Group Bet Update: May 12
Another exciting day at JUDA!
After going through our mystery bag we learned the story of Shavuot. See the photo of the mystery items below. Can you guess the items' connection to Shavuot? If not, ask your child.
Through our Ten Commandments hunt we learned what the Ten Commandments are.
We then went on to make our "I love Torah" window stickers to remind us how special the Torah is to us as Jews.
When we learned about the Shavuot customs we had some interest in staying up through the whole night... let's see if we can do it.
Group Bet Update: May 5
We learned about our final Jewish hero this week - Rut.
We talked about her dedication toward Naomi and how she was prepared to endure a difficult life to follow the right path. The children did a fun role play of what it was like to gather wheat in the fields by going out onto the terrace and collecting hundreds of pieces of string. Of course, like they did in ancient Israel, there was a certain portion that we couldn't touch for that was left for the poor people and we learned that whatever was left behind or dropped needed to be left for the poor people too.
The children then proceeded to create a giant story book of the Story of Rut which will be used by the younger children next week.
Group Bet Update: April 28
We learned this week about the special festival of Lag B'omer and it's message to us today... namely to "light up the world" by being kind to others. We also learned about the significance of Bows and Arrows and had a good time trying to shoot them.
We also enjoyed decorating our bonfire cookies with colorful fondant and icing. Yum!!
Group Bet Update: April 21
This week's Jewish Hero was "Hillel." We spoke about the famous story of how a non-Jew came to Hillel and asked to be taught the Torah on one foot. He answered, "Love your Friend as yourself... the rest is commentary." We played the Hillel Game where the kids took turns being Hillel and answering questions on one foot.
We also spoke about Hille's positive demeanor and how he never got angry. Someone bet with his friend that he could get Hillel angry.. but lost money because he did not succeed. The game played the game in reverse and tried to keep a straight face.
Group Bet Update: April 15:
The outdoor patio of Chabad has been transformed into many things over the past few years, but this was the first time it became the Land of Israel. A giant map of Israel was outlined over the whole area and the children visited different cities and learned about the different landscapes that Israel has… i.e. mountains, desserts, waterfalls,etc. They reached Jerusalem and dug for old coins and put notes into the Kotel.
Each group also contributed towards the Israeli Feast that we had at the end of JUDA… Delicious Falafel in Pita with Israeli Salad and Tehina… all made by your wonderful children.
Click here for photos of last week's class.
Group Bet Update: March 10
The Pesach fun continues as we finished learning the story of Pesach through art and drama... building of the pyramids, the ten plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea. What a story.
The children learned about how to set the Seder table and what is needed to do so.
Work continues on their special Seder Haggadah and on perfecting the Mah Nishtana. Looks like we'll have some winners in our Mah Nishtana contest.
Group Bet Update: March 3
Pesach is on the way and we are getting right into learning all about it!!
Following our Jewish Hero theme, we introduced Moshe as our Hero of the week and then began learning the story of Pesach. We learned learned about how Moshe was put in the Nile, a Midrashic story about how he chose coals over gold, and then finally how he protected his fellow Jew that was being beaten.
What did you think of the little Moshe in his "nut" basket? Really cute!!
The children began practicing the Mah Nishtana (read about the contest below) and working on their very special personalized Haggada for the Seder - a project we are sure you'll enjoy.
Mah Nishtana Contest:
Please download the Mah Nishtana PDF and mp3 that you have received by email and encourage your children to practice. Children in Group Bet that learn the first 3 lines or more will receive the Mah Nishtana Award.
Group Bet Update: January 27
Tu B'Shvat is in the air and we learned all about this week. We learned about the growth of tree through a story in pictures and talked about all the things that trees provide for us - other than fruits and flowers. One of the children expressed concern that is seemed that we only take from the environment and don't give anything back!!!
This led right into the next topic that we discussed... our contribution to our world in terms of good deeds and good behavior. This may be a good topic for you to discuss further with your children.
We used this opportunity to discuss the different Brachot that we make on food and categorized fruits into those that grow on a tree (Borei Pri Ha-etz) and those that grow on the ground (Borei Pri Ha-adama)
We finished off our class by decorating planters and filling them with a beautiful centerpiece made of recycled branches, leaves and flowers. We hope you enjoyed seeing it as much as the children enjoyed making it.
Coming up next: PURIM!!
Group Bet Update: January 20
This week's hero was Miriam. We started off by telling the story of Moshe in the Basket and how she was concerned about him and hid in the bushes. We acted out the story with "food art" by carving out a bread roll and smearing it with "tar" - jam. Yum!!
We then talked about how she sang and danced with tambourines after the splitting of the Sea and we decorated our own tambourines.
Our Miriam discovery ended off with talking about how the Jews had a well of water in Miriam's merit throughout their journey in the dessert... we played the "fill your cup from the well" game outdoors.
Our calendar page depicts one of the stories of Miriam's life and focuses on Miriam's motto: Make things happen!!
Group Bet Update: January 13
This week's hero was King David. The children were given crowns upon their arrival and were asked to find words that descirbe a king... they came up with strong, rich, big, powerful, etc.
They found out that King David actually started off as a small and low key kind of kid and became king because he stood up for what he thought was right. The children heard the story of David and Goliath through a puppet show and made their own sock puppets to continue the story at home.
They decorated their calendar page with the theme of: Its what is inside that is important.
We then went on to learn about the book of Tehillim - Psalms that contains many songs and has been a source of strength and comfort to Jews throughout the years. This book was written by King David. We played musical chairs to the song of David Melech Yisrael - since King David was a master musician.
The Jewish Hero calendars have been sent home... please make sure that the weekly Jewish Heroe sheets are inserted as they come home.
Group Bet Update: January 6
This week's Jewish hero was Yaakov and the children focused on the story of his purchase of Esav's birthright, his famous dream with the ladder and his "interesting" wedding with Leah and then Rachel.
We focused on Yaakov's determination to work for something that he really wanted and decorated our calendar page to reflect that message.
The children worked on their new "bedside lamps" in connection with Yaakov's dream.
