DALET (4th) Blog 22-23

Today we explored life on a kibbutz.  We watched a film that told us about the origin of the kibbutzim and how they have changed and adapted to life in the 21st century.  Ask your child about the features of the kibbutz they liked and which they would never want to do?  What did they notice in the other pictures of kibbutzim we viewed?  Are they ready to pick grapes or drive a tractor?  What kibbutz will your child join?

Judaic Studies: In our continuing study of Israel we viewed two  videos about the desert nomadic people–the Bedouin.  Ask your child to describe to you the Bedouin lifestyle. What surprised them?  What do they envy about the lifestyle?  What would they miss from this lifestyle if they were to try and live as the Bedouins?  Have  you have visited Israel and witnessed the Bedouin?  Tell your child about what you saw.

Yasher Koach Dalet Class

Yasher Koach to the class for doing an outstanding job at our class Shabbat on February 2.  They did an outstanding job sharing their learning and leading services.  You will find the poem that the students created for the occasion and read that night below.

Next to each stanza you will find the names of the authors and the readers. Students put so much thought into what they wrote as they reflected on the meaning of Hatikvah to them and to Israel. What great Israel scholars. 

Question - Why is 2004 mentioned as when Hatikvah was “born”?

Answer: The original Hatikavah poem was written in the 1800s by one of the very active Zionists who were fighting for a Jewish homeland.  Later the poem was cut down and set to an old Jewish folk tune.  The Zionists used it as a motivational song in their work to form what became modern day Israel.  It was used, among other songs, in celebration of the newly formed state beginning in 1948 and has been taught as a part of Jewish culture since.

It was not until 2004 though that the State of Israel officially named Hatikvah the National Anthem of Israel.  

Reflections on Hatikvah

                                                          A Poem by the Dalet Class of 5784

Mason            The music is very good

And                 The anthem was born in 2004

Louis              That was called The Hope

Olivia              There is still hope

And                 Cause we believe in our hearts

Noa                 We still have hope in ourselves

People should NOT be enslaved,

They should be able to be themselves

Ashleigh        The Jewish soul sings

And                 Our hope is strong

Emma             It is 2000 years old

Stored in our hearts

So we can be free,

And have freedom

Hope is freedom

Kyla                To be a free person in our land

NO people controlling other people

We wish for free people

In the land of Zion and Jerusalem

Scarlett           After the fights

And                 We did unite

Ellie                We became free

Because of you and me

2000 years and we haven’t lost hope

But that’s because we would never mope

We would keep on singing until we would be free

Israel is now its own country

Miles               For Israel to be free is 

And                 What we’re hoping for

Alex                Our hope is 2000 years old

For Israel to be free

Julian             The anthem was born in 2004

And                 But they had the land for 2000 years

Ryan              The hope that you know as Hatikvah

And it's about freeing the people and the country.

Asher             Hatikvah, meaning the hope

And                 Is about the country Israel

Rami               Freedom of the people

To live in a free country

Everett            Our hope is not yet lost

And                 For peace and freedom

Ezra                Hope is the key 

For the people of Israel follow God like you and me

Avery              As long as within our hearts

The hope is strong and powerful

Our hope is still here

And not lost

Magnolia       East, That’s why it says

As long as forward to the east

Jerusalem we reach

That makes me feel that Jewish hope is not lost

Jack                Our hope shall not be lost

And                 Cause it is 2000 years of age

Judah             Hope is what Hatikvah means

Hope is what we need to believe, together

Lizzy               When I hear Hatikvah

I feel loved and feel

Like I belong here

In my Jewish life

Update this content.

Today our focus was on the flag of Israel.  We discussed the choice of the two blue bands (ask your child what those represent) and then the use of the Magen David.  We know it is named for Israel’s King David–have your child tell you how he used it and then why it was adopted by the Israeli people as a symbol.  We then created our own designs of the Israeli flag and recorded the facts we learned on them.

Judaic Studies:

Today we continued our study of Israel by taking a closer look at some of the animals that live in the desert portion of the country.  Small groups researched and produced posters on the desert dwellers:  camel, ibex, red-necked ostrich, caracal, and arabian leopard.  Ask your child which animal they reported on and which ones they think might be close to extinction.  We will talk more about animals native to Israel after Chanukah.  Enjoy the lights of Chanukah with your family.

We began our study of Jerusalem today with a video showcasing three families living in the Old City–1 Jewish, 1 Muslim, and 1 Christian.  Ask your child about the one thing that brings all three of these groups together (One God–monotheistic–and all come from Abraham) and how each family feels about their religion and place in Jerusalem (all three religions had important events happen in the city). We introduced Jerusalem’s various names (City of David, Lion of God, Oasis of Justice, etc.). In class on November 19 we will work to create Midrash to help us understand why Jerusalem might be called by each of these names.

We also toook a trip to the Chanukah Boutique.

Reminder-our Family Education Program is next Sunday, November 12.  We hope you will be able to join us as we further explore Jerusalem and other aspects of life in Israel.

The Dalet class spent time talking with Rabbi Kornsgold and Morah Limor about the situation in Israel. Students had a chance to share their feelings and ask questions. Afterwards, they made beautiful cards for the soldiers to help lift up their spirits.

Today we explored life on a kibbutz.  We watched a film that told us about the origin of the kibbutzim and how they have changed and adapted to life in the 21st century.  Ask your child about the features of the kibbutz they liked and which they would never want to do?  What did they notice in the other pictures of kibbutzim we viewed?  Are they ready to pick grapes or drive a tractor?  What kibbutz will your child join?

Today we continued with our study of Tel Aviv. Ask your child about the founding of modern day Tel Aviv and how the land was originally divided.  We then discussed the importance of having a dream–and working to be sure that dream comes true.  Have your child share with you “Im tirtzu ein zo agada”--”if you will it it is not a dream” and how it relates to modern day Israel. If you’d like to listen to the song Im Tirtzu (we did in class) , you can follow this link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifxDMPzMemw&list=OLAK5uy_nuyT2fXDUfMTcez5atDFt429MLMAvPP7I&index=22 

Judaic Studies:

Today we finished work on our Magan David designs as a part of studying Israel’s flag.  Ask your child to tell you about the tessellation technique we used.  We also studied Israel’s seal.  Discuss with your child the significance of the 7 branch menorah, how is it different from another kind of menorah we use at another time of year.  And what is the significance of the olive branch? The next time you are at Temple Israel have your child point out to you the symbols that appear on Israel’s seal.

Hebrew: 

The kids did amazing work on the Ramot , putting extra focus on reading, practicing prefixes  in (ב)  , and (ו) , to(ל)

So proud of the students.  They are dedicated and work hard.  

Today in our study of Israel we reminded ourselves why the Zionists located modern day Israel where it sits today.  Then we talked about how the Israelites governed themselves when they first returned to the land after the Exodus.  We learned that first they had judges.  Discuss with your child what some of the decisions the judges had to make were. Then the Israelites decided they needed a King like other countries had.  Ask your child about the first kings and what they can tell you about them. We’ll be learning more about them in coming weeks. 

JUDAIC STUDIES

The class spent the day practicing their songs and poems that they will present at our Class Shabbat this upcoming Friday night, February 3.  You will hear, in traditional songs, and in poetry, written in their own words, some of the meaning our home land Israel has for these students.  The students have worked hard to prepare for this so we hope all families will attend.

Please have your child to the Temple Israel lobby by 5:20pm as we will run a quick rehearsal of our songs with the piano and once again check our seating and standing spots.  Looking forward to seeing everyone there.

HEBREW

Students spent the Hebrew period rehearsing with Cantor Lissek and Rabbi Kornsgold for their Class Shabbat.

Judaic Studies

In our continuing study of Israel we viewed two videos about the desert nomadic people–the Bedouin.  Ask your child to describe to you the Bedouin lifestyle. What surprised them?  What do they envy about the lifestyle?  What would they miss from this lifestyle if they were to try and live as the Bedouins?  How many of you have visited Israel and witnessed the Bedouin?  Tell your child about what you saw.

Hebrew

Students are working their way through the different Mitkadem levels. This week a number of students completed Ramah 3 where they worked on learning about root words, prefixes and suffixes. A few students completed ramah 4, where they were learning the blessings over food, candle lighting and different holiday blessings.

Judaic Studies:

Today we continued our study of Israel by taking a closer look at some of the animals that live in the desert portion of the country.  Small groups researched and produced posters on the desert dwellers:  camel, ibex, red-necked ostrich, caracal, and arabian leopard.  Ask your child which animal they reported on and which ones they think might be close to extinction.  We will be following up with that next week.

Hebrew:

We extended out study of Jerusalem today with a video showcasing three families living in the Old City–1 Jewish, 1 Muslim, and 1 Christian.  Ask your child about the one thing that brings all three of these groups together (One God–monotheistic–and all come from Abraham) and how each family feels about their religion and place in Jerusalem (all three religions had important events happen in the city). We also began to explore the concept of midrash–ask your child about the example of midrash we read in class (one version of how Abram came to smash the idols in his father’s shop). We will continue next week with both Jerusalem and midrash as the students will work to write midrash about how Jerusalem came to have its various names (City of David, Lion of God, Oasis of Justice, etc.)