Happy Chanukah!
What a fun week we have been having in learning about Chanukah! In Lashon, we had a chance to review to the berachot for the holiday and sing some of our favorite songs. The 5th graders will be leading the school in a Chanukah classic, Mi Yimalel (in a round!) at the morning assembly on Monday morning, so if you are dropping your child off, please consider staying for a few extra minutes to hear them sing! We will be lighting Chanukah candles as a whole school, which is also a lovely experience, if you haven't seen it yet. We are also working on answering the questions that the students generated about Chanukah: why do we spin the dreidel, why do we get presents, how long was the battle, etc. Students are learning to type in Hebrew, and will be presenting their findings to the class.
This week also marked Kaf Tet Be'November, the anniversary of the U.N. vote on the Partition Plan on November 29, 1947. This was the first time that the world recognized the Jewish right to a homeland, and began the journey towards Israeli statehood. The students learned about this in Lashon- and were able to talk about complex concepts in Hebrew!! Jessica wondered, "Why did the Palestinians claim the land as their home- doesn't it belong to the Jews?" And so we realized that though Israel has been around for 63 years, we still haven't solved the most basic questions of land and freedom. Let's hope the new year brings some more answer and some more peace to the area.
5th graders are learning about Chanukah in the Talmud, and spent time working be'hevruta (in pairs) to read and understand what the Talmud says about where to place your Chanukiah and why. We will be discussing the big idea of publicizing the miracle- why do Jews need to show their Jewish pride outwardly? Why isn't it enough to just light a Chanukiah in your house and not tell anyone else about it? Stay tuned- we should have some pretty lively discussions!
Eliana
No comments:
Post a Comment