Welcome to 6th Grade!
It was so lovely meeting your students this past Wednesday. I am really looking forward to a fantastic year. During our first day we got to know one another, talked about class expectations, and looked through our textbooks and the materials in their binders. I asked the students to write and reflect a little about what they are most looking forward to about their Bar or Bat Mitzvah (the day, the process, the entire experience), as well as what they are most nervous about for the Bar or Bat Mitzvah. Afterwards, we discussed their responses and discovered many people in class shared some of the same worries and some of the same things to be excited about. I think it helped to bond the students together, and I tried to calm many of their fears by assuring them of what we would learn this year, and how well prepared they would be.
Please take a few minutes to look around our class blog. This will be the main source of information and resources for our class. Encourage your student to do so as well. The Trope page in particular, will be an invaluable resource as we begin learning this valuable skill of chanting Torah and Haftarah. If you would like to know a little more about me, please visit the About page.
Also, I would very much like to encourage you to bring your son or daughter to the Adult services of High Holy Days from now on. As 6th graders, they are about to become adult members of our TBI community. At their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, they will receive their own copies of the HHD Machzor (prayer book). This year, they will also be expected to regularly attend Shabbat services, to help prepare them for their responsibilities as adult members of our community. We welcome you and your student at our 5:30 pm Kabbalat Shabbat Services on the 1st, 3rd and 5th Fridays of each month, but also encourage your attendance at 7:30 pm Erev Shabbat on the 2nd and 4th Fridays, as well as every Saturday morning at 10:30 am were we will read Torah and Haftarah.
Erev Rosh HaShanah services begin this Sunday at 8:15 pm, followed by morning services on Monday, September 10 and Tuesday, September 11 at 10:00 am. Kol Nidre Services (Erev Yom Kippur) are Tuesday, September 18 at 8:15 pm, and Yom Kippur services are Wednesday, September 19 at 10:00 am, and 2:30 pm.
Your encouragement and example, are the foundation for your student’s success. I look forward to working with your student and seeing them grow and flourish!
Shanah Tova 5779 שנה טובה