We had a great week in YBY on Sunday. It was nice to have the whole teaching team back together after both Bridget and I had been gone alternating weeks for what seemed like forever! It was great to work together and be with the students again. This week, we talked about the concept of dibbuk chaverim, which means closeness to friends. We talked about how our scholars taught that without close friendships, one could not truly study Torah! All the students are definitely able to be Torah scholars because they thought of wonderful ways in which they are good friends to one another and their friends outside of Yad b'Yad.
We asked the students to complete the statement, "I am a good friend because I..."
Treat others how I want to be treated (a very popular response!)
Give nice compliments
Am fair
Let my friends pick the activity first
Share my snacks
Apologize to my friends if I say something not so nice
Take my friend to the teacher if he or she is hurt on the playground
Help my friends
What great answers! The students also learned some new words in TPR with Tami. They are doing an excellent job remembering the verbs and actions. I'm so impressed! Since it was the beginning of Hanukkah, the students also got the chance to practice their dreidle skills after learning the verb "to spin", which is lehistovev in Hebrew. I'll post some pictures soon!
Even though it's not a Jewish holiday, hope you and your families have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I am thankful for the opportunity to work with all of you and teach your children. They are a wonderful group of kids and are growing and learning so much each week. I hope you all get your fair share or turkey (or tofurkey for you vegetarians out there!), stuffing, football, parades and family. It's one of my favorite holidays and I'm looking forward to spending it in LA with my extended family!
I was out on a work retreat this weekend, but Bridget and the team reported back that we had a great class. The students learned about derech eretz, which translates to "the way or the land" and more broadly it asks that we use with manners and treat others with respect at all times. The students had a great time running around and expressing their knowledge of kind behavior towards one another. They even had a chance to use their acting skills in skits that demonstrated times they used the principles of derech eretz in their everyday lives.
Here are a few photos from the day!
Coloring and playdough as we enter class are two of the students' favorite welcome activities. I'm sure some of these drawings have adorned your walls and fridges recently!
We love hafsakah (break)! It's a great time for the students to use some energy and bond with one another across grades!
Here we are learning new Hebrew words with Tami, the Total Physical Response teacher. The students absolutely love it and are remembering the new words so well! Ask them to share what they have learned with you.
As a reminder, there is NO Sunday School on 11/25, but we will all be together for a family session on 12/2. Thanks to the Meezan and Lipton families for bringing us breakfast that morning!
Sorry about the confusion with the two kids only weeks in a row last week. I know I appreciated the extra breakfast, but I know many of you were confused about the lack of a family week. This week, we'll get back on schedule with a family week and breakfast provided (again- thanks!) by the Hacohen and Shafton families. Look forward to seeing you all around 8:45 for bagels and schmoozing!
These past two weeks have been busy in Yad b'Yad. We're continuing our exploration of different middot and mitzvot that are more personal. First, we discussed the middah of talmud Torah, or the study of Torah. It's one of the most important things that Jewish people can do. While it may seem intimidating for young children to study Torah in its original form, there are many resources online and in print to make the stories and lessons relevant to a younger audience. As I've mentioned before, G-dCast is a wonderful website that tells Torah stories through creative video. Even better, they are based in San Francisco and I've heard the founder speak several times- she's awesome!
Last Sunday, we discussed the very important topic of shmirat haguf, which means "guarding one's health." We talked about the various ways we can treat our bodies with respect and make them the best tools they can be for us to have fun, run, jump, play and be happy. The students had many wonderful ideas from brushing teeth to playing four square! We also played a game where we thought about how many healthy snacks we could think of that started with a certain letter. I was incredibly impressed at how many fruits and vegetables your kids could think of! The letter "P" elicited responses such as passionfruit, papaya and pineapple!
Looking forward to seeing you all on Sunday for another great family week. Have a wonderful rest of your week and enjoy the news that no longer is only about election coverage!
Hope you are all having a great week! We had a wonderful session on Sunday and I really enjoyed the family discussions of Shalom Bayit. Are those compliment wheels being used? I encourage you to display the family covenants somewhere in your home and hold each other accountable for following your "commandments" of one another. Hopefully you'll see some positive changes (and maybe some extra cleanup helpers)!
We don't have another family session for two more weeks (11/11), and I know the parents are going to miss learning with their children! MyJewishLearning.com a great website with lots of resources, short texts and discussions surrounding Jewish learning and living. I particularly enjoy the section about "Building a Jewish Home", which underscores many of our discussion this year and in past years of Religious School.
We look forward to seeing your kids this Sunday and having you all join us for tefillah at 10:40 in the Adult Lounge!
Hope you are all having a great week! Now that the whirlwind of the holidays is over, we can all take a collective breath and move forward into 5773. Last week, we spoke about honoring our mothers and fathers and thanking them for all they do for us. I hope you all enjoyed the cards your children brought home! They were incredibly thoughtful about how they appreciate each of you and what they can work on to be even better sons and daughters in the future. It was really touching!
Here are some photos of the students working on a recent art project - they really are getting closer as a community and continuing to work hard and ask great questions.
I look forward to seeing you all at our family session this Sunday 10/21. If you haven't signed up for a breakfast time yet, please email me - bressler.julie@gmail.com to sign up!
Julie
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Hi YBY Families!
We had a great discussion of Btzelem Elohim this past week in YBY. I really enjoyed hearing the students talk about things they thought had been influenced by God such as butterflies and beautiful trees. We'll continue this discussion this week and parents will have the opportunity to discuss with one another how we individually connect with God and how to talk about God within our families. I look forward to hearing your various perspectives. Here's a recording of one of my favorite Jewish camp songs, B'tzelem Elohim by Dan Nichols (sung as it is best- with a huge group of teens singing along!)
After what seems like many weeks of Jewish holidays, we are finally approaching the end of the cycle! As much as I have enjoyed observing with my friends and family and having extra days off work (I also work for the Jewish Federation of the East Bay!), it will be nice to have a regular schedule again. I hope to see many of you at Temple Isaiah's Simchat Torah celebration and Consecration potluck on Sunday beginning at 5:30 pm. The Consecration potluck is for all kindergartners and new students to Religious School.
One of the last holidays of this cycle is Shemini Atzeret, which is a pretty mysterious holiday to Jews today. Click here for a website that has some more information, but know that many scholars even are confused by its importance and origin! We know that we begin saying the prayer for rain on this holiday and it's a part of the eight-day festival of Sukkot.
Speaking of many Jewish holidays, a new website has popped up that is very useful! I also find it pretty funny that it exists at all, but definitely appreciate its information.
I hope you all had a meaningful and insightful Yom Kippur. I really enjoyed seeing many of the YBY students at the Kol Nidrei program on Tuesday night! The chaggim (holidays) just keep coming and Sukkot is coming up right around the corner (begins on Sunday night). Check out the video below to learn more about the holiday through the creative teachings of G-dCast.
We definitely got YBY off to a great start last Sunday! I really enjoyed learning about your unique family traditions and experiences and seeing impressive art and writing skills from the students! Thanks again to the Setton family for providing us with excellent bagels to kick off the year. I really appreciate those families who have already signed up for breakfast slots throughout the upcoming weeks. Here's what I have so far for the rest of 2012:
10/7: Weiss and Roseman
10/21: Paykel and ??
11/11: Meezan and ??
12/2: ?? and ??
12/16: Sofaer and ??
As you can see, we need some more sign ups! Please email me to sign up for a date. I'll continue to bring the sign up sheet to YBY family mornings as well.
I look forward to seeing all the kids this Sunday for another great week. Parents- don't forget to join us for a special all school tfillah in the Sanctuary at 10:40!
We had an excellent first day this past Sunday! It was so great to see all of your students' smiling faces and chat with many of you at drop off. I am sure we'll have much more time to chat and get to know one another as the year goes on and I look forward to speaking with each of you.
As we talked about in class, YBY is such a special program because we have students in three grades (the only in religious school!) and we get to spend class time with our parents every other week. We learned about the theme of the year (middot and mitzvot - values and actions) and talked about how middot can be represented by our hearts and heads while mitzvot are performed with our hands. Ask your student(s) to show you these meanings using the hand movements we learned!
A big highlight of the morning was decorating the classroom with our self portraits. We certainly have some talented artists on our hands! Check out this photo of our newly decorated bulletin board that includes everyone in the YBY class!
Self portraits of the Yad b'Yad shining stars!
Be sure to check them out next time you are in the classroom!
As a reminder, we do not have Sunday School this week, but I hope you will all join the Temple Isaiah community at Rosh Hashanah services. Complete service information can be found at http://www.temple-isaiah.org/worship/high-holy-days/. I look forward to seeing you at services and on Sunday, 9/23 at 9:00 am for our first Family Day.
Welcome to a new year of Yad b'Yad! I hope you all had wonderful summers and enjoyed the gorgeous weather and amazing Olympics action as much as I did!
I am so excited to welcome you all to Yad b'Yad (YBY) this year! We have a great year planned that includes fun activities and opportunities for community building both within and outside of the classroom. We have many new faces (including a new teacher and two new TAs!) as well as many returning faces from last year's class and I know we will create a wonderful, unique and welcoming community together this year!
Bridget (my YBY co-teacher), our TAs and I are looking forward to seeing you all this Sunday, 9/9/12 at 10:00 AM (note the different time!) in Room 101 (the first room to your right as you enter the Talmud Torah Center). Kids will then stay with us while parents will head to the sanctuary for a parent orientation and schmooze with the clergy and other religious school parents!
Can't wait to see you Sunday! Please feel free to contact me with any questions now and throughout the year at bressler.julie@gmail.com.
It has been a pleasure to get to work with all of your families this year. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot from all of you. Here are some of my favorite photos from the year to help you remember all of the excitment.
What's your favorite memory from Yad B' Yad this year?
I hope you are all enjoying your holiday and having a great spring break. Passover is almost over but I have a few last minute passover treats for you:
If you have left over Matzah try this recipe for Chocolate Covered Matzah with Sea Salt. It is delicious. I made it for Seder this year and everyone loved it:
And for a little Passover humor, check out this video from one of my favorite Jews, Jon Stewart from the Daily Show. Seriously, watch this, it is HILARIOUS!
My husband and I always host an informal seder at the end of Passover for our friends. It is more causal then the first and second night seders we go to and usually involves the 30 Minute Seder Haggadah. This year my father-in-law sent me this even shorter, tongue-in-cheek alternative. We won't be going this short but I thought it was worth sharing for laughs: The link is here: Two Minute Haggadah: Slate
The Two-Minute Haggadah
A Passover service for the impatient.
By Michael Rubiner|Updated Tuesday, April 11, 2006, at 1:25 PM ET
Tonight at sundown, Jewish families across the world will take part in one of the faith’s most hallowed (and dreaded) traditions: the Passover Seder. The symbolism-laden service can be as interminable as it is important. But don’t fear! In 2006, Michael Rubiner condensed it into a painless two-minute affair. Uncork the Manischewitz—his original article is reprinted below.
Opening prayers:
Thanks, God, for creating wine. (Drink wine.)
Thanks for creating produce. (Eat parsley.)
Overview: Once we were slaves in Egypt. Now we're free. That's why we're doing this.
Four questions:
1. What's up with the matzoh?
2. What's the deal with horseradish?
3. What's with the dipping of the herbs?
4. What's this whole slouching at the table business?
Answers:
1. When we left Egypt, we were in a hurry. There was no time for making decent bread.
2. Life was bitter, like horseradish.
3. It's called symbolism.
4. Free people get to slouch.
A funny story: Once, these five rabbis talked all night, then it was morning. (Heat soup now.)
The four kinds of children and how to deal with them:
Wise child—explain Passover.
Simple child—explain Passover slowly.
Silent child—explain Passover loudly.
Wicked child—browbeat in front of the relatives.
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Speaking of children: We hid some matzoh. Whoever finds it gets five bucks.
The story of Passover: It's a long time ago. We're slaves in Egypt. Pharaoh is a nightmare. We cry out for help. God brings plagues upon the Egyptians. We escape, bake some matzoh. God parts the Red Sea. We make it through; the Egyptians aren't so lucky. We wander 40 years in the desert, eat manna, get the Torah, wind up in Israel, get a new temple, enjoy several years without being persecuted again. (Let brisket cool now.)
The 10 Plagues: Blood, Frogs, Lice—you name it.
The singing of "Dayenu":
If God had gotten us out of Egypt and not punished our enemies, it would've been enough. If he'd punished our enemies and not parted the Red Sea, it would've been enough.
If he'd parted the Red Sea—(Remove gefilte fish from refrigerator now.)
Eat matzoh. Drink more wine. Slouch.
We will see you this Sunday, 4/15 for an Israel themed Family Day! See you soon! -Suzan
Yes, it is that time of year already! Passover starts on the evening Friday April 6th. Time to get ready! Last week in class we talked all about the traditions associated with the celebration of passover and specifically focused on the tradition of eating matazh.
I showed this video that toured a matzah factory and talks all about the rules for making matzah. The kids loved watching the machines (fun fact: you only have 18 minutes to make the matzah from start to finish)
Then we made matzah covers to help brighten up your seder table. I hope you enjoy them. Here are some photos:
This article from Tablet Mag provides a great overview of the traditions of Passover. It is must read for the basics and even the Passover savvy will learn a lot.
If you are looking for some new traditions to add to your seder check out Ritualwell.org. They have some great ideas to spice up your Passover seder here:
And finally, I leave you with this poorly filmed, adorable video of our class singing the Passover classic "the Frog Song" with Joel last Sunday. Enjoy:
Last Sunday we changed the pace quite a bit. Not all parts of the life cycle are about joy: Marriage, Birth, Mat Mitzvah etc. Learning about the Jewish life cycle can also mean illness and death. Judaism says that it our duty to help people that are experiencing illness or the loss of a loved one. We spent time talking about three main ways we as Jews to respond to those going through these hard times: acts of kindness (helping deeds), prayer and remembering. We only had time to touch on some of ideas and traditions in each of these domains during class.
I have put together some resources to supplement what we worked on during class:
1. Acts of Kindness (gemilut hasadim). We specifically discussed the mitzvah of Visiting the sick (bikur holim), an important and time honored Jewish tradition.
You can read more about the origins and history of bikur holim here:
The website also includes a great list of ideas of how to help out when a friend, loved one or neighbor might be in need:
What kinds of things do bikur cholim visitors do? Bikur cholim visitors are involved in manifold ways of helping — either as an individual, in an "army of one," or as part of a coordinated team effort. There are so many ways one can help, caring gestures include:
Visit a patient in the hospital/nursing home, or visit the homebound.
Call a homebound senior before Shabbos.
Bring food to a family with a new baby.
Drive someone to a doctor’s appointment.
Help a child, whose parent is hospitalized, with homework.
Say psalms together or on behalf of the ill.
Take someone's car to be filled with gas.
Bring gift certificates from places which deliver food, so a family can make its own food choices and not feel dependent on what others cook for them.
Call when you are at the store, and say "I am here. What can I pick up for you?"
Share your hobbies, such as baking, singing or writing.
Smile.
Listen.
2. Prayer: Cantor Korn was kind enough to come in and sing Debbie Friedman's Mi Shebeirach, a prayer for healing with us.
Here is a video of Debbie singing it herself in 2001. So beautiful.
And here are the words should you want to work on it at home (Mi Shebeirach, Debbie Friedman Version)
Mi shebeirach avoteinu
M'kor hab'racha l'imoteinu
May the source of strength,
Who blessed the ones before us,
Help us find the courage to make our lives a blessing,
and let us say, Amen.
Mi shebeirach imoteinu
M'kor habrachah l'avoteinu
Bless those in need of healing with r'fuah sh'leimah,
The renewal of body, the renewal of spirit,
And let us say, Amen
If you are interested in reading more about Debbie Freidman, the origin of this Mi Shebeirach melody and her legacy check out this short article from Tablet Magazine: Tablet Mag: Debbie Friedman
If you are interested in finding out more about role of prayer and healing in Judaism check out the National Center for Jewish Healing. This is a great place to start:
NCJH: About Jewish Healing I recommend the PDF article midway down the page: "Is Jewish Healing Kosher?"
3. Remembering: In class we focused on remembering those who have passed away with the tradition of lighting a yahrzeit candle. However, there are other traditions around remembering and honoring the dead. A good overview can be found here:
If your family is currently or finds its self in the future dealing with the death of a loved one please know that Temple Isaiah clergy is always available to consult. That said, here are a few resources for Jewish Children about death and mourning:
I cannot vouch for any of these books but they have good reviews and it is worth checking out. Storybooks are often an excellent way to start a family conversation on a hard topic.
The Parents Trauma Resource Network has a great chart with age specific signs of grief and loss and tips on how to help. It is a great resource. I use it all the time in my other job (not Jewish specific).
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