Creative Canvas!

This year, TBS's Sha'arim program is offering a brand new art course called "Creative Canvas." We met for the first time last week, and talked about why memory and history are so important for our identities as Jews. We're going to continue thinking about that theme this year as we create beautiful Judaica objects, experiment with different media, and even go on a museum field trip! During our first class, 8th graders Carly, Amber, and Maddy (above) practiced their sketching skills by drawing several items from around the synagogue. I can't wait to see what they come up with next!

Remembering

On Tuesday in our Holocaust and Human Behavior class (H and HB), we began class with a couple of "getting to know you" activities.  We did some MadLibs, and realized that we have quite a few funny and creative people in class!
We moved on to discuss the word Holocaust and what words came to students' minds when they hear that word. 
We then talked about the above comic strip where a child is asking an older man what the numbers on his arm are.  He responds by telling her that there was once a period of time when people were persecuted just for their beliefs and for who they were.  The little child then says to the man "so you keep the numbers to remind yourself of that time?" and he responds by saying, "no, to remind you".  This year will be a year of learning and remembering.

Finger Painted Portraits

Welcome back7th graders! This week, my Israel and Art class got together for the first time and started to get to know each other better. We used finger paint to make quick "self-portraits," displaying different parts of our personalities through color and shape. In the future, we'll be exploring fun topics related to Israel through a different project every week.

6 grade Hebrew class exploring prayer

 Liron's 6 Grade Hebrew Group had the privilege to have a learning session with Rabbi Jay on Tuesday.
Sharing moments from our lives, getting to know ourselves in depth, talking about the meaning of prayers and why they are so important in our everyday existence and touching on Sukkot and the essence of gratitude.
It was an incredible treat to listen to Rabbi Jay, and an equal one, to listen to our 6 graders participate.
Their mature discussion, and open mind and heart to explore spiritual content was inspirational!
I feel very lucky to be a part of this great learning experience for us all!

BESTY Progressive Dinner!!

Senior BESTY's next event will be a Progressive Dinner! Eat your way through Needham with BESTY! We will be traveling via party bus to five different BESTYite houses in the area, one house for each course! We'll end our evening with a great Havdalah after dessert. It's only $20 and a can of tuna!! Please RSVP by October 9 by emailing Alison at Asimpson@tbsneedham.org!! See you there!!!

-Alison

Cooking Sha'arim!!

Tonight was the first time the Cooking Sha'arim met for the year, and boy was it colorful! We got to unwrap brand new knives, chopped some veggies, and made, or attempted to make, omelets! We each got to cut up different vegetables so we could get the feel of different veggies. Then we each took a spin on the stove trying to make our own omelet, knowing that if we messed up the flip we would just get veggie-filled scrambled eggs. At the end of the class, we made sure we left the kitchen as spotless as it was before we got there. One participant even said it was an okay equivalent to a team practice! Woohoo Cooking!!!!!

-Alison

What's in a Name??

Today in sixth grade we started a discussion of Lech Lecha. We read straight from the Tanakh of when  Abram and Sarai became Abraham and Sarah. We contemplated why God would change their names, and why Abraham and Sarah were okay being 100 years old and willing to pick up their lives because someone told them to! We then made name collages about what our names and nicknames are, and what we hope to be known as in the future!

-Alison