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Happy Hanukkah Everyone!

Today we reviewed the Hanukkah story and discussed how we can bring light outside our homes. Some ideas were: giving to others, showing kindness and making new friends. After practicing the Hanukkah prayers we made edible dreidels! Yum!!

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Today we talked about the ideas from this week's Parsha, specifically how to get along with siblings. We reviewed the Torah Trope we learned last week, and then we played a game of dreidle to celebrate Chanukah.

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We continued with our Hebrew studies and will be starting Hebrew boot camp next week. Today was all about Chanukah, however, as the siren song of dreidels and candy was the focus of everyone's attention. After practicing our blessings, we made edible dreidels.

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Hanukkah Dance Party with the Magen Boys 

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Hanukkah Dance Party with the Magen Boys 

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We started Hanukkah off right this morning with an epic dance party led by the Magen Boys. The kids had a great time getting in the holiday spirit - happy first night of Hanukkah!

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Today we participated and engaged in T'filah with Cantor Sharret- Singer, Mr. Dan, our Rabbi's, and the song leading team. During our programming block we had a blast celebrating Hanukkah with the Magen Boys!!!

Next week we will create meaningful art out of clay to represent a ritual, tradition, or part of the B'nei Mitzvah process.

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Today we participated and engaged in T'filah with Cantor Sharret- Singer, Mr. Dan, our Rabbi's, and the song leading team. During our programming block we had a blast celebrating Hanukkah with the Magen Boys!!!

Next week we will learn about the traditions and rituals involved in a Jewish wedding with Rabbi Weiss!

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Today we participated and engaged in T'filah with Cantor Sharret- Singer, Mr. Dan, our Rabbi's, and the song leading team. During our programming block we had a blast celebrating Hanukkah with the Magen Boys!!!

Next week we will learn about the Jewish value of Shmirat Holoshon- guarding of the tongue- through conversation and games.

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Today we participated and engaged in T'filah with Cantor Sharret- Singer, Mr. Dan, our Rabbi's, and the song leading team. During our programming block we had a blast celebrating Hanukkah with the Magen Boys!!!

Next week we will learn about the Jewish value of Anavah- humility- through conversation and games.

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Yesterday, we got back to work in our Hebrew workbooks, and many of the students showed great progress in learning new letters and strengthening their skills with letters they've already learned. During Judaics, we learned the history and meaning of Chanukah, with the students helping to tell the story, the heros, the villains, and why the temple was so important to Jews if the time period. Everyone is looking forward to next week as we further develop understanding of the holiday.

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We began by continuing on our Hebrew learning. Students that are still working on passing our beginner red level made Hebrew letter index cards. My hope is that this will provide them another strategy to become more proficient with letter ID and sound.

Then, we began our Hanukkah lesson by discussing the story. Then we practice reading prayer prayers. They should be in your child’s bag for you to use during the holiday. Glass, we had some fun, spinning, grade 4 letters Nun, Gimel, Shin & Hey.

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Today we discussed some of the customs and traditions of Chanukah. We also discussed this week's parsha. We closed out our session with learning some of the Torah trope with Cantor Sharret-Singer.

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Learning about the bar and bat mitzvah service through famous Jewish personalities, Idinia Mendel and Ruth Bader Ginsburg!

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Creating a mock bar/bat mitzvah for a famous Jewish figure! What was Aly Raisman’s Torah portion?

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Today in 4th grade we enjoyed a special program by Rabbi Weiss where we discussed the traditions of Jewish wedding ceremonies. The kids made their own class ketubah, enjoyed some grape juice, and broke a plastic cup. Mazel tov!

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Shmirat Halashon

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Shmirat Halashon

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Finishing our art projects today. Using clay to make Jewish symbols.

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Today we participated and engaged in T'filah with Cantor Sharret- Singer, Mr. Dan, our Rabbi's, and the song leading team. During our programming block we discussed the key elements of a B'nei Mitzvah service and created a mock mitzvah by using celebrities' and a variety of Parshot to help guide us!

Next week we will have Hanukkah ruach day! Come decked out in blue and white and get ready to celebrate with the Magen Boys DJ Group as we play games and dance the day away!

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Today we participated and engaged in T'filah with Cantor Sharret- Singer, Mr. Dan, our Rabbi's, and the song leading team. During our programming block we had our second art block where we got to design a clay piece that represented the B'nei Mitzvah milestone.

Next week we will have Hanukkah ruach day! Come decked out in blue and white and get ready to celebrate with the Magen Boys DJ Group as we play games and dance the day away!

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Today we participated and engaged in T'filah with Cantor Sharret- Singer, Mr. Dan, our Rabbi's, and the song leading team. During our programming block we learned about the rituals involved in Jewish weddings. We made our own class Ketubah and learned from Rabbi Weiss by experiencing portions of a wedding together!

Next week we will have Hanukkah ruach day! Come decked out in blue and white and get ready to celebrate with the Magen Boys DJ Group as we play games and dance the day away!

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Today we participated and engaged in T'filah with Cantor Sharret- Singer, Mr. Dan, our Rabbi's, and the song leading team. During our programming block we learned about the Jewish value Shmirat Holoshon and through games and conversations developed the way in which we should be speaking to those around us in an effort to not gossip and spread kind words.

Next week we will have Hanukkah ruach day! Come decked out in blue and white and get ready to celebrate with the Magen Boys DJ Group as we play games and dance the day away!

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Today we explored some of the ancient and more modern sites in Israel. We had a discussion about Parsha Chai Sara for our weekly parsha discussion. Students discussed the plan to find Isaac a wife. We also continued to build our Hebrew reading skills with different prayers in our Siddur.

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Today students continued working on their Hebrew. They are making good progress as they move forward. In Jewish Studies we read a book about the ecology of Israel, learning about the animals and other features found there. Then we talked about similarities to our environment here in Maryland. Students also had a chance to meet my monkey puppet Avraham. It turns out he doesn’t put as much effort into learning Hebrew or about the Jewish holidays as the students. They’re looking forward to seeing him again and what progress he’s made! I want to remind you that Machane will be closed Sunday November 23 and November 30 for Thanksgiving. I want to wish all of you a very happy holiday!

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Today we began by practicing our Hebrew and then transitioned to discussing the importance of Israel being the Jewish homeland. To learn about what Zionism means, the kids were tasked with brainstorming what makes a home. They had some great ideas and I hope they understand the importance of the Israeli State and its meaning to our people.

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Hebrew letter bingo and "A Feather, A Pebble, A Shell" 

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Hebrew letter bingo and "A Feather, A Pebble, A Shell" 

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Today in classroom 14, we reinforced our Alef Bet learning by using our homemade bingo cards which help both with writing Hebrew letters and sight recognition. The prize for winning a game of Bingo was a seashell that Ms. Gail and Madracha Isabelle collected on vacation last spring. The seashells also served as a bridge to today's Israel lesson, where we learned about the geography and natural environment in Israel by reading a book called A Feather, A Pebble, A Shell. Then we went outdoors to see what we have similar to, and different from Israel in our own natural environment here in Maryland. Your children brought home their list of their discoveries. Take a look and have them tell you what they remember from the book and from our search! We had a ton of fun. Have a happy Thanksgiving as we now have a two week break! See you in a few weeks!

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This week we got to do art…we practiced making Jewish symbols out of clay.

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Second session creating our latkes! Can’t wait to try them :)

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Simchat Torah Lego celebration

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Simchat Torah Lego celebration

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We are learning about simchat Torah and building a celebration from Lego!

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We can’t believe it’s already time to prep for Chanukah! 6th grade practicing making latkes at cooking

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Today we participated and engaged in T'filah with Cantor Sharret- Singer, Mr. Dan, our Rabbi's, and the song leading team. During our programming block we had cooking! Ask us to make what we learned this year for Hanukkah

Next week we are closed for Thanksgiving. We will return on December 7th where we will begin an art project using clay to think about the importance of the B'nei mitzvah process!

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Today we participated and engaged in T'filah with Cantor Sharret- Singer, Mr. Dan, our Rabbi's, and the song leading team. During our programming block we had art where we began talking about the B'nei Mitzvah milestone through clay interpretations!

Next week we are closed for Thanksgiving. We will return on December 7th where we will continue to finish our art projects.

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Today we participated and engaged in T'filah with Cantor Sharret- Singer, Mr. Dan, our Rabbi's, and the song leading team. During our programming block we learned about the value of Anavah (humility) through conversations and games!

Next week we are closed for Thanksgiving. We will return on December 7th where we will learn about the traditions of Jewish weddings with Rabbi Weiss.

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Today we participated and engaged in T'filah with Cantor Sharret- Singer, Mr. Dan, our Rabbi's, and the song leading team. During our programming block we explore the holiday and traditions of Simchat Torah!

Next week we are closed for Thanksgiving. We will return on December 7th where we will create our own siddur covers.

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Today we had a creative t'filah experience. We each got our own printed siddur that was stripped down to just the text and translation. We worked to define each prayer in our own words and to illustrated how we see that translation and prayer. We will continue to add to our siddurs throughout the year creating meaning and connection to our service.

During our program block we had a conversation with motivational speaker Jonah Berger. Jonah shared his story with his disability, how to see the positive in all things and how to overcome challenges with a smile. Next week, we will have cooking where we will make a Hanukkah themed recipe!

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Today we had a creative t'filah experience. We each got our own printed siddur that was stripped down to just the text and translation. We worked to define each prayer in our own words and to illustrated how we see that translation and prayer. We will continue to add to our siddurs throughout the year creating meaning and connection to our service.

During our program block we had a conversation with motivational speaker Jonah Berger. Jonah shared his story with his disability, how to see the positive in all things and how to overcome challenges with a smile. Next week, have art where we will explore the milestone if B'nei Mitzvah through clay!

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Today we had a creative t'filah experience. We each got our own printed siddur that was stripped down to just the text and translation. We worked to define each prayer in our own words and to illustrated how we see that translation and prayer. We will continue to add to our siddurs throughout the year creating meaning and connection to our service.

During our program block we had a conversation with motivational speaker Jonah Berger. Jonah shared his story with his disability, how to see the positive in all things and how to overcome challenges with a smile. Next week, we will dive into the value, Anavah through conversation and games!

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Today we had a creative t'filah experience. We each got our own printed siddur that was stripped down to just the text and translation. We worked to define each prayer in our own words and to illustrated how we see that translation and prayer. We will continue to add to our siddurs throughout the year creating meaning and connection to our service.

During our program block we had a conversation with motivational speaker Jonah Berger. Jonah shared his story with his disability, how to see the positive in all things and how to overcome challenges with a smile. Next week, we will review the holiday Simchat Torah through legos!

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Shemot pictures

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Students continued working on their Hebrew. They are making progress working on their folders. In Jewish Studies, we took the pictures they made last week and posted them on the bulletin board outside our classroom. They made beautiful scenes about the Torah portion Shemot, including Moses and the burning bush. Today we learned about Noah and the Ark. Each student had a picture of the Ark and a set of stickers with animals. Then they made their own scene of placing animals on the Ark. They looked really nice!

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Today we continued working on our Hebrew letters, blending and sounding out words. I can’t get over how excited many are to continue to rise belt levels! Ask your kiddo where they’re at!

We learned about Noah and his ark. Noah was the only righteous person left in the world so G-d told him to build an ark with 7 of each kosher animal and 2 of each of the rest. Then Noah and his family boarded the ark while it rained for 40 days and nights. Many more months went by before there was dry land for them.

After hearing this story, we made our own Noah’s ark in the storm using bottles, water, blue dye, soap and animal figurines!

Have a great week!

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Today we had a discussion about Parsha Noach and Vayera for our weekly parsha discussion. Students engaged in debating the choices Noach made as well as Abraham's choices in sacrificing his son. We also continue to build our Hebrew reading skills with different prayers in our Siddur.

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We had an alternative t’fillah this morning and the kids did great! Small groups chose a prayer and then presented to the group what the prayer means to them and sang/read the Hebrew out loud. Way to go 5th graders!

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Today's Judaics lesson was about Noah and the ark. We read the story of Noah and did a "pin the tale on the donkey" style game with an ark and animal stickers to reinforce the lesson. Also, we took a break from our standard Hebrew workbooks to reinforce what we've learned so far by making Hebrew letter bingo cards, which we'll finish up making next week so we can play Jewish bingo in the weeks to come. I hope your children had fun. I know I did!

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Second session getting ready for a motivational discussion with Jonah Berger

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Today we began with picking up practicing our Hebrew skills. It’s so nice to see the range of Hebrew learners we have and how they’re working together to enrich themselves.

The moment the kids were waiting for came- finishing up our T’rumah bulletin board! Wow did these kiddos create some beautiful work!

First session created a menorah surrounded with the different ideas Moses had of what the Jews would carry with them through the desert during his time atop Mount Sinai.

Second session finished up Mount Sinai along with all the Jewish people awaiting for him below.

Have a great week!

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Today we finished reviewing everyone's bar/bat mitzvah Torah portions as well as completed our bulletin board of Moses parting the sea. See everyone next week.

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This morning we continued our learning in Hebrew. Students are making progress as we learn the letters and their pronunciation. In Jewish Studies, we worked on our bulletin board for the Torah portion Shemot. Students drew pictures of the events in the portion, including the birth and rescue of Moses from the river, Moses and the burning bush, and Moses returning to Egypt to confront Pharaoh. This bulletin board will be completed next week.

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The second group of 5th graders after break showed so much ruach (spirit!) today during T’fillah :)

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Classroom 14: Hebrew, and Parsha Bo, and artwork, oh my!

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Classroom 14: Hebrew, and Parsha Bo, and artwork, oh my!

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Our enthusiastic third graders are moving forward with their Hebrew curriculum, each at their own pace. Parents, please encourage your students to borrow a Hebrew reader to practice at home, and remind them... this isn't a race! Finishing the workbook FAST isn't the goal. Really learning the letters and their sounds, so they don't have to think long and hard as they encounter letters each time they're looking at Hebrew text, is what they should be aiming for. It's not a competition. It's a journey!

We completed our bulletin board representing Parsha Bo, which includes the final three plagues in the Passover story. Stop by the bulletin board next week and see your kids artistic efforts to portray Parsha Bo.

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Today we returned to the art room to make our final clay creations that represent being Jewish to each student. Kids made challah, dreidels, torahs and matzah. Ask your child what they made!

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6th Grade Building Jewish Themes out of Legos

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6th Grade Building Jewish Themes out of Legos

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5th grade got 2nd grade buddies during the first session today … so cute!

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First session 6th grade leading T’filah with the V’ahavta!

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Today we participated and engaged in T'filah with Cantor Sharret- Singer, Mr. Dan, our Rabbi's, and the song leading team. During our programming block we learned about the traditions of Simchat Torah through legos!

Next week we will be having a program on Inclusion where we learn about how different people can be and how we can accept them and use their differences as strengths!

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Today we participated and engaged in T'filah with Cantor Sharret- Singer, Mr. Dan, our Rabbi's, and the song leading team. During our programming block we learned about Israeli inventions, what makes them special and how we can 'market' them!

Next week we will be having a program on Inclusion where we learn about how different people can be and how we can accept them and use their differences as strengths!

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Today we participated and engaged in T'filah with Cantor Sharret- Singer, Mr. Dan, our Rabbi's, and the song leading team. During our programming block we had art where we began learning about the significance of a B'nei Mitzvah using clay!

Next week we will be having a program on Inclusion where we learn about how different people can be and how we can accept them and use their differences as strengths!

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Today we participated and engaged in T'filah with Cantor Sharret- Singer, Mr. Dan, our Rabbi's, and the song leading team. During our programming block we learned about the fall holidays and made a delicious apple cake in our cooking chug!

Next week we will be having a program on Inclusion where we learn about how different people can be and how we can accept them and use their differences as strengths!

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Today we spent time reviewing the parshas for everyone's bar and bat mitzvahs as well as creating our bulleting board.

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Today was another busy day of learning! We began with our Hebrew. Students continued in their workbooks, making good progress as they worked independently with teacher help. In Jewish Studies we began working on our Bulletin Board project. We will be making a bulletin board based on the theme of the Torah portion “Shemot”, which starts the Torah Book of Exodus (also called Shemot in Hebrew). It begins with the Egyptians turning against the Israelites, enslaving them, Moses’ birth and rescue, his fleeing Egypt to Midian, the burning bush, G-d choosing Moses to return to Egypt to demand the Israelites being freed and allowed to leave, and the first of the plagues. We had a good discussion about this. Next week we will be doing art work representing some of the key points in the story. This was a very productive day!

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Greetings, classroom 14 families! The kids are really showing enthusiasm for our new Hebrew curriculum. Numerous students asked to bring the Hebrew readers home with them, so please encourage them to practice at home.

During Judaics, we learned about how the Torah, though it has many stories, breaks those stories down into even smaller parts, called a parsha (singular) (plural is parashot). We are doing a project where we learn about a parsha and then make a bulletin board in the hallway outside our classroom to represent our parsha. We have Parsha Bo, which covers the final three plagues at Passover, Pharaoh's release of the Israelites, and the very beginning of their departure from Egypt. We brainstormed what should be on our bulletin board (and the ideas we generated are in the picture above). Great work today in Ms

Gail's classroom.

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First session is hard at work sketching out their ideas for the bulletin board. 

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Second session decided to make Moses on top of Mount Sinai thinking about G-d’s commandments for the Jewish People. 

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Today we continued to enrich our Hebrew learning by practicing letters, vowel sounds and words. The students continue to get excited to move up belt levels.

In today, we began brainstorming/designing for our bulletin board for the parashat T’rumah.

We sketched out ideas and then brainstormed how to collaborate to make one cohesive idea.

I can’t wait to see what they come up with!

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5th grade learned about humility today. After talking about values and specifically what humility means, we did several activities to demonstrate the concept, including playing pick up sticks using their non-dominant hand and making spaghetti/marshmallow towers as a team and complimenting each others’ strengths.

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Parents, your students are SO excited about the new Hebrew curriculum. They are asking to bring their workbooks home and that enthusiasm is AMAZING. Please ask your kids to bring home a reader and read to you. I love how excited they are.

In Judaics, we started learning about our "assigned" Parsha from the Torah, which we'll be representing in artistic format on the bulletin board outside of classroom 14. Our Parsha (Bo) covers the final three plagues in the Passover story and the start of the story of the Israelites leaving Egypt. I can't wait to show you all the results of the bulletin board work next week. This week we brainstormed on what we'll do next week.

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Today 4th grade began their two week art project where they were given the opportunity to flex their creative muscles and sculpt something “Jewish.” The students were asked to interpret what being Jewish meant to them and to express that through the medium of clay. We saw dreidels, Torahs, Jewish stars, challahs and the number 18. Today was practice and next week they’ll get to make their final project.

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Third grade learned about a Jewish wedding with Rabbi Pokras today..we wrote our own class Ketubah.

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Today we participated and engaged in T'filah with Cantor Sharret- Singer, Mr. Dan, our Rabbi's, and the song leading team. During our programming block we cooked a fall inspired apple cake and reflected on the Jewish Holidays!

Next week we will be using legos to learn about the holiday Simchat Torah and the traditions around the holiday!