Sunday, September 28

Shaloooom Parents! Today we dove head first into our Jewish history!  

In class we talked about turning points.  What turning points can we identify in our own lives.  A Bar or Bat Mitzvah! A birth or a death? What are turning points in Jewish history? Moses receiving the Ten Commandments?  The Holocaust?  Jews coming to America? 

The turning point that was our focus today was the wave of antisemitic riots, or pogroms, that took hold of Russia in the 19th century.  During this time, the Jewish population of Russia was the largest in the world - numbering 5 million.  Jews lived in shtetls, tiny bubbles of thriving Jewish culture.  We talked about how these attacks shook the foundations of Jewish life. 

Jews responded to the deteriorating conditions and harsh realities in three primary ways. Some Jews stayed in Russia and tried to make reality better for themselves . Others moved to Palestine and reinvented the Hebrew language. Others found hope in the dream of America, the Land of Opportunity. We discussed how these different responses helped to shape the Jewish world we know today.  We also discussed how the students would have responded if they had been living in Russia at the time. 

After this intense day of discussion, a breather was needed.  We closed our day in the gaga pit having fun together (pictures below).

I invite you to begin discussing your individual family histories.  How and when did your family come to the United States?  Was there a turning point that helped your family make this big decision?  What was left behind and what was gained?  In the coming weeks we will be talking about immigration to America and I would love for the kids to have stories to share.  

Reminders:  -No Hebrew School next Sunday! 

                   -TeenConnect Kick-off Event: Saturday, October 11th at 7pm.

                   -Simchat Torah B'Yachad: Wednesday, October 15th.

See you Wednesday!  Shavuah tov v'shana tova.

Morah Mikey

Meet Our Madricha: Heather Friedman

Hi, my name is Heather Friedman.  I'm Grade 7's class Madricha. I just had my Bat Mitzvah in May.  In my free time I like to read, play piano and guitar, practice Torah, watch Netflix, act, and sing. I am very excited to work with the students and help them prepare for their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. 

Wednesday, September 16th.

Some photos taken during a break from our class Hebrew Assessment...

Eliyahu is our own walking and talking Office Depot. 

Ya'akov looking two places at once. 

"Ezra the Explainer" (title coined by Dovev Zolt) making loon-y sounds. 

Also...two Rosh Hashanah videos that Tvi'ah Booher shared with the class:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlcxEDy-lr0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZLq_JB8H44

SHANA TOVA!

Sunday, September 14th

Today in class be sought to answer a single, seemingly simple, and yet all-together complex question:  What isTzedakah?!   

We discussed:

1) the difference between charity and tzedakah. 

2) that giving tzedakah is a mitzvah and a core Jewish practice. 

3) ways to begin to articulate our own reasons for giving tzedakah (both personal and traditional)

In Hebrew we examined the root  צ.ד.ק  in order to understand the intrinsic relationship between the words: 

-tzedakah (צדקה),

-tzedek (צדק) (justice) 

-tzaddik (צד'ק) (a righteous person). 

The key here is that justice and righteousness are the core of tzedakah.  Justice is the foundation of how and why we give as Jewish people.

My goal for the Hebrew lesson was to start getting the class to think about Hebrew not as a set of vocabulary words but as a system of recognizable roots. The skill of identifying key Hebrew roots will help the kids decode Shabbat morning prayers as we move forward in the year.  

On another note...

In specials today we spent our time with Chef Elliott baking delicious rugelach!    The kids got their hands dirty and worked really well as a team.  I have added Chef Elliott's Rugelach Recipe to our 7th Grade Blogger page!

Thank you for sharing your kids with me this week! They are fabulous and I am really looking forward to this year. 

Shavuah Tov!

Morah Mikey

Chef Elliott's Rugelach Recipe

Today we spent time in the kitchen with Chef Elliott.  He taught us how to make rugelach.  Here is the recipe in case you want to make some at home! Tayim Maod!

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all-purpose flour                                                                1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt                                                                      1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter                                                                    1 cup mini chocolate chips
1 (8oz) package cream cheese
1/3 cup sour cream                          

DIRECTIONS:

1) Cut cold butter or margarine and cream cheese into bits.  In a food processor pulse flour, salt, butter, or margarine, cream cheese and sour cream until crumbly.

2) Shape crumbly mixture into four equal disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill 2 hours or up to 2 days.

3) In a bowl combine sugar, cinnamon, and mini chocolate chips.

4) Roll each disk into a 9 inch round (keeping other disks chilled until ready to roll them).  Sprinkle the flattened round with sugar/chip mixture.  Press cinnamon/sugar filling lightly into dough.  With a pizza cutter, cut each round into 12 wedges (like a pizza).  Roll wedges up (like you would a crescent roll) from the wide wide end until the narrow end. You will end up with the point on outside of the cookie.  Place cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and chill rugelach 20 minutes before baking.

5) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

6) After rugelach are chilled, bake them in the center rack of the oven for 17-22 minutes or until lightly golden brown.  Cool on wire racks.  Store in airtight containers...they freeze very well.

Our 7th Grade B'nai Mitzvah Gift - An Explanation

Shalom L’Kulam!

Kitah Zayin will spend the year deeply examining the Jewish value of tzedakah.  As a class, we will answer critical questions about the act of giving.  What sets tzedakah apart from everyday acts of charity? Why do we give?  How do we choose where to give? How do we become more thoughtful and intentional tzedakah-givers?

As the culmination of our tzedakah unit, the class will choose to make a Bar/Bat Mitzvah class donation to a charity that we choose as a class.  

In addition to the money that the kids are raising in class, we are offering an additional and optional tzedakah project for your families.  If you would like to take part, instead of giving individual Bar/Bat Mitzvah gifts to each class member, the class will give a gift from all the 7th grade families to our chosen charity which we will be deciding in the Spring.

Please give according to how much you are comfortable.  Tzedakah and giving is a very personal act and one that should be made with the heart and with joy.  I strongly encourage you to include your 7th graders when deciding how much to give. The giving will be confidential.

Here is how it will work:

1) Please send in a check made out to Oseh Shalom.

2) Every time your student attends a classmate's Bar or Bat Mitzvah, please have your student create a special card for that classmate that states that "a gift  as been given in honor of your Bar/Bat Mitzvah to the 7th grade Bar/Bat Mitzvah gift."

As part of this program, and to close out our Tzedakah unit, your kids will be making/decorating Tzedakah boxes in class.  The intent of this box is that it be used at your child's Bar/Bat Mitzvah as a way for the kids to collect money at their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs.  The money collected can be included in our class gift OR to another charity of your student's choosing,   I only encourage your families to be thoughtful and deliberate in your choices. Remember that the intent of

giving tzedakah is to promote social justice.

If you have any questions at all, please feel free to email me! Let the school year begin!

B’Shalom,

Morah Mikey

Shalom Parents!

Shalom 7th grade parents!  Welcome to 7th grade AND welcome to our brand new 7th grade blogger page! Here you can stay up-to-speed with the class as we move through the 5775 B'nai Mitzvah year!  

I am so honored to have the pleasure of teaching your kids.  I thank you for sharing them with me and I look forward to learning and exploring together.

My mission, as your child’s Morah, is to superignite their individual and communal  connections to Judaism and to their Jewish identities.  I want them to leave 7th grade empowered to be active Jewish adults; conduits of tikkun olam in the community that surrounds them.

Our Curriculum:

-Jewish History (The History of the Jewish People)

-The birth of Zionism to the present

-Maus by Art Spiegelman

-”Where Do You Give” AJWS Tzedakah Curriculum

-The Parashah Project

Much of the learning will take place in the classroom through interactive debates, Jewish text study, short films, and independent reflection but I cannot emphasize enough the role, as parents, that you play in reinforcing this learning, especially as the questions raised in class will be intertwined with issues of identity, responsibility and personal and Jewish values.   I hope you will help me by keeping the conversation alive between classes.

I want to be in close contact with you.  I want you to know what we are covering in class and to know how your kids are doing. In turn, I also want you to feel comfortable reaching out to me. Below is my email address. Please use it!

Email: prontezza@gmail.com

I can’t wait to get rolling!  Yallah!

B’Shalom,

Morah Mikey