Friendship Bracelets

We held an amazing Friendship Bracelet sale in February with the profits going right into our tzedakah collection for the year.  We were able to add $280 to our tzedakah collection!  It is beautiful to see students and grownups around the temple wearing the various friendship bracelets.  If you would still like to purchase friendship bracelets, you can go to mayanhands.org and buy some more!  (Mayan Hands is the organization that we are collecting tzedakah for this year.)

 

         

Tzedakah

The addition of the profits from the bracelet sale helped our weaving get bigger but we still have a ways to go.  Please consider giving to tzedakah each week to help us reach our goal this year.  We want to see the weaving reach the top of the loom!

Word of the Week

This year we began the idea of offering a Hebrew Word of the Week.  The weekly word changes on Wednesdays.  Teachers and students try to use the word during conversation or prayer.  Some classes have been playing matching games with the Hebrew word and its’ English equivalent.  The 6^th graders sometime write a story, trying to incorporate as many words of the week as they can.  I see families stopping at the Word of the Week board in the lobby and learning a new word.  It has been fun to hear various Hebrew words being used throughout the building and seeing confidence and joy in the students as they include some new Hebrew words into their repertoire.  I hope you try to learn a new word or two and use it in your daily life.

Preschool

We have a vibrant and spirited preschool class that meets a few Sundays each month.  This small but mighty group adds so much enthusiasm and joy to our Sunday mornings.  They keep busy all morning learning through reading books, doing crafts, singing songs, movement, food and enjoying a new addition to the classroom this year, a sensory table!  The table materials change according to their curriculum.  This year the students have explored a table full of Jewish stars, water beads and dreidels and most recently, a table with sand and trees as the class explored Tu B’Shevat.  The hands-on nature of this table allows the students to explore, engage, talk and play all while learning in meaningful and enjoyable ways.

I could go on and on sharing the joys and delights of so many awesome things happening inside our temple during school hours!  I hope you can take a moment and share some of your own joys and delights surrounding Religious and Hebrew School.

Please take some time to look at the calendar at the bottom of this article.  March is a busy month for the school with Purim, Shabbat dinner, lots of Family Ed and so much more!

As always, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions, comments or concerns.

Thank you,

Deborah

 

March

Wednesday, March 1, 2023 – Welcome Back Rabbi Perry!

            Hebrew School

Friday, March 3 – Family Shabbat

            Dinner at 6pm

            Shabbat Service at 7pm

Sunday, March 5

            Purim Shpiel and Carnival for students and families – 10:00am

Wednesday, March 8

            Hebrew School

Sunday, March 12

            Preschool

            K-7^th

                  3^rd grade family ed

            5^th grade family ed

Tuesday, March 14

            Post Confirmation at Rabbi Perry’s home

Wednesday, March 15

            Hebrew School

Friday, March 17 

            Tot Shabbat at 6pm at Congregation Shalom

Sunday, March 19

            Preschool

            K-7^th

                  4th grade family ed

            Shacharit service at 10:15am

Wednesday, March 22

            Hebrew School

            Chai School Session 3 begins

Sunday, March 26

            K-7^th

            6^th grade family ed

Wednesday, March 29

            Hebrew School

            Chai School

Keeping Connected.  December 2022 

Aleph Bet Quest.  Hebrew Through Harmony.  Mitkadem.  Hebrew Word of the Week.  Hebrew Through Movement. Does any of this sound familiar to you? These are the different Hebrew experiences being offered to our student body this year.

The Hebrew atmosphere in our building this year is one of enthusiasm, excitement and anticipation. On any given Sunday or Wednesday, Hebrew is heard throughout the building. Children are moving about to Hebrew action words, reciting prayers and blessings, using new words in their own speech and so much more. Here is a quick rundown of what it going on with our Hebrew program.

AlephBet Quest – our 3^rd graders are learning to decode Hebrew this year by learning the letters and vowels and the sounds they make. They are putting together long strings of letters and vowels and reading Hebrew words and some short sentences. It is really amazing to hear them read in such a short period of learning time.

Hebrew in Harmony – Our 4^th graders are learning Hebrew this year using a curriculum called Hebrew in Harmony. The idea is to bring more music into learning Hebrew and offer new experiential ideas such as art and movement to help the students understand and interpret the prayers. The 4^th graders bring great spirit to the Hebrew studies, as I often hear them chanting loudly and enthusiastically throughout the building!More

November 2022   Keeping Connected

Have you seen the loom in the lobby?  During the past few weeks, the loom and the table have generated many questions and interest from our community.

For our tzedakah project, we will be donating all collected money to an organization called Mayan Hands. (mayanhands.org) “Mayan Hands Foundation is a fair trade, non-profit organization dedicated to providing economic and educational opportunities to Mayan women and girls, so that they can bring their families out of extreme poverty and, at the same time, continue to live within the culture they cherish.” Mayan Hands invests in the next generation by providing scholarships and other education programs to indigenous girls in Guatemala.”More

October 2022   Keeping Connected

We have had a smooth and successful start to the new school year. It has been joyful to see the students and teachers and families in the building, reconnecting, laughing and finding their place in the temple and all that it has to offer. As you know, the way the calendar worked out this year, we had a few weeks of school and then a break for the High Holidays.

This break and beginning to a new year seem like an appropriate time to take a moment to think about the future.  How would you respond if asked, “What are your “Jew – wishes” from Congregation Shalom?” If you took some time to sit back and think about what you hope your children get from Religious School, Hebrew School and membership in our temple community, how would you respond?More

September 2022   Keeping Connected

Welcome to September! I hope you can all look back on a fun, restful and an exciting summer as we all forge ahead to a new school year. I am excited to begin another year at Congregation Shalom and I hope you are too. There are some new ideas and curriculum in place for the coming year, the restoring of some traditions that have taken a covid hiatus, the continuation of some tried and true experiences and the return of familiar faces and the joy of reconnecting with your temple community.

As you may know, the first day of Religious School will be on Sunday, September 11, 2022 in the parking lot.  There has been such a great response from so many of our school parking lot activities that we are excited to continue that covid tradition and bring it into our school regularly.  The difference is that is the weather does not cooperate, we can easily bring our plans into the building.  On September 11 we invite students and families to join together to reconnect with each other and to meet and greet your teachers for the year (both Religious and Hebrew School teachers.) Students and families will also have some time to engage in some welcoming activities and catch up with old friends and meet new friends.  A separate note will come out with the exact plans for our opening day!More