THANK YOU

Dear Morah Dworin’s Tuesday Class,

Thank you very much for welcoming me into your classroom last week. It was a fine demonstration of the Jewish value hachnasat orchim, welcoming guests. I enjoyed hearing what you had to say about “doing Jewish” and learning with you.

Thank you!

Megan Topper

DOING JEWISH EVERYDAY

We have been talking about the importance of owning our Jewish Life.  By this, I mean every student is beginning to understand they are responsible for creating a comfortable place in their lives to live Jewish everyday.  In our Tuesday afternoon discussions we have been learning the way to to do this is through Avodah.  For our classroom discussions,  Avodah is the work we do by exploring our personal and communal role in Revelation, in order to find sacred connections to God, community and our self. 

We are slowly learning this relationship is ongoing and starts when we are infants.  Our families have been teaching us about this connection throughout our lives and we will continue to learn and work to build this connection.  In other words, our Jewish connection to GOD is an ongoing process we work at developing during our lifetime.  

We had a nice visit from Megan Topper this week and she joined our class for a short time this week. Our students were most gracious, and she truly appreciated the kindness and warmth demonstrated when welcoming her into our classroom.  

Have a Spectacular Shabbat, and I look forward to seeing everyone Sunday Morning. 

SHABBAT SCHOOL

This Friday night is Shabbat School.  Please remember to RSVP for this wonderful way to celebrate Shabbat with you family and Religious School Friends.

Have a great week, Barbara

FALL BACK

DON'T FORGET TO SET YOUR CLOCKS BACK ONE HOUR TONIGHT.

Tomorrow morning we will begin our Life Cycle unit on Brit Milah and Baby Naming.  If you know your Hebrew birthday, the correct spelling of your Hebrew name, and who you were named for or in honor of, please bring the information to class with you. 

If you have any extra candy to share with those less fortunate than us, please donate it to our Basket of Blessings candy collection.  All donations are appreciated.  

What did you do this week to make a difference in our community? What can you do to help make the world a little bit better?  Try to do at least one act of kindness every day...and see how you can make a difference. 

Fall Fix-Up

WOW!!! 

It was nice to see so many of our Kitah Vav students at the Fall Fix-Up Mitzvah Day.  The weather was beautiful and all of us had the opportunity to witness first hand the importance of Tikkun Olam, working together to repair the world.  Many of our classroom discussions focus on the importance of being an active member of our community, and how each of us is personally responsible for making the world a better place.  Spending time together helping others gave each of us a first hand experience and takes the lessons in the classroom out into the world.  

Thank you for helping to make this a hands on  learning experience for our students. 

Have a great week, and we will see you Tuesday afternoon. 

Halloween With A Jewish Twist

As whole, the Jewish community does not celebrate Halloween, but we do dress up for Purim! So, save those costumes and think about adding a Jewish twist or a tzedakah piece to your Trick or Treat Traditions.

While it is important to support our neighbors in their celebrations, and equally important to not separate ourselves from the community, there are many ways of participating in a custom without observing it the way others do. Some suggest Jewish children share in the celebration by greeting their neighbors and giving out candy. It is certainly possible for our children to get excited about giving to others, and then the underlying theme for them is that Halloween is about giving.

A noted Rabbi and educator, Rabbi Jacob J. Hecht, once noticed the similarity between Purim and Halloween. In both cases, children get dressed up and go door to door receiving gifts of food. The distinction between the two is that on Halloween, the children only receive, whereas on Purim, the emphasis is that the children learn to give. The fact that they might receive in return is of secondary importance.

To reinforce the value of giving, and to encourage the act of helping others, we will be collecting all extra wrapped candy you have on Tuesday afternoon. Please talk to your children about giving to others, and help them turn an everyday moment into a Jewish experience.