6th Grade Retreat

January 11-13, 2008
Contributed by: JONAH STERN, 6th grade class member

[Blog Editor's Note: Every year, as part of the Religious School curriculum, all of the 6th graders go on a class retreat with the clergy and professional staff of the Temple.]

The sixth grade retreat for 2008 was an awesome experience in so many ways. To start with, there’s the transportation. We traveled to Camp Harlam in a beautiful coach bus equipped with several TVs, a bathroom, and comfortable seats with more than enough leg room. The bus was so comfortable that many of us did not want to get off when we arrived. The bunks at the camp are very neat and clean. There is a shower in both the boys’ bunk and the girls’ bunk. The cots are very easy to sleep on and they are also very comfortable. On the camp grounds there are basketball courts, tennis courts, and a ga-ga court (I will never forget watching Rabbi Kogan playing ga-ga). There is also a synagogue, a library, and a dinning room. So in short, Camp Harlam has everything anyone could need.

The unrolled Torah scroll was to show everyone the different types of writing and how the words can be formed in different ways.

The Pocoannapolis conference was a lot of fun. Everyone was split into 5 groups: Israel, Palestine, India, China, and USA to mimic the peace conference in Annapolis. Each country had to design their own flag, make up a song about their country, and also bargain with the other countries for supplies. This program was a part of each day we were at the camp. We usually had Pocoannapolis after a service.

Members of the Israel "delegation" rap about Israel in our "Pocoannapolis" conference[Click on the arrow beneath the photo, on the left, to watch the video.]

The retreat was not only fun because of the activities, but also because it was a time for bonding and really getting to know anyone in your grade with whom you weren’t as good a friend. I’m sure that if you were to ask anyone in the sixth grade if they made a new friend or became better friends with at least one person, they would say yes.

Another aspect of the trip were the delicious meals. At the camp, breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all served in the dining hall. The food was not only delicious but there was way more than enough for everyone. Before and after meals we said blessings and Birkat Hamazon. Camp Harlam was truly a great experience for any sixth grader who wants to have a lot of fun.

Congregation Breakfast

January 6, 2008

Sunday morning--always a busy time at Anshe Emeth! On any regular week, our Hebrew High School is in session and the choir is rehearsing. There are usually other programs as well. This week, the religious school programming featured Joanne Doades, author of Parenting Jewish Teens: A Guide for the Perplexed, who led a session for parents and students on relationship issues between teens and their parents. The Social Hall was busy with volunteers donating blood at our annual blood drive. And Reitman Hall was filled with over 100 people enjoying our 2nd annual Congregation Breakfast. Joe Cohn and his team served up eggs and omelets to order, quiche, pancakes, waffles, french toast, fruit salad, blintzes, and a dazzling array of home-baked bagels, rolls, cornbread, and cinnamon buns (click on the links for recipes). Guests began arriving at 9:30, with the final wave of Shirei Emet (our high school choir) members coming through at 12:15 before their rehearsal. No one left hungry!


Commenting on why he loves cooking for our congregation, Joe said, "We are all so busy with so many activities, projects, responsibilities, tasks, agendas, and life.... I believe it is good for a community to just kick back, eat, and shmooze, be nurtured and happy and together, for no other reason. One of my very fond childhood memories is of the congregational breakfasts at AEMT. My father was one of the people doing the cooking back then. I want to replicate and promote and preserve that tradition--it brings me full circle in my life at the Temple."

Contributed by: Chai Points Blog Editor