A COMMUNITY OF LEADERS

Thank you to the families who joined us for our day of learning on Sunday morning.  It was nice to share some time together, and have you participate in our chevruta type of learning.  Our students are extremely bright and articulate, and it was a pleasure to hear each of them share their thoughts in such a respectful way.   As many of you know, our goal in Kitah Dalet is to help our students understand their responsibility to make the world a better place by building relationships with GOD, other people, and the community at large.  We constantly push our students to think about their actions, and challenge them to do the right thing, even when it is difficult.  

On Tuesday afternoon, we continued our discussion about being leaders, and the importance of making choices that have a positive effect on the world.  We shared our thoughts about having a negative impact on others, and how when we follow others, we don't always make the best choices.  As promised, we watched a short video clip on Cain and Abel, and saw how we are indeed our brother's keepers.  Of course, we now understand that "brother" refers to community and others, and we must step up and care for others as well as ourselves.  

As the year comes to an end, I want to wish you and those you love, a happy and healthy new year, and I look forward to seeing everyone back at school on Tuesday, January 5, 2016.  

BRINGING THE LIGHT OF HANUKKAH TO YOU

Happy Hanukkah!  We have been talking about Hanukkah, and how this ancient story has relevance to us even today. We talked about being proud of who we are, having the courage to stand up for what we believe, and most importantly, doing what we think is the  right thing to do, even if everyone else is doing something different.   We talked about the importance of supporting our Jewish community, and how lighting the hanukkiah in the window shows solidarity with Jewish people around the world. The lights of the hanukkiah are meant to bring light into the world, and we encourage you to spend some family time together creating memories as the flames of the candles burn low.  

Please plan on joining us Sunday morning at our Simchat Limud, as our students share a bit of Torah with you, and we have the opportunity to learn together the  Kitah Dalet way.  

FREE TO BE

I had hoped to continue our discussion about Cain and Abel, but as we began the discussion, someone asked a question,  our talk took a quick detour and we traveled back into time and talked about Hanukkah, the Temple, and Ancient Greek history.  Of course the conversation was most worthwhile, and I always believe it is better to pursue an avenue our students are interested in, rather than one to my liking.

To put everything into perspective, we had a mini lesson on biblical time and the calendar, and used the ancient Olympic games as our point of reference.  We looked at the building of the Temple and its subsequent destruction, and landed in a very interesting conversation about courage and standing up for what is right. We talked about religious freedom in particular, and the importance of educating our non-Jewish friends about the true meaning of Hanukkah.  We talked about standing up for what we believe in, making sure we respect the beliefs of others, and insist they respect our beliefs.

We look forward to learning together with you on Sunday, December 13, 2015.  Until then, please ask you children to share some of their thoughts and ideas about Hanukkah, miracles, and the mitzvot.