HSRS Announcements (Hodaahot הוֹדָוֹת) New Information It was absolutely wonderful seeing so many students at High Holiday services. Don't forget that we have "Service Attendance Recommendations". One of the best ways to feel confident and prepared for leading Saturday morning services is by watching others lead. It is suggested that our Kinder/1st graders attend 1 service over the course of the year, 2nd grade attends 2 services, 3rd grade attends 3 services, and so on. These can be attended virtually, at other synagogues, at a classmate's bar/bat mitzvah, at one of our grade level Shabbats, etc. High Holiday services count towards this goal!
Our community is in need of new socks, all sizes! Please consider participating in our "SOCKtober" mitzvah project!
Previous Sent Information
Conferences I have included a signup genius for those who would like to have a conference with your child's teacher. These are 15 minute, optional, conferences. Teachers may reach out to you, as well, to request a conference. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090D44ACAE2EA6F94-51852005-fall
Har Shalom's Phones! Har Shalom has a new phone system. To call the religious school, please dial 970-223-5191, ext. 103.
Important Dates & Upcoming Events October 16- NO HSRS, Sukkot October 16-October 31- SOCKtober Mitzvah Project begins (see below!) October 19- S'mores Havdalah from 6-7:30pm (see below!) October 23- NO HSRS, Sukkot October 26- 7th grade-led Shabbat Service at 10:15am, oneg to follow October 27- NO HSRS for 7th grade November 3- Beresheet Day 1 from 10:30am-12pm November 10- The Shuk is open (volunteers needed!) UPDATED DATE!!!! November 10- B'nai Mitzvah Orientation for 6th grade families and those wanting a refresher from 12-1pm. November 15- Jewish Book Month Family Shabbat at 5:30pm November 16- 6th grade-led Shabbat Service at 10:15am, oneg to follow November 17- NO HSRS for 6th grade November 17- Beresheet Day 2 from 10:30am-12pm November 24, 27, and December 1- NO HSRS
BBYO & Teen Things Teen of the Week! Each week, we will be recognizing one of our amazing teen volunteers who went above and beyond to help. Micah Goldstein is an amazing addition to our program. He’s always making the kids giggle and they love to tell Micah their jokes. Micah, we’re so glad that you are a part of our school.
Synagogue & Community News
From Our Teachers Beresheet (Preschool) Morah Kyla will see you in November!!
Kitah Gan (Kindergarten) from Morah JoJo- In kindergarten, we had a wonderful time learning two new letters: Vav and Zayin. The children enthusiastically wrote the letters, sounded them out, and practiced on the whiteboard. To make learning even more engaging, we incorporated Aleph-Bet yoga, where we sounded out the letters as we moved!
After a quick snack break, we returned to our room to work on Sukkot decorations. Unfortunately, the decorations we made last week couldn’t quite withstand the Colorado weather, so we created new fruit decorations—apples, oranges, and lemons—for our Har Shalom Sukkah. To wrap up our day, we focused on Hiddur Pnei Zaken (Honoring Elders). We discussed the importance of recognizing and valuing the wisdom of our elders. The children shared their own experiences and talked about the good times they have had with their elders, from family gatherings to shared hobbies. To reinforce this lesson, each child made a paper flower for an elder who is special to them, hoping these flowers will bring joy and strengthen their relationships. Everyone did great, see you all next week!
Kitah Alef (First Grade) from Morah Laura We had another wonderful day in kita aleph. Our main focus was about Sukkot. Every student shared how they celebrated Yom Kippur and then we began learning about our new holiday. Most of the students shared about the yummy foods that they had. Morah Judy is a read story about an elephant in the Sukkah And we read another book about many different types of animals visiting a sukkah after a rainstorm. At our centers, the students made a sukkah, a lulav and etrog and learned about the letter zayin. At this point, the students should be able to recognize at least four letters. We have filled our Cotton ball jar for good behavior and will celebrate in two weeks. I will not be here next week, but the students will have a wonderful Sukkot celebration and will learn about welcoming guests into their Sukkah.
Kitah Bet (Second Grade) from Morah Anne Hello Kita Bet! It was so wonderful to be back with your kiddos. 😊 I felt like once the morning started, we were constantly on the move. After a very active Shira, we immediately had story time with Safrenit Judy. She read us a story about a Jewish explorer traveling the seas in 1492. We then decorated hamsas and learned a little bit about them. After a quick snack and break, we were back in the class making “sun catchers” to decorate the Sukkah which took up the rest of our morning. The kids worked feverishly to finish just as class ended. Have a great week!
Kitah Gimmel (Third Grade) from Morah Robin Wednesday- The evening was all about the upcoming holiday, Sukkot. We learned all about the holiday, then read “Sky-High Sukkah” about a neighborhood in the city that comes together to build a Sukkah atop the roof of their high-rise apartment building. After a short break outside, we cut out and put together Lulav & Etrogs out of cardstock and learned how to wave them. We shake the Lulav and Etrog in every direction to show that God is everywhere. The students then had a lot of fun building edible sukkahs out of graham crackers, pretzels, and assorted fruit color candies.
Sunday from Moreh Josh, subbing for Morah Robin- I enjoyed spending time substitute teaching for the class! We began with a spirited shira where we sang lots of songs, including learning some new ones for Yom Kippur. We then went to the classroom to collect tzedekah and to share something good that happened recently or that we’re looking forward to. We welcomed Judy for stortytime and Jewpardy, based on the book Luis de Torres Sails to Freedom (available for checkout from the Har Shalom library). With the next holiday of Sukkot starting in just a few days, we shared our experiences celebrating the holiday, did a word search, and then made paper apple decorations that we hung in the sukkah – which is looking beautiful! Many thanks to our classroom madrichim, Alexis and Micah, for being great helpers and to all of your kids for a fun day of learning.
Kitah Dalet (Fourth Grade) from Morah Merav Wednesday- We worked on new Hebrew words this week. The emphasis was on family and Sukkot. We continue to practice our Aleph Bet and expand our work with vowels. All of this is so we can read in Hebrew.
Sunday- We read a short story in Hebrew together as a class. The story was about who is in the Sukkah and covered some of our new words. Our amazing Madricha Norah was with us Sunday. In addition to helping us in class and sharing her knowledge and experience of learning Hebrew with the class she read the class a book. The book she read is “Marvin Of The Great North Woods” by Kathryn Lasky. We ended our day Sunday by proudly hanging our Sukkah decorations in the newly built Har Shalom Sukkah! We wish you all a good week, Chag Sameach and see you all on Sunday!
Kitah Hay (Fifth Grade) Wednesday from Morah Lauren- Kita Hay started reading the V’ahafta. It’s our bigger prayer and we will work together with it for the rest of the year in some form. Wednesday from Morah Sophie- On Wednesday, we started talking about our next prophet Deborah. We talked about to concept of a midrash, a Jewish text translated to English. We read a few of them and discussed why Deborah was chosen as a prophet.
Sunday from Morah Lauren and Morah Sophie- Sunday was our party! We watched The Parent Trap and ate donuts in our pajamas. Then, we discussed what the twins could’ve done differently to not make mistakes as a relation to Yom Kippur.
Kitah Vav (Sixth Grade) from Morah Aviva Wednesday- This week, the intermediate hebrew students practiced their "Do you have?/I do/don't have" hebrew phrases by playing Go Fish. The students also practiced their hebrew family vocabulary, as the cards centered on different family members. With everyone, the students continued to practice reading their Avot prayer, as well as continuing their notes on the book "who is RBG?" For Chai, the students finished the Torah section, reading psalms and creating a tune for it based on the speaker's emotions towards god.
Sunday- On sunday, we took a break from Chai to celebrate Sukkot, which we did by making hanging fruit decorations and listening to the class playlist.
Kitah Zayin (Seventh Grade) from Morah Michelle Wednesday from Rabbi Finestone- The students chose parts for the seventh grade service coming up on October 26. Then we practiced each of those parts, both in small groups and as an entire class. After break, we looked at an ethical dilemma involving a business person overcharging a customer, and how it should be handled under Jewish law. It was a fun discussion!
Sunday from Rabbi Finestone- The seventh graders helped put the branches on the roof of the Sukha this morning. We also spent some time talking about the symbolism of the Sukkah, the lulov, and the Etrog.
Sunday from Morah Michelle- Rabbi Finestone taught the students the different prayers for Sukkah, we helped put the roof on the sukkah and we hung up our cool decorations. We spent the rest of class discussing the antisemitic myth that the Jews murdered Jesus, also referred to as “deicide." This myth has been used to justify violence against Jews for centuries. Historians as well as Christian leaders have agreed that the claim is baseless. We learned a little bit about the differences between Christianity and Judaism, who Jesus was, and the relationship between Christians and Jews over the centuries. Lots of great comments and questions. We ended class with a visit from Judy the librarian where we learned about the "conversos" in Spain. See everyone next week!
From our Specials (chuggim חגים) Sukkot Preparations This past Sunday, we helped decorate the Har Shalom sukkah. Next Sunday, we will spend time inthe sukkah plus make a seasonal treat!
News from the Sifriyah (Library) Reading challenge: Families of my "super-readers" (students who have already earned a $5 Target gift card) will soon be getting an email asking if your student would like to help review books on my "wish list" to see if they would be good choices for our library. This way, students can continue to earn prizes through the end of the year.
Storytime: 2nd, 3rd and 7th grades continued with the story of Luis de Torres, a converso (Spanish Jew who converted to Catholicism but secretly practiced Judaism) who sailed with Columbus. In 2nd grade, we made hamsas, which Luis de Torres carried with him for God's protection. In 3rd grade, we played "Jewpardy", where the answers were all information from the story. In 7th grade we researched other Conversos who sailed with Columbus. See if your student can tell you who Rodrigo de Triana was.
In 1st grade we read "The Elephant in the Sukkah". Ask you student how the family in the story got the elephant in their sukkah. The students had all kinds of creative, if impractical, ideas on how to use elephants and other animals to help make a sukkah. My favorite--a sukkah for bugs built on the backs of turtles!!!
On the foyer bookshelf for checkout are books about Sukkot! Todah Raba to Madricha Zelda for her help in the Sifriyah!!
News from Shira (Sunday Morning Song Session) We spent the morning learning a few new songs for the season plus Hatikvah.
News from Tefillah (Wednesday Evening Prayer Session) In Tefillah on Wednesday we continued working on the B’rachot Shaharit (Morning Blessings) and added Eloha Nishamah to our repertoire. We discussed its reference to the soul, then practiced the words and melody for this beautiful Tefillah.
News from Small Group with Deb Small group Hebrew was great!! The students worked quietly on reading each page, then chose a line to read by randomly picking a number out of a cup. We did a general review of letters learned, then added the consonant Lamed and the Segol vowel.
