Kitah Zayin

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 complete the booklet!

*We shared our feelings about becoming a bar/bat mitzvah ranging from fear to excitement to joy! They talked about responsibility, maturity, and becoming an adult. We then tried to create metaphors and similes comparing the journey to music, the Hudson River, skiing, the internet and many other activities.

*We played some fun name games and learned things about each other that began to create our community.

* We then defined and discussed a Brit as found in the Torah, discussed what the Talmud is and how a page of Talmud is created, which led us to creating a class Brit together. The class created their own rules, then wrote commentary around the rules. We also looked at Jewish values and how they compared to the rules we created.

*Next week we will begin the Moving Traditions B’nai Mitzvah curriculum.

Everyone enjoyed the delicious first night of CJL barbecue! We had our first tefillah gathering with Cantor Lauren and visited the sukkah as a CJL community. The older teens led a sukkah game show and we ended the night with a special treat! It was so nice to meet and re-meet your 7th graders! We look forward to a year of growing and learning together.

b'shalom,

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us:

Betsy Deckert bdeck75456@aol.com

Stacy Shapiro slshapiro1@verizon.net