Dear 6th grade families,
I am excited to begin meeting with our 6th graders for Trope Class that will meet during Hebrew School on Tuesday OR Wednesday afternoons throughout the year, 5:30-6:00. This class is a great opportunity for students to get a head start on synagogue skills that should serve them well for bar or bat mitzvah and beyond. By laying the groundwork in our class and in practice at home, our individual lessons will go much more smoothly.
Our goals for the class are for the 6th graders to:
1) master the blessings before and after the Torah (“an aliya”) and the blessings before and after the Haftarah.
2) know the names of each of the trope symbols and know what tunes they signify for both the Torah and Haftarah, enabling them to, with practice, chant any Torah or Haftarah portion
3) join the large community of Temple Israel’s Torah readers. This journey will begin this year with reading Torah at Synaplex Shabbat services and Junior Congregation services (dates here)–, and will conclude for the year in our special celebration on the first day of Shavuot— Sunday, May 19. Please mark your calendars in advance to make sure you plan to be there; this will also be the final day of Religious School. The students will continue to have opportunities to read Torah at minyan next year, at their bar or bat mitzvah, and beyond.
The expectations for the class are as follows:
1) Students should practice daily and complete each weekly assignment. The recommended amount of daily practice is 10-15 minutes a day, increasing to 20-30 minutes a day when individual lessons begin. I will tell the students the assignment at the end of each class and will sometimes email it as a reminder.
2) Parents, please check in with your child each week on their progress with the Trope, Blessings, and Torah portions. You may sit with them for the full practice time or you might check in with them for a few minutes to hear their progress after they have practiced on their own. Even if your Hebrew skills are not strong, it still helps your child to listen to them. Let me know if you need help from my end to help your children or to learn to chant Torah yourself!
3) Please buy and bring to class each Tuesday or Wednesday:
a. A binder or folder for the packet and other papers
b. Highlighters including pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, & purple
Bar/Bat Mitzvah Dates and Family Programs
Below are bar/bat mitzvah dates with “sneak preview” dates, when you can hear your Torah and/or Haftarah portions a year ahead of time. On Shabbat morning that day, you can follow along with the portions and hear the d’var Torah. The more you can attend services this year, the better. 6th graders can attend junior congregation, usually on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month, and can sometimes join us in the sanctuary. Jr. Congregation dates are listed here.
Bar/Bat Mitzvah Date Name and Torah/Haftarah Portion Sneak Preview Date
9/1/18 Jacob Rosenberg Ki Tavo
9/29/18 Zachary Austrager Chol Hamoed Sukkot
10/6/18 Sophia Rothkopf Breisheet
10/13/18 Max Masters Noach 10/21/17
10/27/18 Isabel Pravda Vayeira 11/4/17
11/3/18 Jonathan Sugarman Chayei Sarah 11/11/17
11/10/18 Chloe Steinberg Toldot 11/18/17
12/1/18 Asher Copaken Vayeishev 12/9/7
12/8/18 Jared Marcus Miketz/Rosh Chodesh/Chanukah 12/16/17
12/29/18 Asher Blacker Shemot 1/6/18
3/2/19 Zachary Missle Vayakhel/ Shekalim 2/10/18
3/9/19 Sophia Priluck Pekudei 3/10/18
3/23/19 Sasha Linden Tsav 3/24/18
4/6/19 Maya Rossin Tazria/Rosh Chodesh/HaChodesh 3/17/18 & 4/21/18
4/13/19 Matthew Koltenuk Metsora/HaGadol 3/24/18 & 4/21/18
5/4/19 Sarah Berk Acharei Mot 4/28/18
5/11/19 Miles Goldenblatt Kedoshim 4/28/18
5/25/19 Dafna Novick Behar 5/12/18
6/1/19 Rebekah Kingsbury Bechukotai 5/12/18
6/22/19 Naomi Dolgoff Behaalotecha 6/2/18
8/31/19 Nadav Fuxman R’ei/ Rosh Chodesh 8/11/18
9/7/19 Gabriel Klawans Shoftim 8/18/18
9/14/19 Clara Duckworth Ki Teitsei 8/25/18
In addition to our group class each Tuesday or Wednesday, 5:30-6:00 PM, we’ll begin individual lessons at least 6 months before your Bar or Bat Mitzvah, and at least 8 months if there is an intervening summer. (for the fall through early spring bnai mitzvah)
Also, please note that we’ll have several Family Bar/Bat Mitzvah programs during the year (most for parents with children), on Sunday mornings, including our religious school students and day school students. The first two are a family program on October 22, 10:00 AM-noon, and a parents’ meeting on November 5, 11:00 AM-noon.
