November’s social justice theme is racial justice and voting rights. We studied this by reading Numbers 1:1-4:20 and talking about census taking, exlusion of groups of people from the ancient census, and how this applies to modern day democracy in the US. We watched a video that discussed voting rights and equality. We then read about how Judaism discusses voting and our obligations as Jews, and we compared our obligation as Jews to vote to our obligation as Americans to vote. Next, we started thinking about Hannukah by using clay to make menorahs and particiapting in a Hannukah jeopardy game!

Class started today with writing about and sharing our Tzedakah actions of the week. Next, we continued with our Parsha Project, with Genesis 18:1. We split up into groups to read and talk about the story and then came back together to disucss it and draw a part of the story (students either drew the story of Sodom and Gomorrah or Abraham’s near sacraface of his child). We ended classes by playing Hebrew hangman, in which the students had to use the hebrew letters to guess a word, and then practiced pronouncing the Hebrew word. Have an amazing Thanksgiving and start to Hannukah!

We started today’s class off with our Tzedakah project, except this time the students wrote about something kind someone else did for them. Then, we read a Parsha, the story of Sara. We created a character chart/list to better understand the plot, then depicted the story and summarized it on paper. We then read from our ethics book about the ethics of the story of Sara (i.e. concept of respecting elders/parents), and discussed their implications in our own lives. Finally, the students worked with clay to make a physical representation of their Judaism (i.e. heart with family, symbol of their sleepaway camp, a candle, etc.).

The social justice theme of December is religious freedom, so the students started by watching a video on the topic then reading an article about how Jews can be involved in relgiious freedom struggles in other countries. The students discussed Jews’ past in religious freedom, specifically related to the story of Hannukah. This week we played Jeopardy, which was a generalized one based on various aspects of Judaism and the holidays we have talked about in class. Class wrapped up by playing Hebrew hangman, in which the students got to practice writing their Hebrew letters while learning the Hebrew words for the months and days of the week. Have a great winter break!

Today we started class by making a Brit Kehilah, to outline class expectations for 2022. We then discussed Tu Bishvat, a Jewish holiday that took place January 16-17 that celebrates the new year for trees. Then, the students discussed with partners how Jews interact with the enivornment and what Jewish values drive Jews’ relationship with nature. For the second half of class, we discussed the Holocaust, and the class worked together to put events of the Holocaust in order on a timeline.

Today’s class started with a review of the alef bet. Each student tried recalling each letter’s shape from memory, then we reviewed as a class. We then learned Hebrew numbers 1-10. After, the class split up and competed in two teams to match the number 1-10 with their hebrew and english names! We read two chapters in our Holocaust textbook – one about the Nuremberg laws and one about “The Boy Who Fought Back.” The students discussed the difference of learning about the Holocaust through a textbook vs through personal stories/recounts.