The month of holidays came to an end with our rousing celebration of Simchat Torah. 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:

On Sunday, our Kindergarten class learned the song David Melech Yisrael and then spiced it up by adding a disco beat:

Our 1st Graders visited the Art Room and made beautiful pictures of Shabbat candles:

During Kehillah (community time), students in Kindergarten-2nd Grade met with Rabbi Locketz in the Beit haT’fila. We looked out the window at the gemstones in the building’s outer walls. Each stone represents one of the 613 commandments:

On Monday, members of the Youth group met with our Youth Director Jayna to discuss upcoming events:

The 10th Grade cooking elective had another great (and safe!) class in the kitchen:

On Wednesday, in Ms. Freed’s Partners With God class, our 3rd Graders drew pictures of ‘things that are real but cannot be seen’ and played hangman to determine the concluding words of the bracha (blessing) for study:

Our 5th Grade students had a lot of fun in Mrs. Frey’s Hebrew class:

and were fascinated in Mrs. Levy’s Life Cycle class by the ceremonies of Pidyon HaBen (redemption of the first born) and Upsherin (a traditional Jewish haircutting ceremony held when a boy is 3 years old):

And our 6th Grade students took a break from learning the prayers of the Torah service to pose for a picture:

Whew! What a busy week!

*          *          *

Coming Up: