The 2008-2009 Religious School year started on Sunday September 7^th with a bang!  Parents joined their children in the sanctuary for a brief welcome by Rabbi Miller, Cantor Schechtman and me.  Our parents then had an opportunity to meet with their children's teacher(s) while our students remained in the sanctuary singing with ruach with our music/liturgy teacher Don Levey.  Once in class, our students spent time building community with their new teachers and classmates by participating in team building and ice breaker activities.  Each class was individually welcomed and visited by Rabbi Miller, Cantor Schechtman, and our specialists: Phyllis Trincia - Bible, Don Levey - Music/Liturgy, and Marsha Massey - Library and me. 

Our Monday night program, which began on September 8^th, was kicked off with a well attended pizza night for students in grades 7-10 and their parents.  Our second week of school brought our first Family Education Program (kallah) on Monday September 15^th.  Students in grades 8-10 and their parents attended a wonderful, interactive program on hunger led by the Family Table.  In this program, students got a sense of what it might be like to be hungry and suffer from food insecurity.  They were placed into family groups and assumed the identity of people in need of food support.  They were given a budget to work with - some families had to survive on only $1.00 a day!  Our students had difficulty cutting through the red tape of filling out applications for food stamps and emergency loans.  They also had to deal with suspicious grocery store employees who saw our poor families as potential thieves, and as a result were rude to our families.  When our students went to the soup kitchen for extra support, they discovered that the soup kitchen had accidentally burned down, and therefore could not provide a warm meal to our hungry masses.  One of the most important lessons our students walked away with after participating in this program was that hunger affects every community, every race and every religion - Jews are not immune to hunger.  People who suffer from food insecurity are faced with a variety of challenges; shame and embarrassment are often at the top of that list.  At the end of the program, our students brainstormed ways they could get involved with the cause of hunger.  Our students suggested having people bring a can of tuna or a box of pasta when they attend Levi Leap; buying one extra food item every time they go food shopping and then donating that item to the Family Table or another food pantry; bringing the topic of hunger to their High School Jewish Student Union; volunteering to pack and deliver food packages and volunteering in a soup kitchen. 

Mrs. Rubin's 5^th grade class is currently conducting a survey about your favorite Rosh Hashanah foods.  When you drop off your students for ReligiousSchool, please encourage them to participate.  The survey is located on the 5^th grade bulletin board.

Our 6^th grade class is having their first Family Education Program (kallah) on Sunday October 5^th.  The topic is Kesher 13 and Hamitzvah Hazot - our B'nai Mitzvah service project options. 

Please show your support of our middle and high school students by attending holiday services.  Students in 7^th and 8^th grades will lead our congregation as we celebrate Sukkot on Monday October 13^th.  Consecration and Simchat Torah services will be conducted by our 9^th and 10^th grade students on Monday October 20^th.  Students in our ReligiousSchool may receive service credit by attending these services.

I want to extend special thanks to the School Committee, Religious School Teachers, Student Aides and Jami Schultz for getting our school year off to a great start!

REMEMBER, we are collecting toilet paper for the Family Table (a project of JFCS) all year.  Please send your students to ReligiousSchool with a 4-roll pack of toilet paper once a month.  MARK YOUR CALENDARS:  TBA is scheduled to pack up food packages at the Family Table's warehouse in Waltham and then deliver them on November 2^nd.  Please RSVP to Jami in the school office, school@tempbetham.org.

May you be sealed in the Book of Life!

Rabbi Amanda R. Lurer