Shalom Atid Families,
Waking from his sleep, Jacob said, “Truly, the Eternal is in this place, and I did not know it!” -Genesis 28:16
Waking up. We do it every day. Physically, that is. We go to sleep at night and awake the next morning, hopefully refreshed and ready to start a new day.
Jacob woke up. Physically and metaphorically, that is.
At the beginning of Parashat Vayeitzei, Jacob leaves Beersheba and sets out for Haran. Stopping for the night at a certain makom (place), he finds a stone and uses it for a pillow. While he sleeps, he has a dream of angels going up and coming down a ladder. In his dream, God says to him:
“I, the Eternal, am the God of your father Abraham and God of Isaac: The land on which you are lying I will give to you and to your descendants. And your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out to the west and the east and the north and the south. Through you and your descendants all the families of the earth shall find blessing. And here I am, with you: I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this soil. I will not let go of you as long as I have yet to do what I have promised you .”
Jacob then awakens and realizes “Truly, the Eternal is in this place, and I did not know it!”
How as a Jewish parent can you help reveal holiness in the everyday?
Like Jacob, one of our patriarchs, wake up and be called to action! It is incumbent upon us to do this work. And in doing so, you will be teaching your children a life-long lesson.*
Your partner in Jewish learning,
Luisa
Atid Learning Center Parents and Siblings:
Join us for a Pre-Chanukah celebration with song.
Sunday, December 18
11:00am-11:30am
Kitah Alef (K-2)
Teacher: Limor Dahan
Today we:
-discussed Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest.
-made challot
-practiced the Friday night Shabbat table rituals including, candle blessings, Shalom Aleichem with a dance, 5th and 6th grade led Kiddush, and Hamotzi -learned the letter chet (?) for challot
-explored “the house of God” – The Synagogue – a place in which we can pray, learn,and celebrate together (see the magazine your child brought home)
Kitah Bet (3-4)
Teacher: Meirav Shahar
Today we:
-learned about Shabbat.
At the end of 6 days of creation, God saw that it was good and blessed the seventh day and made it holy. we celebrate Shabbat every week and welcome it with kiddush, songs and prayers and so this week we:
-kneaded and braided Challah (yummy!)
-reviewed the letters Shin, Bet and Tav that create the word Shabbat, and the vowels Patach and Kamatz.
-practiced the Friday night Shabbat table rituals including, candle blessings, Shalom Aleichem with a dance, 5th and 6th grade led Kiddush, and Hamotzi
-read the story “The Seventh Day”.
-worked in our Hebrew books on the subject of Shabbat (pages 4-11).
-colored Shabbat sun catchers.Our tzedakah total as of today: $112.80!….Lets keep that going!
Kitah Gimel (5-6)
Teacher: Yosef LandyToday we:
Theme: Risk Taking
-read the story of Avram and Sarai, and the risks they took.
-discussed what it means to take a risk, and what kind of risks Avram and Sarai took.
-shared challenges we might need to overcome, and how we would overcome them – such as dealing with a bully, or doing better in a sport.
-played “Failure Ta-Da”, a game that allowed students to come up with imaginary failures (such as failing a test) and take pride in their “failures”. This promotes the willingness to take risks, by reducing the fear of failure.
-connected the first lesson with the second lesson – layers of history in Israel.
-read through different historical events that led to Israel’s independence. Along the way, the students thought about what kind of risks were taken by the people involved.
-created a timeline of the events leading up to Israel’s independence, so the students had a visual guide of history.
Take-Home Questions:
1. Overcoming challenges and fears is one way we grow. What kind of fears / challenges did you overcome while growing up? What kind of challenges would your kids face, and how will they deal with them? (think about something relevant to the students – like getting over the fear of your Bar / Bat Mitzva speech)
2. Israel has a lot of famous figures that took risks in one way or another. What historical figures can you think of? What kind of risks did they take?
3. Do you believe that it’s possible to live life without taking risks? Why or why not?
Mark Your Calendar:
SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, February 11, 2017 Youth Shabbat/ Game Shabbat
