This week in K/1!

Hello and welcome to Kindergarten & Grade 1 at ARS! If you have any questions about the topics covered in our class, feel free to e-mail me at ELubitz@Brandeis.edu. 

Remember that Shabbat B'yahad is required for all students Kindergarten - 7th grade. It takes place monthly - come any time starting at 9:15 AM! There will be activities for all ages.

What we've covered until now...

1. Hebrew letters 'shin' and 'bet' 

2. In the spirit of Sukkot, we transformed our 'bet' into a Sukkah and learned about the practices and traditions of Sukkot.

3. Our "Mitzvah Museum" is a growing collection of Mitzvahs - all created by your kids! Each week we contribute more Mitzvahs to the museum as they learn about good deeds, the concept of charity, and observing Jewish law. We've made Mitzvah Fruit to decorate our alphabet Sukkah.

4. We have read "Something from Nothing" and we discuss reoccurring concepts in Jewish folklore: family, tradition and heirlooms and creating things ourselves. We put lots of emphasis on keeping Judaism alive through family.

5. In the spirit of creating, we have read the Creation Story and we often refer back to it. We learned what it means to be created "In G-d's image" and "where do we find G-d?". They are all very intelligent and have been very receptive to all of the concepts we've covered!

We are focusing this week and next week on sharing religious experiences. We are covering "synagogues" - why is it important to worship together? And why some holidays like Simchat Torah are large, group celebrations and other observations like Yom Kippur are more personal. We talk about personal goals and dreams versus group ideas and why we are better at doing some things on our own, and some things together. Of course, Mitzvahs can be shared or done on our own. 

Hebrew letters have been practiced during class so far and we are starting our textbook work Today, Tuesday October 5th. We are keeping the textbooks in our classroom and the students are encouraged to bring their practice work and Hebrew letter crafts home for you! 

Also, while I will not be at back to school night on Tuesday due to a midterm exam at school, free free to reach me via email at elubitz@brandeis.edu with any questions that you might have.

As always, visit www.Ohabei.org for updates and details of all events at Temple Ohabei Shalom!!