HSRS Announcements (Hodaahot הוֹדָוֹת) New Information Jewish Book Month is coming up in November. Tzedakah money collected this month will be used to help buy books for 2 libraries in Israel. The first is at Neve Hanna, a residential children's home with an after school care program in Kiryat Gat, serving children from underprivileged and unsafe home environments. They recently built a library and we are helping them buy books. The other library is on a moshav called Mitzpeh Netofa west of Tiverya (Tiberius) in the Lower Galilee. They also are in need of books, which they say provide learning opportunities and fun activities and are a great source of comfort for families in these difficult times. Thank you so much for its support!
Previous Sent Information
Attending Services 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!
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 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. Alexis is our madricha of the week! She is always down to lend a hand. Even on weeks when she isn’t in the classroom she is helping cut shekels, cutting out flyers, serving snack, or helping to sub for a classmate. She is very kindhearted and the kids love to play on the playground with her. She is a great leader :)
Synagogue & Community News
From Our Teachers Beresheet (Preschool) Morah Kyla will see you THIS SUNDAY!!!!
Kitah Gan (Kindergarten) from Morah Melanie, subbing for Morah JoJo- This week we started with Aleph Bet yoga and then more Hebrew practice in our workbooks. We also played a game where the kids took turns on the whiteboard writing one hebrew letter they knew to see if I could guess it. I got all but two correct! Then we read a book that Judy had picked for us that demonstrated courage. The book, “Say Hello, Lily” had Lily visiting an assisted living home with her mother. She was very shy at first but the residents of Shalom House helped her build the courage to keep returning. During the story we made our own “superhero” cuffs to help give us a bit of extra courage and talked about situations where extra courage might be needed. We had a great day!
Kitah Alef (First Grade) from Morah Laura We had another wonderful morning in Kita Aleph. We started learning Hatikvah in Shirah and danced to Hava Nagila. Back in our classroom, we started by reviewing the holidays that we have celebrated so far. We then discussed what we knew about the Torah and learned about Simchat Torah. Some of the students were excited to share that they had come to services on Friday night and remembered that they danced around seven times. We then went into the sanctuary and opened up the ark to look at all of the Torahs that we have at our synagogue. The students were especially interested when they found out that one of the teens had a torah that was donated for her bat mitzvah by her grandparents. We passed around the yads and got to feel the heaviness of the crowns. After a beautiful fall day outside, we went back to our classroom to read Sammy Spider’s Simchat Torah and starts centers we are now on letter Chet. The students also made crown to remind them of the Torah.
We will celebrate filling our cotton ball jar next week by wearing pajamas or other comfy clothes, bringing in blankets to make forts.
Kitah Bet (Second Grade) from Morah Anne Hello Kita Bet families! I hope everyone had a nice time celebrating the High Holidays. We didnt waste any time getting back to “work” in religious school. Even Shira Debbie had us learning new things as we tried our hand at learning the Israelite national anthem. It was not easy, but we all gave it our best. We spent the first part of the morning playing a game to review our Hebrew letters. After break, we spent the rest of the morning focused on the parsha bereshit (the story of creation.) We briefly discussed what G-d created each day and the completed a few projects representing creation. We wrapped up the day with a story and a quick game to get the wiggles out. I hope you all have an amazing week!
Kitah Gimmel (Third Grade) from Morah Alison, subbing for Morah Robin The class had a lot of fun. We started off with a conversations about Simchas Torah. We talked all about different parts of the Torah, what the holiday is, we even had someone lift the Torah and someone tie and dress the Torah as an example. We had the drama team come in and read the Hanukkah story, we gave out roles for the play in December, and we talked about what the set and props could look like. After break, we came back and read the book about the story of a family and Torah’s that have been damaged through the years resulting in one beautiful patched work, Torah, which related to the Brit of the class about reuse reduce and recycle. They loved the connection. We also talked about the first word in the Torah breisheet. We ended the day making the patchwork flags and playing musical chairs. The madrichim a great help and all is well.
Kitah Dalet (Fourth Grade) from Morah Merav We started our kitah with everyone sharing and listening to one another. Everyone had a chance to read from the word wall. We were introduced to Lana who started working with the students on a Hanukkah play. Everyone got a part and started reading the script. We also took time to learn a verse from the song “Am Yisrael Chai”.
Kitah Hay (Fifth Grade) Sunday from Morah Lauren- Kita Hay on Sunday worked on their V’ahafta art hearts. We had a V’ahafta flash card adventure,and the students did a great job with their Hebrew! We read a Hannukah drama with Mora Lana and started the morning with songs. Have a great week Kita Hay. Hope to see you all in class on Wednesday. We have cool stuff planned!
Sunday from Morah Sophie- Kita Hay learned more about the prophet and judge Deborah. We read more midrashim and discussed some questions asked of them. then, they each chose an adjective to describe Deborah. we finished the day by starting a play that will be performed around Hanukkah.
Kitah Vav (Sixth Grade) from Morah Aviva We continued with the possessive words in Hebrew, learning "he has/she has" as well as reviewing family vocabulary a game describing qualities of family members. For Chai, we learned about Public Torah reading, and why it is important today. The students wrote speeches to debate whether we still need to congregate to read and pray together in modern times. We finished up with our reading of Chapter 3 of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Kitah Zayin (Seventh Grade) Kol hakavod" (כל הכבוד) on leading a beautiful Saturday morning Shabbat service.
From our Specials (chuggim חגים) News from Drama! We would like to welcome Morah Lana to our program for the next few months. She is a graduate of HSRS and will be leading our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders through some Hanuakkah plays. More information will be coming home soon about performance times, costumes/props, and other ways families can support.
News from the Sifriyah (Library) Reading Challenge: 12 more students received prizes today! Letters to the families of the "super readers" (students who have already completed the Reading Challenge) go out this week. Super readers get to review books, earn prizes and help me decide based on their recommendations which ones to purchase for the Har Shalom Children's Library. Thank you to Madricha Zelda for helping me with filing and photocopying today!
News from Shira (Sunday Morning Song Session) In Shira today, we reviewed all the songs that Deb had taught the children in September, including Bim Bam, Henay Ma Tov, Etz Chaim He, Hava Nagila, Heyvenu Shalom Aleichem, David Melech, Am Yisrael Chai, and Shalom Chaverim. The kids did the hand gestures to David Melech, and danced (free-form) to Hava Nagila. Meanings of the songs were discussed, focusing on the prevalence of the words "Shalom" (peace) and "Am" (people). Before concluding, we continued Shira Josh's teaching of the Israeli National Anthem, Hatikvah (The Hope). The students stood out of respect for the anthem, and Morah Merav helped translate key phrases for the children.
News from Small Group with Deb In Small Group Hebrew, the sixth graders did a comprehensive review of the letters and vowels already learned, as the seventh graders were excused from attendance following their awesome participation in the Shabbat Morning Service!
