Wow!

First of all, thanks to everyone (but especially Jane and Joan) today for their tremendous support in making my book party such a success.

But one of my favorite memories of today was actually earlier this morning, when parents and students sat around the table analyzing a page of Talmud together. I hope that we can find more opportunities this year for some intergenerational text study.

I'm exhausted!

Amy

The Judges

As we continue our study of the Prophets, we read stories of the Judges, who ruled Canaan after the death of Joshua. On Tuesday we read the story of Deborah, and the murder of Sisera by Jael (with a tent stake.) Today we read about Gideon, who defeated several armies with....some pitchers. And some trumpets. Students are beginning to get some practice with writing a dvar torah by writing about lessons learned from the prophets and how they relate to their own lives.

Remember that Sunday is Open House. And a great book party to follow!

Managing a budget

Today, as part of our Judaism and Poverty curriculum, students were given the difficult task of deciding how to manage a budget on, or slightly above, the current poverty line. Students had $700 to cover their biweekly expenses, and had to make some tough choices about what to do with their money.

I would encourage you to help bring these numbers to life for your child. Here's a link to a sample budget for a family of four living at the poverty line. Can you compare some of these expenditures with your own family's budget?

Amy

Joshua fit de battle of Jericho, revisited

In our study of the prophets, we're reviewing some of the major figures from last year's study of Israel. Yesterday we read some excerpts from the book of Joshua and looked at how God prepared him to lead the Israelites into their conquest of the Promised Land. I'd like to say I was delighted by how much the class remembered, but I'm afraid they were hard pressed to recall much more than the song. When asked to complete the sentence "and Joshua led them across the Jordan and into......." one of our brightest stars enthusiastically replied "Lebanon!"

We've started working on the Torah service. Students who usually arrive late are missing a lot of independent practice time. If this applies to your family, let me know if you would like a cd to take home.

Thanks for including us in the potluck and bonfire. Can you believe Zoe didn't like marshmallows?

Amy