Schechter Shavua: October 11, 2024

Welcoming the New Year with Sweetness and Introspection

Ilanot (Kindergarten) students combined math and Judaic Studies while conducting a honey-tasting experiment! They each tasted four different varieties of honey and rated them on a chart. They tallied up the votes to determine which variety of honey was preferred most in their class.

Anafim (gr. 1-2) students drew beautiful placemats that represent some of the symbols of Rosh Hashanah. 

Nevatim (gr. 5-6) read a passage about the ways in which Rosh Hashanah represents a time to start fresh. Students analyzed the reading and discussed why Rosh Hashanah is a good time to make new goals. Students reflected upon their own goals for the upcoming year. 

Shorashim students (EC3-4) delved into science as they approached Rosh Hashanah. They were visited by a bee keeper, who explained the importance of bees, how he takes care of them, and fun facts about honey. Of course, the holiday wouldn’t be complete without some Rosh Hashanah baking that involves measurement skills, following directions, and delicious apple cake!

Nitzanim (EC2) students learned about Rosh Hashanah through art and baking; they painted beautiful shofar cards that helped them learn about the significance of the shofar for the holiday.

Click HEREto see photos of Rosh Hashanah learning!

Tashlich Gives Students a Chance to Grow

As part of their learning about Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, students of all ages practice the custom of Tashlich, a ritual performed after Rosh Hashanah that symbolizes casting off the sins of the past year and promising to improve in the coming year. By tossing small pieces of bread or leaves into our beautiful nearby pond, students use the ritual as a way to reflect upon Growth Mindset; they symbolically cast away the actions they wish to improve upon in the future. Our youngest students drew pictures that they tossed into a nearby “body of water” that is just right for two year olds!

Click HEREto view more Tashlich photos.
 

Remembering Loved Ones Lost 10.7.2023

Schechter's Amirim (8th grade) students led an impactful Tekes Zikaron/ Memorial Ceremony on Monday. Renana Ben Porat, a Schechter Hebrew teacher, noted, “It was important to us to remember this day and the people who are not with us anymore.” Students learned songs and the stories of some of the fallen heroes in preparation for the ceremony. Following the ceremony, Tammy Krulewitz of the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford spoke to the students about Kibbutz Sufa, a displaced community with whom the Greater Hartford Jewish community -- and Schechter -- is partnering. 

Click HERE to see more photos from our Tekes.
 

 

 

 

Want to learn more about Yom Kippur?

 

Click HERE!

Blaming My Hard Drive, Blaming Myself

Several years ago, I had my first (and, I hope, only) encounter with the desperate world of data recovery. My computer’s hard drive failed—and as a result, almost twenty years of irreplaceable documents, photographs and recordings vanished. I was stunned by the loss.

But I didn’t give up. I found a data recovery business that worked on the broken drive and got most of my files back. It cost a lot of money, but I happily paid every penny. And I had learned a lesson: back up my data! So I bought a backup drive.

I wish that were the whole story, but it isn’t—because that wasn’t my first backup drive. My father-in-law had bought us one years earlier, and we used it until it failed. When it stopped working, I should have bought a new one—but I didn’t because I was put off by the cost. But that wasn’t my only failing. For weeks before it crashed, my computer had been freezing on startup; it would take several attempts to boot up. But did I do anything about it? No—I simply hoped that the problem would go away. I ignored every possible wake-up call and warning sign that came my way. In the end, I paid dearly for being in denial.

I often have a similar problem on Yom Kippur. It takes me until the very end of the holiday to remember some of my mistakes. What took me so long? Hadn’t I heard the shofar throughout the month of Elul? Hadn’t I recited selihot, penitential prayers, before Rosh Hashanah? Hadn’t I talked to students about introspection and personal change? Why had I missed all the wake-up calls and warning signs?

Denial is tempting; it is always easier, in the short term, to look away from our faults. But in the end, we have to take responsibility for our actions. And what’s the analogy to buying a backup hard drive? Teshuvah, done at its proper time. We just have to get going before it’s too late.

G’mar hatimah tovah; may we all have a meaningful, introspective, productive Yom Kippur. And may we never miss a chance to fix our mistakes, repair broken relationships, and become the person we want to be.

Shabbat shalom and g’mar hatimah tovah (may you be sealed in the Book of Life),

Rabbi Jonathan Berger
Head of School 

P.S. The flip side of this: as Yom Kippur approaches: please fulfill the mitzvah of reproof. If I owe you an apology that you haven’t received, tell me, for I may not know what I did. If a teacher or administrator—or co-worker, friend or family member—said something hurtful, let them know; give them a chance to make it right. The root of the word “atone” is the words “at one.” Only through that process can we atone, can our relationships grow stronger, can we become at one with each other.

P.P.S. My soundtrack while writing this: “‘Til You Can’t” by Cody Johnson. Worth a listen!

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Questions for the pre-Yom Kippur dinner table:

1. Have you ever waited too long to fix something, only to regret it later? What do you wish you could have done differently?
2. When it comes to your relationships with family, friends, coworkers, and God: is anything lurking just out of sight, or on the tip of your tongue, that you can identify and try to fix before Yom Kippur?