Kitah Zayin

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 of Settlement, the advantages of small village life and shared community values.

Everyone had fun playing a game of Yiddish vocabulary and now we all know about tchotchkes, chutzpah, and meshuggeneh!

We also began our unit on blessings and the parashot.  We went into the sanctuary to discuss the Torah blessings, both during services and for study outside of services.  We began to discuss the meanings, which will lead into a discussion of prayer and how to read the different sections of the Torah.

*We met with Cantor Lauren and she explained that the weight of carrying the Torah could be a metaphor for the b’nai mitzvah journey. Everyone had a chance to hold the Torah scroll and realized that it was not as heavy as we imagine, just as the journey is not as difficult as we might imagine!

L’Shalom

Betsy and Stacy