HSRS Announcements (Hodaahot הוֹדָוֹת) New Information Yom Haatzmaut We will be celebrating Yom Haatzmaut on Wednesday, May 15. All registered HSRS students are invited to join from 5:30-7:30pm. Pizza will still be served, starting at 5:15pm for paid pizza plan students only. All other students, please eat prior to coming.
Do you have any empty shoeboxes? If so, Nicki needs them by May 12 as is happy to meet you somewhere or come to you to get them! They can also be brought to Har Shalom.
Jewish American Heritage Month See Judy's message at the bottom. Thanks to Joe Hershman for snapping a photo of this display at the Old Town Public Library.
Previous Information Sent!
Calendar Change Due to limited staffing, we have made the decision to cancel class on Sunday, May 12. Happy Mother's Day and CSU Graduation Week!
Recordings of various prayers Needing to practice one of the prayers? Take a listen using this website. https://soundcloud.com/heeb-1
Important Dates & Upcoming Events May 8- Madrichim/BBYO program info night for 7th grade families at 7pm May 12- NO SCHOOL (see above message) May 15- HSRS Yom Ha'atzmaut Celebration (all students invited to attend) Mau 18- Slip N Slime Teen Event Register at: https://bit.ly/slipnslime May 19- Final Shuk, Mitzvah Hour and End of the Year Carnival, Last Day of HSRS
BBYO & Teens Teen of the Week! The dynamic duo, Linden and Lila, are our 4th grade madrichim. They are always full of energy and they love to run around with the kids at recess time. They do EVERYTHING asked of them and we are lucky to have their support. Thank you for everything you’ve done this year!
Synagogue & Community News
From Our Teachers
Kitah Gan (Kindergarten) and Kitah Alef (First Grade) Kol Hakavod (כָּל הַכָּבוֹד), a job well done, to our kindergarten and first grade students. They led a beautiful Shabbat service this week. We are so proud of your hard work!
Kitah Bet (Second Grade) From Morah Anne- Hello kita bet! We had another super busy day at religious school on Sunday. The day was jam-packed with Hebrew activities. We did a little Hebrew learning before taking a quick break and returning to play some Hebrew games. Everyone should have come home with a set of Hebrew letter flashcards and a game of Hebrew Spot It. Just in case anyone wants to practice on their own. 😉 One last reminder, if your child has a book checked out from Har Shalom, if they could make their way back, it would be greatly, thank you! I hope you all have a great week and I look forward to seeing you in two weeks for our final hurrah! Happy Mother’s Day to ALL mothers out there.
Kitah Gimmel (Third Grade) Wednesday from Morah Robin- After Tefillah, we focused on all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, even the letters we hadn’t learned yet. We then practiced singing the Hebrew Alphabet song a few times until everyone was comfortable with all of the letters. After a short break outside, we practiced singing songs that we’ve learned in Shira, so that we can perform some of them to the senior community as part of our mitzvah project coming up on Wednesday, May 8th, 2024.
Sunday from Morah Robin- Kitah Gimmel started the morning by making Challah with Ellen in the kitchen. The challah will be for a few seniors in the CHS community. The class will be delivering the challah with cards and pillows, designed by the students to the seniors this coming Wednesday, May 8, 2024 during class hours. After making the challah, we had a short ice cream party to celebrate the hard work the students did the second half of the year. Then, after a short break outside, we did Yom Ha’atzmaot crafts – Israeli flags, Israeli pinwheels, and Israeli wind socks.
Kitah Dalet (Fourth Grade) Wednesday from Morah Sophie- On Wednesday, we learned more about the Dead Sea Scrolls. We read an article about the main findings of them and discussed aloud.
Wednesday from Morah Merav- We spent time as a class sharing and listening to each other. Everyone was able to share whatever they wanted to with the class. Some shared more than once. This is always a special time for the kids. They always have an opportunity to ask friends follow up questions to their shares. As the school year is (quickly) coming to an end we know these kids will miss each other and the community they have formed together. I hope you all use the directory to stay in touch over the summer. We also worked in our ‘Time to Read’ Hebrew Workbooks. Class zipped by.
Sunday from Morah Merav and Morah Sophie- We spent the day together as a class. We started out by coloring a mandala picture. This gives the students an opportunity to relax and catch up with each other. Everyone had a chance to make a sign for our upcoming Bake Sale. As our Mitzvah project, our class is having a bake sale on the last day of school! The sale will take place during school pick-up at noon on Sunday May 19. If you are able to make something at home to sell at the bake sale, that would be great. Please bring it in the morning of Sunday May 19. We will also be making something together as a class during HSRS on Wednesday. Rabbi came into our kitah for our very last ‘Stump the Rabbi’ of the school year. The kids all had many questions for Rabbi to answer. Our students always ask such great questions. This was a beautiful lesson for everyone. We ended class with a video.
Kitah Hay (Fifth Grade) Wednesday and Sunday from Morah Lauren- Kita Hay worked on Hebrew and are making storyboards with the vocabulary learned this year.
Kitah Vav (Sixth Grade) Wednesday from Morah Debbie, subbing for Morah Leah- Hi everyone, I was lucky enough to substitute for Leah at Hebrew school. The 6th and 7th grades held a seder in observance of Yom HaShoah. It was a solemn evening and I was proud of how maturely Kitah Vav behaved. They were all respectful and engaged. Ask your student to describe the service for you.
Sunday from Morah Leah- We began class by beginning to clean out the classroom. We have few in classroom moments left together. After some Hebrew language, we read White Bird by RJ Palacio, cover to cover. It is a compelling graphic novel about a young girl in France during the Holocaust. Your student did a great job with the subject. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like additional context. Shavua Tov!
Kitah Zayin (Seventh Grade) Wednesday from Rabbi Finestone- We spent the evening participating in a Yom Hashoah Seder. Our 6th and 7th grade students were able to hear stories from the Holocaust.
Sunday from Morah Michelle- Kitah Zayin had a great last day of instruction! After a Hebrew lesson from Rabbi, we went and got Starbucks for the last time as a class. We then did a passport activity, where students answered questions related to all of the different topics we have explored this year. I was impressed with how much the students have learned this year and they were all able to earn a lot of shekels. We ended class by watching Fiddler on the Roof. See everyone next, next Sunday.
From Our Specials News from the Sifriyah (Library)
Reading challenge Sunday was the last day for classroom checkout. Please return all books as soon as possible, by the last day of Religious School at the latest. Prizes will also be handed out that day.
Jewish American Heritage Month May is Jewish American Heritage Month. Books on the foyer checkout and for sale bookshelves feature books for children, teens and adults celebrating all facets of Jewish life in America.
Adult Education On Thursday, May 9th and Thursday May 23rd from 7-9 p.m. I will be teaching a class on Ethnic Communities in Israel. We will explore the history and culture of some of the lesser known Israeli communities such as the Ahmadiyya Muslims, the Alawite Muslims, Maronite Christians, Circassians, Druze, Bedouin, Samaritans, Karaites, refugee groups and foreign workers. I hope you can join me! Registration can be found here: The Ethnic Communities of Israel - Event - Har Shalom Center for Jewish Living
News from Tefillah Our final Wednesdays will give us time to review the Kabbalat Shabbat Service (Friday evening) and the Saturday Morning Service.
