Sunday January 14, 2018 – Tali

Shalom everyone and welcome back!

We are off to a great start for the second term after a wonderful first term in both Hebrew and religious school.

The students accomplished so much last term.  We did a lot of group work and it’s been a pleasure watching the kids work together. Our curriculum covered a few of the prophets such as Samuel, Hosea, Ezekiel, Joshua and Deborah. We tried to understand the way they thought, operated, and their devotion to God. Even though they were very successful, they were still humble and never forgot  their faith and to thank God. The students compared them, interviewed each other as if they were prophets and how they might behave today.

We learned that the prophets spoke out whenever the children of Israel behaved in a way that failed to live up to God’s expectations. We all tried to take that role. From our studies we understand that if we see injustices in our world, it is our responsibility as Jews and as humans to take action and try to make it a better place.

This term, we have started our study of Deborah, who was a prophet and a judge – one of five woman prophets. We have learned some “Midrashim” stories about her and we will continue learning more about her character.

We have been participating in our weekly services.  Most of the students show their confidence in following the service, helping the younger kids, and many times are participating as leaders.  I’m very proud of them!

In Hebrew we concluded the prayer Ke’dusha.   The time we spend learning Hebrew is so limited and practicing at home is crucial.

I like your help to remind them to practice at home.  I am sending the link to Behrman house.  It is very easy to use. www.behrmanhouse.com . It is an excellent tool to learn, review and catch up with the class. Enter the site ‘practice prayer’, click on the tool bar – learn, choose from the drop menu Hebrew, click on @home, click on Hinneni 2 (Red) and choose the prayer you want. Musical notes located by the prayer signify that you can listen to the singing of the prayer. Everyone in the class also has a photocopy of each of the prayers in their binders.

Looking forward to another great term.

Tali