Dear Gesher families,
Gesher is the Hebrew word for
bridge. Bridges connect people and
places. Our Gesher experience seeks
to navigate the divide between Jewish childhood and the rights and
responsibilities of a Jewish adult. You
will find that Sundays are packed with Jewish learning and opportunities for
creativity and fun. Our fundamental
behavioral expectation is KINDESS and
RESPECT at all times.
Leadership: On
Sundays, Gesher students, the eldest
students in our school, will be leaders and role models. We will partner with
Natick Service Council to provide Thanksgiving dinner for 8 families and
coordinate that project within our school.
We will also continue the work of last year’s Gesher class developing awareness in the Temple Israel community of
our monthly toilet paper obligation for JF & CS Family Table. And we will
be leaders and role models in our Sunday morning Tefillah by modeling tefillah
behaviors, being on task and encouraging others to do so as well, sometimes
leading prayers and sometimes delegating leadership opportunities.
Jewish Life Cycle:
During the Gesher year, most Gesher families are anticipating B’nei Mitzvah celebrations. This is a significant, beautiful and exciting
Jewish life cycle milestone and reminds us that Jewish life is punctuated by a
number of milestone events. We will
learn about these events and have the privilege to hear about them from the
experts.
Pirkei Avot, Ethics
of the Sages, has been called the
Bartletts familiar Quotations of the Rabbis. It is a fascinating window into rabbinic
thinking and values from 2000 years ago.
We will learn a sampling of mishnayot
(sayings) from this section of the Mishna
and once we understand some traditional and modern interpretations, we will
develop our own meanings and express them by creating videos using the i-movie
trailer app on our i-pads.
Tefillah Our study of
Jewish prayer will include developing
skills to lead weekday tefillah and
cultivating an understanding of the 19 blessings in the weekday Amidah.
Jewish holidays:
We will continue to explore the Jewish holidays building on the
foundations gained in younger grades and developing more sophisticated
understandings and experiences appropriate for teens.
There will be times when our Sunday session is devoted to
projects from your mid-week learning with Katie
Hamelburg.
There will be times when we meet with Bar Argaman, our Israeli Shin-shin,
who will join our class to facilitate activities to strengthen our connections
with the people and the land of Israel.
Homework: Bar
and Bat Mitzvah preparation is the focus of your Gesher year. I encourage
daily practice. Homework from our time
together will be centered on our projects:
during the Thanksgiving dinner campaign, students will be expected to
inform their parents and encourage them to send in foods and money. Throughout the year, students are encouraged
to increase awareness of our JF & CS Family Table obligation to collect 40
4-packs of toilet paper each month and to model the donation behavior as often
as possible.
What to bring every Sunday: Please bring a WATER BOTTLE and kosher dairy
or parave, nut-free, SNACK every
Sunday. Since there are times when go outside, students must have jackets when
the weather is below 60°. Students should also
bring a bag or backpack to carry water bottle and snack and to bring home
notices, etc.
I’m looking forward to an amazing year learning, exploring,
creating, experiencing and laughing with you!
See you on Sunday, September 17.
HaMorah Margalit
(aka Gretchen Marks Brandt)
Gretchen.tiofnatick@gmail.com
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