HAFTR Happenings 03-2021

HAFTR HAPPENINGS ISSUE 4 • NISSAN 5781 • MARCH 2021

A SHOT OF HAPPINESS HAFTR HELPS ORGANIZE VACCINE DRIVES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

In a heartwarming display of unity, HAFTR joined together with The Marion and Aaron Gural JCC and UJA Federation of NY in partnership with Northwell Health to administer vaccinations

EC Early Childhood News • P. 5

to Holocaust survivors and elderly members of the local community.

The organizations have arranged weekly pop-up vaccine

LS Lower School News • P. 7

drives at the Gural JCC over the last month. During the first pop-up, HAFTR High School freshman Eli Libkind played piano for those under observation after receiving the vaccine, filling the room with his calming, melodious chords.

MS Middle School News • P. 9

continued on page 2

HS High School News • P. 11

SHOTS

of

ss e n pi Hap Volunteers from HAFTR High School and HAFTR parents and faculty members help run each event.

Standing outside, the volunteers cheer when the patients drive up for their vaccinations. After receiving their shots, the survivors and the elderly are given gift bags.

HAFTR High School students also visited The Five Towns Premier Nursing and Rehabilitation Center to cheer on individuals after receiving their COVID vaccines, another joint project with The Marion and Aaron Gural JCC and UJA Federation of NY. The patients were so excited to be greeted by the enthusiastic students! Mazal tov to HAFTR grandparents Herb and Charlotte Rosenberg on receiving their doses!

Ari Solomon, Executive Director of HAFTR, said that the students and staff were eager to participate in the vaccination drive. “Our student body, our parent body, and our staff are phenomenal when it comes to doing chesed,” Mr. Solomon said. “The request for volunteers filled all the slots in less than 12 hours. Looking at the Holocaust survivors and the volunteers helping them”, Mr. Solomon asserted, “this is what makes our community so wonderful.”

To date, we have been able to help vaccinate over 200 elderly individuals, including many Holocaust survivors. HAFTR is so grateful to help serve our Five Towns community in this way.

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT MAX GLAUBACH SOPHOMORE, HAFTR HIGH SCHOOL

MAX GLAUBACH NAMED TEAM MEMBER OF THE YEAR Student of the Year is a philanthropic leadership development program during which students foster professional skills such as entrepreneurship, marketing, and project management in order to raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), the world's largest nonprofit fighting blood cancer. During the campaign’s seven weeks, Max Glaubauch was a team member of "Team CUREage" and personally raised $16,432. Max was named, "Team Member of The Year" because he raised the most money of all the Long Island/ Metro Area Team Members.

Does the world need more podcasts?

We think so! So… we have some EXCITING NEWS! Check out our brand new podcast, “Behind the Mask” at HAFTR, produced and engineered by the HAFTR High School student broadcasting department.

For our inaugural episode, we interviewed HAFTR High School Humanities Chair Mr. Jason Gelman and student body President Ari Gurvitch. Join us as we get to know the people, places, and things of HAFTR!

Join

our

community

and

support

the

podcast!

Let

us

know

your

feedback, offer suggestions of topics you want us to talk about and ideas for future episodes by email to begross@haftr.org

Watch the full version on Instagram or vimeo.com/haftrvideos Coming soon to Apple podcasts and Spotify!

Follow Us instagram.com/haftrschool

Follow HAFTR High School instagram.com/haftr_hs

Like Us facebook.com/OfficialHAFTR

Find Our Videos vimeo.com/haftrvideos

WISHES YOU

‫שמח‬

EARLY CHILDHOOD

HEALTH MONTH We continued health month by introducing dental hygiene. The children learned so many dental facts including; how many baby and adult teeth we have, the gums keep our teeth in place and we should brush two times a day, we should visit the dentist 2 times a year, milk and water are the healthiest for us, the front teeth are called canines and the back are molars, and that cavities are holes in our teeth.

Thank you to Dr. Denise for giving us a head start on our brushing techniques. Using the toothbrush set you gave us will be a great help!

We wrapped up health month with some healthy treats: whole wheat pizzas, freshly squeezed orange juice, banana muffins, apples, clementines, and cantaloupe.

N3 paired health month with a science unit on planting. The children all had an opportunity to look at and feel parsley seeds and plant them in the soil. They saw pictures of the roots that the herb will use to drink water and we spoke about how plants and flowers “eat sunshine”, by changing the sunlight into energy the way that people do with their food. They were hoping that the crop will grow and be ready to harvest in time for our Pesach Seder, and in fact they were correct! They were able to reap the rewards of their seeds just in time for their model Seder.

March 2 was Dr. Seuss’s birthday and we launched a unit on rhyming.

We started reading a book each day and pointing out the funny pictures, made up words, and of course the ones that rhyme. The children have heard the wonderful rhythm of rhyme and appreciate Dr. Seuss’s whimsically creative love of words! His zany illustrations also spark a lot of laughter, too! We now love to point out rhymes wherever we hear them!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DR. SEUSS!

PURIM SAMEACH The yeladim sang the songs, danced the dances, and constantly talked about the Purim characters and the four mitzvot we do on Purim. They put lots of work into many projects including; crowns, masks, and ra’ashanim, not to mention a very “unique” megillah.

Of course, we baked hamantashen! The children know that we eat these triangle shaped cookies to remember Haman and his funny shaped hat. Each child was given their ball of dough to pat, flatten and shape into a triangle. In a unanimous vote, the decision was to fill them with…chocolate kisses/chips!

Toddler Mishloach Manot bags were easel painted and sewn before being stuffed with all of the delicious treats parents graciously sent in. Pre-K used art as a way to prepare for Purim and painted their Mishloach Manot bags.

Everyone celebrated Purim by dressing up in our costumes and gathering together for singing and dancing to Morah Leah’s special Purim music. The children had a blast creating our very own HAFTR orchestra using a variety of instruments.

Our yeladim are fascinated with the story of mean King Paroah and how he made the Jewish people his slaves in Egypt. They have been working hard learning about cleaning for Pesach, the parts of the seder, the differences

PESACH PREPARATIONS

between chametz and non-chametz foods, and everything in between. We love hearing them sing about the holiday and practicing their Ma Nishtanah.

We’ve been busy learning about and preparing a B’dikat Chametz kit, Hagaddah, Matzah Box, Afikoman Bag, and frog puppet! Over the past couple of weeks, we have been working tirelessly putting our Haggadot together. The yeladim cut, pasted, colored, and shook (lots of glitter was involved!) while working on each page of the Haggadah.

We also had a model seder and we know the children are ready for the real one! They have been counting how many matzot we will need on the table as well as how many cups of grape juice they will be offered. They know all about the larger cup, for our special guest who goes from home to home at each Seder. We celebrated the chag with a model Seder where we sang all the songs and ate many of the foods that we eat at the actual Seder (including Charoset, which is usually a crowd pleaser).

Since the Matzah Factory could not come to us this year, we made our very own! In library, Morah Naomi shared a Matzah video and read the story The Mouse in the Matzah

MATZAH FACTORY

Factory by Francine Medoff to show the children the steps for making matzah and to prepare them for our very own Matzah Making! Then they got to practice these steps together. Everyone got a chance to mix water and flour. As soon as the water touched the flour, the timer was set to 18 minutes (we call that the “magic number” when baking matzah!) and they quickly watched the dough form, rolled it out, shaped it, punched holes and brought it to bake in the oven! After it cooled, it was time to taste; it was “crunchy, flat and yummy”! The children had a blast, especially in their baker’s hats!

LOWER SCHOOL TORAH & ART

HOORAY! ITS THE 100TH DAY!

Fourth grade students had the privilege of creating their own masterpieces with artist Rabbi Yitzchok Moully. Inspired by the art of Andy Warhol, Rabbi Moully shared his vision of combining Torah and Judaic themes in his art. He encouraged our students to follow their talents in order to make, “Hashem’s complete world more complete.” Following in his style, students painted canvases and when dry, used a silk screening method to superimpose a graphic on their unique backgrounds. The artist brought a few of his designs which included Shabbat candles, a Magen David, a sefer Torah, and a Kiddush cup. Each student completed an original masterpiece which was displayed at the Fourth Grade Evening of the Arts.

Celebrating the 100th day of school took on new meaning this year. We are so fortunate that all our safety measures enabled us to celebrate 100 days of learning. First grade students created unique projects to display their 100 collections. This year's collections were exceptionally unique. A poster of 100 masks, a topiary of 100 lollipops, a student-designed 100 piece puzzle, were just a few of the creative projects students shared with their classmates.

The day was filled with activities that had students counting by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s, measuring 100 footsteps from classrooms, filling in 10 Ten Frames and predicting whether it would take more or less than 100 licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. The boys and girls continue to count until their very last day of school.

DR. SEUSS IS ON THE LOOSE The Cat in the Hat, The Lorax, and Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! are just some of the read alouds shared with students in celebration of Dr. Seuss’s birthday. Kindergarten students celebrated by creating edible hats which resembled the famous white and red hat which the Cat in the Hat is known for.

Throughout the day they engaged in activities practicing rhyming words in the style of Theo Geisel, a.k.a Dr. Seuss.

HEALTH WEEK: GERMS ARE NOT FOR SHARING

,‫ חג פורים‬,‫חג פורים‬ ‫חג גדול ליהודים‬...

Walking around the building on

This year the obvious choice for a theme for our Health Week was….Germs (

‫!) חיידקים‬

Our students are already well versed in basic hand washing procedures and in keeping their classrooms clean. During Health Week, the topic of germs was explored in greater depth. Students learned: How Germs Grow and Spread, Dental

the days leading up to Purim, one felt a new energy. Kindergarteners were excited about their ra’ashan activity and everyone was talking about their costumes. Fifth graders planned for a carnival like no other.

Hygiene, Are All Germs Bad For You?, Viruses and Bacteria, The Immune System: Antibodies and Vaccines. Fascinating science experiments helped to explain how germs spread. Students in kindergarten watched mold grow on bread over time and first grade students observed the discoloration of egg shells in various liquids. Third grade students observed the germs still present on their hands even after washing them with water and even with soap and water.

Fifth grade students amazed their younger friends at their Covid friendly school carnival. Utilizing both gyms and the lunchroom, they presented creative games which challenged students to test their knowledge of the Purim story and the chag. Boys and girls traveled by cohort to booths where they were rewarded with tickets and snacks.

This year’s Emoji theme-

‫ליהודים היתה אורה ושמחה וששון ויקר‬

lived up to its name.

Throughout the week guests which included doctors, dentists, a dance instructor, a Hatzalah member, a nurse and a social worker, made virtual visits to classrooms, sharing their expertise.

PESACH PREP

Students experienced a tour of a hospital and an ambulance, looked at x-rays, exercised, and talked about their emotional well being.

Kindergarten and first grade students enjoyed making smoothies with Ms. Hammer. The PTA provided daily healthy snacks and distributed a jump rope for each student.

Now that the Megillot have been rolled up and stored until next year, the desks have been cleaned and the Hagaddot have been unpacked. Students are preparing for the upcoming chag. We know that you will be very proud of them at the seder as they share what they have learned.

Chag Kasher V’Sameach!

MIDDLE SCHOOL

STEM The learning never stops as students tackle detailed mechanical advantage formulas to calculate the perfect way to craft machines.

Students built their own levers to demonstrate torque and created flags to demonstrate the MA of fixed pulleys. Planning for the STEM Summit is in full swing as HAFTR Middle School students are furiously creating ‘quarantine busters’ - original ideas and products that can help ease the strain of quarantine. Be sure to save the date and prepare the popcorn for our Virtual STEM Summit on April 19 from 7:00 - 8:00 PM.

HEALTH MONTH This year HAFTR Middle School expanded Health Week to a month-long program in February. Students worked all month on developing skills to help strengthen their mind, body and spirituality. Under the leadership of Dr. Werzberger, students learned about the power of mindfulness and how taking a few minutes a day to focus on their surroundings and feelings can help strengthen their mental health. Many teachers took time out to record themselves teaching different types of physical activities that the students could do to remain physically active.

Mrs. Landau helped organize an amazing

PINK DAY

brachot party in Chumash classes which taught the power of brachot and

HAFTR partnered with Sharsheret for a

strengthened students’ brachot skills. It was

fabulous day of PINK, bringing awareness for

not only empowering, but also a delicious way

breast cancer and showing their support by

to learn. Additionally, the lashon teachers

wearing pink. Pink masks were sold, and we

worked with the students on saying tehillim,

participated with HAFTR High School on a

and as a school, we finished the entire sefer!

widely successful raffle to raise money to donate to Sharsheret! The prizes ranged from a cup of coffee at Dunkin Donuts to a day at the American Dream Mall. Thank you to all of our vendors and sponsors for helping us raise so much for tzedakah!

MARCH READING COMPETITION March is Read Across America month, and HAFTR Middle School is excited to participate with our first annual reading program. Our amazing English teachers helped lead this program and encourage students to read for fun! In school there is a bulletin board highlighting students from each grade with the most pages read as well the total number of pages we have read as a school. Our goal as a school is to read 25,000 pages!

DAY Our amazing math team, led by

In the second contest the top

OF COURSE....everyone ate pie!

Mrs. Farber, has been preparing

scorers were Atara Smulevitz,

Many students and parents took

all year for the Math Olympiads -

Quinn Oliner, and Sasha Bokor.

part in our annual Pi reciting

a series of very challenging math

contest. The winners in each

contests. The Math Olympiads

On 3-14, HAFTR Middle School

grade were Jared Pollack,

explore mathematical concepts

celebrated Pi Approximation Day!

Mathew Vaysman, and Kayla

while developing flexibility in

Sixth graders measured the

Fauziev. Our first place parent Pi

solving non-routine problems with

circumference and diameters of

reciter was Mr. Dan Kaufman.

multiple solution paths! The math

black and white cookies. Seventh

Thank you to our amazing math

team has taken two math

graders made construction paper

department, Mrs. Farber, Mrs.

contests thus far. In the first

chains representing the digits of

Reisman, and Mrs. Weiss, for

contest, the top scorers were

Pi. Eighth graders played an

organizing such a fun day!

Sasha Bokor, Kayla Fauziev, and

exciting Kahoot testing their

Quinn Oliner.

knowledge of Pi facts!

PI DAY WAS SO FUN! THE PI DIGIT COMPETITION WAS A CHALLENGE! NOW I LIKE PI MORE THAN PIE. :) - KAYLA FAUZIEV

PEOPLE ALWAYS SIMPLIFY PI TO 3.14 EVEN THOUGH IT'S MUCH LONGER. LFL: SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO SIMPLIFY THINGS IN YOUR LIFE TO BE HAPPY. GIVE YOURSELF SOME TIME TO EAT A SLICE OF PIE! - CHARLIE MAYER

ADAR

students explained their

This year’s Purim celebrations

three costume winners Rachel

were a hit! On Tuesday before

Stein, Hailie Avigdor, and Joseph

Purim, every student competed on

Rosenberg. Middle School

an amazing Ninja Warrior Course,

maintained our Adar simcha the

sponsored by PTA. The student

entire month with a pre-Rosh

from each cohort with the best

Chodesh celebration as we

time then competed again in our

ushered out Adar and welcomed

grand finale at the end of the

Nissan and added to our

day which was broadcasted into

celebration with costumes and a

each classroom. The entire school

special program. The sixth

watched and cheered their

graders went way back with

friends and cohort

styles from the 60’s. The seventh

representatives. The grand finale

graders brought their groove with

winners were eighth grader

70’s garb and the eighth graders

Sophia Fruchter in third place,

turned up the jam with their 80’s

sixth grader Jacob Stern in

attire. Each grade had a blast

second place, and eighth grader

during our Silent DJ party as they

Aaron Lazarus in first place.

rocked out to the music.

On Wednesday, the halls of Middle School were filled with costumes that were both fun and creative. During lunch, our judges looked and listened as the

costumes. Congratulations to our

HIGH SCHOOL BAAL KOREH CLUB SHINES ON PURIM Following a COVID Sukkot, where so many people were still at home and unable to attend shul, our Mashgiach Ruchani, Rabbi Yisachar Blinder, established a Baal Koreh Club at HAFTR High School. This program was intended to train our students to read Megillat Esther, enabling them to positively contribute to the community on Purim. Starting after Sukkot, Rabbi Blinder, along with four boys--seniors Leor Oved, Binyamin Gettenberg, and Daniel Singer, and junior Corey Listman--began the undertaking. They individually learned the trup from a Loom created especially for them by local baal koreh Tzvi Kimmel, then met on Zoom weekly to help everyone practice by listening to each other read.

Leor Oved learned to read in the Sephardic tradition; Binyamin Gettenberg, Daniel Singer, Corey Listman, and Rabbi Blinder, who also learned the megillah for the first time, learned the Ashkenazic tradition.

As Purim approached, HAFTR High School reached out to the community to see where our baalei koreh could be of service, and the response was overwhelming. Rabbi Blinder tried to schedule himself and the boys for as many people as requested our help.

With a megillah generously donated to the project by Friends of Dov Hikind, each of the baalei koreh ended up reading between five and seven times, with 27 readings in all!

Leor read seven times - for the Sephardic minyan at Ohr Torah and for a HAFTR Lower School teacher. Daniel read for Bais Tefilah of Edward Avenue, Corey read in Young Israel of North Woodmere, and Ben read for a 94 year old couple in Lawrence Bay Park.

MISHLOACH MANOT FOR CHESED

By Sofia Goldschlag, Senior

HAFTR High School students were fortunate to partake in a beautiful chesed project in partnership with Kosher Response on Wednesday, February 24. Each grade packed Mishloach Manot for children in hospitals and residents in nursing homes/assisted living facilities. The bags were filled with hamantashen, potato chips, candy, grape juice, apple sauce, tea biscuits, and a letter from the students. A few of our senior students delivered the Mishloach Manot to the Cohen’s Children’s Hospital, Premier Nursing Home in Woodmere, Grandell Nursing Home in Oceanside, St. John’s in Far Rockaway, Bristal Assisted Living in North Woodmere and Lynbrook, Bezalel Rehabilitation Center in Long Beach, South Nassau/Mount Sinai Hospital in Oceanside, and I-Shine. Thank you to Mr. Gabe Boxer, Founder/President of Kosher Response, Gourmet Glatt, Reisman's Bakery and Cazenove Judaica for helping to make this project possible.

HAFTR STUDENTS ACHIEVE ADVANCED RANKING IN NSDA By: Deborah Becker, Sophomore

HAFTR’s Speech and Debate team is extremely proud of many members achieving new rankings in the National Speech & Debate Association in the last month. Students advance in the National Speech & Debate Association by participating in and winning numerous Speech, Debate and Model Congress competitions.

Seniors Daniel Singer and Jordana Mastour have both achieved the Special Distinction level, earned with 500 points, meaning they have participated in a great deal of competitions. Junior Lulu Morse also reached the Special Distinction level. She is the first and only HAFTR junior to achieve this ranking. Juniors Rachel Sharon, Mikayla Corney, and Hannah Goldenberg have each achieved the Distinction level, earning 250 points. Junior AJ Solinsky, sophomores Deborah Becker, Meir Farkas, and Kyra Seidel, and freshman Kaitlin Pollack (only the second freshman ever to achieve this ranking) earned the Excellence level with 150 points.

HAFTR’s Speech and Debate team is very proud of these competitors and congratulates them on their individual accomplishments.

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT RAISING AWARENESS AND FUNDS FOR GIFT OF LIFE

We're so pleased to share the incredible accomplishments of our students. The school spirit at HAFTR High School is outstanding!

Our students had the opportunity to

I then shared my own experience with

speak with a representative from

Model Congress. It has fostered my

Senator John Brooks’ office as well as

appreciation of democracy, inspired me

Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul. The

to be a more active citizen, expanded

program focused on funds for: STEM

my perspective and pushed me out of

Gift of Life is a registry for bone

education, COVID-related expenses,

my comfort zone. I also spoke about

marrow and stem cells, which can help

and security. As they asked questions,

how the political and social effects of

cure blood cancer and inherited

listened to answers, and shared stories,

COVID-19 have proven that young

immune disorders. On Thursday, March

students had a wonderful opportunity

people must work together to envision

4, HAFTR High School students wore

to share their input and use their voices

new ways to affect positive political

orange to support blood cancer

and background to help protect and

and social change.

awareness and Gift of Life. Student

advocate

ambassadors Hannah Goldenberg,

for

HAFTR achieved its best showing yet.

Layla Appel, and Alex Hersh spoke to

non-public

Freshman Kaitlin Pollack won first place

the 9th and 10th grade classes to

schools.

overall (the first freshman ever to do

By: Layla Appel and Hannah Goldenberg, Juniors

explain the purpose of this organization

so!), competing in the Small Businesses

and how many lives have been saved

Committee, and junior Leah Levin

from it. The 11th graders had the

received runner-up in the Homeland

privilege to hear from HAFTR High

Security Committee. The efforts of our

School graduate Kyle Seidel (2018), who donated stem cells through Gift of Life and helped save a life. HAFTR High School is looking forward to Senior Swab Day at the end of the year to see if any seniors are eligible to donate.

HAFTR HOSTS FIRST VIRTUAL YLMC

HAFTR competitors paid off, evidenced

By: Jordana Mastour, Senior

and exciting Yeshiva League Model

HAFTR High School hosted the annual Yeshiva League Model Congress tournament over Zoom, on March 10.

Model Congress is a simulation of the US Congress, allowing students to assume the responsibilities of our elected officials and attempt to address our nation's most pressing issues. The tournament was attended by over 275 students from 15 schools.

HAFTR STUDENTS JOIN TEACH NYS VIRTUAL MISSION TO ALBANY

Though screens separated the competitors, the event proved to be filled with just as much energy and passion as it usually is in person.

By Sophia Green, Junior

I had the privilege of introducing this HAFTR High School students joined delegates from yeshivas across the New York area to participate in the Teach NYS Virtual Mission to Albany on Tuesday, March 16. During the program, coordinated by the Orthodox Union with funding from UJA Federation of New York, students had the chance to speak to State Senators and Assembly Members about funding for non-public schools.

year's Keynote Speaker, the Honorable Kathleen Rice, who represents NY's Fourth Congressional District, which includes many of the delegates in attendance. She spoke about her unwavering support of Israel and her goal to be bipartisan yet principled, expressing how she strives to strike a balance between finding common ground and standing her ground.

by their impressive performances. HAFTR proudly hosts the educational, formative

Congress, providing students the opportunity to become more persuasive, confident, and effective communicators, and exposing them to a range of issues not typically discussed in the classroom.