Grade 6- Welcome to Kitah Vav
Posted on September 19, 2016
Temple Israel
OF NATICK
Shalom Kitah Vav/Sixth Graders,
I am so happy that Grade Six-Kitah Vav– begins soon. My name is Elaine Pollack, and I will be your teacher at Temple Israel Religious School. In class I hope to call you by your Hebrew name, and you may call me Rav Elana, as that is my Hebrew name.
Here is a little bit about me: I live in Wayland with my cat, Zoe. I have three grown up children: Lisa, Matthew, and Beth. They live on their own outside of Massachusetts.
I love cooking, gardening, singing, and, of course, all things Jewish.
I enjoy Jewish learning so much that I decided to go back to school for five years to study to become a rabbi. I completed my program in 2008. Did you know that rabbi means “teacher?”
I hope to get to know you, and learn what makes you happy.
Grade Six-Kitah Vav- is an important year because you will begin to really “own” the prayers you will lead at your Bar/Bat Mitzvah service. So, tefilah/prayer will be one of our subjects. To get really comfortable with Hebrew prayer, you will need to feel confident in your Hebrew reading/K’riah, and that’s a skill we will be working on almost every time we meet. 
We will study some of our famous Jewish prophets, beginning with Moses, to discover what makes an inspiring leader. We will also have creative, hands-on art projects all throughout the year.
There is something new and special in Kitah Vav this year. We will become a part of the Boston-Haifa (in Israel) connection! This will be an opportunity to learn and share experiences with a class of Grade Six students from the city of Haifa. They are learning English, and that will be our common language. You will participate in creating two or three projects that we will share with our new friends in Haifa, Israel.
The letter ו, vav, is the number 6 in Hebrew, but it is also the word for “hook.” I hope you will like getting “hooked” on Hebrew, and on learning with me in Kitah Vav!
!להתראות
L’hitraot – See you soon!
Rav Elana
