study and celebration of Hanukkah
One of the things I emphasized was that the war that took place was not about land or money. It was a war fighting for our very right to be Jews.
They particularly enjoyed our games and stories connected with this joyous holiday.
It was wonderful seeing some of you at our recent conferences.
I wish you and your families a wonderful winter break.
L’hitraot,
Mary
Hey 1&2 (Sun/Wed) - Susie’s Letter
Dear Hey 1&2 (5th-grade) Parents,
We have had an interesting month in Torah class. We covered the first 11 chapters of Genesis and learned all about Cain and Abel, Noah and the Tower of Babel. This is the part of the Torah that covers the story of all humanity before there was a Jewish people. Next, we start with the story of Abraham - the first Jew. There are a number of interesting questions we have discussed in the context of those chapters:
The importance of assuming responsibility for one’s deeds and stepping up to the consequences of what we do. (Adam, Eve, Cain)
We are indeed, our “brother’s keeper” and what are the implications of that. (Cain)
Even when God is disappointed in us, God always loves us (Adam &Eve, Cain, Noah) and we see that by God’s acts of loving kindness towards the characters after they have disappointed.
The difficulty of being a righteous person living among wicked people. (Noah) Is it easier to be considered righteous or is it more difficult?
It isn’t always a good thing when people unite and work together. (Tower of Babel) We discussed various groups that united for evil purposes and were stronger as a result.(Nazis, KKK etc)
As always, your children are engaged and have good insights. We have played Kahoots every week-it is a game that is also a very good assessment tool for retention and understanding.
It was very nice being able to conference with some of you. If any of you missed conferences and wish to have one, please let me know. I enjoy conferences and learning something new about my students.
I wish you all a happy new year.
May 2022 be a year of good health and joy for all of us!
Susie Chalom
Hey 1-2 Torah teacher
Hey 3 (Tues/Thurs)
Dear Hey 3 (5th-grade) Parents,
This has been a very busy time of year with the celebration of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah. I hope that you and your families enjoyed all the festivities.
Here is a recap of what we have been studying:
Ivrit (Hebrew)
We continue to work on our Hebrew reading
New vocabulary words in modern and t’fillah (prayer) Hebrew are continually introduced
We are now working on prefixes
We are beginning to learn verbs in the past tense
In t’fillah, we are learning the words to the Friday night Kiddush as well as the themes of the Kiddush. We will also work on portions of the Torah Service
Torah
Our study of Torah has continued with Noah. We have been discussing the possible interpretation of the phrase that Noah was “righteous in his generation.” Is it easier to be good when everyone around us is being good or when everyone around us is not so good?
We also spoke about the 7 Noachide laws.
Our values discussion has been about the mitzvah of kindness to animals.
Hanukkah
Students enjoyed our study and celebration of Hanukkah
One of the things I emphasized was that the war that took place was not about land or money. It was a war fighting for our very right to be Jews.
They particularly enjoyed our games and stories connected with this joyous holiday.
It was wonderful seeing some of you at our recent conferences.
I wish you and your families a wonderful winter break.
L’hitraot,
Mary
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