Kitah aleph—The Hardest Word    7 Tishri, 5776/ September 20, 2015

Dear Aleph students and families:

It was wonderful seeing so many happy faces today for our first class.  As we will every week, we began with breakfast and discussion.  In the sanctuary, we sang with Robin and Cantor Ken.

Children looked at pictures of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and we reviewed the main elements of the holidays:   the Jewish New Year, apples and honey, round challah, going to the Temple, 5776, the shofar, creation of the world (begun on Rosh Hashanah).  We talked about new beginnings, the chance to make better choices.   We looked ahead to Yom Kippur:  saying “I’m sorry,” Jonah, fasting, making the world better.

Each child thought of a way s/he would make good choices next year. 

As part of starting over, we read the story The Hardest Word.  The Ziz, a clumsy but good-hearted bird, accidentally destroys a vegetable garden.  When he asks G-d for advice, the bird learns the importance of apologizing. The hardest word is SORRY.  The book helps children understand what to do when mistakes are made and the importance of forgiveness. 

I led the class in songs at the end of each session.  Today we sang Tapuchim u’dvash (Apples and honey). The Shofar song, and the story of Jonah.  Weekly, we close with Shalom Chaverim..

Thank you all for your support and enthusiasm.

Brief reminders:  please give your child some water and a small kosher snack, which we will eat mid-morning, and a backpack or tote bag to take home papers.  This week, each child got a magnetic schedule of special events.

Esther and Tzipporah (Judy and Cheryl)