Welcome Back!

Shalom,

It was so exciting to see everyone today.  I am always amazed at how much our kids grow over the summer!

School got off to a great start today with some new students and new teachers.  I hope you'll all stop in and meet Jody Berwin, our new 2nd grade teacher.  Jody is a Special Education teacher and a klezmer musician.  She recently moved to Vermont to be closer to her daughter in Montreal.

Morah Patty is back with our Ganeinu class and Sharon Silverman, our Kitah Hey/5th grade & Music teacher returns this year, although she is in Washington, DC this week for Hillel training so Audrey Chafetz substituted for her.

The kids are coming home with calendars, Hike for Hunger pledge sheets (the hike is on September 30th at Mt. Philo) and lots of enthusiasm for a great New Year.

L'Shanah Tovah Tekateivu, May you be incribed in the Book of Life for a Happy New Year.

What is the purpose of being a kid?

Rabbi Avi Orlow, Director of Jewish Education at the Foundation for Jewish Camp, posed this question to our generation's foremost Talmud scholar, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz.  The rabbis thoughts follow:

Childhood is when we see and experience things for the first time, discover anew that which is already there. Children have the delight of discovery. As adults, we acquire a more organized way of learning and studying, but also lose the feel of the freshness of things. Because of that, most adults are – almost by definition – slightly dull.

Creative ability is only found in those who retain a part of their childhood. The artist and the scientist both have this freshness of view. An apple falls from a tree: the child asks – why does it fall and not fly? –and such questions are the beginning of science.

Even some human emotions stem from our most child-like parts: being in love is the ability to see the “other” as someone novel whom you can have dreams about.

The child’s inner and outer ability to grow is the real source of our life.

Rabbi Avi Orlow, Director of Education at the Foundation for Jewish Camp, responds:

I spend my summers traveling to see the great work being done by scores of non-profit Jewish overnight summer camps. Camp is a uniquely child-centered environment. It is a wonderful place just because everyone, adults included, is open to the experience of wonder. In childhood, fun and learning need not be distinct activities. Camp is not just a location; it is also an invitation. It is a call to all of us to reconnect with our inner child.

Shalom Chaveirim,

I want to share with you some thoughts from Rabbi Jonathan Saks, the Chief Rabbi of England, in this short video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7xc4u-TOL3I

Shalom,

On May 12th we celebrated Teacher Appreciation Shabbat.  And while we appreciate all our teachers, we paid a special tribute to Barbara Sklar, who is retiring from our Religious School after 46 years of teaching.  I received this thank-you card from Barb and I'd like to share it with all of you:

Dear Parents and Students,

Thank you so much for the wonderful teacher appreciation Shabbat service we recetlycelebrated.  I loved the two songs the seventh graders wrote and sung in my honor.  At this service I was presented with a beautiful piece of art work that is already hanging in my living room.

Artwork we gave Morah Sklar to which you all contributed

I have enjoyed working in our Religious School teaching a variety of Hebrew and secular subjects plus tutoring students for their Bar and Bat Mitzvah since Temple was founded in 1966.  I plan to sub in our Religious School when I am available.

Again, I think you for all your support over my many years of teaching at Temple.  

Todah Rabbah (Many Thanks),

(Morah) Barbara Sklar

End of School Year Does Not Mean End of Activities at Temple

Friday, May 4^th Folk Service 5:30*

Saturday, May 5^th, Bat Mitzvah of Rachel Norotsky, 10 a.m.

Sunday, May 6^th, The Wholesale Klezmer Band in concert from 6:30-9:00

Wednesday, May 9^th, the entire Jewish community is invited to celebrate Lag B’Omer at Oakledge Park from 4:30-Dusk; dinner will be served.

May 12^th – Teacher Appreciation Shabbat and last official day of Religious School

May 19^th Aleinu  at the home of Louise Stoll and Marc Monheimer. For those of you not familiar with our Aleinu series, we gather in a member’s home on a Saturday evening, do Havdallah, have some drinks and dessert, and have a guest speaker on an interesting Jewish topic. On May 19^th I’m happy to say we have Temple member, Shelagh Shapiro, who hosts a radio show and podcast called “Write the Book” in which she interview authors, poets, literary agents and others involved in the field of literature. Shelagh herself is a published author. I’m sure it will be a most fascinating evening. 

1 special concert coming up on 2 dates:

Sunday, May 20, 2012, 4:00 PM: Temple Sinai, 500 Swift Street, South Burlington

Sunday, June 3, 2012, 4:00 PM:  Ohavi Zedek Synagogue, 188 N. Prospect Street, Burlington

Open My Lips:  Sacred Music from 1600 to Today

Choral music by Salamone Rossi, Michael Praetorius, Louis Lewandowski, Bruce Chalmer, and Don Jamison, performed by the Rossi Festival Singers and the Burlington Jewish Community Choir, directed by Bruce Chalmer.

Next time you’re in Temple, stop by the Art Exhibit outside the 7^th Grade classroom and see what the students have created as part of their Holocaust studies unit.

Events for Jewish teens:  Check out the YJ website: http://sites.google.com/site/youngjudaeavermont/bogrim

*June - Don't forget that all Friday night services move to 6:00, summer time.

Bnai Mitzvot: (All services begin at 10 a.m.)

2nd - Drew Coel

9th - Gabe Katz

16th - Colby Chatoff

30th - Eva Edwards-Stoll

Passover Cooking

With Passover just 10 days away (starts Friday night, April 6th), time is getting short to clean and prepare for the holiday.

Of course food plays an important role in every Jewish holiday, even Yom Kippur. Why just think, you spend a lot of time preparing the meal before the fast and much attention to what will be served at the break fast. See what I mean?

I've culled a number of really yummy recipes for you.

Here's one for Kosher for Passover AND vegan chocolate cake:
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/food/2012/03/26/passover-recipes-chocolate-truffle-pie/

The latest issue of Reform Judaism Magazine has a recipe for Gefilte Fish. If you've never made your own, it's really not as difficult as you think:
http://reformjudaismmag.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=2973

Of course, there's the Matzah Ball--floaters or sinkers. You decide. And yes, there are ways to control how that happens:
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Jewish_Holidays/Passover/At_Home/Food_and_the_Kitchen/Matzah_Balls.shtml

Wishing you a ziessen and a Kasher Pesach - a sweet and Kosher Passover.

$8.25 an hour

What do you spend on lessons for your child? What does it cost for piano or violin lessons? Dance/ballet? Tai Kwan Do or other Martial Arts? Horseback riding? Sports-team fees and equipment? Tutoring? Skiing? Gym membership? Child-care?


On one of my listserves the topic of tuition for Religious School has come up and what is fair to charge families. So it got me thinking -- what is our per hour charge for school here at Temple Sinai? I worked out the math and here's what I came up with


$545 a year /divided by # of sessions 2-hour (33) = $16.5 /divided by 2 = $8.25 an hour And when you consider the tuition for Ganeinu, that works out to $2.70 an hour. What other for-fee after school activity costs so little?

So for $8.25 an hour your child gets a wonderful Jewish education, learning about things s/he won't learn anywhere else -- Jewish history, culture, language, ethics, religion, spirituality, morality, commonality. We cater to the intellect, the spiritual, the social, the communal aspects of the child and his or her place in the community and the world. So when it comes right down to it, $2.70 or even $8.25 an hour is a small price to pay for what your child is getting. Not to mention the benefits you and your family derive from temple membership.


A synagogue is more than its school, its worship services, its events, activities, classes, rabbis, teachers, and programs. It's you and what you put into it. The more you put in, the bigger the pay off. You really can't measure in dollars and cents your investment in the Jewish community and your child's future. You can only measure in sense. What are the values you hope to impart to your child?