Mr. Sherman’s Blog
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SJS Class Updates 10/30 and 11/2, 2016

Gan (3.5-5 year olds)

Upcoming: Shabbat Family Programming (SFP), Fri, Nov 4 in Sanctuary at 6 p.m. & Sun, Nov 6 in Room 1 on main level of SJS building

Gan Highlights….We had a Super Sunday!  Our question of the week was- “Do you have a favorite book?”  The reason I asked the children this was since last week we celebrated the holiday of Simchat Torah and we finished the Torah and started it again. The Torah has many stories about who we are and since it is a favorite, we read it again and again.  The first story we come across in the Torah is of Creation.  I discussed with the children what G-d did on the first six days and then what was the seventh day? (Shabbat).  We made our very own timeline of Creation.  The children as always had a great time at Tefillah with Mr. Sherman, Mr. Marc and the puppets.           -Morah Lynn

Aleph (1st Grade)

Upcoming: Shabbat Family Programming (SFP), Fri, Nov 4 in Sanctuary at 6 p.m. & Sun, Nov 6 in Room 2 on main level of SJS building

This week the Aleph students focused on the story of creation. We learned about the the world and God’s creations. We also focused on the letter “dalet” today. In Hebrew through Movement we focused on numbers from 1 to 4 and to be able to identify how many items were in the room without the items being in numerical order. The students also practice counting to from 1 to 10 by playing hopscotch and counting to the number in which their bean bag fell on. -Mrs. Berlow

Bet (2nd Grade)

Upcoming: Shabbat Family Programming (SFP), Fri, Nov 4 in Sanctuary at 6 p.m. & Sun, Nov 6 in Room 3 on main level of SJS building

This week the students continued to learn about the Torah. We learned about what the Torah is and what it represents. We focused on the first book of Torah: Beresheit. After reading the story of Creation, we discussed why it took 6 days to create the world and talked about what it means to be created in the image of G-d. We also talked about the meaning of Derekh Eretz– a way we can create a community in which we all want to live. We are able to perform the mitzvah of Derekh Eretz just by saying the special magic words- todah, bevakasha, may I? -Morah Anna

Gimel (3rd Grade)

Upcoming: Shabbat Family Programming (SFP), Fri, Nov 4 in Sanctuary at 6 p.m. & Sun, Nov 6 starting in Room 5 on upper level of SJS building

Shalom Gimel Families!

This week you received the Hebrew reading packets and corresponding audio for your student (s) to practice at home.  You will receive a separate e-mail from Mr. Sherman regarding your specific student(s) and where they are in their packets.

*Please note, that these packets and audio can also be found by going to RESOURCES  and GROUP  at the top of the page, and clicking on the PINK FOLDER labeled HEBREW RESOURCES at http://my.shalomlearning.org/

H A P P Y  R E A D I N G!

-Mrs. Sender

Dalet (4th Grade)

Upcoming: Shabbat Family Programming (SFP), Fri, Nov 4 in Sanctuary at 6 p.m. & Sun, Nov 6 starting in Room 7 on upper level of SJS building

This week we began our first text study looking at the actions of our Avot and Emahot. The students were divided into groups and given guide questions and ultimately asked to present the lessons learned from each story. We were able to get thorugh two out of the three groups and will finish next week before turning to Birkat HaBain U’Vanot and discussing why we evoke our ancestors when blessing our children.

As part of our unit on “Zikaron: My Memories, My Roots” the students have been discovering the stories of our ancestors and their relevance to our lives as Jews then and now. We are using original texts to pull out lesson from the Torah that apply to us in our daily lives and instruct us on how to ( and sometimes how not to) behave.

Now it’s time to turn to our own families and learn about some of our own personal stories. As part of this unit, the students are being asked to interview a relative for the purpose of learning a family story that is unfamiliar to the student and using the story (and the connection made with the relative) to create their own “Zichronot” (Memorials).   If possible, I would like all students to turn in these sheets to me by Sunday November 20th so that we may begin working on our “Zichronot” when we come back from Thanksgiving break.  As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to email me: bcohen@amyisrael.org . -Mrs. Cohen

Heh (5th Grade)

Upcoming: Shabbat Family Programming (SFP), Fri, Nov 4 in Sanctuary at 6 p.m. & Sun, Nov 6 starting in in Sanctuary in synagogue building

This week we began our first text study “B’Chevrutah” (in small groups) looking at the Torah perspective on Tochecha using a passuk (versa) in Vayikra 19:17. The students first worked in their groups and then we came together as a class to discuss what we’ve learned.  Next week we will finish our first chevrutah and begin exploring tips on giving effective Tochecha. –Mrs. Cohen

This past week in Torah Trope, we reviewed the etnachta and sof pasuk melodies.  We also continued our study of the Jewish calendar.. -Mr. Lerner

The majority of the Heh students have completed Hebrew Step-by-Step Boot Camp (Packet 3) and moved forward in their reading of the Hebrew Siddur prayers and enjoying the class.        -Moreh Igal

Vav (6th Grade)

Upcoming: Shabbat Family Programming (SFP), Fri, Nov 4 in Sanctuary at 6 p.m. & Sun, Nov 6 starting in in Sanctuary in synagogue building

This past week in Yeshivat B’nai Mitzvah, we reviewed the etnachta and sof pasuk melodies, and applied them to the appropriate phrases in the v’Ahavata.  We also continued our study of the Jewish calendar. -Mr. Lerner
The Vav students enjoyed watching videos about the seven fruits of Israel and had a meaningful discussion re Noah’s flood and ark with questions asked by some Vav students. The students liked to learn and discuss the archeological search for Noah’s ark on Mt. Ararat.  -Moreh Igal
We continued our exploration of the idea that people are all created B’tzelem Elohim, in God’s image. Students explored the question of why it should matter to any one person that others are also made in the image of God. We also began to explore havruta (partnered study) as a way of exploring texts and ideas.  -Hazzan Szenes-Strauss

Zayin (7th Grade)

Upcoming: Shabbat Family Programming (SFP), Fri, Nov 4 in Sanctuary at 6 p.m. & Sun, Nov 6 starting in Room 9 to get carpools organized.  NOTE: This Sun, Nov 6, the Zayin class will be going to the Ark.  Carpools will be leaving from Am Yisrael at 9:30 a.m. for a 10:00 a.m. starting time.  The address for the Ark in West Rogers Park is: Seymour H. Persky Building; 6450 N. California Ave., Chicago, IL 60645; 773.973.1000.  Students will return to Am Yisrael in time for the regular 12:15 p.m. dismissal. 

The Zayin class had a Family Education brunch with Rabbi Newman Kamin this past Sunday morning.  They discussed B’nai Mitzvah and the importance of performing mitzvot throughout life.  Thank you to all of the parents who joined us for this wonderful get-together.  -Mr. Sherman
The students chose from a variety of texts for reading practice. They were periodically asked to read aloud one-on-one in order to check fluency and accuracy. We then explored one book as a class and learned some basic vocabulary relating to food and the terms for “there is” and “there is not.”  -Hazzan Szenes-Strauss

Prozdor (8th Grade)

Upcoming: Shabbat Family Programming (SFP), Fri, Nov 4 in Sanctuary at 6 p.m. & Sun, Nov 6 starting in Room 9 to get carpools organized.  NOTE: This Sun, Nov 6, the Zayin class will be going to the Ark.  Carpools will be leaving from Am Yisrael at 9:30 a.m. for a 10:00 a.m. starting time.  The address for the Ark in West Rogers Park is: Seymour H. Persky Building; 6450 N. California Ave., Chicago, IL 60645; 773.973.1000.  Students will return to Am Yisrael in time for the regular 12:15 p.m. dismissal. 

The Prozdor students enjoyed watching videos about the seven fruits of Israel
and thy liked to learn and discuss the archeological search for Noah’s ark on Mt. Ararat. The students enjoyed the class and had a great time together.  -Moreh Igal

Pardes (9th-10th Grades)

Upcoming: We will welcome JUF’s Israel Education Center to Am Yisrael for a very special workshop designed to begin preparing our students for some of the challenges they may encounter when they get to college. JUF’s Israel Education Center Executive Director Emily Briskman will be joined by Carl Schrag, who is program director of JUF’s Write On for Israel fellowship, as they discuss the environment on college campuses today and encourage our teens to think about how they can become a productive part of the campus conversation about Israel and their Jewish identities.  All 9th-12th graders are in Room 6 at 10:30 a.m. sharp.  At 11:30 a.m., the 9th and 10th graders will remain in Room 6 and the 11th and 12th graders will move to Room 8. 

This past Sunday, our class viewed an outstanding movie, Denial, at the Century Theater in Evanston.  This is the true story of a professor of Jewish Studies at Emory University, Deborah Lipstadt, who wrote a book about people who deny the Holocaust, and specifically disparaged a Brit, David Irving, stating that his virulent antisemitism caused him to rewrite history.  Professor Lipstadt was sued in British court for libel, and won the case, further damaging Mr. Irving’s reputation.  This was a perfect follow up to Schindler’s List, not only showing that antisemitism is unfortunately still exists, but it also served as a blueprint as to how one should deal with it. -Cantor Simon

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