Temple Israel Education

"Learning is retained only through gentleness" Iggeres HaGra
Monthly Update		Religious & Hebrew School
Family Events		Registration (under construction)
Life Cycles		Young Adult
Special Services		Adult
Contacts	Opportunities For Your Jewish Journey Cradle to Confirmation & Beyond	Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ: A bibliography for Temple Israel Congregants

Monthly Update

On Sunday, January 15, 2006, five of our education staff attended the Mini Caje Conference in Minneapolis. From our initial conversation after the sessions, the staff felt that it was helpful and that they came away with new ideas for our program.

A number of our educational staff will be attending the week long National CAJE conference, August 3-10 2006, at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

I have asked Ian Kaner, who has extensive experience in Youth Ministry, to consult and meet with our present Chai students and parents, 7th grade parents and students, and our YEP Committee. Our Chai program (8th -9th grades) has been in a state of flux over the last few years. We are looking for content and direction that will keep the youth who are in the program actively involved in Jewish education and Temple life as well as issues that impact us in the greater Duluth community. I will keep you abreast of what is going on in our meetings.

On Wednesday, March 8, 2006, Niza Schear, a 13 year veteran Jewish day school educator is coming to Duluth to work with our staff and students. Ms. Schear has a unique system for incorporating Hebrew into the classrooms daily activities via a message board. This system allows students and teachers to use Hebrew for giving and receiving instructions during routine activities. There will be a demonstration using the Alef class from 4:00-6:00 pm. Ms. Schear will work with teacher and parents from 7:00 pm 9:00 pm. Other congregants that are interested in attending the session please let me know so that I can make accommodations. The program will deal with hands on in-class demonstrations and practices and how to make a message board and make it work. Ms. Schear will be available to answer questions after the session.

Hebrew School conferences are being held during the month of January. If your child’s teacher has not contacted you, in regard to a conference date, let me know.

Don’t forget Religious School will meet on Sundays, February 5 and 12, and Saturday February 25, 2006.

January

Reminder to Parents and Staff about the Religious School schedule
for January through April.

In January, Religious School will be held on Sundays 1/08/06, 1/15//06, 1/22/06. We will have our first Saturday Religious School on 1/28/06. Meeting times will remain the same, 9:30 am to 11:30 am, for both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday and Sunday, the younger students will report to the sanctuary for music as usual, and the older students will go to the Litman room as they currently do. The older students will join the congregation for the Torah service and then, time permitting, go back to their classroom at the end of service.

Those who choose to participate, can go to the Overman Community Hall for Kiddush Lunch after Religious School.

The Sunday/ Saturday Schedule will be in place from January through April. I will remind you each month of the schedule, and will ask Marsha to put a reminder in her weekly e-mail. In April, I will schedule a meeting of parents to get your input on Saturday Religious School so that we can make a decision on what day fits the schedules of the students and the parents.

Your child’s teacher will be contacting you regarding the Hebrew School parent Conference’s that will take place in January. If you have more than one child in school, we will attempt to have them on the same evening to save you a trip. We recommend that your child attend the conference.

The Computer lab has undergone a major overhaul and we have enhanced our newer machines to handle more complex software. We have reduced the number of older computers in the lab as they would not run much of the software that we use with our Religious and Hebrew Schools or what we hope to provide in the area of adult education after the first of the year. We would like to update the current computers once every two years by purchasing a new computer to replace the oldest one. We will monitor computer usage to see if this plan is justifiable over the next two years. If you want to contribute toward the purchase of new machines. or to assist with the purchasing of software, you can make contributions to the Arthur and Winnie Gurovitsch Tech Center Fund.

November

Now that the holidays are behind us, I’m glad that we will be getting back to our normal routine in both Hebrew and Religious school.

Both the Mitkadem Hebrew program and the Chai Curriculum appear to be fulfilling our needs as we had hoped they would.

If you have a three or four-year-old child, we still have room in our Religious School pre-school program taught by Linda Glaser and Charlotte Herold. They provide a very warm and supportive environment for the children to begin to learn about Judaism. The children engage in hands on activities such as crafts and baking, as well as listening to stories and music. Classes follow the same time schedule that Religious School does. Contact Don Ross if you have additional questions.

Deb Scott-Kovacovic has joined our family education staff, and will begin to provide formal and informal training for parents in the near future. Please watch for announcements of upcoming events.

Just a reminder for Religious School, students in grades pre k – grade 3 meet in the sanctuary at 9:30 am. Please try to have your children there on time as we only have that, half hour set aside for music. It is an integral part of our curriculum and provides a rounded Jewish Education for your child. Fourth – sixth grades report to the Litman room at 9:30 am for class. If you know in advance that your child will be absent, let the classroom teacher or me know as attendance does influence projects and discussions.

Beginning in November calendars for Hebrew and Religious School will be on our web site. Any changes to the calendar will appear there as well as on the monthly calendar.

The Winnie and Arthur Gurovitsch Technology Center provides high-speed internet access as well as photo-software, Hebrew and English word-processing, and trope teaching software for your use. We also have a viewer for those who may need enhancement when reading, working with a checkbook, looking at photos or other tasks. The Center is open during the day from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm. Unless you make prior arrangements we ask that you do not use the center when Religious or Hebrew school is in session. If you would like to make donations to the Center for new equipment or software, it would be greatly appreciated.

October

The first week of Religious & Hebrew School is now history. Other than a few minor mix-ups, it seemed to go okay. There are a number of students who have not been registered yet. It is very hard to plan and hire staff when I don’t know for sure who will be attending classes. I will send another notice to those families that have not completed the registration process.

Our Beach Sweep was a success. We collected approximately 50-55 pounds of trash, as well as over 500 cigarette butts. We had a good turn out of parents as well as other congregants helping us with this project. Each one of the children received a beach towel and the adults a book bag for their efforts.
There are still a number of you

that I have not had a conference with to explain the educational experiences available to your children over the course of their education here at Temple. I will be calling you before or after the High Holidays to set up a date with you so that we can complete that process. In the mean time, if any one needs a Bar/Bat Mitzvah manual, or the Religious / Hebrew School parent handbook, please let me know so that I can send it to you.

We are still trying to get the registration process on line to make it possible for you to complete it with the least amount work on your part. Please bare with us as we try to accomplish this goal.

At the end of the month, you should receive an update on your child’s progress in Hebrew School. Please let me know if you don’t receive this

information. I’m working on a progress report for Religious School. Since we don’t test students, it’s hard to provide you with objective data. We will continue to address this concern and keep you abreast of our progress.

Remember to put Friday, October 21 on your calendar. This is the night of our congregational Sukkot dinner. I urge you to come and bring someone with you. Dinner information is on page one of this bulletin.

The Temple school is in need of some one to help with filing. If you have some free time to help us it would be greatly appreciated. If you have questions about dates that classes meet, go to the educational section of the website and look for the calendars for all youth activities starting this month.

Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ:
a bibliography for Temple Israel Congregants

With all the discussion and controversy over Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ, I thought I’d provide our congregation with a bibliography listing a sampling of materials that bear on these discussions from a non-fundamentalist viewpoint. While not all of the listing below are by Jews or have a specifically Jewish viewpoint, they have in common that none of them approaches its subject with the preconception that the Christian gospels are historically accurate, unquestionable documents. All of the items below are easily accessible to our community, either in our Synagogue Library, the Duluth Public Library, or via the internet. (The numbers in bold type at the end of entries are call numbers)

--Mike Grossman, from the Synagogue Library

1. Available in the Synagogue Library (either on display, in the stacks at the call number given)

A. The historical Jesus:
Cross, Colin. Who was Jesus? 1970 296 Cr
Drazin, Michoel. Their hollow inheritance: a comprehensive refutation of Christian missionaries, 3rd ed
1995. 296.4 Dra
Neusner, Jacob. A rabbi talks with Jesus 1993 296 Ne
Rivkin, Ellis. What crucified Jesus? 1984 296 Ri
Yaseen, Leonard C. The Jesus Connection: to triumph over anti-semitism 1986 296 Ya (also available at the Public Library)

B. Judaism and Christianity
Baeck, Leo. Judaism and Christianity: essays by Leo Baeck 1964 (copyright 1958) 290.04 Ba
Buber, Martin. Two types of faith 1961 290 Bu (also available at the Public Library)
Grant, Frederick C. Ancient Judaism and the New Testament 1959 290 Gr
Kung, Hans. The Council in action: theological reflections on the Second Vatican Council 1963 296 Ku
Sandmel, Samuel. Judaism and Christian Beginnings 1978 290 Sa
Weiss-Rosmarin, Trude. Judaism and Christianity: the differences 1968 (copyright 1943) 290 We

2. Available at the Public Library:
Cohn, Haim Hermann. The trial and death of Jesus 1971 232.92 C661t
Crossan, John Dominic Jesus: a revolutionary biography 1994 232.9 C884j
Dimont, Max I. Appointment in Jerusalem: a search for the historical Jesus 1991 232.9 D597a
Wilson, Ian. Jesus: the evidence: the latest research and discoveries 1996 232.908 W694j
Vermes, Geza. Jesus the Jew: a historian’s reading of the Gospels 1973 232 V591j

Family Events

Sukkot Festival (Fall)
Help build the Sukkah
Help decorate the Sukkah
Join us for a light meal

Purim Party
Sunday Morning close to Purim
A fundraiser for DuSTY
Games, costumes, prizes & lunch

Family Education Workshops
Watch the Monthly Bulletins
Previous events have included
Making Matza, Shofars,
&Menorahs

Life Cycles

Consecration:
Age 5/Kindergarten
Your child's entry into Jewish learning
and Religious School

Confirmation:
10th Grade
The culmination of formal
youth education (see Calendar Page 1 )

Special Services

The families of each B'nai Mitzvah reunion class will sponsor a special kiddush luncheon after services.... so come for the service, stay for the food!

Religious School

Preschool through 10th grade
September through May
Registration begins in March
(See Religious School Handbook)

Preschool-6th grade
Saturday / Sundays 10:00-12:00 AM
Check your schedule for the day of class

7th- 10th grade
Wednesdays Afternoon/Evenings
7th grade: B'nei Mitzvah preparation (see Manual)
8th & 9th grade: “Chai” (see Calender Page 1 & Page 2)
(a student driven program incorporating Jewish values in everyday life)
10th grade: Confirmation (see Calendar )

Hebrew School

Grades 3-7/Ages 8-13
September through May
Registration begins in March.
See Hebrew School Handbook
Classes Mondays & Wednesdays
4:00-6:00 PM

Young Adult

DuSTY
(Duluth/Superior Temple Youth)
Grades 9-12
Composed of and led by teens who design and participate in a variety of programs.
Regional & national opportunities to gather & learn about topics
important to Jewish identity & social action.

JRY
(Jewish Roots for Youth)
Grades 9 & 10
Group trip to New York City
A biannual event to experience
Jewish living in a big city.
Funded by student activities and/or parent financial support

Summer Camp
Age 8-18
Camp Herzl, Camp OSRUI,
Campship applications for
financial assistance
Available to Temple Israel members.
Call or stop by the temple office to pick up your application by 2/05/04

Adult Education

Hebrew Skills
Beginning Hebrew
Intermediate Hebrew
Prayerbook Hebrew and the Prayers

Synagogue Leadership Skills
How to Give a Tour of Our Synagogue
How to Write a Drash

Jewish Studies
Music Appreciation: Klezmer
How to Talk About Hanukkah
Proselytizing to Jews is Still Alive: Responding to Fundamentalist Christian Ideas
Jewish-Catholic Relations and the Origin of Christian Anti-Semitism
Pope Pius XII, the Holocaust and the Revolution in Catholic-Jewish Relations
Exploring Jewish Values

Current Events and Issues
Our 1st Amendment Rights
Is the Evangelical pro-Israel position and support in Israel's best interests?

Enrichment
Jewish Cooking
Israel Folk Dance
Temple Choir
Early Childhood Jewish Family Education

Coming Attractions
Torah Yoga
Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah Class
Torah Trope
Jewish Cooking
Technology Classes