HSRS Announcements (Hodaahot הוֹדָוֹת) New Information December 13 Shabbat Jr- CANCELLED In lieu of this month's Shabbat Jr. service, all families are encouraged to help us welcome our new members at the New Member Kabbalat Shabbat at 6:30pm. Free childcare is available for those who need it. December 15 Dismissal With our community Hanukkah event overlapping with HSRS, I'd like to review our plan for dismissal. Students will be in the sanctuary from 11:30-12 (we would love to have you join us!!). At 12pm, any student who doesn't have their parent with them at the time, will be dismissed using our dismissal process from the courtyard. If you plan to stay for the party starting at 12pm, you will need to enter through the front sanctuary doors and not go through the courtyard. Parking will be tight, so please be patient. Thanks you!
December 18 Hanukkah Play Showcase We hope you will join us for a showcase of Hanukkah plays on Wednesday, December 18 at 6:30pm. While the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders are our performers, all are invited to attend.
Summer Camp Are you looking for an overnight camp or specialty experience for your children? With more than 150 traditional and specialty overnight camps to choose from, you can make this summer a perfect adventure for your first-time camper! And... Did you know that first-time campers may be eligible for a One Happy Camper Grant? Campers attending 12-19 days receive $700 and those attending 19+ days receive $1,000. If you have any questions or need additional information, please reach out to Heather Flowers, OHC Professional at JEWISHcolorado, at hflowers@JEWISHcolorado.org for further details. Adventure Awaits! Har Shalom will be hosting a Jewish Summer Camp fair on February 9 after HSRS.
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 December 15- Hanukkah Celebration at HSRS, Community Hanukkah event to follow! Register at https://www.nocoharshalom.org/event/latke December 15- BBYO Event from 12-1:15pm December 18- 3rd, 4th, 5th grade Hanukkah plays from 6:30-7:30pm, all families are invited to watch December 22-January 7- NO HSRS January 10- Shabbat Jr at 5:30pm January 12- Beresheet Day 3 from 10:30am-12pm January 25- Kinder/1st/2nd grade Havdalah from 5:30-7:30pm January 26- NO SCHOOL FOR GRADES Kinder, First, and Second
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. Linden is Madricha of the week; she is always coming up with fun and creative ways to engage the Kindergartners and is a great helper in and outside the classroom!
Synagogue & Community News
From Our Teachers Beresheet (Preschool) from Morah Kyla and Morah Joanie Morah Kyla and Morah Joanie will see you in January!
Kitah Gan (Kindergarten) from Morah Melanie, subbing for Morah JoJo We started off with shira, singing Hanukkah songs, trying not to get too dizzy as we spun our bodies like dreidels. We went back to our classrooms to role play ways to be good listeners, including strategies to communicate with friends that might be playing too rough. Then we worked on more Hebrew and played a “jeopardy” style game where each kiddo had a mini whiteboard and we quizzed them on sounds and names of letters. We basically had a 7 way tie! Lastly, we started working on an end of year project about each child’s favorite holiday and why they love celebrating it. At the end of class we read a Hanukkah book out loud. It was a good day!
Kitah Alef (First Grade) from Morah Laura We are getting ready for Hanukkah. We listened to the story of Hanukkah to understand why we celebrate. We practiced the prayers and shared some of our family traditions. We learned that not all menorahs look alike and they can also be called Hanukias. At centers, we played dreidel, painted drip mats with dreidels and practiced the letter mem. In order to help remember the sound that mem makes, we made the letter with m&m’s and then ate them. Finally, we used different materials in the room to build menorahs. We can’t wait to celebrate next week.
Kitah Bet (Second Grade) from Morah Anne Hello Kita Bet families! We had fun-filled and definitely packed class. Before our school-wide Hanukkah celebration next week, I wanted to review ideas, terms and reasons for the season. After shira, we started with a background reading on the story of Hanukkah. We talked about why we have certain traditions and why we do certain things to celebrate the holiday. We briefly had a discussion (and reflection) on how different people are celebrating in different ways throughout the season. After that, we crafted origami dreidels, played dreidel, and ended the day with Hanukkah BINGO. It was a fun way to wrangle the kids’ energy that seems to be growing each day! Have a great week
Kitah Gimmel (Third Grade) from Morah Robin Wednesday- I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! In Kitah Gimmel we reviewed the class Brit Kehillah - our classroom code of conduct - to remind everyone what we agreed on that makes a positive and supportive learning environment. We then pulled out our scripts for our upcoming Chanukah play and everyone had a chance to practice their roles. After a fun break outside, some students worked on their Hebrew Lessons, while others worked on various props that we will be using for Kitah Gimmel’s Chanukah play.
Sunday- Kitah Gimmel continued working in their Hebrew workbooks. They were extremely studious and worked very hard. More cottonballs for the jar. 😊 After a quick snack and break outside, we came in to work with Lana on our Hanukkah play - a lot of progress was made. We are very excited about our upcoming performance on the evening of Wednesday, December 18, 2024. Right after drama practice, Judy came in for story time. She read a beautiful book to the students and then they all made candles in jar with colorful sand. Very busy and fun day! Next Sunday we will be having a dress rehearsal so please make sure to send your student with their costume. They should know what they should be wearing, but reach out with questions.
Kitah Dalet (Fourth Grade) from Morah Merav Wednesday- We were back together again and spent time in class sharing. We also practiced our Hanukah play. The kids are very excited about this.
Sunday- We had Drama with Lana and practiced for the upcoming Hanukah Performance on Wednesday December 18. We hope to see you all there. We also enjoyed story time with Judy. Everyone loved the story she read us and the awesome candle project. We had time to read in Hebrew and Sing Am Israel Chai together as a class. Our morning flew by. Next Sunday we will be having a dress rehearsal so please make sure to send your student with their costume. They should know what they should be wearing, but reach out with questions.
Kitah Hay (Fifth Grade) Wednesday from Morah Lauren- Kita Hay had Tefillah Deb lead us in our Hebrew prayers. Hebrew class focused on reading fluency. Fifth graders are doing well reading complete sentences. They identify Hebrew vocabulary, are able to decode English words written in Hebrew quickly which is a great indication of phonemic mastery. They can use masculine and feminine verbs and nouns correctly with the learned content. We started our Personal Prayer Paths where students will be tracking their personal journey through Hebrew Prayers and Blessings.
Wednesday from Morah Sophie- We continued working on our study of Jonah.
Sunday from Morah Lauren- Kita Hay had Shira Josh lead us in our morning songs. Hebrew class focused on using the verb to like/love, vocabulary mastery, and reading fluency at the sentence level. Morah Judy read us a Hannukah story about George Washington at Velley Forge and we made beautiful votive sand candles. Toda Rabah Morah Judy! Sunday from Morah Karri, subbing for Morah Sophie- The class finish our set design for the class Hannukah play. Morah Lana led us at the end of class through our play and discussed the practice next Sunday with students wearing or bringing their costumes to HSRS. Students will rehearse the play and finish the set design during Wednesday's class. Morah Kerri will help us on Wednesday too. We hope to see you there!
Next Sunday we will be having a dress rehearsal so please make sure to send your student with their costume. They should know what they should be wearing, but reach out with questions.
Kitah Vav (Sixth Grade) from Morah Aviva Wednesday- The intermediate hebrew students performed their skits using new hebrew vocabulary. All together, the class began to learn the givurot prayer by learning about the different definitions of a hero. For chai, the students learned about certain things in judiasm that are blessed before and after the action, and created their own blessings for an activity dear to them.
Sunday- We played "guess who" to learn our possesive vocabulary, then we all learned about jewish heroes and which lines of the givorot prayer correspond. The students made sand art candles, and after, we did chai, where the students learned what it takes to be a Shaliach Tzibor.
Kitah Zayin (Seventh Grade) Wednesday from Rabbi Finestone- During the first half of class, we looked at the sad history of the Aleinu prayer, and talked a little bit about the Crusades. (When the prayer was written). We then looked at the English of the prayer, and discussed the two different messages contained in this single prayer: the unique role of the Jewish people, and a universal vision for all of humanity. We talked about why this prayer was included as the concluding prayer of the service. Afterward, the students practiced leading the Aleinu in front of the ark in small groups, and we worked on singing the first part of the prayer. For the second half of class, we talked about the history behind Hanukkah, and how it involved challenging authority, which is our next chapter in the Topical Bible. We also discussed different examples of when we might feel the need to challenge authority, such as a bad coach, an unfair teacher, or a false accusation. We will continue our discussion when we look at the story of Abraham, challenging God over the fate of Sodom.
Sunday Hebrew from Rabbi Finestone- We reviewed the three special blessings for Hanukkah, practiced singing them, and then discussed their meaning. We also discussed the real history of Hanukkah, and some of the symbolism of the holiday.
Sunday from Morah Michelle- we learned all about the history of Jews in the shmatte business. We talked about how a sizable majority of Jewish immigrants to America who arrived in the early 1900s ended up working in the Garment District. We watched a short History channel clip about conditions in these factories and the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. We discussed the role of unions and how many Jews became important labor union leaders who fought for better working conditions in the NYC sweatshops. I then read the book Parrots, Pugs and Pixie Dust, a children's book about Judith Leiber, a famous Jewish handbag designer known for her whimsical, bedazzled creations. We then learned about famous Jewish fashion designers like Ralph Lauren, Tory Burch, Zac Posen. and Levi Strauss. We ended class talking about giving. Did you know that Jews have a ladder of tzedakah also known as the 8 levels of giving? I gave students slips of paper with a description of each level and had them sort in order of most desirable to least desirable. This activity lent itself well to a good conversation about different ways to give charity and which is the most ideal (giving someone a job is at the very top and giving with a poor attitude is at the very bottom.) Overall, some really great participation.
From our Specials (chuggim חגים) News from Drama! Our third, fourth, and fifth graders continued working on their Hanukkah plays. Reading lines, working on sets and props, and talking about stage directions was the theme of the morning. Please save the evening of Wednesday, December 18 in your calendars for our performances. Next Sunday we will be having a dress rehearsal so please make sure to send your student with their costume. They should know what they should be wearing, but reach out with questions.
News from the Sifriyah (Library) Storytime: We continued our look at American Jewish history with 2 Hanukkah stories set in the Colonial era.
In 3rd and 4th grade our story was "Emanuel and the Hanukkah Rescue", based on the folktale in which lights from a menorah help a lost person find their way home. Set in the whaling community of New Bedford, MA in 1783, it gave us the opportunity to discuss whaling, Conversos, pride in being Jewish and how fear can impact our decisions.
In 5th and 6th grade, our story was "Hanukkah at Valley Forge", based on the true story of George Washington learning about Hanukkah from a Polish Jewish soldier during the harsh winter of 1777/1778. The story focuses on hope, continuing despite difficulties, and the desire for freedom and liberty.
The activity for all the classes was making votive sand candles. Lots of creativity and artistry on display!
5th grade genealogy project: Questionnaires went home today with the 5th graders. For those who wish, I will do some basic research. Please return your questionnaires ASAP. There's also a section for family stories and family heirlooms, which we will discuss and hopefully do a "show and tell" later in the spring.
Reading challenge: This week (Wednesday and Sunday) please return any books you do not wish to keep over winter break as I plan to update the reading challenge bulletin board and get caught up on any prizes that are still owed to students. Thank you!!
News from Shira (Sunday Morning Song Session) We started our morning with wonderful energy as we gathered together and sang songs about Hanukkah. You are invited to participate on Sunday, December 15 at 11:30 for our Hanukkah shira!
News from Teffillah (Prayer Session) with Deb This week in Tefillah we welcomed everyone back from Thanksgiving break with a review of most of the Tefillot that we have been learning this fall. Students are doing a great job, and able to take the leading role in call-and-response melodies. We again discussed and sang the Chanukah blessings and Shehechiyanu, then added Maoz Tzur/Rock of Ages.
News from Small Group with Deb In Small Group Hebrew on Wednesday we reviewed the silent letter Ayin and introduced the letter Pei. On Sunday we had perfect attendance and excellent participation from all students as we focused on review pages covering all the consonants and vowels we’ve learned. We also sang the Aleph-Bet song, noting which consonants are sounded differently if they have a dot inside: Bet/Vet, Kaf/Chaf, Pei/Fei; or if the dot is to the top right or left of the letter: Shin/Sin.
