Welcome Back!
The Torah Center is officially back in session!
The halls were bustling with activity as students, parents and teachers gathered for the first day of classes. It was a great first day!
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First Grade:
Looking at the words of the Shema in the Torah:
Building Hebrew letters with our bodies:
5th Grade:
And of course our NEW Gaga pit was a hit:
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Monday night was the first night of the South Hills Jewish Community High School – a collaborative teen experience. It was awesome! Be sure to ask one of our teens about it!
What a week!
Shana Tova – a Sweet New Year to All!
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Coming Up:
Torah Center Rosh Hashana Programming for Kindergarten-6th Grade, Thursday, September 25th at 9 am
Teen Rosh Hashana Service for Grades 7-12, Thursday, September 25th at 11:45 am
Happy Birthday Israel!
This past Sunday, we celebrated Israel’s birthday in style! Our 6th graders led an amazing array of activities that allowed the rest of the school to experience Israel.
We made hummus:
‘Decorated’ Chagall windows:
Pretended we were on the beach in Tel Aviv:
Learned about Israel’s diversity through the making of a class ‘quilt:’
Answered Israel trivia and played on an Israeli basketball team:
Competitively reviewed Israel’s geography:
Made murals of our thoughts about Israel:
and put our prayers into the Western Wall:
Throw in a few songs, a trip to the library and an all-school assembly and it was a day to be remembered. Thank you to everyone who made it happen – the 6th grade teachers, parents and especially, the students!
Yom huledet sameach…Happy Birthday, Israel!
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Coming Up:
-There will be no class THIS Monday, May 11th due to Mother’s Day. There will be classes on Monday, May 12th and Wednesday, May 14th. The final Torah Center class will be on Sunday, May 18th.
– Join your child at Torah Center on Sunday, May 18th from 9:30 – 12:00, for our Showcase of Learning. See what happened in our classrooms and what our students have learned this year! You and your child will participate in classroom activities, explore displays and hear explanations of projects completed during the year. A schedule of events will be sent out next week. In the meantime, mark your calendars and plan on coming to see how learning happens here in the Torah Center. Please RSVP to [email protected].
-Don’t miss Temple Emanuel’s annual Bagel Brunch Bash! The event is FREE and will be Monday, May 26th (Memorial Day) from 10:00 to noon, at the Upper St. Clair Community & Recreation Center Outdoor Picnic Pavilion at Boyce Mayview Park. Please RSVP to Temple at 412-279-7600 or [email protected].
Purim!
Once again we really outdid ourselves…our Purim celebration was truly amazing from start to finish.
It was a night not to be missed with a “Billy Joel Purimshpiel.” Congratulations to the cast – it was a wonderful performance!
And Hamantaschen of course!
At Torah Center the fun continued:
And then there was THE CARNIVAL:
What a great weekend…let’s do it again next year!
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Coming Up:
This Sunday, March 30th at 12:15 pm, is the next Jewish Cooking for Families. Melinda Freed will be making Passover treats, including 2 kinds of charoset. The class is recommended for ages 5 and up and the class fee is $5 per person/$20 family maximum. Pizza will also be available for an additional nominal charge. Please RSVP to Torah Center as class size is limited.
Our next Shabbat LaMishpacha Dinner and Family service of the year is Friday, April 4th! Please let Lori in the main office know if you are able to attend the dinner. The cost is $15 for adults, $5.50 for children under 14. Can’t make it to the dinner? Join us for the service. This is a “don’t miss” event! See you there!
Sunday, April 6th, is Pre-K Family Day and Kindergarten Orientation. Please plan on joining your children at Torah Center for activities that will allow you to learn and experience Judaism together. The program will run during Torah Center hours from 9:30 am-12 noon in the Social Hall. A bagel breakfast will be served. Please RSVP to [email protected] and let us know that you can attend! If you know of anyone who may be interested in attending the Kindergarten Orientation, please ask them to contact Paula or Rachel.
Beating the Winter Blahs
It is STILL cold and snowy outside…sigh. But here at the Torah Center we are doing our best to beat the winter blahs. Check out what ‘s going on…
The Kindergarten had fun in the art room:
The 1st Grade continued to visit the Library to check out books as part of the Parent Connection Reading Program and had a great time Israeli dancing with the Pre-K class:
The 2nd Grade worked on their Hebrew letters:
The 3rd Grade made Challah covers to be included in the Shabbat bags sent to congregants who are ill and continued their Hebrew studies:
The 4th Grade practiced Hebrew numbers with Dominoes:
The 5th Grade learned about Jewish Weddings and made Ketubot (the Jewish marriage contract/certificate):
The 6th Grade participated in their own ‘cooking show’ and got to taste hummus, Israeli salad and other special treats:
And now…this weeks trivia question answer: Hamantaschen is a German word meaning Haman’s pockets. Have your child come tell me the answer and claim their prize!
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Coming Up:
Our next Shabbat LaMishpacha Dinner and Family service of the year is Friday, March 7th! Please let Lori in the main office know if you are able to attend the dinner. The cost is $15 for adults, $5.50 for children under 14. Can’t make it to the dinner? Join us for the service. This is a “don’t miss” event! See you there!
Join our Temple Emanuel family for a pizza party, costume parade and contest and, of course, to listen to our SPECIAL Billy Joel PurimSpiel! The fun begins in the Temple Emanuel Social Hall on Saturday, March 15th at 5:45 pm.
Temple Emanuel’s PURIM CARNIVAL!!! Games, food, prizes and much more… Tickets, refreshments and hamantaschen will be available for purchase. On Sunday, March 16th, the fun begins from 11:30-12:00 for preschoolers only and continues from 12:00-2 for children of all ages!
Is it Spring yet?!?
Certainly not here in Pittsburgh! But in Israel…that’s a different story. As I write this, it’s a balmy 66 degrees in Jerusalem – there springtime has sprung! That means that the planting has begun…right on time to celebrate Tu B’Shevat – the holiday which marks the beginning of the agricultural cycle and is known as the ‘Birthday of the Trees.’ Check out what we’ve been doing here in the Torah Center to celebrate these past few weeks….
Kindergarten visited the art room and decorated trees:
As part of 2nd Grade family day, students and parents learned about a different kind of tree – the Family Tree! It was fun to remember all the different “branches” of their families:
During our Family Cooking with Ms. Freed program, everyone made cupcakes and candy using different kids of fruits and nuts:
And our students in grades 3-6 enjoyed our annual Tu B’Shevat Seder. Many tried dates, figs, carob chips or pomegranate arils for the first time [Thank you to JASON RICHARDS for these photos]:
Now if only spring would begin here!
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Coming Up:
THIS Sunday, February 2nd, from 10:00 – 11:00 am, Temple’s Catering Department will be providing a showcase of foods for possible menus for B’nei Mitzvah-related Shabbat dinner, Kiddushes, luncheons and evening affairs. All families with B’nei Mitzvah’s taking place in 2014, 2015 and 2016 are invited to attend this showcase. From 11:00 – noon, families with 2016 B’nei Mitzvah are invited to stay on to discuss many of the details of the B’nei Mitzvah ceremony at Temple. Please RSVP to [email protected] and let us know that you plan on attending.
Join us Sunday, February 9th at 12:15 pm following Torah Center for the next Jewish Cooking for Families with Melinda Freed. The class is recommended for ages 5 and up and the class fee is $5 per person/$20 family maximum. Pizza will also be available for an additional nominal charge. Please RSVP to [email protected] as class size is limited.
Also on Sunday, February 9th from 6:30 – 9:00 pm, Temple will be holding auditions and the 1st rehearsal for our Billy Joel Purimshpiel! Adults and children of all ages are invited to be a part of this year’s Purimshpiel which will be performed at Temple’s Megillah Reading Saturday evening, March 15th. There will be 7 rehearsals in February and March leading up to a March 15th run through and performance. Be a part of this enjoyable evening!
Remembering Thanksgivukkah…
What a crazy start to the holiday season – Thanksgiving and Chanukkah on the same night? We’ll always remember the hype fondly… the Menurkeys, hybrid recipes, silly songs, greetings and the like. Here in the Torah Center, it was just the usual eight days of celebrating…. many of the pictures that follow were captured on film by our own photographer Jason Richards (thank you!).
It began with the annual Mitzvah Mall…an opportunity to make donations to important agencies and organizations in honor of our friends and relatives. Thank you to everyone who volunteered their time and/or made donations!
Next was the annual Interfaith Thanksgiving service, hosted this year at Temple. Thank you to everyone who came and joined Rabbi Mahler in his sermon through song:
In our hallways and classrooms, there was much excitement – the B’nei Mitzvah tutorial became a place for a competitive game of Dreidel:
The 4th Graders decorated their blessings for the home in this season of “dedication”:
The 3rd and 6th students worked together on a Tzedakah project – decorating book marks to go along with books to be given to those in need of gifts during this season:
And the 5th Graders had a great time producing yet another AWESOME Chanukah video:
Finally, our 8th night Chanukah dinner was a blast!
Whew! What a holiday…Let’s do it again next year!
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Coming Up:
THIS Saturday, December 21st at 9:30 am, is our next Torah Growers Shabbat Service designed specifically for our K – 2nd grade students and their families! Younger (and older!) siblings are welcome to attend. Participants will use the new Mishkan T’fillah for Children to experience the joy of Shabbat while being introduced to the structure and order of the Shabbat morning prayer service. Following the service there will be a light bagel brunch. We hope to see you there!
There will be NO TORAH CENTER CLASSES Sunday, December 22nd- Wednesday, January 1st. Classes will resume on Sunday, January 5th. Have a great winter break!
What Are YOU Smiling at?
There are SO many smiles around here! Why? Because the Torah Center is THE place to be! Check it out:
The 3rd grade is loving learning to read Hebrew – they can’t help but smile!
The 4th Grade smiled as they worked hard to create beautiful blessings for their homes:
Celebrating a mock baby naming ceremony and just hanging out in class brought smiles to the faces of our 5th Graders:
The 6th Graders had a great time decorating Challah covers for the Caring Community to distribute:
Even the Madrichim (teen assistants) can’t help but smile while they work:
Looking forward to sharing many more smiles in the weeks to come!
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Coming Up:
THIS Saturday, November 16th at 9:30 am, is our first Torah Growers Shabbat Service designed specifically for our K – 2nd grade students and their families! Younger (and older!) siblings are welcome to attend. Participants will use the new Mishkan T’fillah for Children to experience the joy of Shabbat while being introduced to the structure and order of the Shabbat morning prayer service. Following the service there will be a light bagel brunch. We hope to see you there!
Kindergarten Family Day is NEXT Sunday, November 24th from 9:30 am – 12 noon. Please plan on joining your children at Torah Center for activities that will allow you to learn and experience Judaism together.
The Annual Mitzvah Mall will be NEXT Sunday, November 24th. For more information, please check the weekly Torah Center email.
Tuesday, November 26th at 7:30 pm, Temple Emanuel will be hosting this year’s South Hills Interfaith Thanksgiving service. That evening, Torah Center students are invited to participate as part of a group singing songs throughout the service. If your child is interested in being a part of this beautiful service, please RSVP to Rachel or Paula at [email protected].
Over 1300 pounds…
…that’s how much food the 4th Graders and their parents took to SHIM last Sunday!
A big thank you to SHIM (South Hills Interfaith Ministry) Executive Director Jim Guffey for helping us to weigh and sort all of the food we brought, for giving us a tour, and for telling us about of all the great things happening at SHIM.
By the way – the 4th graders only weighed 895 pounds…how cool that we brought in so much more food than that! Another big thank you goes to everyone who participated in Temple’s annual food drive – you helped us make a difference!
Back at Temple there was a lot of creative energy – 1st grade visited Ms. Dreyfuss, Lydia and Maddy in the art room and made their own mini-Torah scrolls:
And kindergarten sang with Mrs. Margolis:
All in all…a great morning!
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Coming Up:
~ Our next Shabbat LaMishpacha Dinner and Family service of the year is Friday, November 1st! Please let Lori in the main office know if you are able to attend the dinner. The cost is $15 for adults, $5.50 for children under 14. Can’t make it to the dinner? Join us for the service. This is a “don’t miss” event! See you there!
A Time of Rejoicing
Sukkot is known as Z’man Simchateinu…a Time of Rejoicing…and indeed it was! Everyone had a great time visiting our outdoor sukkah – thank you to Ms. Freed for making it an awesome experience!
Our younger students also visited Mrs. Altschul in the Library… and had story time in a very special sukkah:
The smiles and laughter continued all week:
And then to end it all… our rousing celebration of Simchat Torah! It started with a delicious spaghetti dinner. And then, amid much dancing and singing, we read the end of Deuteronomy, rolled the Torah all the way to the beginning and started over with the first verses of Genesis and the Creation story. We also welcomed our newest students to the Torah Center:
What a week!
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A big THANK YOU to Jason Richards for contributing so many great pictures to this week’s blog entry!
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Coming Up:
~ Our first Shabbat LaMishpacha Dinner and Family service of the year is THIS Friday, October 4th! Please let Lori in the main office know if you are able to attend the dinner. The cost is $15 for adults, $5.50 for children under 14. Can’t make it to the dinner? Join us for the service. This is a “don’t miss” event! See you there!
~ 4th Grade Family Day is THIS Sunday, October 6th from 9:50 am – 11:30 at SHIM. If you have not done so already, please RSVP to Rachel or Paula at [email protected].
~ There will be NO JHS CLASSES THIS Monday, October 7th.
Welcome Back!
Welcome Back to the start of another GREAT year at the Torah Center!
What a weekend it was…the observance of Yom Kippur followed by the first day of classes. Throw in an open house and there was a lot happening around here! There were plenty of smiles as teachers welcomed students and met parents…all in all it was a great start to the New Year!
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Our Yom Kippur Torah Center programming was once again a great success. Thank you to everyone who helped make it happen – our parent and teen volunteers, our teachers, and of course, our students!
Sunday kicked off the year with an Open House – an opportunity for parents to meet with teachers and learn about the curriculum. The younger students brought their parents to class while the older students joined their parents in the Sunday Morning Minyan before parting ways – parents to meet with teachers and students to various Hebrew review and Sukkah decorating activities. It’s amazing how much Hebrew was remembered (and forgotten) over the summer! It was a day full of activity and excitement…
The Jewish High School started on Monday night. The evening started off with an awesome BBQ Dinner. Good food, good company, a little learning thrown in…who could ask for more?
Stay tuned…..more great things to come!
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Coming up:
~”In the Kitchen with Ms. Freed” for Jr. J-Club (grades 4, 5 &6), THIS Sunday, September 22nd right after Torah Center Classes. Cost: $5.00/person. Please RSVP to [email protected]
~10th Grade Confirmation Consecration & Parents Meeting THIS Monday, September 23rd at 7:20 pm
~Erev Simchat Torah Dinner and Service THIS Wednesday, September 25th; Free Spaghetti Dinner at 6 pm, Festival Service at 7 pm. The service includes the Consecration of our newest students in Kindergarten-3rd Grade. All are invited to attend! RSVP for dinner to Rachel or Paula at [email protected]
~Our first Shabbat LaMishpacha Dinner and Family service of the year is on Friday, October 4th! Please let Lori in the main office know if you are able to attend the dinner. The cost is $15 for adults, $5.50 for children under 14. Can’t make it to the dinner? Join us for the service. This is a “don’t miss” event! See you there!