Kitah Zayin

Dear Parents,

Shalom from Kitah Zayin! We hope the fall is treating everyone well, and you are enjoying the cool, calmer days after the High Holidays. Here is some information about the upcoming month.

This month in Mollie’s history class, we are moving further into our Holocaust curriculum. In the next few weeks, we will be studying the causes of the Holocaust and why dictators rise to power. We have three important...Read more...

Dear Kitah Zayin families,

We had a very interesting class trip to White Plains tonight. Our visit to the HHRECNY/ Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center of NY served as a brief review of our Holocaust studies this year. Mr. Goldberg reviewed Hitler's rise to power and the world's response to the atrocities of the Nazi regime. He then introduced us to political cartoons and how we can interpret them. He showed us how to look for...Read more...

Dear Kitah Zayin families,

*We finalized our immigration unit with a new, The New Colossus poem. The students thought about people who continue to immigrate to the United States and added their own final welcoming lines. (See attached or our bulletin board.)

*After WWII, Frank Tashlin wrote an allegory about how we each see ourselves as individuals, but we often see others as part of a group. The students created identity...Read more...

Dear Parents,

It was wonderful to see such exceptional attendance this week!

In Rabbi Pein’s class, we began the Jewish Lens curriculum.

We looked at three photos which each were inspired by the theme “my connection to the Jewish people.”

These photos include: “Ahava” by Jeanette Hamui, “Siberian Magen David” by Robert Shezravkov and “Mate O’Clock” by Alan Katz. We discussed the unifying...Read more...

Dear Kitah Zayin families,

In Morah Betsy's class we took some time to explore Temple Israel's connection with Martin Luther King Jr.. When an African American church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963, Temple Israel of Northern Westchester's Rabbi Michael Robinson organized a rally at the temple which raised $7,000 in one afternoon. In addition, the congregation helped provide money towards the purchase of a van for Freedom...Read more...

Dear Kitah Zayin families,

In Morah Betsy's class we continued exploring our immigration unit. We defined and discussed 'refugees' and 'reluctant immigrants' as we looked at the wave of Jewish immigrants at the turn of the century. Last week we focused on the response of public...Read more...

Dear Kitah Zayin families,

In Morah Betsy’s class, we finished our unit on shtetl life with a fun activity! Students built an edible shtetl with a wide range of resources, and they attempted to create an old world, Eastern European village. When we return to class January 2, we will move into our immigration unit, beginning with the end of the 19th century. Please be sure to review with your 7th grader the countries their ancestors...Read more...

Kitah Zayin families,

We started our new history unit with an introduction to shtetl life in Eastern Europe in the 1800s.

I asked students to create a list of countries their ancestors came from. Most were not sure and I asked them to start a conversation at home so they can add to our chart next week.

We talked about life in the Pale...Read more...

*Kitah Zayin started the day with a gallery walk review of our B'nai Mitzvah unit. Students shared their thoughts about this age and stage in their life.

*We watched the film Havana Curveball. "Thirteen-year-old Mica takes to heart his Rabbi's dictate to help “heal the world,” and launches a grand plan to send baseballs to Cuba—a country with a mysterious pull. He knows only that Cubans have few resources, love baseball, and...Read more...

Dear Kitah Zayin families, 
We did a lot of moving around tonight!
*We started the night with a 'Chaverim on a roll' activity. Both classes gathered in the Community Room and were instructed to partner with someone from the opposite class. There was an abundance of positive energy as they worked together with their new chaver/friend. It was a quick exercise and we intend to continue this activity as the year progresses in an...Read more...

      The 7th graders continued exploring their b’nai mitzvah journey with the Moving Traditions program. This week’s unit was ‘Center of Attention.’  We explored the diverse ways teens feel about and react to being the center of attention and  thought of different ways to cope with the responsibility and anxiety that comes with standing up before a crowd.

     After a special pizza dinner al fresco (thank you beautiful weather!) everyone attended the Mitzvah Fair and got a better understanding of the requirements and parameters for their mitzvah projects. We look forward to hearing about the many ways Kitah zayin will work towards tikkun olam!Read more...

Welcome back to CJL! The 7th graders had the chance to get back into class, meet their mor'im (teachers) and start the conversation about their bar/bat mitzvah journey. While some students are currently preparing for their upcoming ceremonies and others have a year to go, we all have insights to add to the conversation. Here is a sampling of the evening's activities:

*We all completed our 'class yearbook' pages and took pictures to...Read more...