I know it's been a while...awesomeness has been in progress!

Ayin, Nun, and Chet Oh my...

The letter ע (ayin) is very similar to the letter א (alef) in that they are both silent unless paired with a vowel. Below are some useful words that start with ע (ayin). We knew a lot of the words already.

Pencil e-pa-roan עִפָּרוֹן

Eye ah-yeen עַיִן

Eyes ay-nah-yeem עֵינַיִם

Tomato ag-va-ne-yah עַגְבָנִיָּה

Ten eh-ser עֶשֶׂר

Hebrew eve-reet עִבְרִית

Cake oo-ga עוּגָה

The next letter we learned was נ (nun). נ makes a "n" sound and is very small in size. It's like there is "nun"(none) there. The following are some נ words we practiced in class.

candle nehr   נֵר

candles nehr-ot   נֵרוֹת

Snake Na-chash   נָחָשׁ

Shoe na-al       נַעַל

Prophet. Nah-vee    נָבִיא

Miracle nehs     נֵס

The letter ח ( Chet ) makes a "ch" sound, just like כ (chaf). Although they look different and have a different name, how great is it that they make the same sound! There are lots of great ח (chet) words. Here are the ones we learned.

Challah חַלָּה

Milk Cha-lav חָלָב

Cat Cha-tool חָתוּל

Life Cha-yeem חַיִּים

Window Cha-lohn חַלּוֹן

Hot Cham חַם

Chanukiah Cha-nu-key-ah חֲנֻכִּיָּה

י (yud) makes a "y" sound, like the y in yarn. We remember the י yud by thinking of it as being young. Things that are young tend to be little like י yud. Also, both words have a beginning "y" sound.

Green Ya-rok    יָרֹק

Hand    Yad       יָד

Girl     Yal-dah יַלְדָּה

Boy     Yeh-led   יֶלֶד

Wine    Ya-yin    יַיִן

Israel Yis-ra-el  יִשְׂרָאֵל

The letter ט (tet) makes a "t" sound. As we have ת (tav) that makes the same sound, here is how we remember which is which.

ט Tet has a tear

and

ת Tav has a tail

Phone Tel-eh-phone טֶלֶפוֹן

Hike Tee-ul  טִיּוּל

Ring Ta-ba-at   טַבַּעַת

Good Tov    טוֹב

Tallit Ta-leet    טַלִּית

Nature Teh-va   טֶבַע

Tennis Teh-nees טֶנִיס

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT! A NEW VOWEL TOO!

Drum roll please...announcing the arrival of a new vowel!  This new vowel makes an "O" sound and its dot can be found Over its body. It also has super powers that can make its body invisible.  If the body disappears but the dot is still over a letter we say "O",  

Judaics Update:

Prior to Passover Break we spent almost all of our time in Judaics gaining a strong understanding of Passover.  From the story to the traditions, prayers, and songs. We even planted parsley.

Also, I am so incredibly proud of the wonderful leadership that each child displayed at our Seder.  They did an amazing job.

Believe it or not, we were also able to learn the mitzvah of "Honoring the Elderly  כבוד זקנים (Kibud Zekenim).

We spent time discussing all the wisdom that the elderly have and that it is our job to show them lots of Kavod.  This does not just mean be nice, but also means to hold doors for them or give up our seat. In addition, we read the book "Say Hello, Lily". It is the story of a young girl and her mother who visit the Shalom House and help out. To really fulfill this mitzvah each child drew a beautiful pastel picture to brighten the day of a senior citizen.

CLICK CLACK MOO MOO...In Jewish Studies? Huh?

Yes, this week we learned the mitzvah of  Ts'ar Ba'alei Chaim (caring for animals).  The book helped us to ask questions about how Farmer Brown treated the animals?  Was there a good reason for the cows to ask for electric blankets?  The cows and hens wanted to be warm, but the duck wanted a diving board.  What is the difference? The difference we discussed was wants and needs.

We also took time to think of how we can fulfill this mitzvah with our animals / domestic animals and what we can do to care for wild animals.  They brainstormed lots of good ideas ranging from returning a lost pet, calling for help for a hurt animal, donating time at an animal shelter, giving tzedakah to the World Widlife Fund, etc... This is one of my favorite mitzvot to teach because I get to share not only my love for animals, but also the knowledge of the Talmud that tells us we must feed our animals first, for they cannot do it for themselves.