Adat Shalom
brings you
Fall 2014
Mazel tov to Consecrants (from
left, front row) Liviya Rubin,
Ephram Goldstein, Ben Werner,
Joe Kitchen, Ella Werner, Aly
Solomon and Trey Davidson (from
left, back row) Josh Correnti,
Monica Zaretsky, Gabe Felman,
Joey Kushon and Becca Bergman.
Simchat Torah/Shemini
Atzeret services feature
Consecration Program
Third grade Consecration,
the highlight of Adat
Shalom’s Simchat
Torah/Shemini Atzeret
services, took place on
October 15. Consecration is
a tradition during this holiday
as we celebrate with families
whose children are beginning
their study of Torah.
Though traditionally a third
grade-only event, fourth
grade students whose
families joined the
synagogue this fall and, thus,
missed their new
congregation’s Consecration,
asked to participate. Of
course, they were welcomed
with open arms.
Each student had a speaking
part explaining the
significance of the holiday
and the seven hakafot, one
chanted for each of the
seven times we circle the
sanctuary with members
taking turns carrying Torahs.
This joyous holiday marks the
juncture when we read the
concluding portion of the
Torah (Deuteronomy 34:1012) and continue
immediately with reading
from the beginning of the
torah (Genesis 1:1-4) so
there is no break in the cycle.
Third and Fourth Grade
Shabbat upcoming
No sooner have our third and
fourth graders finished their
work on Consecration than
they are at work preparing
for their special Shabbat
Dinner and Service scheduled
for Friday, November 14. All
members of the
congregation are invited to
join us for dinner at 6:15
p.m. followed by services at
7:15 during which our third
and fourth graders will make
a short presentation. Dinner
is $10 for adults and $5 for
students under bar/bat
mitzvah age. Please RSVP to
mfryncko@adatshalompgh.o
rg.
In the Classroom
This picture of our youngest
students was featured in the
Jewish Chronicle.
Art classes this year found
our students creating inside
and outside. Our Sukkah of
Peace was an all-school
effort with Kindergarten,
First and Second graders
making small earth globes or
happy globes; Third and
Fourth Graders making
peace sign from puzzle
pieces (each a piece of
peace!); Fifth Graders
making planters to
symbolically plant “respect,
kindness and tolerance,” to
harvest peace; and Sixth and
Seventh Graders making
flags from different countries
around the world with the
word “peace” in various
languages. A small group of
Sixth and Seventh Graders
with Sharon Serbin painted
the mural of children of
different nationalities
holding hands in peace. The
Jewish Chronicle printed the
photo above in their Succot
edition.
Great Debates are the
subject of the curriculum for
7th grade on Sundays with
Rachel Savitz, as they discuss
controversies that represent
formative periods in Jewish
history. This discussionbased class has focused
recently on the conflict
between Abraham and God
regarding Sodom and
Gomorrah, the events that
provided a pretext to the
debate and the conflicting
Jewish values of judgment
and righteous compassion.
They then considered
modern-day issue debates
that shared the same value
conflict as Abraham’s
confrontation with God.
On Tuesdays 7th graders are
delving into Holocaust
studies with Lisa Rothstein,
beginning with examining
the atmosphere in which
European Jews lived in the
1800-1900s. They have
learned about pogroms and
anti-Semitism in Russia and
Poland and the five waves of
immigration to Palestine
from 1880 to 1939. Mrs.
Rothstein noted that
students often think that
Jews immigrated to Israel
after the Holocaust, a widely
held misconception. With
Shelly Andreas on Tuesdays
7th graders have been
practicing prayers from the
siddur and studying mitzvot
using the text, Making a
Difference. Discussing
middot (character) and
derecho eretz (common
decency) they engage in
conversations about
friendship, repentance and
tzedakah. They have joined
with 6th grade for their
tzedakah project, giving to
Heifer International, a charity
that helps families in need to
be self-sufficient. Mrs.
Andreas commented, “For
those of you familiar with
the Maimonides’ eight levels
of charity ladder, in my
humble opinion, this is at the
top!” Mrs. Andreas teaches
6th grade on Sundays also
with a focus on siddur
prayers, life-cycle studies and
basic Hebrew reading. They
have had meaningful
discussions about friendship,
prayer and tzedakah.
Sixth and Seventh Graders work on
their traditional project for the
Squirrel Hill Kosher Pantry and
North Hills Community Outreach,
sorting and packing food donations
from members of Adat Shalom
who contributed to Operation
Isaiah.
On Tuesdays 6th graders in
Mrs. Rothstein’s class are
exploring how God is present
in their lives. They are
reading from the books of
Proverbs and Ecclesiastes to
interpret how those works
are relevant to their lives.
Sierra’s 5th Graders on Sunday are
dedicated to a special Tzedakah
project.
Fifth Graders with Sierra
Lautman on Sundays have
embraced the Read to Feed
charity, the program through
Heifer International which is
also being used by our 6th
and 7th grades. Third graders
have chosen to buy two
flocks of chicks, one goat,
one sheep and one cow to be
donated to families in African
villages. The students earn
money from family and
friends by pledging to read
pages or chapters from
Jewish books to earn
donations for their reading
(while learning, too). Their
goal is $780, with $85 raised
to day.
Fifth Grade also has been
looking at Jewish literature,
both sacred books and
novels by modern Jewish
authors. They write journal
entries every Sunday
morning about their
readings, then use critical
thinking about what they can
learn from these texts. They
also discuss and debate
about quotes they find in
Tanakh (the Jewish bible).
The class is also working on
Hebrew fluency, vocabulary
and understanding prayers.
Bible Studies is the theme on
Tuesdays with Sharon
Serbin’s 3rd and 4th grade
students. Third grade is
reading about creation,
Adam and Eve, Cain and
Abel, Noah and the Tower of
Babel. To make these
biblical figures relevant the
students talk about
appreciating the gifts of
nature and life daily, to the
issues of following rules, and
jealousy. The students are
each making an illustrated
Torah, adding a page for
each story.
Sharon’s 4th graders are
traveling with their ancestors
through the Exodus from
Egypt, through the desert
and finally to the Promised
Land. Role-playing the
characters of those times
helps students to relate to
biblical figures personally
and to think about moral and
ethical values of the
behaviors in the stories.
On Sundays Fran Conway
and Marjie Schermer teach
both 3rd and 4th graders,
separately and together. Dr.
Schermer’s emphasis is
Judaic studies, building an
understanding of our Jewish
community and our Jewish
identity. The students learn
they are part of a larger,
diverse global Jewish
community locally,
regionally, nationally and
internationally. As they
study holidays, students
learn that all these
communities have a common
heritage that goes back
thousands of years: the
Torah, Jewish beliefs,
holidays and traditions, and
the Hebrew language.
Hebrew language is the focus
of Fran Conway’s 3rd and 4th
grade teaching on Sundays.
Students are learning
concepts in order to
recognize and understand
words from prayers,
conversations and songs.
They are learning grammar—
root letters, prefixes and
suffixes, singular and plural—
to enhance their
comprehension of the
language. And they speak
Hebrew as much and as
often as they can, naming
objects in their classroom
and common phrases such as
please and thank you in
context.
Judy Sheffler’s Second
Graders started off the year
learning about the High
Holidays and the Festival of
Sukkot and made their own
torahs for Simchat Torah.
Now they are exploring the
synagogue, literally, visiting
all the important spots from
the sanctuary to Rabbi
Lehrer’s study. And they are
reading Hebrew!! While
reviewing the names of all
the letters, they have been
focusing on 5 letters and 2
vowel sounds.
Lisa Rothstein’s First Graders
are learning their Hebrew
letters with a twist! Their
teaching assistants, Toby
Lazear and Jessica Schwartz,
created a special Hebrew
Twister game and the
students found their way
around the board to
demonstrate their
knowledge. Learning
Hebrew letters has been fun
this semester along with
learning words associated
with the letters. They love
the Debbie Friedman aleph
bet song with lyrics on the
iPhone. And, of course, they
enjoyed marking the Fall
holidays with lessons
supplemented by art.
Kindergarten’s 8 boys are
have been awesome,
cooperative, enthusiastic and
eager to learn, according to
their teacher DeDe Fink.
They have mastered their
letters from aleph through
vav and the Hebrew words
associated with them. And
they learned about the Fall
holidays and the Jewish
symbols that go with each
holiday. Music, art and
library are part a welcome
part their Sunday mornings,
and they enjoy their weekly
services in the sanctuary
where they learn prayers.
Enhanced Religious
School Hebrew Tutoring
Program enters third year
For many years, Adat Shalom
Religious School has offered
students supplementary
Hebrew tutoring during
Religious School hours
staffed by teaching assistants
with the guidance of Rabbi
Lehrer and later of Gail
Schmitt, Religious School
Director. Three years ago,
Ann Meyler joined the
Religious School staff to
establish a formal program
dedicated to developing
individualized tutoring to
address specific needs of
each student. While some
students require extra
support in Hebrew, others
need an accelerated
program. In all instances,
the goal of the program is to
build Hebrew literacy skills.
When school begins in the
Fall, Ann meets individually
with students to assess their
level of knowledge so a
tailored tutoring approach
can be developed and
implemented by Ann and the
teaching assistants under her
(cont.)
supervision. A student will
join a tutor in the Tutoring
Lab or the library to work on
materials that challenge
them and increase their
knowledge of Hebrew.
Eighth Grader Rachel Himmel
is the newest teaching
assistant/tutor this year
joining Michele Wolff, Sarah
Schanwald and Rachel Szabo
who have been tutoring for
several years.
Ann, a member of Adat
Shalom congregation, lived in
Israel for 23 years and is
fluent in Hebrew.
Furthermore, her
background combines
cognitive neuroscience and
special education with a
specialization in reading
disabilities and reading
acquisition.