Shalom from TBD Religious School

Shabbat newsletter compiled by Gal Kessler Rohs, Education Director

This Sunday, starting at 6.30am at Union Station, and ending with clean up by 3pm at TBD, a community of volunteer helpers are rising to make Channukah, a Festival of Light!

About 3 months ago, when I first touched on the subject matter with our TBD membership, I knew already then, that TBD is an engaged community that brings about only the best, for the benefit of our children and families. As the title of this eblast suggests, this is a shout out eblast, and a pat on the back, with an educational twist!

As you enter our doors this Sunday, be sure to show a word of gratitude to our security fathers who greet and protect us! Led by  Gavin Wasserman , these fathers for this Sunday (and other Sundays) will be  Alexandr Rysin, Aaron Cass, Anthony Serio  and  Dan Stieglitz . Classrooms will be enriched with learning this weekend, as  Lindy Bornstein  (pictured in the middle between Mickie Adelman and Lauren Bailey ) will make traditional apple sauce for latkes with our young students in  Susan Grodsky ’s and  Miriam Beltran ’s classes.   Julianne Schwartz  and Leenie Baker from Havaya Arts will be creating light as they make Channukiyot with our 2-9 ^th graders.   

What better way to amplify religious school Channukah learning than with latkes, donuts and dreidel games. Sisterhood, with the presidential leadership of  Carol Ozer, and the contribution of  Dulce Dubin , will be taking care of the “must haves” parts of Channukah this Sunday. Tomorrow, our sisterhood members led by  Robin Evans , will be busy preparing the mix for our latkes, including the eggs, paper towels, and oil that is needed for the frying. Our finance director  Anthony Serio  will be the latke director, frying together with  Jim Hewitt , and  Collin Bidinian . Dulce will be taking care of purchasing jelly, chocolate and custard filled donuts, and, in the corner of my office (right in front of the tricycle parking) are the chocolate gelt and dreidel gifts from our sisterhood, for our students to play with. 

Mac and cheese is a given for children, and kugel is a Jewish must.  Jenn Serio  will be taking care of the latter, while  Maria Bidinian , catering to the former. Last Sunday, a group of volunteer parents gathered to take care of additions, and be cautious allergies, all coordinated by our pizza provider Abby Silver.  In our meeting, we allocated roles to those who stepped up to help. Dafna Abbrea and CC DeGraff will take care of sour cream and beverages,  Jan Robertson , and  Hadassah Sommer  will bake 100 Channukah shaped cookies and provide decorations for both the social hall and cookies.

Abby, throughout the week, coordinated with  Aviva Wolfson  to contribute the healthy vegetables,  Ming Zhu Berger to provide a gluten free appetizer, and with  Amira Karawan  to supply pasta and assorted sources. Haskala students  Rachel Dubin, Jasper Thomson, Hannah Stein, Ozzy Karawan,  and Elle Rohs will table according to their choice of craft activities (including a props photo booth) for our students, since they have the experience and knowledge of what children like, and at what ages. 

Reflecting upon this writing, I, together with our dedicated Rabbi Lachtman, Cantor Orly, teachers and staff see pink, both literally and figuratively. Literally as the pink fonts are names of engaged members, signifying the involvement we have towards our growing school. Figuratively, I see the pink in the Channukah light that our community is creating. Children are watching their parents, other adults and peers enthusiastically involved, and likewise, will no doubt follow their example when it is their turn. Already now, our aides, and Jason Moss ' Haskala students are taking leadership by manning tables, and Rabbi-in-Training MinsterCheng' s pre Bnai Mitzvah students are opting to help with latke frying! That’s a sign of positive continuity, or perpetuating our customs, creating community, learning, and bringing about the TBD Channukah light!

Shabbat Shalom,

-Gal Kessler Rohs , Education Director

The above activities sound fantastic, right? Fun, communal, hard work, and rewarding for the benefit of our children’s learning!

But how about those who are not as fortunate to have the means to provide?

Rabbi Lachtman initiated and partook in a program at Union Station, to reshape the lives of homeless people through education, clothing, shelter, food, and more. Coordinated today by  Jason Young , and his daughters  Morgan and  Sydney , as part of their ongoing B’not Mitzvah project, this Sunday, we will also have a chance to extend our volunteer help beyond Channukah. Please reach out to Jason if you would be willing to be part of the monthly breakfast making, and support, that TBD provides the homeless and the needy.

This Sunday, there will be no regular snack, but instead a Channukah brunch for the whole family, which will start at 11.30am. We recognize little tummies get hungry, and will aim to provide a very light snack so that are students benefit from the latkes, donuts, apple sauce and more as mentioned above. We thank those who will help in the kitchen with food! Please be mindful and provide your children a full breakfast. Thank you!

This Sunday, at our TBD Channukah Religious School party, our children will be gifted with an array choices for presents by Rabbi Lachtman . It is a tradition of our Rabbi to offer Channukah gifts in festive celebration of Channukah. However, as Channukah is synonymous for The Festival of Light, we would like our students to conceptualize the deeper meaning of the creation of light.

Our Rabbi, thus, created the idea of these certificates, to help our students think about how they will create light, much before they are gifted with their Channukah gift. Will they opt for one of the options of “Channukah Lift A Finger”, or will they come up with a way of their own?

Perhaps they will choose to clean up their room? Perhaps they will choose to volunteer help in TBD’s library? Perhaps donate their time to a charity of their choice, or adopt a homeless pet. In any case, we hope that by filling in these Gift of Light certificates, our students will be adding to the creation of light of someone, or something deserving of brightness.

Once those certificates are filled in, our students will voice or reiterate their “promise” to our Rabbi, and in return get a materialistic gift because after all, it is Channukah!

We asked our teachers and staff for a wish list for their classes. Here is a list they came up with. Please note not all items are of monetary value. Gently used items can be purchased from thrift shops such as Savers at Santa Anita and Live Oak in Arcadia)

We thank our Religious School readership for supporting our teachers!

In this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Vayishlach, Rachel , our Matriarch, dies upon giving birth to her son Benjamin. 

It is said that Jacob buried Rachel, in Bethlehem, on the way to Efrat because he foresaw his children’s exile from the Land of Israel. He prophesized that the Jewish people would pass our mother Rachel’s grave, and pray that they would be returned to their Homeland. 

He built a monument on her resting place, which until today is a holy site for Jews. Over the years, in fact, the Tomb of Rachel has been a place of pilgrimage for Jews, and especially women unable to give birth. A Jewish tradition says Rachel’s tears have special powers, inspiring those visiting her grave to ask her to cry and intercede with Gd.

The tomb with its dome and olive tree became a Jewish symbol, appearing in thousands of publications and on the covers of Jewish holy books.