Let’s catch up on what we have been learning the last two weeks:

Wednesdays – Trope
Last Wednesday we learned our 4th clause,  תביר T’vir. T’vir is highlighted in blue, and features just a few new symbols: דרגא Darga and תביר T’vir. You can hear the sound of each and learn the hand signs here: https://youtu.be/ogqmBK7Sm7A. T’vir is the sound of the “Amein” recited by a person about to read Torah, following someone else chanting the Torah blessings. The T’vir clause is often served by the trope קדמא Kadma, which we learned in our last clause קטן Katon. Additionally, תביר T’vir can be served by a special מרכא Mercha, which sounds like דרגא Darga, but without the middle two notes. The Flipgrid challenge for תביר T’vir is: https://flipgrid.com/085b58d3

This week, we started the 5th clause of trope, the רביע R’vii clause. רביע R’vii is the Hebrew word for 4th, like יום רביע Yom R’vii (the 4th day of the week), and is called that because of the 4 sided diamond that is the symbol of רביע R’vii. רביע R’vii is served by it’s own unique sounding מנח Munach. Sometimes, it is also paired with גרשיים Gershayim, a separator, as in the 3rd line of the first and second paragraphs of the prayer ואהבתה V’ahavta. We color code this clause orange. You can hear this clause and learn the hand signs by practicing with this video: https://youtu.be/SYN2N2rN2yI. There are additional symbols we will learn for this clause, and will look at them next week. The Flipgrid challenge for רביע R’vii #1 is: https://flipgrid.com/750a3067.

Chanting the complete ואהבתה V’ahavta in Trope
With this first part of the רביע R’vii clause complete, the students now have color-coded the complete V’ahavta prayer. I have asked them to practice chanting the ואהבתה V’ahavta using the trope names and hand signs. Chanting from clause to clause will give the learners a sense of what chanting their Torah portion will be like. There are resources to help them, including this video with hand signs:

and an audio recording of a 6th grade class from years past. Please encourage your student to practice, as chanting the ואהבתה V’ahavta in trope will be a part of the Torah Trope Challenge, their final assessment for Torah in January.

Sundays – LaBriut
We have now had our first 2 weeks of the new unit, Ometz Lev (Inner Strength). Check out this brief intro video for parents:

In week 1, our Flipgrid challenge: https://flipgrid.com/a054eb63 asked the students to create a series of playing cards based on real people, characters from books/movies or from Judasim, and describe their strengths and weaknesses. This week, the students are tasked with thinking about the characters they chose, and give those characters options that use Ometz Lev (Inner Strength), such as “ask for help from a trusted friend” and options that are not Ometz Lev, like “explode and break something”. This week’s Flipgrid challenge is here: https://flipgrid.com/73c668b7.

Tonight we light the first candle of Chanukah. I wish you and your families a חג אורים שמח Chag Urim Sameach! A holiday filled with light and love.