We are only a few weeks into Term 3 and the Primary Jewish Life leaders have been busy involved in a variety of events and activities.

Last week we observed Tisha B’Av, the day of mourning and fasting on the 9th of Av. During our morning tefllah, we sat on the floor as a sign of mourning which also created a feeling of groundedness. We learnt about the events that took place on this day in our history and our prayers and discussions reflected the sombre nature of  Tisha B’Av. In remembering the destruction of the Temples, we also learnt about Sinat Chinam-שִׂנְאַת חִנָּם (Baseless Hatred) which, according to our ancient rabbis, was the reason the Temple was destroyed. Our take-away message was to bring the opposite force into our world, through our acts of love, kindness and respect.

On a more joyous note, the Primary School has shown wonderful ruach in our Friday Shabbat celebrations as we learn new tunes and songs. Combined with our initiative to give percussion instruments to students on the Shabbat table, there is a beautiful energy to our Shabbat celebrations.

Morah Gaida has continued to teach us all Hebrew sign language to accompany our prayers and during  

Birkat Hamazon (Benching after meals). Speaking of Birkat HaMazon, we will soon start learning new verses to add to our routine.

Term 3 is always a jam packed one, with many different exciting events planned. We have been looking forward to this week’s special P&F Shabbat Challah make and 40th Birthday celebration for the school.  Thank you to the P&F, the parent musicians and many parent volunteers for helping to create such a special morning for our school community. Next week we welcome in the JNF for the Israel Passport draw, which many students are super excited about. 

Soon we will be blowing the shofar every day at school during the month of Elul. In the lead up to Rosh-Hashanah, there will be shofar blowing workshops for budding shofar blowers, run by Mr Carpenter and Rabbi Rafi Kaiserbluth. 

We look forward to welcoming grandparents and special friends on Friday 8 September 2023 to celebrate Rosh HaShanah with the Primary School, for a morning filled with songs, ruach, learning and creativity. 

The informal Jewish Life leaders in the Primary School, Lyv Akres and Noah Klein, have been working on many exciting Jewish Life experiences and events for Primary School for the rest of the year. This includes a special collaboration Shabbatot with a group of brilliant Year 10 volunteer leaders who are running a set of fantastic and fun activities for Year 5. This gives the Year 10’s a taste of their first Hadracha (leadership experience), and the Year 5’s some out of the ordinary Shabbat experiences where they will learn about different ways to observe and connect with Shabbat, new songs and prayers and experience creativity through yoga, music and craft. 

By Noah Klein, with the Jewish Life leaders:
Joel Hersh, Mikki Garbus, Mia Sharp and Orlando van der Starre