One of the most fascinating stories in the Torah is that of Abraham and Sarah receiving and entertaining in their tent three itinerant strangers. Abraham, who, according to the midrash, is healing from his circumcision, stops his prayers and runs out to welcome the guests. Sarah rushes to prepare a meal for them. Abraham and Sarah did not know these people. They could have been beggars or wealthy donors. But to Abraham and Sarah they are honored guests. Furthermore God visited Abraham at the entrance of his tent, but as soon as the three men appear, Abraham turned away from God to attend to these guests. In doing so, he teaches us that “the welcoming of strangers ( Hachnasat Orchim ) is greater than the mitzvah of welcoming the Shekhina, G-d . Tradition tells us that Abraham and Sarah's tent was open on all sides. The Huppah, where bride and groom stand at the beginning of their joint Jewish journey, is like Abraham and Sarah's tent, open to the others. At the moment of greatest intimacy, we stand committed to community.

It is revealing that so many Jewish religious ceremonies — Brits, baby naming, weddings — begin with words of welcome, blessing the people prior to blessing God. Before we say Barukh Atah... we say Bar uk/i Ha ba/i — “Blessed are you who come.

We chose this theme of “Hachnasat Orchim “ to accompany us in the first part of the year. Our art projects, music. classroom discussion and Hebrew lessons will focus around the value of Hacnasat Orchim” - Welcoming Guests. We would like to teach our students to open their homes to guest and celebrate Shabbat and holidays with each other. We also hope that they will learn how to welcome new comers to their community, school and home.

Faculty corner

We are glad to welcome this year our emissary Gal Sharir. Gal is a high school graduate who will turn eighteen in October. She is from Kiryat Tivon, outside the city of Afula where she lives with her parents, Victor & Irit, her older siblings, Or 20 , Liron 25, Barak 27. She enjoys Israeli Scouts, cooking and hanging out with friends. Her favorite classes in school are computers and mathematics. Gal wants to “strengthen our connection to Israel and to Judaism to help prevent too much assimilation in the US ”. With Gal our students will learn how Israel plays a major role in their Jewish heritage. She will help our students understand the link between Israel and Jewish tradition, discover the variety of life in Israel today, and learn the primary vocabulary associated with its people and places, celebrations, and daily life. In addition Gal will be participating in many activities in our congregation and will be helping with programming for the major holidays throughout the year.

Class Corner.

Meet our Kindergarten and first grade students.

In the binging of the year, the students learn about Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Simchat Torah. We have asked them what they think and what they know about the holidays. The introductions are followed by including an aspect of the holiday, like a Shofar, Etrog, etc. We are using curriculum that helps our students to master the twenty-two initial letters of the Alef-Bet , as well as a vocabulary word for each letter. Each two-page lesson of BJL Beginnings Alef to Tav Activity Book has one page of coloring the letter and the word, and a second page of each lesson has a discrimination exercise and a fun "find the letter" game.

The Hebrew curriculum is accompanied by Holiday celebration curriculum. It introduces students to the celebratory aspects of home, family, synagogue and community. It talks about God. It matches each of these celebrations to a Hebrew letter via a key word. Though we have focused on only one letter a week, we continue to learn and sing the whole Aleph Bet each week. Students are learning the shapes, sounds and specific words involving the letters.

We have done a few art project s that incorporate what the students have learned both about the holiday and the Hebrew letter. We have made Rosh Hashana cards, Israeli flags for the letter “Dalet” and welcome signs for the theme of the year “ Hacnasat Orchim”.

Our goal is that by the end of the year students will master twenty-two Hebrew letters and key vocabulary words of Jewish life. We hope that they will experience the joy of celebrating Shabbat and Holidays and feel connected to their religion.

Verd and Adam

Eti Kohen

Director

Congregation Beth El 109 East Ave Norwalk, CT 06851 203.838.2710 office@congbethel.org

Notes from the Director of Education

Navasky Religious School

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