At the second-grade curriculum night earlier this month, parents got to join their children for some interactive stations that showcased the concepts students have learned about in class. They played Hebrew matching games and math problem-solving games, coded with ScratchJr on iPads, and participated in engineering challenges, such as building a tower out of index cards that is strong enough to support a metal can.
🎻 A fiddler on the roof sounds crazy, no? 🎻 Well not at Heilicher! Come see our seventh- and eighth-grade production of Fiddler on the Roof Jr.! You can see the classic musical at Heilicher Thursday, March 27, and Sunday, March 30. Get your tickets at hmjds.org/news-events/fiddler
We are thrilled to share the incredible success of Aliyah Chet, Heilicher’s first-ever eighth-grade trip to Israel! For 10 impactful days, our students embarked on a journey filled with learning, adventure, and meaningful connections, deepening their understanding of Jewish history, culture, and identity.
We offer our deepest gratitude to Nancy and Robert Schostak and family for their lead gift to establish Aliyah Chet. We also give a special thank you all the supporters who donated toward the trip and professional development for Israel education.
Read more about the impact of the trip in addition to a list of our supporters. You can support too — to make Aliyah Chet possible for years to come.
🇮🇱 Donate at hmjds.org/donate
It may not be Teacher Appreciation Week yet, but we have to shout out our amazing and shticky faculty and staff! On Friday they put on a fun and musical Purim spiel to close out our Purim festivities.
Check out some of our students’ and teachers’ Purim costumes! Head over to Facebook to see more costumes and share yours in the comments.
Thank you to the faculty, staff, guest clergy, and parents who helped make today both fun and educational. Happy Purim!
Chag Purim sameach! Happy Purim!
Spirit Week has been full of fun dress-up themes, all leading up to tomorrow's Purim celebrations. We had Animal Day, Inside Out Day, School Colors Day, and Royals Day — one class even wrote royal decrees!
Some of our students were in Washington, D.C., and joined Senator Tina Smith for one of her "Coffee With Tina" conversation sessions for visiting Minnesotans. What a great opportunity to learn firsthand from an elected official and make connections to their social studies curriculum!
Congratulations to all the Heilicher basketball players on a fun and competitive season! 🏀 Special shoutout to the 5-6 orange team on an UNDEFEATED season 🏀
We’re looking forward to the final basketball game this week: students vs. faculty and staff!
These cool action shots by Steve Teener are from the final home game earlier this month — the 7-8 girls basketball team played The Blake School.
The TRADITION of Heilicher’s seventh- and eighth-grade play continues with Fiddler on the Roof Jr.! 🎻
Come see the classic show Thursday, March 27, and Sunday, March 30.
Get your tickets at hmjds.org/news-events/fiddler
Welcome home, Aliyah Chet!
🇮🇱🇺🇸🇮🇱🇺🇸🇮🇱🇺🇸🇮🇱🇺🇸🇮🇱🇺🇸🇮🇱🇺🇸
🇮🇱 L'hitraot, Israel! See you later! 🇮🇱
Aliyah Chet packed their last day with a graffiti tour in the Florentine neighborhood in Tel Aviv; an encounter with darkness (simulation of blindness) at the Israel Children's Museum; a dance party starting at Dizengoff Center, a major mall in Tel Aviv, and ending up on the street; and finally a closing dinner at Dr. Shakshuka in Jaffa.
Aliyah Chet had another great day with the Katzir School and celebrated a birthday! Yom huledet sameach/Happy birthday, Sylvia G. Aidan R. and Rina S. tell us all about it:
We started our day by meeting up with the Katzir School again, which was super fun! We had the chance to talk with them and see their school before heading out on a hike together at the Sataf. The hike was beautiful and such a great experience! Afterward, we enjoyed some lunch before separating for the afternoon.
Our class then visited Machon Ayalon, a really cool bullet factory, where we learned about the secret manufacturing of bullets between 1945 and 1948. Before heading back to the Katzir school, we made a quick stop to pick up some snacks. Everyone got a bunch of fun Israeli treats, making it a special and exciting experience!
To end the night, we headed back to have dinner and spent time hanging out with the Katzir students. We formed amazing bonds and new friendships that we will cherish forever. Sadly, we had to head back to the hotel for our last night. While we’re all sad to leave, we’re excited to make the most of our final day!
Day 8 of Aliyah Chet held an emotional juxtaposition: the lightness of meeting peers, the future of Israel, and the darkness of the hostage crisis — remembering those slain and those alive, those still captive and those freed.
Read Dalia D. and Delilah R.'s brief recap of the day, which included meeting eighth-grade students from the Katzir School in our sister city, Rechovot, and visiting Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, on the Heilicher Blog: hmjds.org/news-events/heilicher-blog.
Today's Aliyah Chet highlight was connecting with some of our alumni and b'not sherut in Israel! It brings us such naches (pride and joy) to see our alumni in Israel thriving, from high school students spending the semester in Israel to lone soldiers and those who have made or are making aliyah.
We enjoyed dinner together, and the alumni and b'not sherut told the students about their lives in Israel. The eighth graders got to ask them questions, such as: What do you miss from the U.S.? What‘s something about Israel you‘ve learned since coming/making aliyah that surprised you? What's some advice you'd give someone considering aliyah? What does your Hebrew sound like? And lastly, how did October 7 affect you?”
See more from Aliyah Chet Day 7 and what you missed from Shabbat on the Heilicher Blog: hmjds.org/news-events/heilicher-blog
Welcome, Adar! It's Rosh Chodesh Adar, the Head of the Month of Adar. The rabbinic saying goes, “When Adar begins, our joy increases,” so we marked the occasion with Funny Hat Day!
Shabbat shalom from Aliyah Chet! Myra B. and Eve S. share their last activities before heading into Shabbat:
Today was our fourth day in Israel. It was our first day waking up in Jerusalem, and it was a great experience. We started the day exploring the City of David, which was very meaningful because we learned a lot about him in Jewish Studies. It was interesting to see where it all happened in real life. Then we went to these underwater tunnels where, 3,000 years ago, people used to carry water to one another. It was a really cool experience because it’s not something you could see anywhere else.
After that, we took a tour under the Kotel, which was really interesting because we had never known so much about [the Western Wall Tunnel]. Some of us didn’t even know it was there, and we loved learning about its history, the many layers it has, the different stories that came from it, and why it was built there. Later tonight, we are going to return to the Kotel for a meaningful Kabbalat Shabbat experience.
Day 3 in Israel was "a day of extremes—beauty and sorrow, peace and pain—all of which made it incredibly special.” Read Ezra A. and Rina S.'s full reflection:
Today was our second full day! We spent most of the day in the Negev, filled with breathtaking sights and deeply emotional moments. We began the morning overlooking a stunning view of the Negev, a scene so beautiful that it’s indescribable. It made us think and feel many things. Sitting in peaceful silence, we took in the quiet beauty of the desert. Later, our journey took a heavy turn as we visited Kibbutz Nirim, one of the communities attacked on October 7. Despite it being heartbreaking and hard to hear these stories, we feel that as young Jews of this generation it’s crucial to hear and learn about these horrors. It felt both interesting and important to feel such strong and opposite emotions in the same day. In between, we had a fun and stunning hike in עין עבדת. Lastly, we also got to participate in an experience where we got to try fresh vegetables, fruits, and plants and meet some really cute animals! As the day came to an end, we drove to Jerusalem, where we shared dinner at the hotel. It was a day of extremes—beauty and sorrow, peace and pain—all of which made it incredibly special.
Aliyah Chet Day 2! 🐫 Gabby A. and Aidan R. wrote today's recap:
In the morning we visited Ben Gurion’s desert home at Sde Boker and learned cool facts about him. After, we went cliff rappelling. It was so fun and a little scary at first! Next, we all split up in jeeps and rode through Machtesh Ramon (Ramon Crater). We learned cool facts like: if you mix certain plant leaves with water and oil you can make soap. Last, we hiked to a camel riding place in the Negev. We rode camels and played cards (while waiting for the other riding group—not while we were on the camels!
Aliyah Chet is off to Israel! 🇮🇱 Nesiyah tovah (safe travels) to the Heilicher eighth graders.
Aliyah Chet landed safely in Israel and is already off on their adventures!
Students Stacie A. and Delilah R. wrote about their first day in Israel:
The first day of our Israel trip was long but meaningful, with memories that will last forever and activities that will never be forgotten. We started off the day by finishing our long flight. The journey begins, and we are all so excited! We got to see Aviva and Maayan [fellow student and teacher, respectively], who were waiting for us in the airport, and we met our awesome tour guide, Yoav. From there, we took a bus to the Negev, where we had our first Israeli meal. Many of us practiced ordering in Hebrew and got to try new foods. Next, we relaxed in the sand dunes, surrounded by the beautiful desert, and tried sandboarding, an activity similar to sledding and snowboarding, which was new to most of us. This was an amazing way to start off the trip, and made us even more excited for the coming days! We went to Sde Boker to visit the burial site of Ben Gurion, looking over Nachal Tzin, a beautiful canyon, where we did our shehechianu ceremony with many songs to celebrate being in Israel for the first time as a class! We ate our first dinner in Israel, and went to our hotel in Sde Boker to relax and get a good night's rest. Today was an amazing day, and we can’t wait for tomorrow!
