Shalom Kitah Vav (6th-grade) Families!
Chanukah is early this year and primarily we’ll study a few rabbinic sources for why we celebrate 8 days of the holiday (in addition to reviewing the basics).
In class we’ve started our Etgar: Choreography of the Torah Service Unit. Why is the Torah so central to the Shabbat morning experience? Well, it essentially re-creates the Revelation at Mt. Sinai, and so we’ve been working on defining the word “Revelation” i.e.
an awe-inspiring event
a meeting between people and the unknown
an act of making known through divine inspiration
something that is revealed by God to humans
An Unknown that is suddenly Known
The students will take a look at Exodus chapter 19 and the beginning of chapter 20, it’s the narrative of our ancestors’ revelatory encounter with God at Mt. Sinai. Students will select inspiring verses from the text and illustrate their understanding through visual imagery and words of significance on posters which will be viewed by the entire group.
Following that, we will cover Seder K’riat HaTorah (the sequence of the Torah reading service) and contemplate how it memorializes the revelatory experience at Sinai. The goal is to underscore the ongoing relationship every Jew has with the Torah. Through liturgy and choreography, we remember the moment of Revelation at Sinai and that it is for each and every one of us.
Here is the sequence:
Taking out the Torah
Reading the Torah
Reading the Haftarah
Prayers for the Community
Returning the Torah to the Ark
Reminder that our Yad LaTorah Program is on December 9th!
Each Student is working on designing a Yad La Torah (the pointer used for Torah Reading) to be assembled at the Program. Please look for upcoming information soon!
Feel at ease to contact me dettedgui@talmudtorahmpls.org