A Week of Light and Joy!

This week we got into the story behind Chanukah!

We learned about King Antiochus and the three rules he forced upon the Jewish people: no Shabbat, no Bris Milah, and no Torah learning.

The Jewish people wanted so deeply to keep all the mitzvot that they went to hide in caves high up in the mountains to continue learning Torah. When the Yevanim soldiers came to arrest them, the children quickly took out their dreidels and pretended they were just playing a game. The soldiers were fooled and left empty-handed!

A small group of Jewish soldiers called the Maccabees formed to fight against the Greek army. We learned about the great miracle of a small group defeating a much larger army, and about the bravery it took to stand up for what they believed in.

Mordy shared that his safe hands make him feel very brave.

Through working with different materials and shapes, the children strengthened their fine motor skills and expressed their creativity as they created menorahs, dreidels, and Chanukah gelt.

Working together as a team, the children practiced sharing, taking turns, and helping each other while completing a puzzle.

We did lots of Chanukah-themed art, including spinning dreidel art that will be displayed on our bulletin board!

Yosef created a menorah-shaped challah!

This week we celebrated Yud Tes Kislev a special day that marks the freedom of the Alter Rebbe and the spreading of Chassidic teachings. We enjoyed a special lunch, and Rabbi Lang led a joyful farbrengen!

Pre-K Kria

This week we learned the letter Chet!

K Kria

We learned to read and write Chanukah-themed words and used them to build a sentence.

Academics

We have been learning about bridges, and why they are important. Here we worked as a team to build a bridge over “River Yehudis”.

STEM time! We constructed bridges and tested their structural integrity.

Shabbat Shalom! 💜

Brave Macabees!

After learning about Hashem's home and how special of a time it was for the Jewish people it was now time to learn the story of Chanuka.

The King Antiochus made 3 rules that he forbad the Jewish people to do. 

We had helpers act it out. No more baby boy bris, no more Shabbos, no more Torah. 

You can tell the look on their faces this did not feel so good. 

Our big idea this week; what happens when there is opposition? How can we be like Macabees and be brave? 

Ariella and Avigail saw the Greek soldiers messing up the holy Beis Hamikdash and they knew right away the response. 

We need to be brave and clean it all up!

It was a lot of work and our friends realized all the oil was either broken or spilled. 

Baruch Hashem they found one little jug and after Ariella lit the Menorah we counted eight miraculous days it lasted for!

Making the connection through different centers of why Chanuka is eight days! Zak, proudly filled his toy Menorah!

Zalman, creating a negative space art using wax and water colors.

We worked so hard on our own personal Menorahs!

Creating donuts to be the candle holders! 

Practicing our number recognition on a fun big Latka pan.

Working on our Chanuka costumes!

We love hearing what is being made in the sandbox area! "Meatballs and cakes."

During a hot day we placed water and paintbrushes and watched the creativity that followed.

In honor of Yud Tes Kislev when the Alter Rebbe became free to spread the secrets of the Torah we had a special lunch and heard from Rabbi Lang.

Check out the beautiful bulletin board our friends help make !

Happy Chanuka! Our friends were super excited to take home their donut menorahs!

Making delicious Challah dough together. We practiced our breathing techniques while kneading the dough.

Good Shabbos!

 

My Beis Hamikdash 💛

This week we started our Chanuka unit! Before we can truly understand the miracle of Chanukkah, we spent time learning about the Beis HaMikdash — Hashem’s home!
We learned about the Kohanim and Levi’im, the special people who served in the Beis HaMikdash. The children loved pretending to take on these important roles! We talked about how our own homes are a mini Beis HaMikdash when we fill them with mitzvot.

Tools of the Beis HaMikdash

The Menorah

In the Beis HaMikdash stood a big, beautiful menorah that brought so much light. The Kohen Gadol would light it every single day. Here you can see Eli F. showing us how the Kohen Gadol would light the menorah.

Ashira, reminded us that in our homes, our Shabbat candles bring light—just like the menorah did in the Beis HaMikdash.

The Aron Hakodesh

Inside the Aron Hakodesh were the Luchot HaBrit, the Tablets Hashem gave to Moshe on Har Sini. The children had so much fun carrying our classroom “Aron” around, pretending to be Kohanim.

Yosef is showing us our own Torah items at home — siddurim, chumashim, tehilim, and Torah books that help make our homes holy, just like the Aron made the Beis HaMikdash holy.

The Kiyor

The Kiyor is a special sink the Levi’im used to wash the Kohanim’s hands before they did the avodah (their holy work).

Chana, demonstrated how we wash our hands in the morning — one hand at a time, three times each — to get ready for a new day.

The Lechem HaPanim

Each week, the Beis HaMikdash had Lechem HaPanim, special showbread placed on the Shulchan (table).

Eli B. is showing us how it was done by the Kohenim, and Maya is pointing to our weekly challah, which also brings holiness and reminds us of the Lechem HaPanim in our own homes.

The children got to draw their own homes and think about what makes their house a mini Beis HaMikdash.

Yehudis, worked so thoughtfully, drawing every single bed in her home — she wanted to show all the places where her family rests and gathers.

Maya focused on the roof of her house.

Playing house in our new play area.

Together we built a wonderful imaginary neighborhood map, placing each child’s house on it along with Tzedakah Lane, the fire department, and other real and imagined landmarks the children invented.

Exploring the Chanukah story through a variety of materials

We had such a wonderful time on our library trip this week!

Thank you to the Camarillo Fire Department for helping us get ready for Chanukah!

Our approach is simple: before children step into a holiday, we prepare them for the real moments they’ll meet at home. Captain Tony showed us with a Menorah how we can be safe! We also got to see what is inside their fire truck!

Thank you to Rabbi Lang for coming to our class and leading a beautiful farbrengen for Yud Daled Kislev.  Yud Daled Kislev is a very important day in Chabad history — the wedding anniversary of the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin. Chassidim celebrate it as a day of blessing. The Rebbe once said that this day “bound me to you, and you to me,” showing the deep connection between the Rebbe and every Jew.

K Kria

Teaming up for a fun Tzeire game!

Academics

We have been working on number recognition this week. Here our PKs trace numbers 1-20.

Theo playing a ten frame game.

Shabbat Shalom!