HSRS Announcements (Hodaahot הוֹדָוֹת) New Information Drop Off Safety Reminder- When dropping off your student, we ask that you park the car before students exit. When a car drops off in front of the sanctuary, we are causing a safety concern as cars become backed up on Drake.
Previous Information Sent!
Pizza on April 24- CANCELLED! 3rd-7th grade families! Please plan ahead. We will not be providing pizza on April 24 due to Passover. We will have some snacks such as veggies and fruit so the students have some food in their bellies before our sugar-filled Chocolate Seder, but it will not be a formal dinner
Photography Reminder Just a reminder- We have many upcoming bar/bat mitzvahs as well as grade level services. Please remember that photography and videography are not allowed on Shabbat.
Recordings of various prayers Needing to practice one of the prayers? Take a listen using this website. https://soundcloud.com/heeb-1
Important Dates & Upcoming Events April 17- BBYO Meeting at 6:30pm, come as early as 5:15pm April 19- Shabbat Jr at 5:30pm, oneg to follow April 20- 4th/5th grade Saturday morning Shabbat service April 21- NO SCHOOL FOR 4TH AND 5TH GRADES April 24- NO PIZZA SERVED! April 24- Chocolate Seder during HSRS for grades 3-7 April 28- Matzah Mania during HSRS for grades K-2 May 3- Kindergarten/1st grade Saturday Morning Shabbat Service at 9am May 4- NO SCHOOL FOR KINDERGARTEN AND 1ST GRADES May 15- HSRS Yom Ha'atzmaut Celebration May 19- Mitzvah Hour and End of the Year Carnival, Last Day of HSRS
BBYO & Teens Teen of the Week! Aidan helps in our kindergarten class and is such a great support for his team. The kids love to color and read stories with him and he never fails to make them giggle ****Teens- Come as early as 5:15. Judy could use a bit of help in the library prior to your meeting!
Synagogue & Community News
From Our Teachers Beresheet (Preschool) Sunday was our final day of Beresheet. We followed the days of creation over past 7 months and end with our day of rest. We made pillows, played a creation game, made homemade soap, built creation mobiles, gobbled up pancakes, and tie-dyed challah covers.
Kitah Gan (Kindergarten) From Morah Brenna, subbing for Morah JoJo- We learned all about Passover. We began the morning with practicing Hebrew letters through yoga and movement. Then we worked on tracing Hebrew letters while saying their sounds. After break we made beautiful Seder plates. Judy came to read us some Passover stories at the end of the morning. Thank you to the madrichim who were very helpful.
Kitah Alef (First Grade) We began by listening and singing Passover songs written to popular songs. One of our favorites was the Lion King Passover. In our room we have also been listening to the my favorite Passover Album. Take a listen For our centers today, we played Passover slides and Ladders, learned about the letter Ayin, and decorated our Passover song and play book. When we were done with everything, we practiced the four questions and acted out the story of Passover.
Kitah Bet (Second Grade) Hello kita bet! The weather was so amazing this weekend! I hope you were able to get outside and enjoy some of the sunshine. We had a super busy day at religious school today. After shira, we had story time with safrenit Judy where we learned about the Moroccan Jewish holiday, Mimouna. We then went to cooking where we made and tried 4 different types of haroset using all different types of fruit. I thought they were delicious! After our break we settled into some class time where we worked on our Hebrew to wrap up the morning. I hope you all have a great week. I look forward to seeing you next week!
Kitah Gimmel (Third Grade) Wednesday from Morah Robin- Kitah Gimmel focused on their “Personal Guide to Holiness: A Bedside Companion” booklets. They filled in the booklet pages with their thoughts and illustrations. Then after a short break and snack inside the classroom, everyone decorated and bound their booklets with colorful string to bring home. Parents – please encourage your kiddos to keep these booklets by their night stands and refer to them before they go to bed and when they wake up at least three times a week. Also encourage them to say the Sh’ma (which is at the end of the booklet).
Sunday from Morah Robin- Boker Tov, Kitah Gimmel had a day full of activities. First, in the sanctuary all the students watched entertaining Passover YouTube song videos. Parents – look for the link to these videos in the newsletter – you may want to include some of these in your own Passover seder. Back in our classroom, we visited the Sephardic community of Morocco with Safren Judy. We experienced some Moroccan Passover customs, and then Safren Judy read "A Sweet Meeting on Maimuna Night" which is about a Moroccan Jewish girl celebrating Maimuna, the Moroccan day after Passover, which is now also an Israeli national holiday. In cooking, the students made 4 kinds of charoset, including a Moroccan charoset. Back in class, we made Elijah’s Cup for our Passover craft. Busy, busy morning!
Kitah Dalet (Fourth Grade) Wednesday from Morah Sophie and Morah Merav- We practiced for our upcoming student led Shabbat service on April 20th with Kitah Hay. We also played a game with the words on our wall.
Sunday in Kitah Dalet with Merav- We practiced for our last time with Rabbi on the Bimah for our Shabbat service on April 20th and everyone is sounding great. We also put the finishing touches on our Prayer for Israel. We are all so excited to lead the Shabbat service on April 20th!
Sunday from Morah Sophie- We started the day by practicing for our Shabbat service in the sanctuary with Rabbi Finestone. Merav and I were truly amazed with how well the kids know and love the prayers. After that, we had a long break outside because the weather was so nice! Then, we dove further into the daily life in a kibbutz by reading a story called Stork’s Landing. The kids then compared kibbutzim to big cities in Israel.
Kitah Hay (Fifth Grade) Wednesday from Morah Lauren- We spent the evening with Kitah Dalet and Rabbi Finestone practicing for our service.
Sunday from Morah Lauren- Kitah Hay had a great Sunday including cooking, stories, and practicing for our Saturday service. Please check your email about Wednesday's mitzvah trip for the 5th grade.
Kitah Vav (Sixth Grade) Wednesday from Morah Leah- After T’filah in the sanctuary, we moved to our classroom for our continued Hebrew language lesson. Together as a class we read through the morning blessings - thanking G-d for many things and equally important - beginning teach day with gratitude. Then we moved to our Muti-part class on Passover. Ask your student about the meaning behind the work Pesach.
Sunday from Morah Leah- Sunday was super! After Shira (videos of a-capella passover music), we moved to the classroom and once again right into our Hebrew language lesson. This time focusing on the four questions - Mah Nishtanah. Then back into the many layers of learning about Passover. We read a short story about making room in your home / life for strangers. Yes of course safety first, and then welcoming those who are different to us. We talked a bit about xenophobia and how living a full, Jewish life, is making space and asking questions and being kind to strangers - we were all once strangers in the land of Egypt. After our break - we read a pinto-gram paragraph and then played Passover jeopardy. Your student came home with our learning materials - ask them to share it with you. Shavua Tov!
Kitah Zayin (Seventh Grade) Wednesday from Rabbi Finestone- We spent the evening decorating for the hospitality dinner. The students set up all of the furniture and the sanctuary into Barbie's Dream.
Sunday from Morah Michelle- we learned all about the history of Jews in the shmatte business. First, we read the book Parrots, Pugs and Pixie Dust, a children's book about Judith Leiber, a famous Jewish handbag designer known for her whimsical, bedazzled creations. We talked about how a sizable majority of Jewish immigrants to America who arrived in the early 1900s ended up working in the Garment District. We watched a short History channel clip about conditions in these factories and the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. We discussed the role of unions and how a Jewish woman named Rose Schneiderman became an important labor union leader who fought for better working conditions in the NYC sweatshops. We then learned about famous Jewish fashion designers like Ralph Lauren, Tory Burch, Zac Posen. Levi Strauss and the founders of Columbia and the Gap. We then went to Starbucks to celebrate a successful hospitality dinner and ended the day having free time on the ipads. See everyone next week!
From Our Specials News from the Sifriyah (Library) Storytime: We concluded our year long trip visiting different Jewish communities around the world. In Kitas Bet, Gimmel and Hey, we visited the Sephardic community of Morocco. We got to try some of their unique Passover seder customs, including sitting on pillows (to remind us we are a free people), wearing white (like the robes of the Kohanim in the Temple in Jerusalem), holding the seder plate over the heads of the guests while reciting "bib'hilu yatzanu mi-mitzrayim" (which means "in haste we left Egypt" and symbolizes giving us strength to accomplish our journeys in life) and lining up outside with a candle (don't worry, they weren't lit!) to welcome Elijah into our home. We also read the story "A Sweet Meeting on Maimuna Night" about the Moroccan "yay, we can eat chametz" holiday the day after Passover, which is now a national holiday in Israel.
Kita Gan: We read two stories for Passover! One was "The Littlest Frog" about a frog who scares Pharoah. The other was "Too Many Cooks" about what happens when Bubbie gets sidetracked from making charoset and people start adding things like horseradish and prune juice without her knowledge. Yuck!! But everything turns out OK in the end thanks to a generous neighbor.
News from Tefillah Tefillah Josh started teaching us Shalom Aleichem. Take a listen
News from the Kitchen MMMMM. The second half of our school made four different types of charoset with Morah Ellen and Morah Deb. The four kinds were Sephardic, Moroccan, Brazillian, and Traditional. Ask your student which were their favorites?
