Gan (3.5-5 year olds)
Upcoming: Sun, Dec 11 Gan SJS begins in Room 1 on main level of SJS building at 9:15 a.m.
Highlights from the Gan…. I challenged the children to help me figure out which candles go with which important event (Shabbat, Hanukkah and Birthdays). We learned about the four letters that are found on the dreidel and what the meaning behind each letter is. The children practiced spinning dreidels. We even made our own dreidel creations. The children were treated to some Hanukkah music by the Cantor. As always, Tefillah was very engaging with Mr. Sherman.
-Morah Lynn
Aleph (1st Grade)
Upcoming: Sun, Dec 11 Aleph SJS begins in Room 2 on main level of SJS building at 9:15 a.m.
Bet (2nd Grade)
Upcoming: Sun, Dec 11 Bet SJS begins in Room 3 on main level of SJS building at 9:15 a.m.
Today we had a very busy and productive day. Time flew faster than I had hoped. The students learned about Hanukkah, connected the story of Hanukkah to the city of Modi’in, where the Maccabees lived and first fought back. While learning about Hanukkah symbols, the students learned the differences between the Chanukiya and Menorah and went on the dreidel/chanukiya hunt around the building. During the Hebrew Through Movement (HTM) segment, we added nouns s’vivon (dreidel), ner/nerot (candle[s]), chanukiya to our list of vocabulary and commands.
The students did an awesome job practicing the Havdallah blessings and working on the Havdallah sets in preparation for the Havdallah ceremony that Kitah Bet will be leading on January 14, 2017.
-Morah Anna
Gimel (3rd Grade)
Upcoming: Sun, Dec 11 Gimel SJS begins in Room 5 on upper level of SJS building at 9:15 a.m.
This past Sunday students from the Ruach Youth Group (3rd-5th graders) gathered together to go bowling! It was the perfect outing for a snowy day. The Ruach students had a great time spending quality time with their Am Yisrael friends. -Miss Cooper
Dalet (4th Grade)
Upcoming: Sun, Dec 11 Dalet SJS begins in Room 7 on upper level of SJS building at 9:15 a.m.
I am pleased to see much progress in Hebrew reading fluency and at this point, more than half of our students have progressed from the Hebrew Step-by-Step program and are reading out of the siddur. This week in class we began and introduced/reviewed Chanukah, focusing more on the historical storyline and traditions we pull from the story. Additionally, the student have begun working on their personal “zichronot ” and are excited to begin their creations during art time. -Mrs. Cohen
Dear Parents,
This week we learned that our bodies help us act B’tzelem Elohim, and that we have an obligation to take care of them. In past generations people used the phrase “My body is a temple” or “My body is a holy vessel.” The implication was that the person took great care and control over how s/he treated his or her body.
Recap:
- At this grade-level in this unit we concentrate on the value of shemirat ha’guf, caring for one’s body/health, and relating it to the belief that the body represents the image of God.
- Students understand that our bodies are blessings for which we give thanks, and that good hygiene, nutrition, and sleep habits are all personal obligations derived from being created in the image of God.
Table Talk: Is it possible to take the mitzvah of “taking good care of yourself” too far?
My.ShalomLearning.org Activity for next week: 4.2.3 B’Tzelem Elohim Week 3
Next week:
Students will discover that the media influences our perception of what is “cool” and who is “beautiful”.
Have a great week!
Sincerely,
Marc Sender
The student’s reading is improving greatly. We worked on Birkot Hashchar & Baruch Sh’Amar. We worked on the meaning of thanking God for all of what God can give or do for us. Please make sure to practice pages 8 and 10 in your folder. This week we continued working on Hebrew reading through the siddur. We reviewed the morning blessings and learned key vocabulary words in Hebrew for day, night, bless, king and world. We discussed the importance of blessings and why it is important for us to give thanks. We learned that the Hatzi Kadish is written in Aramaic, the language that our ancestors spoke. Finally we practiced the Barchu and Or Chadash, where we focused on the words ‘light’ and ‘darkness’ in Hebrew. -Mrs. Moustakis
This past Sunday students from the Ruach Youth Group (3rd-5th graders) gathered together to go bowling! It was the perfect outing for a snowy day. The Ruach students had a great time spending quality time with their Am Yisrael friends. -Miss Cooper
Heh (5th Grade)
Upcoming: Sun, Dec 11 Heh SJS begins in Sanctuary in the synagogue building at 9:15 a.m.
This week we concluded our unit on Tochecha (rebuke). The overall lessons that the students should come away with are understanding the importance of being sensitive when giving criticism and appropriate ways and situations where criticizing has a place and where it may not. –Mrs. Cohen
Dear Parents,
Today in class we continued our unit on B’tzelem Elohim: in the image of God. We discussed how since everyone has equal worth, we need to treat everyone (no matter their appearance or abilities) with dignity.
Recap:
- Students encountered classic Jewish stories and the phrases that reinforce the value of treating every person with dignity: not being judgmental and realizing that every person is valuable even if they are not your friend or look the same as you.
- Students connected these behavioral norms to the idea of all humans beings created in God’s image.
- Students learned that recognizing that each person has worth and dignity can help them navigate difficult social situations.
Table Talk:
How does knowing that we are all created b’tzelem Elohimבצלם א-לוהים impact how I treat my family, peers and teachers?
MyShalomLearning Activity: 5.2.3
This week’s MyShalomLearning Activity asks students to look around them and find a person who epitomizes the quality of realizing people are created b’tzelem Elohim.
Representing B’tzelem Elohim:
Think of a person that you know that really epitomizes the idea of treating everyone B’tzelem Elohim. Take a picture of them, upload it!
Write why you chose this person. How do they act in a way that shows that they look at each person as a tzelem Elohim?
Next week:
We look at appreciating b’tzelem Elohim in those that have different challenges than us.
Have a great week!
Sincerely,
Marc Sender
Heh
We welcome Shabbat with songs, happiness & peace. We continued with page 10 in the folder with the prayer L’chu N’ra’nena, Yis’m’khu Ha’shah’ma’yim. We discussed some of the laws of Shabbat regarding working the field. We discussed the reasons why we welcome Shabbat with such a joy. We read the Ma’Ariv A’ra’vim and spoke about the importance of appreciating G-d’s creation and the special order the G-d put in this world. Here are the words that I taught the students in Hebrew : evening, light, darkness, day, night and stars. Have a good week.
-Mrs. Moustakis
This past week in Torah Trope, the Heh students reviewed the sof pasuk, etnachta, and zakeif katon. melodies, and applied them to the first paragraph of the Sh’ma. -Mr. Lerner
This past Sunday students from the Ruach Youth Group (3rd-5th graders) gathered together to go bowling! It was the perfect outing for a snowy day. The Ruach students had a great time spending quality time with their Am Yisrael friends. -Miss Cooper
Vav (6th Grade)
Upcoming: Sun, Dec 11 Vav SJS begins in Sanctuary in the synagogue building at 9:15 a.m.
Our Kadima Board has had a wonderful start to the year. During our time together we have accumulated a growing list of program ideas we are looking forward to planning. We have been hard at work planning our Hanukkah celebration for SJS. Four Am Yisrael students attended the regional Kadima Konvention, which took place December 2-4 at Camp Chi’s Perlstein Resort. This was an amazing weekend where our middle school students had the opportunity to meet and spend Shabbat with many other teens from around Chicagoland. Along with the great programming during their time at Perlstein Resort, the teens enjoyed a night at Kalahari water park in the Wisconsin Dells. I’m so happy that some of our students enjoyed this very fun weekend!! -Morah Sandra
This past week in Yeshivat B’nai Mitzvah, the Vav students reviewed the sof pasuk, etnachta, and zakeif katon melodies, and learned the gershayim, revi’a and tevir melodies. -Mr. Lerner
Last week, Vav met in the library for a special training session in which we learned how to lead the services for taking out and putting back the Torah scroll on a Shabbat morning. We practiced careful reading of the texts as well as the traditional and modern melodies used in services at Am Yisrael. We also took time to discuss the meanings behind the text of the Torah service and its symbolism. This week we began an exploration of the concept of gevurah, “strength.” We watched a brief musical video about David and Goliath and talked about the details behind that story. We also encountered several set questions about the application of strength or force in Jewish history. -Hazzan Szenes-Strauss
The Vav students enjoyed learning about the meaning and history of Hanukkah. The students wrote down the different terms associated with Hanukkah. Then, we discussed the Power Point presentation entitled “The Five W’s of Chanukkah.” Finally, we summarized the topic and emphasized the practical aspects of celebrating Chanukkah. The children demonstrated a lively interest in learning about Jewish customs associated with Chanukkah.-Moreh Igal
Zayin (7th Grade)
Upcoming: Sun, Dec 11 Zayin SJS begins in Sanctuary in the synagogue building at 9:15 a.m.
Our Kadima Board has had a wonderful start to the year. During our time together we have accumulated a growing list of program ideas we are looking forward to planning. We have been hard at work planning our Hanukkah celebration for SJS. Four Am Yisrael students attended the regional Kadima Konvention, which took place December 2-4 at Camp Chi’s Perlstein Resort. This was an amazing weekend where our middle school students had the opportunity to meet and spend Shabbat with many other teens from around Chicagoland. Along with the great programming during their time at Perlstein Resort, the teens enjoyed a night at Kalahari water park in the Wisconsin Dells. I’m so happy that some of our students enjoyed this very fun weekend!! -Morah Sandra
Last week, Zayin met in the library for a special training session in which we learned how to lead the services for taking out and putting back the Torah scroll on a Shabbat morning. We practiced careful reading of the texts as well as the traditional and modern melodies used in services at Am Yisrael. We also took time to discuss the meanings behind the text of the Torah service and its symbolism. This week, we continued practicing from our siddur packets, with the goal of reading the prayers fluently and accurately. The students naturally congregated into groups to support each other and create accountability for their work. In addition to the words, the student worked on the melodies to prayers as sung during services at Am Yisrael. -Hazzan Szenes-Strauss
The Zayin students enjoyed learning about the meaning and history of Hanukkah. The students wrote down the different terms associated with Hanukkah. Then, we discussed the Power Point presentation entitled “The Five W’s of Chanukkah.” Finally, we summarized the topic and emphasized the practical aspects of celebrating Chanukkah. The children demonstrated a lively interest in learning about Jewish customs associated with Chanukkah.-Moreh Igal
Prozdor (8th Grade)
Upcoming: Sun, Dec 11 Prozdor SJS begins in Room 9 on upper level of SJS building at 10:30 a.m.(one hour, 15 minutes later than the majority of the classes in SJS)
The Prozdor students enjoyed learning about the meaning and history of Chanukkah. The students learned what were the social aspects of Chanukkah celebration through the lens of Jewish tradition. They also practiced in a Hebrew/English Chanukkah word search. -Moreh Igal
Our Kadima Board has had a wonderful start to the year. During our time together we have accumulated a growing list of program ideas we are looking forward to planning. We have been hard at work planning our Hanukkah celebration for SJS. Four Am Yisrael students attended the regional Kadima Konvention, which took place December 2-4 at Camp Chi’s Perlstein Resort. This was an amazing weekend where our middle school students had the opportunity to meet and spend Shabbat with many other teens from around Chicagoland. Along with the great programming during their time at Perlstein Resort, the teens enjoyed a night at Kalahari water park in the Wisconsin Dells. I’m so happy that some of our students enjoyed this very fun weekend!! -Morah Sandra
Pardes (9th-10th Grades)
Upcoming: Sun, Dec 11 Pardes SJS is volunteering at the soup kitchen at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Evanston in lieu of regular Pardes SJS session
Last Sunday, the students read an article from the Chicago Jewish News in which a Rabbi moves her family from New Jersey to Montana. She discussed the episodes of antisemitism she and her kids encountered. The bottom line was that she and her kids always speak up when they experience antisemitism, but are careful to combat it without anger, rather with calmness as they question the offenders as to the source of their anger and hostility. Our students discussed if they would be able to handle these situations diplomatically or emotionally. -Cantor Simon
Our youth groups have been having a great year. We began our year with amazing Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur programs put together and led by our AMUSY board. In October, our AMUSY chapter board went on a board bonding outing to an Escape Room. The theme of the escape room was to get the sun treasure released from its chamber before the solar eclipse was over. We had fun solving the many puzzles to “escape” before the eclipse ended. In November, our AMUSYers and 8th grade members had a lounge night rooting on the Cubs during Game 7 of the World Series. Needless to say, the evening was fun and ended with a Cubs victory! Our board is busy planning upcoming events. -Morah Sandra
Mr. Sherman’s Blog 