Grade 7–Gesher Update

You may be wondering, what’s going on in Gesher?

Our Jewish Life Cycle study has been enriched by special sessions with Robin Kahn, who taught about Jewish education, Cantor Ken Richmond, who engaged the students in a learning session about Bar/Bat Mitzvah, and Aaron Brandt who discussed Jewish life on campus.  These events were very much connected since Jewish education leads to Bar/Bat Mitzvah, which marks Jewish adulthood within the synagogue community. Students recognized that as Jewish adults, they have responsibilities including being counted in the minyan, ritual honors and making Jewish decisions.  Students began to realize that in the future, it will be their responsibility to make choices about how they will express their Jewish identities.

We continue to study the weekly Torah portion and to develop the community Torah study questions for the other classes and to select a cereal with a connection to the parasha.  We are meeting the Prophets with an overview of the history and the qualifications for a prophet and we have learned about some texts in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Sages).  Recently, we have used those texts as a vehicle for experimenting with the i-movie app on the i-pads.  Students are excited to create i-movie trailers depicting their interpretations of their selected teaching from Pirkei Avot.

Gesher students enjoy Sunday mornings beginning in the religious school classrooms assisting students with breakfast and community Torah study and ending with the coveted i-pads.