Rosh Chodesh Celebrates Biblical Leaders

Monday, September 9, 2019

The Jewish month is the glue that hold so many of our celebrations here at IRDS. This is one of the reasons why we take the time to highlight them each year through a central theme during services. There are special blessings for Rosh Hodesh and Hallel that we recite, and at Ilan Ramon we also have our own special tradition of celebrating and honoring those students born during that Hebrew month.

This fall, the theme we started the year with during our staff orientation was: “Establishing Meaningful and Lasting Relationships / Connections.” In alignment with this theme, we chose to declare our Rosh Chodesh theme as: “Finding our personal connection with Biblical characters.” We have chosen 12 Biblical characters, one per month, who are mentioned outside of the Five Books of Moses. We spend so much time during our Torah studies learning in detail about our ancestors in the Five Books of Moses, that we thought it would be beneficial and special to expand our knowledge to famous biblical leaders from other sections within the Bible.

Each new Jewish month, we will present a Biblical character with a focus on a distinct characteristic. Our goal by the end of the year is to have a bulletin board in our synagogue with 12 characters and 12 powerful human traits that we can reflect on and learn from. Ask your child to share which leader was presented last Friday for Rosh Chodesh Elul (Elijah the prophet) and what characteristic was highlighted (Commitment).

As always, you are always welcome to join us for services, and we’ll invite you (in grades 1 – 5) on the date your child is being celebrated. Gathering as a community in prayer and study is a value we cherish.

Shavua Tov,
Yuri & Bat-hen