If you need help getting onto Zoom during school on Sundays, text or call Rob Manson at (269) 270-2825.
Important Dates
5/16/2021 – No High School
5/19, 5/20 and 5/21 Pick up end of year awards for students at CoM between 8:30am-2pm.
5/23/2021 – Last Day of School Celebration @ 11:15 (parents, grandparents, siblings and others invited)
Quick Links to This Week’s Content
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- What students NEED for school this week
- Hebrew Prayer Assessments for Grades 4-7
- Join Us for Havdalah During Assembly
- Hebrew Through Movement (HTM) vocabulary words
- Library and Story Time
- Asynchronous Learning
- Schedule
- News
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What students NEED for school this week
PreK-5
Bring these things to Hebrew Through Movement class:
- New item! Children will need a “box”. Any kind of box will do.
- Challah (Children will only need a small amount of challah each week. Buy or make a loaf, freeze it and give them just the amount they can eat each week.
- “Wine” glass. Can be a cup, plastic glass, water bottle. Optionally filled with liquid of your choice (we can also “pretend”).
- Two candles (PreK-3 can use the Shabbat candles from activity box)
- Two candlesticks
- Kiddush cup
- Bread (that is not challah)
Grade 4-5 will also need:
- braided Havdalah candle
- spices
Grades 4-7
Students need their Hebrew in Harmony booklet.
- Mannaberg – Havdalah
- Spivak – G’vurot
- Schicker – Kaddish (Please let Rabbi Schicker know if you or your family has suffered the loss of a loved one. We want to make sure to be sensitive especially to those deep losses each of us carries.)
The transliterated name of the prayer is at the bottom of the page. Let Nora know if your student doesn’t have this booklet.
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Student-Led Service
Thanks to all who attended and led the Student Led Service on Friday. It was wonderful to have us all join together in prayer! Thanks so much to the teachers and parents who did such a good job getting the students ready.
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Join Us for Havdalah!
The children really seemed to enjoy Havdalah last Sunday. The PreK-3 students are beginning to get exposed to the lovely ceremony while the 4th graders are learning the prayer with Hebrew in Harmony and the 4-5th graders are learning the vocabulary in Hebrew Through Movement.
Havdalah may be performed as late as sunset of the Tuesday following Shabbat. We will do Havdalah during Assembly for the remainder of the year. Please feel free to join us. Bring your own Havdalah set if you have one. We will allow adults to light Havdalah candles but not the children!
Here’s more information about Havdalah from PJ Library.
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This Week’s Family Schmooze (All Grades)
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Asynchronous Learning – Judaism
PreK-7 La-bri’ut Lesson (Judaism)
This week we ask “How will I help build a world of hesed?” We learn that there are many ways to build a world of hesed – it is in the learners’ hands.
PreK-3 Activity Box Instructions
In the box: Pegboard; hooks; 1-2 small pegboard containers; activity cards; timing cards; blank card; pegboard labels.
The task: Create a pegboard Hesed Planner! Then, using the provided activity and timing cards (or by creating their own), pick a hesed activity and the time frame for that hesed project and do the selected project. Post the board on SeeSaw and the first hesed project to be accomplished.
PreK-3 Video Instructions
4-7 Judaism Challenge Instructions
The challenge: Move toward action by recording a “grower’s guide” video that explains how they and their viewers
could partner together to grow a world of hesed.
4-7 Video instructions
4-7 Written Instructions
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Asynchronous Learning – Hebrew
4-7 Hebrew in Harmony Challenges
These challenges guide the student through the booklet activities that are NOT covered in class. Students can access all links in SeeSaw.
- Mannaberg – Practice Havdalah in the Hebrew in Harmony app.
- Spivak – Practice G’vurot in the Hebrew in Harmony app.
- Schicker –Kaddish Lesson 3 Challenge; practice Kaddish in the Hebrew in Harmony app.
Kahoot!s
- Mannaberg – Havdalah 1 PIN 04749327; Havdalah 2 PIN 04381029 and Havdalah 3 PIN 07173645
- Spivak – G’vurot 1 PIN 09924653; G’vurot 2 PIN 04605608 and G’vurot 3 PIN 0935301
- Schicker – Kaddish 1 PIN 08680779; Kaddish 3 PIN 08520406
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Hebrew Through Movement (HTM)
We offer HTM lessons on Sunday, mornings, at 5:00pm on Monday and Wednesday and during Hebrew 1:1s. We find that retention is best with 3 HTM lessons per week and highly recommend that students attend three sessions (Sunday, one weekday and 1:1). We also play games with these vocabulary words during weekday drop-ins.
The students are moving deeper into the Shabbat vocabulary. They are learning the HaMotzi blessing we say for bread. They are learning the Hebrew for remove which has the same root as “motzi” in the blessing we do over bread. They experience removing things from the box on the command of l’hotzi as they learn the Hamotzi blessing so as to better understand that we are thanking God for “bringing forth” or “removing” bread from the earth.
Grade 4-5 are going deeper into the Havdalah vocabulary this week (the 4th graders are studying Havdalah in their Hebrew In Harmony curriculum as well).
This Week’s Words (there are no NEW words)
| Hebrew | Transliteration | Translation |
| קוּפְסָה | Koofsah | box |
| לְהוֹצִיא | L’hotzi | remove |
| לאֲכוֹל | L’akhol | eat |
| בְשָׂמִים | b’samim | spices (4th and 5th grades only |
All of the HTM vocabulary words can be found in the sidebar.
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Sunday’s Schedule
- 9:30-10:00 Socializing with Friends (optional)
- 10:00-10:15 Assembly with Havdalah (families please feel free to join us)
- 10:15-12:15 No High School
- 10:15-10:55 PreK-3 Hebrew; 4-7 Judaism
- 10:55-11:15 Break
- 11:15-12:55 PreK-3 Judaism; 4-7 Hebrew
- 11:55-12:10 Mr. Mannaberg’s Hebrew Through Movement (4th & 5th Grade)
Monday’s Schedule
- 4:30 PreK-3 Story Time with Sam
- 5:00 PreK-3 Hebrew Through Movement & practice for student led service
Students can also drop in for help with the asynchronous learning or just to hang out with friends and teachers at any time between 4:30-6:30.
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Wednesday’s Schedule
- 4:30 PreK-3 Story Time with Mrs. Rachel
- 5:00 PreK-3 Hebrew Through Movement & practice for student led service
- 5:00 Rabbi Schicker’s class prayer review with Kahoot! (Birchot HaTorah)
- 5:30 Grades 4-7 Library with Mr. Mannaberg
- 6:00 Mr. Mannaberg’s class prayer review with Kahoot! (Mah Nishtanah)
Students can also drop in for help with the asynchronous learning or just to hang out with friends and teachers at any time between 4:30-6:30.
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Library and Story Time
Monday
PreK-3 Story Time with Sam
Wednesday
PreK-3 Library with Mrs. Rachel
Shavuot in dribs and drabs! Each Wednesday for the next 3 weeks, the youngest students will be reading books on Shavuot and the Book of Ruth. But interspersed with that, we’ll also read biographies of individuals who have changed the world and overcome adversity to inspire us all.
Rachel Haus, Librarian, Congregation of Moses Fisher LibraryKalamazoo MI library@congregationofmoses.org
Grades 4-7 Story Time with Mr. Mannaberg
Mr. Mannaberg will be filling in for Mrs. Rachel in May. He plans to read from various Midrashim that are appropriate for middle school and upper elementary children. He has books on Gollum stories, Elijah stories and a book called Midrash for Children. Each week the students will be asked to tell him which stories they would like among the books he has on hand.
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Message from Camp Tavor
Dear Kalamazoo Families,
We are delighted to announce Legacy Heritage Fund has established an incentive program at Camp Tavor for new campers for two summers, starting in summers 2021 and 2022.
New eligible campers enrolled in a 3-week program or longer will save $1500 off tuition this year and a guaranteed $1500 for summer 2022.
The program’s goal is to enrich children’s Jewish learning and identity by giving them the opportunity to attend camps with strong Jewish content and programming. Families from West Michigan are eligible. All first-time campers in a 19-day program are also eligible for the One Happy Camper Grant which could be up to another $1,000 off this summer’s tuition.
That means this summer you could save up to $2500 on tuition.
Qualifying campers must be first-time campers entering 4th -10th grade.
I would love an opportunity to talk to you more about Camp Tavor and our program. Feel free to contact me directly at Randy@camptavor.org.
Randy Lubratich (She/Her/Hers)
Community Engagement Coordinator | Habonim Dror Camp Tavor
269-215-1399 | Randy@CampTavor.org
Want to talk, feel free to schedule a date and time: https://calendly.com/camptavor/connecting-about-camp-tavor
Stay Connected on Camp Tavor, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube
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Accepting Applications for our 2021-2 Teaching Team
OKCJS has open positions on our teaching team next school year. Contact Nora Chaus at (269) 373-4138 or director@okcjs.net to apply.
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Elijah Thompson’s Bar Mitzvah Project
Elijah’s bar mitzvah project request
For my Bar Mitzvah project I have chosen to bike from Kalamazoo to South Haven to raise money for an organization called Food Not Bombs. In order to support this organization I am asking for donations of any amount to help stop hunger across the world. What makes Food Not Bombs different from other organizations is that they distribute food worldwide during war protests and provide only vegan and vegetarian meals. They also distribute food after natural disasters, strikes, and do everything non violently with peace. My biking event takes place on Saturday May 29th 2021 with my family and I’ll make sure to show some of the ride on my project portion of the service. If you choose to help, any donation is welcomed (ex. Someone who donates 10 dollars would be 1/35 of our goal, or paying for one mile of the trail). Thanks for reading this and have a great day. (:
Also if you have any questions about the project or the bar mitzvah my email is elijah.thompson12321@gmail.com and the Food Not Bombs website is http://foodnotbombs.net/new_site/.
If you choose to donate, please write a check to me and I will compile the donations in one total gift.
Thank you! Elijah Thompson