Last week at Sunday school, we welcomed Rabbi Josh to lead family minyan at CBHCS. We so enjoyed having him visit!
During family minyan, Rabbi Josh went over the middah of Ometz Lev. Ometz Lev means “courage,” and literally translates as “strength of heart.” Rabbi Josh guided us in exploring this middah through the lens of having the courage to take responsibility for ourselves and our actions. To help illustrate this theme, he had some of our madrichim come up and help perform a brief skit about the Garden of Eden. He pointed out that rather than having the courage to take responsibility for their own actions, Adam and Eve both pointed fingers at someone else. Members of our audience then gave suggestions on how Adam and Eve could have showed ometz lev in their responses to God about having eaten from the forbidden tree.
Last Sunday was also our second session of CBH Parent n’ Me. This session was entitled “Sensory Shabbat.” Our parents and kids sang "Shabbat Shalom" and danced with scarves, did a yoga Shabbat Candle Pose, discussed how different families relax and connect on the weekend, and saw some pictures of traditional Shabbat symbols/came up with movements to go with each. While our parents discussed personal Shabbat customs with Rabbi G, our kiddos did a Fizzing Grape Juice experiment (and got to drink some regular grape juice), used lots of different sponges to paint challah covers, heard some Shabbat stories, and played Shabbat Simon Says. To end the session, we passed around havdalah spices for parents and kids to smell, and gave each family a sensory Shabbat mural project to do together at home.
To find out what fun is on the horizon, check the bottom of each blog post for our "Upcoming Events" section.
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 about the Jewish Creation story.
We saw a Shalom Sesame video about the Creation story and read about the Days of Creation together.
Talked about the meaning/significance of the word “Bereishit,” and colored a Days of Creation coloring page for our student journals.
Played a group movement game to learn the Days of Creation, and learned/sang the Avodah-Menuchah song together (a Hebrew song about the Days of Creation).
Explored the Days of Creation through tactiles, with a “Creation Grab-Bag” group game.
Practiced our Chanukah song, "Sevivon."
Our K/1st Grade B class also created watercolor paintings, to be sent to our local Jewish senior citizen home, to help brighten the lives of those who live there.
2nd/3rd Grade
Last Sunday, we learned the story of Noah’s ark. We discussed that, in the story, Noah is the only righteous person in a world full of wicked people; God chooses to start the new world
after the flood; and God creates the rainbow as a sign that the earth will never be destroyed again.
We also combined both of our 2nd/3rd grade classes, to do a special project together: Each child created a mezuzah using a plastic test tube. We had so much fun!
In Hebrew, we learned and practiced the Shema and Ve’Ahavta prayers.
Can’t wait to see you this weekend!
4th Grade
Last Sunday, we learned about Joshua and his fight for freedom. We learned the story of when Joshua led the Israelites at the Battle of Jericho. We discussed that freedom is a blessing that comes with responsibilities.
In Hebrew, we learned and practiced the Brachot shel Mitzvot--blessings that one says when doing different mitzvot.
5th Grade
This past Sunday, our theme was “Zicharon,” which means remembrance. As a continuation of our Holocaust unit, we attended the speaking event of a child-of-a-Holocaust-survivor who was a guest at CBH on Lavista. (This followed our Holocaust tour of the Breman Museum on 10/6.) Though this year’s speaker chose to focus on family members who were more fortunate during the Holocaust, any survivor or family-of-a-survivor’s experience is incredibly important, as it reminds us that this was a real event, and that there are living people who are still personally and more directly affected by it.
One of the takeaways from our Holocaust tour at the Breman was “So the Holocaust was real? I thought it was a story, like Pharaoh and the Jewish slaves.”
It is incredibly important to emphasize the difference between Jewish religious stories and world history, especially as fewer Holocaust survivors remain alive than ever before. We find it so important and meaningful at CBHCS that we are able to offer this unit to our 5th graders/5th grade families, to help preserve the knowledge, awareness, and remembrance of this enormously impactful historic event.
We look forward to returning to our regular classes this weekend, and to any follow-up discussion or questions that the kids have.
6th Grade
In 6th grade last week, we learned about Joseph. In the story, Joseph’s brothers are jealous of the way he is favored by Jacob. We discussed that Joseph and his brothers serve as an example of a bad family dynamic which ultimately is resolved.
In Hebrew, we are continuing to try out our new grouping system: Some students are working on more foundational aspects of Hebrew (such as recognition, decoding, blending, etc) and some practiced Lecha Adonai and began learning Birchot HaTorah.
Looking forward to seeing your children this Sunday!
7th Grade
Last weekend, we did a review of our judges unit. We discussed that the stories of the judges provide us with guidance, the prophets were spokespeople for God during biblical times, and that we can link the stories of the prophets to modern day issues of social justice (as we have done in this class since the beginning of the year).
In Hebrew, we practiced V’Shamru.
See you on Sunday!
Upcoming Events at CBHCS
11/03 - Rabbi Josh visits and leads family minyan
11/03 - Rabbi Josh leads the Rise Up social activism class for our teens
11/10 - Chana Rothman visits and leads family minyan, followed by a parent workshop
11/24 - Thanksgiving Break
12/01 - Thanksgiving Break
12/08 - Rabbi Josh visits and leads family minyan
12/08 - CBH Parent n’ Me
12/08 - Rise Up teen social event in the afternoon (details TBA)
12/15 - CBH congregational meeting at CBH on Lavista