Happy Hanukkah to you and your families! It is hard to believe that we are already celebrating Hanukkah. It has been a year of early celebrations!

For parents of students in 3^rd grade and older, on December 16^th please plan to arrive at 11:45 and meet us in the sanctuary to hear a presentation about summer camp at Camp Ben Frankel. It will only last about 15 minutes.

I have been working on better preparing our school and staff for safety situations. All classrooms now have a first aid kit and 5 additional staff members are trained in first aid and CPR. All of this has been accomplished through a grant from the Memorial Medical Foundation. One additional item we would like to purchase, but do not have enough left in our grant to fully fund is an AED. It would be housed at TBS for anyone that enters the building to have access to, but at least half of it will be covered by the grant. We are still looking for someone or ones to help us fund this purchase. If you might be interested in making a donation towards this purchase, please contact Jody – brit.Yisrael@yahoo.com .

I hope your families have a wonderful Hanukkah and a restful winter break in a few weeks. -Jody

-The Pre-K class may be small, only 3 students, but they are as bright as the stars they draw. Whether they are learning about Jewish symbols, or discussing Hanukkah, each child contributes their own perspective or observation. They really enjoy looking for the Hebrew letters they have learned and drawing Jewish symbols on the chalkboard. In the weeks ahead they will be learning the Shema and the Motzi. They will also be discussing Tu B’Shevat as they continue to brighten the room each Sunday.

-The Kindergarteners have been learning about the Torah, the Ark and how we pray. Every week we focus on a Hebrew letter and we learn a few new words. My students especially love to do The Hokey Pokey in Hebrew! We also have been discussing the importance of Tzdakah. My students really want to earn money and give every week. Please help them earn a few extra coins by helping around the house each week.

-The 1^st and 2^nd grade has continued to work on the stories in the torah. When covering the story of Noah we discussed what a modern-day Ark would look like and what Noah would bring on his Ark other than just animals. You can see the students’ thoughts in the

artwork located outside our classroom. We also took an exciting tour through the temple to locate different Judaic Symbols. Now that we have approached the holiday season our class is reviewing the story and customs of Hanukkah. After winter break we will continue to cover more stories in the Torah, Jewish Holidays, Israel, and much more!

-The 3^rd/4^th graders completed their Israel study by learning about the differences and connections between Am Yisrael (people of Israel) and Eretz Yisrael (land of Israel). Thanks to all the relatives who helped research their family histories.
Our students learned about their own personal
connections to Jews worldwide, and how the existence and safety of the State of Israel is important to all of us.

Following that we began the Avodah section of the curriculum by learning about Kevah and Kavanah, and why we need to use both our head and our heart to pray.

-The 5th/6th graders just completed the first of their three-section curriculum. They have been learning about the different parts of the Torah, God's revelation, and how each individual student views God. They have discussed various ways of praise and worship. The students have worked alone and in groups to complete projects showing their own personal ideas for praising God. During the month of November they held a food drive in which food was collected for a local charity. Due to the continued need for this type of donation, they are still accepting canned and boxed items. Please drop off your donations in the box located near the sign-in table on Sunday morning.

-The 7th/8th graders continue their study of the Holocaust. The class has moved from a historical perspective on anti-Semitism into the 1930’s and Hitler’s rise to power. The last session concentrated on the beginnings of the arrests and “vilification” of the Jewish people, which began with Kristallnacht (the “Night of Broken Glass”) where hundreds of Jewish homes, shops, and synagogues were looted, damaged or burned.

-The 9^th graders met again with Eydee Schultz at the beginning of November. This session focused on community building and helped the students focus on 2 upcoming Mitzvah projects. They also had 2 sessions with Len Lieberman where they discussed Jewish themes throughout Western Civilization. Starting in January, Rabbi Marks will be leading 6 sessions on Modern Jewish History.

HEBREW STUDIES

-1^st/2^nd Grade Hebrewstudentsmastered ten Hebrew letters, two vowels, and over thirty sight words! They are doing great!!!!! They especially love to play our version of Pictionary using Hebrew phrases and sight words.

-1st year Hebrew students are halfway through their books. We have handed out their computer programs so that the students can continue to practice at home. This is a great way for your student to “show off” their

Hebrew skills for you at home. We have also started to learn conversational Hebrew words.

-2^nd year Hebrew (mostly fourth-graders) meets on Sunday mornings and Wednesday afternoons. There are four students in the class. We're working on our fluency in reading Hebrew phonetically. We have read four lessons in the Hebrew and Heritage textbook and have acquired a vocabulary of about 25 words. We have learned the prayers - Ein Keilohenu, Sim Shalom, and Shalom Aleichem. We enjoy playing Hang-Man and Simon Says in Hebrew.

-4^th year Hebrew We finished off our textbook this past month and celebrated with a Baskin-Robbins ice cream pie. The kids have been having great fun learning various Hebrew hymns with a bee-bop flair and visiting the other classes for "caroling". We've now begun the next level Hebrew textbook in our series. Happy Hanukkah and Happy New Year.

Dates to Remember

December 9th – 11:00-12:00 Hanukkah parties in

classrooms

December 16th – 3^rd grade and up - Camp Ben

Frankel presentation at 11:45

December 23^rd– No Hebrew or Religious School

December 26^th – No Hebrew

December 30^th – No Hebrew or Religious School

January 6^th - Hebrew and Religious School resumes

Security(8:50-12:10)

December 9^th – Ann Miller

December 16^th – Melamed

January 6^th - Abrams

January 13^th – Riseman

January 20^th – Pekay

January 27^th – Flynn

In closing, I would like to thank John Isaacks for disposing of one, and the clearing off another of the old Temple computers for SBJE. Thanks to his efforts, we will soon have a computer installed in the library that has internet access. Thank you for your time and energy John. We really appreciate you taking care of this for us!

Sunday, December 9^th

No Tefilah

Class Hanukkah Parties from 11:00-12:00 in the rooms.

(7^th-9^th graders will be working on their Mitzvah project and making latkes so come prepared to fry!)

Don’t forget about Tzedakah during Hanukkah!!!

9^th graders do not have class on December 16^th but their sessions resume on January 6^th!