Summer Program Spotlight: URJ Kutz Camp!

This Summer Program Spotlight features the URJ Kutz Camp! Don’t forget- first time campers may be eligible for the One Happy Camper grant from the Foundation for Jewish Camp and Combined Jewish Philanthropies! For more information about the grant or these and any other camps, please email Leah King at lking@tbsneedham.org.

The Kutz Camp is the Union for Reform Judaism’s camp just for high schoolers in Warwick, NY. Every summer, Kutz is home to the NFTY (National Federation of Temple Youth) Leadership Experience, a program designed to strengthen teen leadership skills in a variety of areas, including creative arts, youth group leadership, digital media, Jewish studies, social action, and more. Participants choose their own major and minors, and create a summer experience that’s entirely personalized. Everyone participates in t’fillah every day, often led by teens themselves, song sessions, and evening programs. Teens come to Kutz from across the United States as well as Europe, Israel, and other parts of the world to create a unique and close-knit community. Kutz is part of the wider URJ camp system, which includes Camp Eisner and Crane Lake Camp in the North East, and often attracts campers who have never been to camp before as well as campers who have attended URJ camps their entire lives. For more information about the Kutz Camp and to read the fantastic camp blog, see their website!

More information about TBS’s camping initiative can be found on the TBS website.

Let's Be Thankful... for CAMP!

6th Grade Jewish Studies - Mindy

What great discussions we have been having about the dynamic stories and characters in the book of Genesis. We read about Abraham (the first Biblical character who displayed hospitality) and Isaac (who was surprisingly silent, even as he was about to be sacrificed by his own father) and most recently, Jacob and Esau (who tricked Isaac on his old age before receiving blessings). Jewish values permeate these stories and your children added their own valuable insights in an attempt to make them more contemporary. How great it is to watch the Torah come alive in this way!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Sand Art Projects

7th graders rotated to new Israel classes this week. It was sad to see old students go, but it was so nice to have new faces in the classroom! In Israel & Art, we made sand "portraits" of Israel to remind us of the great amount of desert that makes up the geography of Israel!

Proud artists pose with their work!

The final products look great, drying on my office floor!

I'm looking forward to getting to know my new students! Have a great Thanksgiving!

Maus: A Survivor's Tale

Yesterday in 7th grade we began our in-class reading of Maus: A Survivor's Tale, by Art Spiegelman. The story is a graphic novel documenting the relationship between an aging Holocaust survivor and his son, Artie. Told in two time periods, Artie is finally starting to hear of his father's breath-taking experience of the Holocaust. In the present, Artie periodically visits his fathers Rego Park, Brooklyn, NY home. During each visit, Vladek recalls his life as a Polish Jew, soldier, businessman, father and husband in gripping detail.

While we will not have class next week, our reading will continue after Thanksgiving as we dive deeper into this portrait of one family, and their experience surviving and remembering the Shoah.

Summer Program Spotlight!

Welcome to TBS' Summer Program Spotlight! We love summer camps and the fantastic options they provide for teens to be campers, counselors in training, and eventually full-fledged counselors. But there are lots of programs out there for older campers who have never been to camp or who are ready for something new. We'll periodically highlight some of the great Jewish overnight programs designed specifically for teens, right here on the blog, to help you and your families learn more about the fantastic summer options available to you.

Programs you can expect to read more about include:
URJ Kutz Camp
NFTY Mitzvah Corps
NFTY in Israel
BIMA & Genesis at Brandeis
Passport NYC
and more!

For information about summer camps for all ages, see our Elementary Learning blog's Camp Spotlights! If you'd like to participate in a summer program spotlight to show everyone how awesome YOUR program is, feel free to send stories or photos, or just contact me at lking@tbsneedham.org. And I'm always available to answer your questions or just chat about camp at any time!

Working in Chevruta..

Working in "Chevruta" (group or a team in Hebrew) is a very popular form of working with the Mitkadem Hebrew program.

I absolutely love to see some of the kids working together, learning Hebrew and prayer while having fun together and catching up with their own life.

I am happy to report that both classes are moving along nicely. 4 of our students tested and moved up a "Ramah", and few others are very close to doing the same.

Often times, our 6 graders are craving a snack, and I would like to extend an invitation for parents to send individual, nut free, dairy snacks for them, as well as water bottles, or one snack for the class to share. This applies to Thursdays. On Tuesday, Lauren has a "Snack Break" for them all.

As always, please contact me with any questions or concerns, I would love to support them in anyway that I can.

The "IN" Group

This week, 7th graders in the H and HB classes watche a 5 minute clip from a program entitled: "An Evening With Elie Wiesel". One of the speakers was a teenage girl named Eve Shalen. Eve talked about being bullied when she was in 7th grade, and feeling very much a part of the "out" group. One day, the "in" group began to bully another girl and Eve found herself joining in on the bullying. She was not proud of her actions.
After the film clip, students talked about their reactions and offered their perspectives. They talked about the different groups in their schools, and what it means to be part of a group, or to be excluded from a group.
Students then participated in a silent activity. Torah/Talmud/Pirkei Avot quotes were taped on the wall, students were broken out into groups and had to have "conversations" (in writing only!) based on the quotes. The "conversations" were very interesting and thought provoking and when the class was over, students talked about REALLY enjoying the activity!
Shabbat shalom, to all!
Sheira

Marc Chagall Inspirations

Chagall, "I and the Village," 1911

For our final Israel & Art class, 7th graders learned about the art of Marc Chagall, especially his beautiful windows at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem:


Then the students made their very own "stained glass windows" using Mod Podge (my favorite!) and tissue paper. These beautiful transparent creations can hang in a window and remind us of Chagall all year round!

7th Graders & Inclusion

This week, the ladies of Leah's 7th grade Holocaust and Human Behavior class heard Eve Shalen's story about inclusion/exclusion, and discussed what it means to create an "other" for the sake of feeling included. Then we had a "silent" conversation, a la the Talmud, about how we treat other. For a great break down of this activity and the Eve Shalen clip, see Max's blog post here.

Class discussion about the quote "It is easy to make an enemy; it is harder to make a friend."

Talmud activity

Eve Shalen, Talmud and Middle School

This talmudic proverb was the backdrop for some very interesting conversations on Tuesday. We started class by hearing Eve Shalen tell of an experience she had in 8th grade:

Eve's experience is one that we discussed, and particularly turned our thoughts to whether we have ever felt as if "often being accepted by others is far more satisfying than being accepted by oneself."

We continued our learning about human behavior by turning our thoughts to several talmudic quotes about treating others. First, we shared on butcher paper whether we agreed or disagreed, and then continued class with a discussion about our thoughts. Of course, we also paused for a picture!

We spent a good amount of time discussing the talmudic quote, "It is easy to make an enemy; harder to make a friend." Students shared that being mean, or not being an upstander, can sometimes be easier than standing up for a friend, or reaching out to make a new one.

We finished with a quick "check-in," going around and sharing something happening in our life, and said shavua tov—until next week!

Tuesday Night Madness!

The Cooking class got crazy last night with a Top Chef cook off. They were asked to research Jewish recipes and begin to understand what was Jewish about those foods. The winning recipe? Humantaschen!

Overheard on Facebook: "This is the highlight of my week!"

More Mikveh

Exploring the pools, discovering the getting ready rooms, and learning the steps to using the Mikveh.

Learning Together

Hope you enjoy this video of some of our students practicing their Hebrew fluency. They work in small groups, chevruta style. I love that they work hard and do not hesitate to help each other!

Enjoy!

Shavua Tov!
Lauren C.
Grade 6 Hebrew

A DAY AT THE MIKVEH!

Dear Parents of Grade 6: We had an interesting day at Mayyim Hayyim in Newton. Mayyim Hayyim means Living Waters. The students were thoroughly engaged in learning about what makes the water in the mikveh different than other waters. They also learned about the many reasons one might use a mikveh. The Mikveh is made up of tap water and "natures" water (ie. rain water) from wells that are built outside of the mikveh. Ask you children about their experiences!

L'shalom,
Lauren C.
Hmmmmm...

TELEM!

The TELEM class went to the First Parish this week for their bi-weekly site visit. Upon arriving at FP, students are asked which jobs they would like to do that day. Some jobs are: pouring milk, serving meals, handing out goodies when guests come in, counting how many people come in to be served and dishwashing. Students are beginning to feel comfortable with the guests and it's a joy to see them sit and speak with them and hear their stories. Students have also been singing during site visits and it was wonderful to hear all the guests join in to sing "Lean on Me" during a recent meal! We conclude with "circle time" during which students talk about their experience from that day.

Liron's 6 Grade Hebrew Class

Everyone is advancing nicely in the Mitkadem program.

I am very impressed with their level of reading, and I'm sure to assist anyone who shows a need or making a request.

As a break from routine, we played a very competitive "Jewpardy" game.

The kids were learning a lot without noticing it too much.

The categories included: Tefilah, Hebrew, Israel, Holidays, and "The reason is.."

The kids showed such incredible knowledge, I will have to raise the bar for the next one...

Alison and Lauren Go to a Mikvah!

Alison and Lauren's sixth grade classes took a field trip yesterday to Mayyim Hayyim, a local mikvah! The kids learned all about what a mikvah is, why and when someone would go, and the process that goes into immersing oneself into a mikvah. They explored all of the different places in the building and asked fantastic and insightful questions. It's great to see Judaism come alive for the kids!

-Alison

Hibachi & Havdallah