HSRS Newsletter Archive

HSRS Announcements (Hodaahot הוֹדָוֹת)
Furniture Assembly Help
Our new furniture is expected on Tuesday.  I'm looking for some parents who can help put the tables together (I believe drilling legs into the table).  If you are available WEDNESDAY from 6-7:30pm, please respond to this email.  There is a bit of urgency as we are dealing with 15 boxes/900 pounds of product that need to be in place before Rosh Hashanah!

Volunteering Need
Are you able to lend a bit of time to supervise or lead an activity for the children during Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur?  Nicki will be with you and all materials and instructions provided! Sign up here

Construction on Drake Road
Heads up!!  There is road construction occuring on Drake over the next few weeks.  The schedule is below, may change due to the weather.
The eastbound lanes of Drake will be closed the week of September 11. During this time:

• You will not be able to access Har Shalom coming east from Shields. You will be able to make a left turn from westbound Drake into the Har Shalom parking lot.
• You will be able to leave Har Shalom by turning out of the parking lot and then turning right on Meadowlark. You will not be able to continue east on Drake beyond Meadowlark.

• You will not be blocked from leaving but may be delayed a few minutes depending on the timing.
• Each day, work will begin on the west end (Shields) and move east. 

• ​​​​You will only have access to Har Shalom traveling east from Shields.

• Leaving will not be an issue except for turning left onto Research.

Important Dates & Upcoming Events

September 17- NO HSRS
September 24- NO HSRS
​​​​​​​September 30- PJ Havdalah in the Sukkah, registration required
October 1- NO HSRS
October 8- NO HSRS
October 11- Bnai Mitzvah Orientation from 7:30-8:30pm for 6th grade parents (7th grade families who are new or want a refresher are welcome, too!)
October 18- BBYO meeting from 6:30-7:30pm, feel free to come as early as 5:15 to hang/do homework.
October 29- Beresheet Day 1 from 10:30-12pm

BBYO & Teens
On Sunday, the madrichim learned how to read a story with Judy! They have been doing great with practicing leadership skills in the classroom and how to support their classroom teacher. As well as getting to know their students and how to support them best.

Synagogue & Community News


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From Our Teachers

Kitah Gan (Kindergarten)
Hey All! We started with Hebrew, everyone practiced writing Aleph, rows and rows of Aleph. The kids were all able to freehand it on the board by the end of the lesson. Then we did our Aleph Bet song and a little Aleph Bet Yoga. We wrapped up our morning time with a book about Sukkot. Then we had snack and run around time to get out a few wiggles. When we got back to the classroom our wonderful Madrichim led us in a fun brain break. For the last portion of the day we talked all about Rosh Hashanah. What we are celebrating, how we’re celebrating and the delicious food to help complete the holiday. In honor of our Rosh Hashanah food, everyone decorated a face mask shaped like pomegranates, apples, bees and honey. They all did great, have a relaxing break, see you all in a month!
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Kitah Alef (First Grade)
Todah Rabah to Morah Laura for subbing on Sunday! We started by reading The Apple Tree’s Discovery. The students were so excited to find the star in the middle of the apple. Next, we learned the prayer for eating apples and honey and tasted this deliciously sweet snack.  After a fun recess, we compared an American New Year to Rosh Hashanah. The students had so many great ideas for both. We then read the book The Hardest Word and learned to say, “I’m sorry.” The students each wrote or drew an example of a time when they made a mistake or did something that they are sorry for. They took turns and dropped them into water where the paper magically dissolved. Finally, we played Rosh Hashanah games.
    

     

     

Kitah Bet (Second Grade)
We were busy in Kita Bet! Today we focused on Rosh Hashanah. We discussed the importance of looking at ourselves and our actions-the good and the bad. We also learned about some of the symbols associated with the holiday. The class started the day with a self-reflection activity. We celebrated a birthday, and ended the morning rotating through several (busy and messy) art centers. Shana Tova!​​​​​​​
     

     

Kitah Gimel (Third Grade)
Wednesday- We read “Joseph Who Loved the Sabbath” which discusses the importance and the honor of celebrating the Sabbath with family and friends.  We reviewed our Hebrew from Lesson 1 and continued on to Lesson 2.  All my students are such quick students and they are really enjoying learning Hebrew! It is a pleasure to teach them. After a short break outside, we started our first Torah study with Leviticus 23.3 from Parashat Emor.  We worked in our Chai workbooks discussing melacha – the type of work not engaged in on Shabbat.  We also discussed why it might be important that all Jews celebrate Shabbat.  And, finally, which people do you want to be with and where would you like to be on your perfect Shabbat? These questions generated a lot of thought and discussion.


Sunday- we continued with Leviticus learnings, specifically, Parashat K’doshim (Holiness) Leviticus 19.2. We talked about one way to describe K’dushah/holiness is with the Hebrew letter Kuf.  The bottom of the Kuf is a man calling up to G-d, and the top line, sheltering and reaching down, is the Holy One – G-d. In their Chai workbooks, students completed an activity, “I can be kadosh/holy by… We then did a fun activity where the students colored in paper doll templates (representing themselves) and wrote Kadosh or Holy on them along with their names. We worked in our Sidrah workbooks and differentiated between activities that are Holy and not Holy. We finished the day by playing a fun game of “Hot Challah”, Hebrew Hang Man, and reviewing the Hebrew Letters we’ve learned thus far. 
     


     

Kitah Dalet (Fourth Grade)
Wednesday from Morah Kyla (subbing for Morah Merav)- We had a great time on Wednesday night working on Hebrew flash cards. Then we did a competition to see who could go through the whole aleph bet and every student (with a little bit of help!) was able to do it! Great job kita dalet! 
     

Wednesday from Morah Sophie- We took turns reading aloud a section from B’midbar, where Moses sent spies to scope out the land of Canaan. From there the students discussed the findings of the spies and decided whether or not they would be brave enough to enter the land. This was the first lesson in our B’rit section of the curriculum, which focuses on the relationship between ourselves and the Torah. 


Sunday from Morah Merav- After Shira everyone finished working on their maps of Israel. One of our Madrichot (Linden) read the book “The Cats On Ben Yehuda Street” to everyone. We continue our work with the Aleph Bet.  Many of us know the letters in order. We are working on learning them out of order too. We are making flash cards and practicing with our friends (חברים). We also learned at least a couple new words, חתול (cat) and כלב (dog).
     


Sunday from Morah Sophie- We started class by playing the card game “Concentration”. Then, we discussed tasks in life that require concentration including prayer. We defined the terms “keva”, the words that we pray, and “kavanah”, meaning one’s prayers must come from the heart. We discussed why praying takes concentration and its importance. Mi Chamocha is our first prayer that we are learning! We listened to a recording and practiced singing with the tune, and we will continue to learn the words along with the tune. 

Kitah Hay (Fifth Grade)
Wednesday from Morah Lauren- 
Kita Hay had 2 students tonight. We had so much fun and learned about how old Hebrew is and that it is a Semitic language. We reviewed from last year, and began our special art project for our beautiful names in Hebrew. Lastly, we were dinosaurs. Which Hebrew letter sounds like a roaring dinosaur?


Sunday from Morah Laurel- Kita Hay focused on being our best selves. We started by completing our class Brit, asking ourselves what it would look like if everyone was their best selves in the classroom. Afterwards, we learned about the prophets, who passed on G-d's messages to the people, reminding them to live up to their best selves as well. Finally, we talked about Rosh Hashanah's message to do teshuvah by apologizing and saying how we will do better next year. Shana tova!
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Kitah Vav (Sixth Grade)
Wednesday from Morah Becky (subbing for Morah Leah)- It was a pleasure substituting for Morah Leah with Kitah Vav. The students did some great practice  work reading Hebrew.  We read a brief introduction about life cycles and the Jewish life cycle, and had a good discussion about how we prepare for a journey/vacation. We talked about how some of the preparation can be hard, but it is generally worth the effort for the benefit of the journey.  We also briefly connected how this relates to their Jewish journey and talked about how a journey can be a trip, but can also be a process in life, and how religious school is preparation for their Jewish journey. After break the students played a great round of Apples to Apples all together. 


Sunday- Todah Rabbah to Rabbi Finestone for blowing the shofar for us during Shira as we prepare for the quickly approaching New Year! After this session we moved to our classroom and some Hebrew word / letter review. If at any time your student would like some an extra page (not mandatory) to review at home to keep up the learning, please let me know. This will never be required, but can be a real confidence boost. With the New Year (Rosh Hashanah) quickly approaching we reviewed calendars - first in years - starting from the Time of G-d to the present day (Hebrew year 5783, soon-to-be 5784) and how it relates to the Gregorian calendar. We then talked about how the Hebrew calendar is lunar and the Gregorian is solar. We made calendars. Ask you student about the dial calendars we made. Shana Tova - a good new year and Shavua Tov - A good week. 
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Kitah Zayin (Seventh Grade)
Wednesday from Rabbi Finestone- For the first part of class we finished practicing the traditional morning blessings in Hebrew, with each student, taking a line and reading the entire Hebrew passage. Everyone read beautifully! After break, and after a five minute power nap, we discussed the English translation of these blessings, examining what each of the phrases really mean. For example, we spent a lot of time discussing what it means to be created in the Divine image (obviously not physical), and then each student made a list of which blessings they would include in their own modern version of this prayer.

Sunday from Rabbi Finestone (subbing for Morah Michelle)- The seventh grade class watched the movie, "You are so not Invited to my Bat Mitzvah. " The movie follows the story of two best friends, and the trials and tribulations of preparing for their bat mitzvah celebrations. The movie had good messages about family, the power of social media, and how to be a true friend. We had a good discussion after the film, and I think the students enjoyed the experience.
     

From Our Specials

Shira News
Sadly, Shira Josh was sick today.  And since no one wanted to hear Nicki sing, we spent the morning learning about Rosh Hashanah and the other fall holidays.  Rabbi Finestone blew the shofar for us and we listened to a fun song by the musical group, 613.  Take a listen.

News from the Sifriyah (Library)
Thank you to Mollie, the teen coordinator, for arranging a session for me and the madrichim to discuss reading techniques to their grades' students.  We talked about building Jewish identity through books with Jewish content and demonstrated everything from how to hold a book, how to determine the grade level of a book and ways to engage and interact with the students.  They paired up and read together and even got a little bit of a "critique".  They did a great job!  Next session they will have opportunities to choose books from the library according to their class's curriculum and practice reading those.

Israeli dance: The 6th and 7th graders learned the Hora, in preparation for all those upcoming Bar and Bat Mitzvah parties!!  There are some talented dancers in the group!!!  Everyone had a great time!


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Remember that High Holiday books are available in the classrooms and in the synagogue foyer for checkout.  Don't see something you want?  Ask me and I'll help you find it!

News from the Kitchen 
We have a few weeks before Morah Ellen will be returning to the kitchen! Get ready to whip up something delicious.