We had a lot of fun last week at CBHCS!
During family minyan last Sunday, Rabbi G introduced the middah of Kavod, which means “honor.” She tied the idea of honoring others into diversity and inclusion. We are proud of the diversity of individuals that make up the whole at CBHCS! As an extension of this morning learning, Rabbi G had a project for students to complete once they got into their classrooms: Each student selected a person-shaped cardstock cut-out (from an array of different skin colors) and decorated it to look like themselves. Some students wrote words on their people that they felt went with their identities. At the end of the day, each class turned in their cardstock people to Kate. We will be using them as part of a future school project that will continue to expand upon the theme of celebrating diversity, a little later in the year.
Last Sunday was also the first meeting of our new teen program, Rise up with Rabbi Josh. Rabbi Josh and our teens went on a guided tour of the history of Black Atlanta. (Be sure to check out our teen page and/or our social media to see more pictures!) This year, our Rise Up program is focused on the themes of leadership and social issues that are currently relevant to our teens.
This coming Sunday, our school is on break due to Labor Day weekend. We hope all our families have a lovely extended weekend, and we look forward to seeing you all when we resume on September 8th!
To find out what our students were up to in their classes last week, see below:
K/1st Grade
This week at CBHCS, we…
Learned that there are 613 mitzvot in the Torah, and mitzvot help us think about what kind of people we should be, how to be good to others, and ways to respect the people, animals, objects, and nature around us.
Learned that a “mensch” is someone who is a really nice person who does good things.
Went on a “Mitzvah Treasure Hunt” and got to do some mitzvot in our classroom!
Next class, we will do a glow stick science project, and discuss that mitzvot are like pieces of shattered light hidden throughout the world. When we find an opportunity to do a mitzvah, we bring more goodness and light into the world.
Began learning a Rosh Hashanah song, in preparation for the upcoming holiday!
Can’t wait to share more learning and fun with your kiddos once Sunday school is back in session!
2nd/3rd Grade
Last Sunday, we learned about the Jewish story of the birth of the world. We learned that in the story, God created the world in seven days, and rested on the 7th day. We discussed that this is where the concept of Shabbat comes from. We split our class into seven teams, and each team worked on a collaborative picture of one of the seven days of creation. We also learned the concept of Betzelem Elokim - that we were all created in the image of God.
In Hebrew, we introduced and practiced the Hebrew letters gimmel, dalet, hay, and vav, and the “eh” vowel. We introduced a tactile element into this, by having the students create the Hebrew letters and vowels out of pipe cleaners.
Can’t wait to see your kids again after the break!
4th Grade
Last Sunday, we learned the story of God passing down the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. We learned that the Torah gives a total of 613 commandments, and that five types of mitzvot can be found throughout the Tanakh. We also talked about the story in which God punished the Israelites for worshipping the golden calf by destroying the Ten
Commandments.
In Hebrew, we continued to practice reading and reciting the Modeh Ani prayer.
We are looking forward to picking back up where we left off after the break this weekend.
Enjoy and see you soon!
5th Grade
Another Sunday, another great morning of learning and laughs.
In the first half of class, many of the kids read their first prayer: Shema.
We started by finding the prayer it in the Torah and understanding not only what the prayer means, but also its context within the week’s Torah portion.
And then we read it — one letter at a time, slowly blending the letters and vowels into words.
It wasn’t easy for them, but the sense of accomplishment was palpable!
Next class: those kids that had a harder time will get (re)introduced to the letters; we won’t move on until they get it. We’re working on building a foundation.
However, those kids that are ready, will move on to the the rest of the prayer.
In Judaics, we acted out the story of Creation.
To help them with their critical thinking skills, we discussed how light was created on day one, even though the sun wasn’t created until day four. The kids had amazing thoughts: one offered that maybe the miracle of day one was the “idea” or “feeling” of light and darkness, rather than literal light. I was really impressed with their thinking.
Next class: We’ll introduce them to The First Family — Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel and Seth.
The kids are a joy. Thanks for sharing them with us this Sunday.
Have a great Labor Day weekend (no class next weekend) and we look forward to seeing you all in two weeks.
6th Grade
This past Sunday, we continued our Introduction to the Torah. We learned that the Torah is the collective story of the Jewish people, the Torah has a specific instruction, including books, chapters, verses, and units of stories called parashiyot, and that there are many opinions on how the Torah was created.
We also learned that “Shmirat HaGuf” means “taking care of your body,” and discussed ways we can take care of our bodies and show gratitude for our bodies.
In Hebrew, we introduced the Ein Kamocha prayer, and began to practice reading and reciting it.
Looking forward to seeing you after the break.
7th Grade
During our last class, we practiced the prayer for the tallit and discussed what the tallit represents, as well as the purpose it serves. Our people-identity-diversity project led to a discussion on how to honor relatives with fundamentally different views (each of the 7th grade students has relatives who practice a different religion than they do, and who have different political backgrounds).
In Judaics, we discussed what a prophet is, and what a prophet does in Judaism. We compared this to Christianity and Islam. We also introduced and analyzed the concept of justice, and discussed that what you personally think is right doesn't always match up with what the law provides. We tied this into a real-life justice example, using title III of the ADA as the vehicle for that discussion--asking the question of whether the Internet was subject to the Americans With Disabilities Act.
See you after the break.