Mary’s Letter
Dear Hey 1 & Hey 2 (5th-grade) Families,
It’s hard for me to believe that our school year has ended. I am happy to say that, with your help, we not only made it through this challenging year, but our Hey students learned and progressed in all areas of study. Additionally, they loved being back together in person and engaging with each other. Old friendships were rekindled and new friendships blossomed.
Our last month was filled with celebrations and commemorations: Pesach, Yom Hashoah, Yom Hazikaron, Yom Ha’atzmaut, and Lag BaOmer.
During our last several sessions we combined the groups to watch a great video which covered the Joseph stories and we did Kahoots to review what they had learned in Torah this year. I must say that I was very impressed with their knowledge.
Thank you for partnering with us and for entrusting your children to us.
It has been a pleasure working with your children this year.
I wish all of you a wonderful summer.
L’hitraot,
Mary
Susie’s Letter
Dear Kitah Hey (5th-grade) Parents,
This is the last blog of our Torah class of 2022 or the Hebrew year, תשפ“ב 5782.
We covered the book of Genesis this year and learned a lot about the main narratives of the Jewish people.
Your children were engaged in class and showed much insight and psychological understanding for their age. They had many good ideas and participated in lively discussions. I hope my guidance helped them to appreciate the lifelong treasure chest of wisdom that is our Torah.
Some of the important lessons we learned about life and ourselves:
All humans are equal because we are descended from one set of parents (Adam and Eve)
All humans have a spark of God within us
When giving Tzedakah or an offering to God, be generous and have an open heart (Abel)
Sometimes one has to take a scary leap of faith to do what one believes (Abraham)
Always have integrity when dealing with others (Abraham and the people of Canaan)
Stand up for what you believe in (Abraham arguing with God)
Family always comes first (Abraham)
God is always with us, even if we don’t realize it (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob)
We don’t always understand what happens to us but God has a plan for us and we are not always aware of our part in God’s plan (Joseph)
There were lessons we learned NOT to do from people in Genesis:
Don’t act impulsively or in anger (Cain)
Humans are not the center of the universe, God is (Tower of Babel )
Don’t play favorites in the family (from Jacob)
Don’t lie or deceive people because life has a way of handing you “measure for measure” (Jacob, Laban)
Don’t keep secrets from the family (Rebecca)
In our Israel unit, these past two months, we toured Israel and visited many of its cities and important places. The highlight of that unit was the students working together in teams of 2-3 to prepare a Kahoot and presentation on a chosen location in Israel and then having their classmates play all the Kahoots as a class culminating activity.
It has been my honor and privilege teaching Torah to your children this year. Thank you for your trust. Keep safe and have a restful and enjoyable summer.
Thank you,
Susie Chalom
DALET/HEY:
Dear Dalet 3 and Hey 3 (4th/5th-grade) Families,
It’s hard for me to believe that our school year has ended. I am happy to say that, with your help, we not only made it through this challenging year, but our Dalet and Hey students learned and progressed in all areas of study. Additionally, they loved being back together in person and engaging with each other. Old friendships were rekindled and new friendships blossomed.
Our last month was filled with celebrations and commemorations: Pesach, Yom Hashoah, Yom Hazikaron, Yom Ha’atzmaut and Lag BaOmer.
During our last several sessions we watched a great video which covered the Joseph stories. The students really enjoyed it.
Thank you for partnering with us and for entrusting your children to us.
It has been a pleasure working with your children this year.
I wish all of you a wonderful summer.
L’hitraot,
Mary