In Chumash, Rabbi Rapoport lead the class in a study of the different feelings behind Avraham and Sarah’s laughter when they heard Sarah would give birth to a son.
אברהם אומר – אני שמח!
Avraham says, “I’m so happy!”
שרה אומרת – אני זקנה ואברהם זקן. היא לא מאמינה
Sarah says, “I am old and Avraham is old.” She doubts it can happen.
In Parshat HaShavua we spent most of our discussion on האנשים הרעים בשסדום the evil people in Sdom. There was much review of midrashim they learned from Morah Leya, but this year we spoke בעברית. We also spoke about the drawings and pictures in our TaL Am studies. They are very useful to understand the Hebrew of the texts and the teacher’s explanations, but we know there ae no pictures in the Torah. Some of the pictures contradict what we have learned about our Avot. For instance, the picture of Yitzchak tied to the mizbe’ach looks like a young scared boy. What we learned last year is that he understood that he was already a man and understood that he was to be a korban (explained by TaL Am as a מתנה-gift), yet he complied. We decided that we can use the pictures to learn Hebrew and enjoy them, but we understand that these drawings are not the Torah.
Our vocabulary grows as we continue working on our פרויקט צדקה (Tsedakah Project). We came up with a “game plan” to success; פוסטרים – קופות – פירסום – איסוף (Posters, tsedaka boxes, advertising, and collection. We were planning to present the posters in front of the student body at Likrat Shabbat this week, but we want to wait for Mrs. Rosenbaum to return to school, as she was the moving force behind this project! We are wishing her a Refuah Shelayma and hope to see her in the library very soon.
A surprise visit by Rabbi Peromsik provided us with a new game, The Last Time I spoke English. Playing the game is purely voluntary. Each student who wants to play gets a card to mark down what time he/she begins speaking no English (Speaking Hebrew or using body language are the only other options). When in an English class, at a swimming lesson, or in a grocery store English may be used only when necessary. There are three levels of Hebrew usage, including the most basic level where the students may speak Heblish. That means they can use a mixture of English and Hebrew…as long as there is some Hebrew spoken in each sentence. We will have a Hebrew Speakers Hall of Fame where the student with the most time speaking Hebrew each week will get their name on our chart. (We spoke about not being competitive against others, rather trying to beat our own records. In this way, we will learn more Hebrew. After all, there is no trip to Hawaii for the winner. We are all winning!
We had a great week. After so many false starts, the year is under way. We are learning and remembering our routines and responsibilities. Sometimes we are so excited about what we learn or so happy to be in a class with such good friends that staying focused gets challenging. I encourage you to talk about their week regarding what they liked about the studies and activites AND how they can behave in a way that will help the whole class get the most from each lesson. We will be discussing this last topic on Monday. I know we will all have important ideas to contribute.
Our Project Shalom Drawing Winner this week is: Yoni Rosenbloom!
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