March 28, 2024 |

Grade 1 – Kitah Alef — Sukkot October 16, 2016

Posted on October 17, 2016

שלום:
How wonderful to be with the class again.  I hope that you and your family had a sweet new year.  We began on a serious note, signed a card for refuah shelamah to Rabbi and Mrs. Kushner after their auto accident.  Then we quickly reviewed Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  We joined Cantor Ken, and the kindergarten and grade 2 for our tefillah.
Back in class, I introduced Sukkot.  We looked at pictures of Sukkot.  We Jews build a sukkah to remind us of the time in the wilderness after leaving Egypt and of harvest time. It must have at least three sides and a roof, through which you can see the sky.  We saw pictures of a sukkah, etrog and lulav.  We also saw mobile sukkot on bikes, to bring the mitzvah to others.  We shake the lulav in all directions to show that G-d is everywhere.  The etrog is oval, citrus, and bumpy like a lemon, but has a sweeter smell and taste. 
STORY:  We laughed at the antics in Bubbe Isabella and the Sukkot Cake.  Bubbe has built and decorated her sukkah and has baked a lemon cake.  Every night animals like a caterpillar, moth, deer, and bear join her to tell jokes, sing songs, and sit gazing through the roof at the sky.  But they prefer to nibble on the fruits, leaves, and wood of the sukkah, so no one eats the cake. What becomes of it?

HEBREW: Our Hebrew letter today is ש, the first letter in shalom, shofar, and Shabbat.  We also learned our first vowel ah as in aqua, represented two ways under a letter.  We looked at the word “Shabbat,” which has both versions. The children are bringing home reinforcement papers.  In pairs, we reviewed the letters we have learned so far.
MUSIC:  We sang We’ll Be Going to the Sukkahand a few other songs like Yom Rishon Avodah.
Then to the sukkah to make decorations—three kinds!  Look for designs on tin foil.  Then they made wooden magen Davids decorated with glitter and sequins.  Last are the paper chains.  Such fun.  We watched them being hung in the sukkah. 
See you next week.
Judy and Cheryl (Esther and Tzipporah)