 What a beautiful, engaging, and fun session on Israel we had as a Community School yesterday at CBD. This was our last one of the year, and I will be touching base with all of you to hear your thoughts on these all-area school sessions - to understand their successes and areas of growth.
Thank you to the teachers, Rabbi Matt, cantor Mark, and Tali Freed (Israeli dancing lead) for making it so successful. Between the conversations and understandings of Israeli geography, history, and reason for existence, I think we did it with honor for our children and parents. Also a thank you to Maxi and Sharon for helping with yesterday's Israeli shuk, where the kids enjoyed special Israeli snacks! Also thanks to Amber for making our Kotels where the kids put in special notes after singing Hatikva. Coming Up this Shabbat! We have such a full weekend at TNS - and I love how beautiful it is that we share this community together! Here's the rundown....please come for some or all of it!
Til soon (this Shabbat) Lauren
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 Hello!
You may have all just seen my update for the May 21 Campout, so I will start with that before TNS school news:
Yesterday honored Mother's Day - teaching the kids how to say "Yom HaEm Sameach," and we took out our Chumashim to read in this past week's parsha, the very first commandment repeated in Kedoshim is to honor one's mother and father! We read the "Woman of Valor" proverb (in the Sim Shalom Siddur, page 310), and reviewed the Hebrew words for members of our mishpacha (our family). Here's a picture of yesterday's guests during Torah Talk - Ima (mom), Abba (dad), Yalda/Bat (female child/daughter), Yeled/Ben (male child/son), and Tinok (baby) - please try to review this with your kids! - A big Todah Rabah to our newest student and Israeli guest, Assaf, who is living here in SLO for a short period of time, but will be a part of our TNS family until he returns to Israel. He speaks only Hebrew, so he is sharing his vocabulary with fellow kids and learning how we express Judaism here in America. Please introduce yourselves to his parents Idit and Baruch if you have the chance. Class time focused on Hebrew terms, Israel, and Kavod, or respect. Individual Hebrew review continued with Binah and Malca. We also had a beautiful kiddush snack hosted by the Hartless-Romero's and leftover cake from our TNS New Member Family Shabbat this last Friday (thanks to Dinah)! The kids all shared one thing they were grateful for to eat the cake....the majority of them said MOM! Upcoming TNS School Dates and Reminders:
Til soon, Lauren  Happiest of Mays, everyone!
I can't help myself - it's always been my favorite month, and it makes me happy hearing either The Temptations or Stevie Wonder croon about sunshine and love in the month of May. But, I'm biased....it's my birthday month, and Israel's too! Of course I'm focused on the latter here, but feel free to text a yom huledet sameach on cinco de mayo :). So Rabbi Micah led a spirited session to start the kids off yesterday tying together Yom HaShoah just commemorated and Yom HaAtzamaut to celebrate on Thursday. He allowed space for questions, took the kids on an imaginary tour of Israel, and ended with Hatikva. Kids service and class time reinforced learning about Israel and singing its song of hope. Below are a smattering of Hatikvah videos to play at home. Below that - a picture of (my) Isaac as part of the Youth Symphony playing Hatikvah at Congregation Beth David for a Holocaust Remembrance Service led by Rabbi Micah. Please try to take a moment this Thursday with your family to sing, discuss, tell stories, and answer questions. As we all know, Israel is beautifully complicated - as are all things so authentically Jewish.
And, here are a few snapshots of our classes - the oldest focused on an in-depth talk on Israel, the middle on the idea of Kavod, or respect, and our youngest on the letter "samech" and more on Israel. Please know we do have school this Sunday, May 8 on Mother's Day. PLEASE text me (805-295-0890) if you cannot attend, but know we will focus on family and Kavod (respect). There is MUCH more to come on learning about Israel at our Community Session on May 15. Please let me know if you can help out with that day or at least make sure to stay for the parent talk led by Rabbi Micah - it will be at Congregation Beth David. I know that's a lot to read through and link to, but, here's a few reminders, since we have so much going on this month!
In the meantime, have a great week, yom huledet sameach Israel, and I hope to see many of you this Shabbat at our Family Service. Lauren   Hi friends
I do hope your kids mentioned yesterday's content at TNS school, as it was much to process after spending our first 45 minutes on the Holocaust. First of all - the kids did amazingly well. They were respectful, attentive, and inquisitive around such a serious matter. All took in the movie we screened (The Number on Great Grandpa's Arm) and engaged with Phylissa's presentation on her experiences with the March of the Living. Phylissa was inspiring and heartfelt as she spoke of her time with survivors who she marched alongside, and even dug out the coat to wear that all her fellow marchers did - not just to honor the memory of the Holocaust, but to show unity and pride in carrying on the Jewish people. As you'll see in the pictures below - we also engaged our students in lighting candles and reading poetry. We had 6 yellow candles to represent the 6M Jews who perished, and each child had a chance to light their own candle to remember, honor, and hold the moment. Amber and Levi M. read outloud the "Butterfly" poem that many students did art projects on during class time; I read a Hannah Sennesh poem and explained her backstory. I also want to thank the Bnei Mitzvah boys who attended this past Saturday's Shabbat service - Arie Bandari and Atticus Feldman. Seeing the two of them with their kippot and tallises on, both opening and closing the ark together, and being called up for an aliyah, was exemplary in how we carry on our traditions - and how our children learn to do so. Rabbi Micah certainly played a role in integrating them into the service. I'll continue to remind all about our Saturday services and look forward to ones to come. In the meantime, there is much to put on your calendar for a community Yom HaShoah program, Friday Family services, our next Community School Session, and a TNS Family Campout! Here's the rundown:
 Dear all
What a glorious Sunday! I certainly hope your kids digest with you our weekly Sunday school, and at least shared one golden nugget they learned about Pesach. If they didn't yet, then prod them! We did A LOT this past Sunday; it should have oiled their wheels on some level for our upcoming big holiday. Before I get into the recap, please note that next time we meet for school isn't until Sunday, April 24. However, TNS has Pesach services, so do come, help make a minyan, and expose your pre-bnei mitzvah kids to the Shabbat and Saturday morning services - April 15/16 and April 22/23 - Pesach Services April 16 led by Saeed Niku. April 23 with Yizkor led by Rabbi Micah. Also, save the date for the following: Sunday, May 15 - Community School Session (on Israel) at CBD Saturday, May 21 - 9:30am Shabbat Service (with Baby Naming) Saturday, May 21-Sunday, May 22- Lag BaOmer Family Camp Out at JCC Property (evite forthcoming) Now, the recap from yesterday! We started off the morning with Rabbi Micah practicing (for at least a 3rd time) Ma Nishtanah with our kids, as well as a reminder of this beautiful holiday of freedom from slavery. Then we showed a claymation film, The Animated Haggadah, which captivated all our kids. You can stream it online free, so here's the link in case you missed it or want to view it at home again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayl3HlUSe1U Then a shout out to Jake (who subbed for Michal), Joel, Amber, and Zoe who held down the fort with almost 30 children on their own. We were a slim staff this week but made it work! I know the kids learned even more about Pesach during class sessions....but, then mock seder time! Eliana and Dinah helped me with matzoh ball soup and other preparations, as did Dafna, Drew, and Maxi. Thank you to all else who brought the seder items, including parsley, matzoh, horseradish, charoset, roasted beet, haggadot, and more. Rabbi Micah led the kids in sweeping out the chametz during kiddush snack, and then led all of us during our mock seder. Next year in Jerusalem! (And next year, we're talking about a parent adult ed talk for Micah to teach us in guiding us better in preparing ourselves and our families more intentionally for Passover) Our mock seder was full of lots of Jewish/Passover goodies including matzoh ball soup, matzoh brei, gefilte fish (some kids really liked it!), macaroons, and hard-boiled eggs. Aside from the food, Rabbi Micah guided us through traditional songs and blessings, and explained some of the why of what we do. We dipped our fingers to recite the 10 plagues and broke the middle matzoh to find the 5 afikomens! Shout out to Asher Storm who found the first one! Here's evidence of some of our other afikomen locaters :) So, a hearty chag pesach sameach to you and all your loved ones. The Bandaris will be in Chicago starting at the end of the week through the seders, and then back in town for our second Pesach shabbat. In the meantime, please read and hold Rabbi Micah's Passover message coming out this week (you can read it in advance here). Lastly, please note our next school session will take place the Sunday before Yom HaShoah, so when we resume, we will be re-addressing a very serious subject. On that note, if you would like to help efforts in Ukraine, our TNS family, the Kovens, are involved in and looking for support with this one relocating families to Romania: Iași – The Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS - https://fjc-fsu.org/centers/iasi/ I wish you all a truly good yuntav and I look forward to seeing you again soon. Lauren  Hi friends
Lovely to see the rain come down today - and maybe lots of you are like me, enjoying a quieter night with all our cancelled extracurricular activities. Speaking of quieter, yesterday definitely was as many of you happen to be out of town (and as a reminder, I really appreciate you texting or emailing me if you know you will be absent). But, we still had rich discussions during Torah Talk and class time, and continued to practice our Ma Nishtanah and regular songs/blessings during kids service. TODAH RABAH to Jon-Erik Storm for leading Torah talk. Jon did a great job of making Parsha Shmini accessible to our large age span - he had the kids act out the fire where Aaron's sons perished, and linked our decisions to the laws of kashrut that are detailed in this torah portion. There was a lively discussion of foods to eat or not, and lots of student volunteers who engaged in the talk. Class time focused on Passover, which is just around the corner. The kids have had fun playing "lost and found," akin to hunting for chametz before Pesach, and the afikomen at our Seders. But this game is also tied into teaching a Jewish value - Hashavat aveidah הֲשָׁבַת אֲבֵדָה is the value of returning a lost object when found. That is, we don't play finder's keepers, and consider the physical and emotional needs of whoever lost an object. Thank you to Emma for leading our Nitzotzot class in this game and teaching yesterday. In the older class, Shalhavot, continued the lessons on Koach Hadibbur כֹּחַ הַדִיבּוּר (the power of speech). In these lessons, we learn that asking questions and speaking up can be challenging but can have great impact on ourselves and others. Our Gan class focused on the letter "Lamed" and teacher Amber talked about the Passover story with the kids, explaining how we were slaves in Egypt and trying to think about how hard it must have been. Thank you to all the kids who continue to be so enthusiastic to lead kids service with me. Though the M&Ms are still most popular, they are all getting stronger and stronger at the prayers, including L'cha Dodi, Sim Shalom, Aleinu, Shma, and Adon Olam. Here is a link if you want to practice Ma Nishtanah at home, but we have been doing it on Sundays as well. Next week details and beyond! Friday, April 1 - Family Shabbat and Game Night You should have all received the Evite for this Friday night! We will start off with a 6pm Tot Shabbat and Kid-dish, and continue into the Family Service with our older kids helping to lead on the bimah. Then stay for pizza, libations, snacks and games. It will be a really fun way to share Shabbat. Sunday, April 3 - Mock Seder for all school families at 11:30am We'll start Sunday school off at our normal time - you can let your kids know we get to watch a short film to start off next week! Then we invite all parents to come by 11:30 (or earlier to help set up) and share in a Mock Seder led by Rabbi Micah. This will be a fun way to help prepare ourselves and our kids for sharing in the Seder while learning about it too. If you haven't already, please sign up to bring a seder item - this will be a meal! I know we still need charoset makers, as well as matzah brei, kugel, or lasagna makers! Also great if anyone is willing to make a veggie matzoh ball soup! April 3 - Women's Rosh Chodesh Later that afternoon and after the mock seder, we will soak at Sycamore Springs and celebrate the new month at 4:30pm. April 15/16 and April 22/23 - Pesach Services TNS will have both Friday night and Saturday morning Shabbat/Pesach services. Yizkor led by Rabbi Micah will be on April 23. Please note - NO TNS school on April 10 and 17 Save the Dates - Sunday, May 15 - Community School Session at CBD Saturday, May 21 - 9:30am Shabbat Service (with Baby Naming) Saturday, May 21-Sunday, May 22- Lag BaOmer Family Camp Out at JCC Property Lastly, I realized last week I skipped over a mention of our Purim Spiel, which was fun and full of good energy. Yasher Koach to Kristin and our cast, and a big thank you for your efforts. Now, on to Pesach!!! All my best Lauren  First of all - THANK YOU to so many of you who came out for Erev Purim and made it so special! I hope you all got a chance to glance at our Purim 2022 album - https://photos.app.goo.gl/pYZGRk5KeLaEZTEDA. Of course the drink cart is a new TNS tradition, and we were so happy to celebrate Alex Barrett's bday that night! We even got to enjoy more cake this past Sunday, which is maybe why the kids had some extra shpilkes during kids service :)
This past Sunday, however, we moved on from Purim and got right into Passover. Rabbi Micah was in fantastic form (quite literally) teaching the kids about the meaning behind Ma Nishtanah, the 4 Questions, but also explaining how to understand the ancient notion of sacrifice in a modern way. He should do an adult ed session to explain that last part more to all of us, but take a look at the pics below to see the rabbi and kids already practicing their royal positions for dipping. Meanwhile, we'll continue to recite the four questions, plus we are planning a Mock Seder for school on April 3! I definitely need your help - sign up on the Seder tab for a dish/seder item to bring, and we are encouraging parents to attend. This means we will alter our regular school schedule to accommodate the seder, where I plan to start class time early (at 930.10), and host the seder from 11am-12pm/1130-1230pm. Also from this past Sunday, I want to commend Emma for substituting for our Shalhavot class, and Tristan for his book report on "Boy in the Striped Pajamas." Of course our staff, including Amber, Joel, Jake, and Binah, enhanced your kids' Sundays as well, but it's something to see our TNS teens and older students taking on such leadership. I texted many of you to let you know we discussed the Shoah this past Sunday. I want to commend our students as well, from ages 4-14, for holding such a serious subject so respectfully and engaging in the matter. They posed many questions (including into kids service), remained quiet and attentive, and showed how they feel the weight of understanding the importance of remembering. More Calendar Dates to Note Please keep these dates on your calendar, since we have a lot going on before and after our spring breaks! Friday, April 1, 6pm - Family Shabbat Service at TNS with Rabbi Micah - come for the rabbi's tot service for the first 15 minutes, and stay with your older kids to help lead the regular service! Kids snacks and oneg provided! Sunday, April 3, 11 or 11:30am - Mock Seder at TNS Sunday April 3, 4:30pm - Rosh Chodesh at Sycamore Springs in Avila Saturday, April 16, 9:30am - Saturday Pesach Shabbat Service Saturday, May 21 - 9:30am Shabbat Service (with Baby Naming) Saturday, May 21-Sunday, May 22- SAVE THE DATE - Lag BaOmer Family Camp Out at JCC Property Please also note the calendar changes we have issued - no religious school for April 10 and 17; and the next (and last) community session is scheduled for May 15. Thank you all for all the support, participation, and encouragement you provide. All my best Lauren  Purim-mania definitely hit the kids this past Sunday; they are certainly learning more about this holiday and connecting in some special ways. I applaud Kristin for taking on organizing and directing our Purim Spiel (thank you, Kristin, for your detailed emails). Parents - please be sure to get to TNS either early (by 5:30pm, a must if your child is in the spiel) or by show time (6pm) so we can provide a great audience! The job of the kids not in the spiel is to BOO Haman. I loved seeing the spiel crew practice on Sunday:
Other fun Purim activities on Sunday were the Shalhavot and Gan kids putting together and learning the custom of Mischlach Manot. We also as a larger group took out Chumashim and talked about the end of the book of Exodus, and the start of Leviticus with an overview of biblical forefathers and foremothers (I led that piece so I don't have any pictures :)). School Calendar Updates As I mentioned last week, we made changes to the calendar in terms of the Community School Sessions. Now we will only have one more of those, focused on learning about Israel and Yom HaAtzmaut, on May 15. I will be in touch on its locale (currently scheduled for Congregation Beth David). Also, in terms of April, we originally had April 17 and April 24 off. However with how spring break and holidays are lining up, I have changed the schedule so we have April 10 and April 17 off. We will resume school on April 24, which is the Sunday before Yom HaShoah, which will be a part of our focus that Sunday. We will educate on and review Passover customs starting next Sunday though April 3. (I would like to host a mock seder, and will be in touch about those details and needs.) A couple more Purim details See many of you tomorrow night by 6pm. Thank you to all who are able to make the night so full - we have close to 60 coming! Should all our Purims be so full of life and celebration!!! Thanks to all who are able to bring food, drinks, ice, and more. Please know we'll have snacks and beverages out from the beginning of the night, but dinner will be a bit later - pizza will come around 6:30, plus we'll have Persian rice, salad, and cookies. Not to mention a birthday cake for one of our TNS friends (it's Alex's birthday tomorrow!). I'm excited to dress up, eat hamantaschen, boo Haman and enjoy with all of you! Chag Purim Sameach Lauren  Hi all!
I am sure (or at least hope) you all just saw the Evite for Erev Purim in your inboxes. If not, here it is! This will be such a joyful night at TNS with our kids' Purim Spiel, boo-ing Haman, eating hamantaschen (proceeds go toward Ukrainian refugees), food, costumes, and libations. In the meantime, allow me to recap last Sunday and fill you in on the following Sundays, as there have been a few changes. First of all, this past Sunday was FULL of Purim joy. Starting with Rabbi Micah leading in the classic Purim song about the shape of Haman's ears/hat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrNcxIuggHY Of course he included a more profound lesson to his talk, including how listening with those ears is so special. Please do play the song with your kids, and ask them what they heard on Sunday. I know they were listening :) Plus, here's another video that carries on the Purim joy we started at the beginning of Adar - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtcpbwmRbac Then, a huge TODAH RABAH to Jaime - Oscar, Albert, and Levi's mom, who led all the kids in one of the sweetest Hebrew school activities, hamantaschen baking! They all got turns in making (and eating) their three-sided cookies, and were led by one of our shul's best bakers (though I know you have some competitors!). Thank you again, Jaime.... Our teachers also led the kids in numerous lessons, including the Purim mitzvot and learning all the Purim characters. On that note, look below for all the Purim Spiel details a la Kaila and Gaby's mom, Kristin! Purim Spiel - Our Hebrew school will perform a short shpiel before the Megillah reading on Erev Purim. Please download the play link and practice. Here are the assigned roles, but all of the Gan kids (or any older kid not assigned) are to be part of the Jewish and Persian chorus. We definitely need you to be at TNS on erev Purim! https://docs.google.com/document/d/11klTt4GHMbZEx6I4rC7P8Y4FKbt61h2Vt-9aN38AHNg/edit?usp=sharing Eliana - Esther Jordan - Mordechai Dinah - Vashti and King's servant Albert - Ahashverus Alex - Haman Sophie - Court servant 1 Dinah - Court servant 2 Leo - Guard Upcoming Sundays - Community Session Changes Lastly, please note that due to scheduling conflicts, we will not do a Purim or Passover Community School. Of course, we'll still continue our TNS sessions, but not gather the three schools again until May, where we will celebrate Yom HaAtzmaut and learn about Israel together. More details to come on that - but just note to be at TNS through March and April, and help out as needed with snacks, talks, and more.... Lastly, be sure to buy some hamantaschen at Joliene Bakery in SLO! Starting this Wednesday through March 20, Joliene Bakery will be making hamantaschen to order as part of a global movement, Hamantaschen for Ukraine, which I was happy to arrange. They will be selling apricot and raspberry hamantaschen for $4, partial proceeds go toward Ukrainian refugees in Poland. Bakery hours are Wednesday-Sunday, 8am-1pm. They're located in the Creamery on Higuera. We'll also be placing a big order for erev Purim and have their hamantaschen for our synagogue. Talk soon and take care Lauren PS - I won't' forget! Next Sunday Tristan will be presenting on his book report. Thank you for your participation and preparation!  Dear friends,
What a marvelous Torah Talk session our fellow congregant and parent, Rabbi Lon Moskowitz, led for our kids this past Sunday! We all learned about what makes up the Tanakh (Torah, Nevi'im/Prophets, and Ketuvim/Writings), the number of books in it (39, and 5 for Torah), the number of sentences in the Torah (5845), and even its Gematria (Hachama, or blessing of the sun), plus so much more! Quiz your kids and see what they remember! Then Rabbi Lon rolled out one of TNS's Torahs to orient us to where we read from this past Shabbat in the book of Exodus. The kids, teachers, and myself were all enthralled with the beauty and physicality of the Torah. Our classroom time focused on Purim and Hebrew reading review. The Nitzotzot class focused on making masks to express their feelings, and many of the kids are working hard with Binah and our TAs on their Hebrew reading/letters. This coming week, we will have another Hebrew teacher visit us, Malca Stein, who will start to work with some of our kids on their reading who have not yet been with Binah. It's almost Purim time.....here is what we need! First off, a huge thank you to Kristin Horowitz who is organizing and directing the Purim Spiel - please find the script attached so you get an idea of how it will go. Last Sunday we identified our 3 narrators for the play (who will be the voices for the attached script) - but we will still need to fill our main character roles!
Parent Sign-Up 2021-22 I hope to see many of you at Shabbat services this Friday (led by Rabbi Micah), and we'll start rehearsing the Purim Spiel this Sunday at Hebrew school! All my best Lauren |
Religious School Director, Lauren BandariMom, educator, Jewish community advocate, Lauren Bandari, has the privilege of running the TNS religious school. She is passionate about teaching and connecting our kids, solidifying a strong sense of Jewish identity, and finding joy in our beautiful traditions. Archives
November 2022
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