ALEF israel, May 7, 2017

Dear families:

A day filled with learning and fun.  In tefillah, Cantor Ken taught us the signs for the beginning of brachot:  Baruch atah Adonai elohaynu, melech ha o’olam, and then the sign for amen.  Ask  your child to show you. 

Back in class, we turned to HEBREW: First we learned ס “samech,” the first letter in “sefer” (book), Sukkot, siddur, and “sivivon” (the Hebrew word for dreidel). Each week, we also review previous letters., noting look-alike letters like ח ת and ה.  Our second letter is is פ, which sounds like “f.”  .I  don’t know any words which start with fay, but it is found in the word shofar    שופר and sefer (book) ספר.

Then it was time for brachot and snack.  Students finishing snack and craft early have the opportunity to work on holiday and Hebrew games.

BOOK: I showed my of photos from the trip to Israel my husband and I took with a synagogue.  We looked at images of Jerusalem, including the kotel, the giant menorah, and the Israel Museum. We also viewed an archaeological dig, Masada, the Dead Sea, Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Eilat. We concluded with pictures of Israeli innovations in computers, medicine, and cell phones.

Ariel, our class madricha, showed some of her Israel photos—dorito bags in Hebrew, shops, and tourist sites.  The children especially enjoyed a Jaffa orange tree suspended by wires.

CRAFT: Students wrote about something they like about Israel and illustrated it.  Some chose floating in the Dead Sea. riding a camel, or leaving a note in the Kotel.

GODLY PLAY:  Our story today was about Lag B’Omer.  On the 33^rd day of the counting of the Omer, we remember scholars, and we have fun and games.  Rabbi Akiba continued to study and teach the Torah, though the Roman’s forbade it, threatening punishment for disobedience.  Akiba told the story of the fox and the fish.  The fox hoped to eat the fish by coaxing them to leave the stream.  The clever fish responded: “The water is our source of life.  We cannot live without it.”  In the same way, Akiba explained that the Torah is life for the Jews, though it was dangerous to study it.Without it, we would “truly be like fish out of water”

IMPORTANT NOTE—PLEASE HAVE YOUR CHILDREN WEAR CASUAL CLOTHES OR A SMOCK ON May 14.  WE WILL PLAY GAMES AND TIE-DYE SHIRTS.  THE DYE IS PERMANENT AND WILL STAIN CLOTHING.

Shavua tov—have a good week!

Judy and Cheryl (Esther and Tzipporah)