Maimonides Community

BH

Cheshvan 10, 5773 / October 26, 2012

Community Newsletter of the Maimonides Hebrew Day School of the Capital District 404 Partridge Street Albany NY 12208 (518) 453-9363/3434 www.maimonidesschool.org

produced by Rabbi Mendel & students in the TNT (Torah ‘n Technology) Program Maimonides is accredited by the NYS Board of Regents & is a beneficiary of UJF-NENY

maimonidesschool@gmail.com

Candle-Lighting:

5:38 Shabbos Ends:

6:37

This newsletter is dedicated in memory of

Mrs. Kaethe Peters

mother, grandmother and greatgrandmother of the Simon Family ------------and for the Yartzeit of Bluma Galperin this Shabbos and the conclusion of the Shiva for her daughter-in-law Dina Galperin both formerly of Tashkent, Russia and then Kiryat Malachi, Israel

UMBRELLAS, A MARQUEE AND THE “WALK TO SCHOOL” DAY As part of a national initiative, the school dedicated Tuesday, Zayin-7th of Cheshvan, to be our “Walk to School Day”. Some students walked over 4 miles, but most walked or biked from nearby homes (many of our families live within close walking distance) and others drove most of the way, but parked further from school and the kids walked the rest of the way. Each student got free “Hike it… Bike it…

I Like It!” reflector tags (see left) to attach to their clothing for safety.

It was beautiful to see kids happily streaming into school on foot from all directions at 8am, coming from both sides of Woodlawn, down Partridge from Fairview, and also up through Glenwood Street… It is beautiful that kids enjoyed the walk, but they must also remember key safety rules: parental supervision/ permission, look both ways, only cross at crosswalks, etc. Zayin Cheshvan was a perfect day to do this, because historically this was the date when the last Jew in Israel arrived home from Jerusalem, two weeks after ShminiAtzeret. This is the day when Jews in Israel begin to pray for rain (diaspora Jews don’t do that until early December) because even Jews who got home earlier had the sensitivity and

she’yagiya ha’Acharon” (until the last person arrives..) and explained the important life lesson in being considerate and thoughtful of other people. He said this in memory of Mrs. Rivka Losice, a refined, sensitive & thoughtful person, whose yartzeit is coming up on the 21st of Cheshvan. 7 Cheshvan also marks the yartzeit of Rabbi Meir Shapiro, so each student received a “MySiyum Jr.” book from Binah with pictures of Lublin (where Rabbi Shapiro had his famous Yeshiva), background on how a courtesy to hold off on their rain prayers until Gemorah is printed (including the fancy color the last person got home. Rabbi Rubin sides of the pages) and history of Daf-Yomi connected the walking theme with “V’Yaakov Siyumim. Plus, each student got a color copy Halach L’Darko” the post-Tishrei mission and of the “Sukkos Holiday Mitzvah Report” with message. For the school assembly, Rabbi Rubin pictures of students and alumni doing Sukkah decorated two black umbrellas with bold white & Lulav Mitzvos with Jewish people all over Hebrew lettering. On one was written, “V’Sayn the region. The new “Torah-Times” marquee Tal U’Matar L’vracha” (the added rain prayer) (thanks to Rayge Display) listed all the themes and on the other umbrella was written: “Ad of the special school assembly.

MAIMONIDES 404 Partridge Street Albany NY 12208

CONDOLENCES TO THE SIMONS

NEW BOOKS @ ESTY LIBRARY

On the passing of Mrs. Kaethe Peters, Clara Simon’s mother, at age 98 in Cambridge MA. Born in 1914, she was in her 20’s when she escaped Nazi Germany to England (her family perished in the Holocaust) and in her 30’s when she came to America for a scholarship in Social Work at Columbia University. In her visa application to attend Columbia she wrote: “It is essential to enrich our personalities to capacity so we can give freely to others.” She married here, worked in Social Work for many years and had a son Jacob Matthew and a daughter Clara. Even in retirement (in her 80’s thru her 90’s!) she was actively involved up until very recently with organizing and BAIS/BET IS FOR “BESAMIM” fundraising for a special needs musical One of the multi-sensory ways that Nursery enrichment program in the schools for learned the Hebrew letter Beis/Bet was by mentally challenged children. She leaves smelling Besamim (Hebrew for) spices! behind 13 grandchildren and 15 greatgrandchildren. May her memory be a blessing.

Thank you Rabbi Yitzchak & Leah Hecht for donating a book to the “Esty Library” in honor of JJ’s 9th birthday and a 2nd book in honor of the birth of their son Avraham Meir. Morah Rochel purchased two books in honor of recent Upshernish boys in our Nursery. An anonymous donor gave a significant amount of new Jewish books as well! To donate a book (dedication insert will be placed inside book) in honor of a special occasion please contact Leah Hecht or the school office 453-9363. A book storage and library checkout system is being worked on and will be announced.

PRIMARY COLORS & NUMBERS

Mrs. Sahay’s 6th grade Math class designed “Factor PRICE CHOPPER SIYUM TREATS Trees” which We had a photo of it last week (and sorry, it start off with a was only 5th grade, not 4th) but here’s some big number (760, foods/treats that students found & enjoyed to 382 etc), which tie in with their Mishna & Chumash studies: breaks down into  Onion-flavored Super-Snacks: You cry when all the numbers you cut onions - and Yosef cried when that it can be divided by itself until the prime revealing himself to his long-lost brothers. numbers that can not be divided any further  Powerade: Yosef was a powerful ruler! by itself. Mrs. Levin’s 5th grade art class is now  Blue & Green Sour-Belts: Mishna lists @ THE MAKING STRIDES WALK times for morning Shema when we can tell learning about the color-wheel and colormixing, they started with the basic primary Morah Nechama Laber arranged for a number difference between blue and green colors. of our girls to join “Making Strides for Breast Rabbi Yossi surprised them with Hot Knishes colors and worked their way mixing from Cancer Walk” (15,000 strong!) in Washington from the Price Chopper Kosher Deli counter! there. Talking of playing with colors.. the HS Girls in their graphic design class with Mrs. Park this past Sunday. Some school families & After all that, they had too much sugar to go Leah Caras explored a program called Kuler by community people were there as well. Many right back to class, so Rabbi Yossi dropped Adobe which does some cool things with wore something pink, some went all out: pink them off a few blocks before school so they colors used in backgrounds or frames for the wigs, dyed hair/beards, pink socks and other could walk some of it off on the way to class. photo collages they are learning to create. accessories. Over a million dollars was raised for research! At the end hundreds gathered for DEBATES, DEBATES, DEBATES...

HEBREW a Zumba exercise - the energy was amazing.

The Presidential Debates are now in the news, CROSSWORD so 7/8 students found it interesting to learn A FEW “MC” CORRECTIONS with Rabbi Yossi in Gemorah Sanhedrin (they Morah Rochel’s 6th  No Forest, No Bears: The original Talmud learn Talmud Sukkah more in depth and grade Hebrew class Sanhedrin more quickly for stories etc) about a did a few crossword expression is Lo Dubim, Lo Yaar (not Ayn “Tashbetz” puzzles Dubim, vAyn Yaar). And in addition to Navi debate long ago with star-debater hunchback this week, this one class with Morah Dini, HS girls also learned Geviah ben Pesisah who had great comeback is on Rochel Imenu this with Rabbi Rubin in Gemorah Ta’anis. lines defending the Jews in Greek times, and also in Rabbi Rubin’s Jewish History class in honor of her  Chutes and Ladders: These APPS projects Yartzeit this were spelled wrong last week. It’s not Shoots! about famous debates that Ramban and some other Rishonim had with non-Jewish scholars Shabbos. and hostile priests of their time.

HYPOTHESIS & MYTHBUSTERS ELISHA & THE BITTER WATER 6th grade science class is learning about the HS Navi class with Morah Dini learned the “scientific method” about the various stages of NOUNS, NOUNS, ALL AROUND Mrs. Gray asked her students to come up with story of Elisha’s healing the bitter drinking research: hypothesis, experimentation, analysis, and conclusion. They watched a few a list of nouns, as long as possible, based only water of Yericho (which shows the importance on what they can see around them in the of drinking water as a precious resource). We Mythbuster videos (including one using light classroom after a few minutes of observation. mention this in Birchas Kohanim on holidays, and shadow about NASA and man’s landing Most students came up with 60-70 nouns, and in the Aneinu set during Selichos. Why on the moon) to show how hypothesis is specifically this miracle of Elisha? And how in proven or disproven through experimentation. some students came up with over 100 nouns all in a short time!

Yericho? Were Jews permitted to resettle it?

FRICTION POSTERS 7/8 graders are learning about friction in science and made posters of its many uses and applications in our everyday lives. Striking a match, using an eraser, rubbing your hands, driving a car, using a saw, even walking - all involves friction! They also did a fun experiment with inter-locking phonebook pages, and then after having fun with it themselves they watched a Mythbusters film that did the same, only using heavier tools, equipment and vehicles, even an army tank!

FUTURISTIC INVENTIONS Following up on a book they read, Mrs. Carroll’s 3rd graders came up with their own futuristic inventions which they described both in writing and also with their own illustrations. This one is a “Trampaflyer!”

SOUP-OF-THE-WEEK? Now that a chill is in the air, students have begun asking for the return of this weekly delicious and healthy lunch-time treat... Parent coordinator and weekly volunteers are needed.

FIRE INSPECTORS SAFETY TIPS Captain Loren LeJoy of the Albany Fire Dept was in school to conduct a fire inspection, and took the time in each classroom to speak to the kids about fire-safety. Pictured here he’s speaking to 7/8 boys (who were in the middle of TNT reporting for this newsletter) outside the computer lab, here are some of his tips:  Establishing a specific family outdoors meetup place for emergencies is very important, because sometimes all the kids do get out, but the parents don’t see them in one place, so they rush back in and get hurt c’v.  44% of house fires start in the kitchen, and many of those are because of distracted cooks. They put something up and then rush off to a phone-call or some reason, and forgot that they left something on the stove.  Even if you put a fire out, be sure to still call the fire department, so they can check and be sure that it’s really totally out. It’s the law, and for good reason. Years ago, in Schenectady a fire was put out by a resident on the first floor, who did not know that the flames already crept up into the stove hood, and spread into the 2nd floor apartment, killing two children.  Why does he love being a firefighter? It’s one of the only jobs where you can get paid to break things! Seriously, with prevention and fire-fighting you save people’s property and more importantly, you can save lives!

THIRD GRADE PARSHA STARS This is a special Parsha for 3rd grade, because they are actually learning this Torah portion in Chumash as it is being read in Shul this week.

They each made stars, for they are each stars, as Hashem promised Avraham!

PARSHA PORTRAITS This is a photo of a 3rd graders Parsha worksheet. It’s a quote from the Chumash “Avraham lived in Canaan and Lot set up his tent in Sodom” and an illustration of it.

CARBS, PROTEINS, LIPIDS..

It’s all in our food (fuel for humans), and the 9th graders are learning how all this breaks down to work inside our bodies. They’re also learning the role of enzymes in the process.

KEVER ROCHEL

Most are familiar with the outside view of Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem (Israel, not RICH WITHOUT MONEY THANKS SONIA & LINDSEY Delmar!) with the Mrs. Gray’s 6th graders read Girls at soccer are appreciative of their coaches domed roof built by Sir “The Gold Coin” by Alma Sonia & Lindsey for helping them Moses Montefiore.

Flor Ada about unhappy Juan improve their skills and Inside, there’s a tall who planned to steal a gold sportsmanship, the soccer games and wide stone pillar coin from old Dona Josepha. and fun keeps improving. Even if draped in velvet and In the end, he didn’t take it a team loses, they still had a great engraved with the verse when it was so close, because time! The kids are getting better at passing, from Jeremiah: “A he learned to feel rich without it. Mrs. Gray voice is heard on high.. asked the students of ways they’d feel rich that blocking, overhead shots and other skills.

Rochel cries for her aren’t money related. They came up with: children…” Rabbi Rubin set up a replica of OIL LAMPS: THEN & NOW family, happiness, books, knowledge, sorts in the lunchroom with that same verse friendship, talents, positive environment…

Rabbi Shmuly’s Halacha class learned about on it, for Rachel Imenu’s yartzeit this Shabbos.

The students connected this story with the how old oil lamps teaching from Pirkei Avot (4:1) “Who is worked, and how SHABBOS rich? He who is happy with his lot.” today’s candles (and certainly lights) are ABBA & IMA designed differently, COLD AND WARM BLOODED A special, exciting and how this (slightly) 5th graders are learning in science class tradition each about the differences between (warm-blooded) affects the laws of Shabbos and the week in the understanding of the Halachic issues. mammals and (cold-blooded) reptiles.

Nursery class.

at Maimonides and in the Community 10/27: RACHEL IMENU YARTZEIT

11/4: CHANGE CLOCKS: FALL BACK

This Shabbos is the 11th of Cheshvan, the yartzeit of “Mama Rochel” our matriarch.

2am (or Sat Nite) we push clocks back 1 hour. Keep this in mind for Sunday events - on the new time.

10/27: KIDS PROGRAM @ S.T.

11/4: SAAJCC KIDS GARAGE SALE

Chaya A. offers a Shabbos morning kids program upstairs at Shomray Torah. Parents, please support her initiative & effort and encourage children’s participation and best behavior. For info or to signup to send nosh (via online doodle calendar sign-up sheet) email Chaya at: shabbosprogram@gmail.com.

This Garage Sale focuses specifically on children’s & baby clothing, toys and accessories, to benefit the Laven Early Childhood Center at Sidney Albert Albany JCC on Whitehall Rd. 9am-3pm.

11/4: “I  ISRAEL DAY” + HIKE A welcoming event to (new) Israelis in the area,

10/28: BREAKFASTUDY w/R’ RUBIN starting with a 2:30pm hike led by Varda in the After Sunday 8am Shachris at Shomray Torah, on: “Travels & Travails, Triumphs & Teachings of R’ Meir Shapiro” over cake & morning refreshments.

10/28: TECH USE IN SCHOOLS This is a program for Educators (MHDS will send reps) on use of tech in educational environments, by an educator from American Hebrew Academy, 9-12 at the Federation’s Golub Center.

10/28: “AGING AND CAREGIVING” Jewish Family Services hosts Dr. Zvi Gellis (used to be from Albany, now director of aging center at UPENN) to speak at the Golub Center 3-5pm.

10/28: JGU & BC HIGH @ MASSRY Jewish Girls Unite and MHDS Bnos Chaya High (all girls in grades 8-12 are welcome to join) will be baking Challah with residents at the Massry Assisted Living on Washington Ave 3:15-5pm.

10/31: WRITING ABOUT “PLACE”

Saratoga Spa State Park; followed by shwarma, bourekas, chumus and more, with food demos, and crafts and activities for kids, a video/discussion 3:45-5:30pm at Saratoga Chabad 130 Circular Street. Info/RSVP call 495-0772/9 or 526-0773.

11/4: SUPPORT SOLDIERS & VETS L’chaim UAlbany (with other groups) will make care packages for soldiers overseas and local vets at a special event in UAlbany Assembly Hall 12-3pm.

List of (new) items to be donated include toiletries (like shampoo, body-wash, deodorant, baby-wipes, etc), batteries (AA and AAA), puzzle books, card games & travel games (especially large-print crosswords for Veterans), instant powdered drinks, kosher hard-candy and non-perishable snacks. A project of JSAM (Jewish Social Action Month).

NEW ONE-TIME

MATCHING OPPORTUNITY FOR NEW DAY-SCHOOL DONORS PEJE (the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education) and the Jewish Funders Network is offering a one-time 50% match this Fall for any donor (who has not previously given more than $2,000 to a Jewish day school) who contributes $10,000 (or 5x their earlier contribution). We are grateful for our first $10K gift for this program, thanks to a dedicated parent who approached a community friend who graciously and generously contributed. This matching program will run through January 15th, 2013 or until the fund are maxed out.

Please consider this opportunity yourself, or reach out to someone who may have the means and desire to invest in the Jewish future, today! Please speak to Rabbi Rubin 423-4103 with any questions or interest regarding this special opportunity.

11/4: AUTOSHOW @EMPIRE PLAZA 11/18: TASTE-OF-YESHIVA DAY 11am-5:30pm at the Empire State Plaza. Whether you’re in the market for a new car, or just like to see the newest in the market, the auto show can be a fun outing. Admission is free, Parking is $5.

11:30am-1pm with a brunch at Shabbos House.

Men and women from the community are very welcome. Depending on student attendance we will either pair up with students or with fellow community members to study a prepared Torah text curriculum chavrusa-style followed by a short class. Call 438-4227 for more info/RSVP.

Contest ends Oct 31t. Students in K-12 are invited to write about a specific Capital Region place that they especially love or enjoy. Look up rules and info 11/5: REMEMBERING RIVKA Yartzeit remembrance for Mrs. Rivka Losice on online at Teaching Hudson Valley. occasion of her 1st Yartzeit (Monday night-Tuesday, 11/27: ART VIEW OF HOLOCAUST 21st of Cheshvan) following Monday night Mincha10/31: WOMENS TORAH & YOGA Mr. Tibor Spitz of Kingston, 7pm at the CliftonMaariv prayers (starts approx 4:25) at Shomray Weds thru Nov 28 1:30-2:30 at Maimonides with Park-Halfmoon Library on Moe Road, a Holocaust Torah, with remembrance, study, and refreshments. instructor Amanda Toll, open to community survivor who expresses his experience through art women. Cost: $36 for 6 weeks. info? 495-0779. (painting, sculpting, ceramics, wood-carving etc), 11/14: THE RESCUERS SCREENING and has a remarkable story of his escape from Babysitting available.

Free admission, 7pm, screening at UAlbany’s Communism. Not intended for children. Call 495downtown Page Hall, 135 Western Ave. This 10/31: MEET-THE-TEACHERS III 0772/9 for more info.

2:30-3:30pm for Middle & HS parents to meet the documentary highlights Holocaust rescue efforts by non-Jewish diplomats. The event is sponsored by Judaic teachers and learn about the curriculum.

12/11: MHDS CHANUKAH 4TH NITE Holocaust Survivors and Friends Education Center, “MIDWAY” AUCTION & DINNER Community Relations Council of the Jewish 11/1: CERAMIC MENORAHS Federation & UAlbany’s Center for Judaic Studies. Raffle-Auction publication soon going to the Art display at the Schenectady JCC by three local printer, stay tuned for classic and all-new prize potters in the Finkle Display Case from Nov 1 thru packages… this year it’s on the 4th night, so look 11/17: FIRST PIZZA-NITE Dec 30th. For more info call Irit Magnes 377-8803. for a “Midway” themed evening!

Save the date for the first MHDS Sat Night Pizza night of the season!

MAIMONIDES SCHOOL (Nursery / Elementary / High School) & COMMUNITY 404 Partridge Street Albany NY 12208 (518) 453-9363/3434 maimonidesschool@gmail.com Founded in 1980, Maimonides is chartered by the NYS Board of Regents and is a JF-NENY Beneficiary “A Beautiful Blend: Torah & Worldly Experience!”