HSRS Announcements (Hodaahot הודעות) New Information Momentum has announced that their men's trips to Israel will conclude with the final journey May 5th-11th, 2025. This trip is open to men with children under the age of 18 living at home. If you are interested in receiving more information or would like to participate, please reach by Friday, January 24th to Kyla Pfeif at kyla.pfeif@gmail.com or Scott Bloom at scott.b.bloom@gmail.com. Don't miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to embark on an unforgettable journey!
Previous Sent Information
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. 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 January 25- Kinder/1st/2nd grade Havdalah from 5:30-7:30pm January 26- NO SCHOOL FOR GRADES Kinder, First, and Second February 1- 4th/5th grade Saturday morning Shabbat Service at 10:15am February 2- NO SCHOOL FOR GRADES Fourth and Fifth February 2- Beresheet Day 4 from 10:30am-12pm February 7- PJs and Pancakes Shabbat Jr at 5:30pm February 15- 3rd/4th/5th grade Havdalah from 5:30-7:30pm February 16- NO SCHOOL FOR GRADES Third, Fourth and Fifth
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. Jacob and Odem are our madrichim of the week this week! They are always willing to jump in with whatever jobs need support. We’re so grateful for all that they do! And we’re so excited to welcome Odem to our team!
Synagogue & Community News
From Our Teachers Beresheet (Preschool) from Morah Kyla and Morah Joanie What a fun day in Beresheet! Sunday was day 3 of creation, land and plants. We made sand art pots, planted tickle plants, made grass caterpillars pets, played with kinetic sand and created our own flower garden. We had delicious dirt pudding cups and played tree freeze dance. Can’t wait to see you in February! If you haven't already watered your catepillar, the first time needs to be fully soaked. After that, just keep wet.
Kitah Gan (Kindergarten) from Morah JoJo We started the day by reviewing Hebrew letters as we returned from our break, getting back into the rhythm of our learning. The class practiced writing and sounding out various letters, including Aleph, Bet, and Gimel. To help refocus after the break, we also did a short session of Hebrew yoga, stretching and moving while connecting to the Hebrew alphabet.
The main focus of our day was *Hakarat HaTov*, learning about the importance of recognizing and appreciating the good things in our lives. The children learned that gratitude helps us feel happy and connected to others. We discussed how saying "thank you" can make both the giver and the receiver feel special. To bring this lesson to life, we read the story of "The Thankful Heart" and then created a Gratitude Garden, where each child added a flower with something they are thankful for. We also watched a short video by Shaboom! called *Everything Is Amazing! Hakarat HaTov - An Everyday Jewish Idea for Kids*, which helped us understand how to appreciate all the wonderful things in our lives. To wrap up the lesson, we made Gratitude Letters to express thanks to someone special. It was a wonderful way to start the new year with positivity, and the children left the class feeling happy and grateful for the good in their lives. See you all next week!
Kitah Alef (First Grade) from Morah Laura Happy new year! The students were all excited to sing and dance with Josh in the morning. One of their favorite songs is the Hebrew song about ice cream. When we got back to our class, we spent the morning catching up with each other about how we spent our winter breaks and different family traditions for Hanukkah. It was fun to hear how many menorah’s each family uses. We then started our lesson about G’milut Hasadim and Tsedakah. We started off by talking about superheroes, community heroes, and what makes a hero. The students had so many wonderful ideas and even included their teachers. Next, the students shared how they help out in their homes. Mora Judy came to read a story about a clown that makes people happy. We then looked through the rest of the library books and talked about how each character was a hero. After snack and recess, yes, we went out, so it was good that most of the students brought their coats, we headed back to the classroom for centers. Our letter was nun and the students all made the connection that it was a letter on the dreidel. The students also played Hebrew letter bingo, and are getting very good at identifying the different letters that we’ve learned. The final Center was a game where the students had to decide if a scenario was G’milut Hasadim or Tsedakah.
Please make sure that your child always brings a bag for their materials, a water bottle, and warm clothes for playing outside. The bag is especially helpful for the library books that the students check out each week.
Kitah Bet (Second Grade) from Morah Anne Welcome back Kita Bet! It was so good to see so many happy faces first thing this morning! I hope you all had a wonderful break. We jumped right back into our routine. After shira, safrenit Judy read us a story about friendship during the slave trade and the Gold Rush. She had the kids try and complete several tasks using teamwork and cooperation-just like the characters in the book. After snack and break, we spent the remainder of our time discussing Shabbat. We discussed the ideas, traditions, and purpose of the holiday. We talked about things we did that were the same and some things that were different than other Jews. We played a Shabbat themed game and worked on Shabbat vocabulary. All in all a great morning!
Kitah Gimmel (Third Grade) from Morah Robin Wednesday- Welcome Back from winter break! After pizza and Tefillah, the students each shared their highlights from winter break. We also shared mitzvahs, good deeds, we did over break - there were quite a few!!! We then reviewed our Hebrew letters and Hebrew words by splitting up into two teams - Kitah Gimmel sure loves to compete! After a break inside the classroom, we reviewed our Chai curriculum - this time answering questions individually to earn shekels! Overall, a fun evening of review after a long break!!! Sunday- This morning in Kitah Gimmel we talked about how ordinary moments can also be Kadosh/Holy moments in Jewish tradition. We learned that during morning services we recite a prayer called “ Nisim B’Chol Yom” which is a blessing about “daily miracles”. We read through this blessing and then we each made a list of our own morning routine steps. We discussed how saying blessings for a normal part of your day, i.e. your morning routine, will make that moment different - will make you think of God and perhaps make that moment Kadosh/Holy. After snack and a break outside, we moved onto Hebrew lesson 7. We learned the Hebrew word “Purim” and the hebrew letters peh, resh, and final mem. We worked on Hebrew lesson 7 for the rest of the morning.
Kitah Dalet (Fourth Grade) from Morah Merav Wednesday- We spent time with the Aleph Bet to make sure our brains remembered all we had learned last year. We also spent time reading words in Hebrew with our flash cards. I’m happy to report, everyone did great! We went over the MiChamocha prayer and decided as a class we will be leading this T’filah at our Student led Shabbat Service on Saturday Feb 1. Please mark your calendars!
Sunday- We were very happy to have the help of both of our amazing Madrichot Sunday! Todah Rabah Madrichot Nora and Zelda; your help and input helps us all learn! We appreciate you both! We started planning our class party! We will be celebrating our kitah with a come dressed in whatever comfortable thing you want (pj’s, fluffy socks, sweat pants, etc), bring a stuffie, pillow and or blanket to keep you cozy while we watch the movie, ‘Wizard of Oz’ together and enjoy some yummy treats! This party will be happening on Sunday February 9! Mark your calendars! Please also remember that our student led Shabbat service is on Saturday February 1. If you know your student will not be able to attend please let us know as soon as possible. We will be picking service parts next week with Rabbi and Kitah Hay. We spent time in class Sunday going over some T’filot, working on our prayer for Israel and discussing Tikkum Olam and how we participate in this in our own lives. It was a fabulous morning together!
Kitah Hay (Fifth Grade) Wednesday from Morah Lauren- It was great so see students back on Wednesday night. Students sounded great in their song circle with Tefillah Deb. The Hebrew part of class was practicing flash cards with images and words or phrases, practicing the verb "eat", and choosing a favorite prayer or blessing for a new project, My Prayer Walk, which will be displayed in the hallway.
Wednesday from Morah Sophie- We began by discussing something we have prayed for in the past and put it into five categories; something I wanted for myself, something I wanted for something else, something I hoped would happen to me, something I hoped wouldn’t happen to me, and something I thanked God for. Then we read multiple texts about prayer, and discussed what they meant.
Sunday from Morah Lauren- Kita Hay began in song and fun with Shira Josh. We then had everyone share out about something during the winter school break. The Hebrew part of class was reviewing the vocabulary from the first semester by reading sentences and matching their meaning to pictures. Students are learning about plural nouns and gendered verbs with high frequency words, and they are doing a nice job. Kita Hay had a long, mixed recess with an outdoor and indoor option.
Sunday from Morah Sophie- We started learning about the Amidah. We learned about the structure of the prayer and what it meant. Then, we dove into how the Amidah can be used in our lives.
Kitah Vav (Sixth Grade) from Morah Aviva Wednesday- we started learning new hebrew vocabluary of "where do you live?" "I live in.." We continued un all together hebrew to recite the gvurot prayer, and started our gimilot chasadim chapter in Chai. The kids illustrated a time when they did a mitzvah, and discussed how mitzvot connect to revelation.
Sunday- we continued the hebrew vocabulary using celebrity pictures to ask where they lived and what they had, using previous vocabulary as well. For Chai, we learned about the different types of mitzvot valued by the Torah and made a collage of each mitzvah using magazines.
Kitah Zayin (Seventh Grade) Wednesday from Rabbi Finestone- During the first half of class, we looked at the Yedid Nefesh prayer from the Friday evening service. We first discussed the meaning of the prayer, and then the class worked on mastering the Hebrew. After break, we looked at an ethical dilemma. A bike A thin for a very good cause was being held on Shabbat. The head of the youth group wanted to participate, but the synagogue said no. The students debated whether or not the youth group should have participated for a good cause even on Shabbat. We learned about the principle of Pikuach nefesh, when one is allowed to break Shabbat in order to save a life directly. We concluded that the bike A thon was not directly saving a life, but because it was for a good cause, another day should be found for a second bike-A thon.
Sunday from Rabbi Finestone- We finished learning the first part of Yedid Nefesh, discussed it’s meaning, and then the students wrote their own version of a prayer to use for the opening of services.
Sunday from Morah Michelle- Kitah Zayin spent the first part of class marveling at how great of a job Shosh did for her bat mitzvah. Personally, I loved seeing all of her classmates on the bimah with her singing. The kids agreed that she set the bar high and we are eager for her to return so we can pick her brain about what led to her success. We began our study of the Holocaust. There is only so much we can cover over the next few classes, so I choose to focus our time on WHY the Holocaust was able to happen. Kids shared what they knew and what they wanted to know about the Holocaust. We discussed a little about WWII and how the deaths of 6 million Jews started off slowly and then culminated with the implementation of extermination camps. We talked about how some Jews were able to leave but then it eventually became impossible because their rights as citizens were taken away. There was a lot of great conversation. I assured students multiple times that the Holocaust could never happen again and that Jews are safe here in America. It is always a fine needle for me to thread; I want them to know what happened and what continues to happen but I don't want them to be scared. At the end of the day, the Holocaust is one of many parts of the Jewish experience. With that said, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns you may have. Also, stay tuned for a possible field trip to hear a survivor speak at CSU for Holocaust Awareness Week in February. Have a great week.
From our Specials (chuggim חגים)
News from the Sifriyah (Library) Kita Alef is learning about heroes. We agreed that kids can be heroes, and not just adults, so we read a story about "Maddie the Mitzvah Clown". Maddie is shy, but when she learns clowning she gains confidence. We decided that being brave about trying something that scares you is one way of being a hero. And that usually, once we try it, it wasn't as scary as we thought it would be!
Storytime: Our journey through American history has brought us to the Civil War era. In 2nd grade, we read "The Legend of Freedom Hill" about a Black girl (Rosabel) and a Jewish girl (Sophie) who team up to buy the freedom of 5 slaves, including Rosabel's mother. We talked about the themes of the story, including perseverance, initiative and teamwork. For our activity, we played 3 teamwork games--"human knot" (quite the challenge!), passing a hula hoop around a circle while holding hands, and using a rubber band tied to 4 pieces of string to move a cup from one end of the table to the other. Lots of giggles, but also great to see the students and madrichim working together to solve challenges. In 6th and 7th grade, we read "Judah Touro Didn't Want to be Famous", about the philanthropist and abolitionist Judah Touro. Rabbi Finestone joined us to talk about Maimonides levels of giving, in which the highest is giving anonymously, so that the giver and the recipient do not know who the other is. Judah Touro exemplified this. He wanted to be so anonymous that there is only one known photograph of him!!
Reading Challenge: 14 students received prizes today and many others returned books, so they will get their prizes next week. It's not too late to start the Reading Challenge--just read books with Jewish content, whether from the Har Shalom library, PJ Library, PJ Our Way, or public or school libraries. Make a list of the books you've read, and give me the list and you will receive your prizes!
In honor of Martin Luther King Day, the foyer checkout bookcase for January has books for children/teens and adults about the partnership between Blacks and Jews, as well as about multi-ethnic/multi-religious Black/Jewish families.
News from Shira (Sunday Morning Song Session) There was a lot of energy on our first Sunday back! Over the next few weeks, we will be singing songs about the earth and trees.
News from Teffillah (Prayer Session) with Deb It’s great to be back!! In Tefillah on Wednesday we reviewed the prayers we learned first semester, and added Debbie Friedman’s Misheberach, prayer for healing. The Rabbi invited students to say the name of a person or pet for whom they were sending prayers of healing.
News from Small Group with Deb The 6th and 7th grade classes of Small Group Hebrew are now meeting with Deb for 20 minutes each on both Wednesday and Sunday (rather than one large group for 30 minutes). This allows for more individual attention and more out loud reading by each student. So far this change has been very successful, creating more of a small-group tutoring experience for the students. Each class is making outstanding progress!
