What's happening at the JLL: 5th Grade Edition

November, 2023/Cheshvan 5784

What's Happening

in the JLL

5th Grade Newsletter

Introducing the 5th Grade Sunday Teaching Team

Wendy Strauss, Irit Hadari and Noy Laufer

Wendy examines the Jewish Lifecycles
Irit explores the Parashat Ha Shavua (the weekly Torah portion)
Noy experiments with Hebrew and Israel

Look for the teachers' Remini posts each week!

Lifecycles

The first lifecycle moments students examined with Wendy were birth and consecration.

Discussions focused on where their names came from, different aspects of Jewish traditions connected to names and how we mark the start of formal Jewish education.

Parashat Ha Shavua

So far this year, 5th Graders explored parshiot Bereshit, Noach and Lech Lecha.

Irit brings the Torah portion to life each week with activities connecting our sacred text to life in the 21st century. Students practice "kavod" (respect) and build community by sharing ideas, listening to one another, and recognizing that every person's contribution is valuable to the community.

Israel

Noy is our Israeli Shinshinit. She is working at the JLL (and with other Jewish education programs in Westchester) while she takes a gap year between high school graduation and her IDF service. Through her life experiences in Israel, Noy brings Israel alive for our students. In the aftermath of the war begun on Simchat Torah, Noy guided the student in creating messages of support for Israeli children.

In T'filah with Cantor Kleinman and Rabbi Baken, students have an opportunity to learn the keva (fixed structure) of the service and also infuse their own leadership in moments like Mi Shebeirach l'Cholim (a prayer of healing for the sick).

5th Graders engage with Jewish music traditions in the sanctuary every week with Cantor Sonett-Assor. Songs are connected to holidays and contemporary Israeli themes.

During Chevruta sessions that meet each week, 5th Graders are learning to recognize Hebrew letters and vowels from the primer, Shalom U'vracha. Each week, students build their Hebrew skills with new letters and vowels. As students add to the letters they recognize, reading practice builds Hebrew vocabulary with familiar words from T'filah, holidays and everyday Hebrew words.

The Family Table

The root of the word V'ahavta is love--א.ב.ה. The Shema, chanted just before V'ahavta, is preceded by another prayer about love--a prayer that tells us that God loves us. Why is the idea of love so important in our prayers and in living life Jewishly?

No 5th Grade JLL

Sunday, November 26

Happy Thanksgiving!