Maimonides Community

BH. 26

Adar II, 5774 / March 28, 2014

Candle-Lighting: Community Newsletter of the Maimonides Hebrew Day School of the Capital District 6:58 404 Partridge Street Albany NY 12208 (518) 453-9363/3434 www.maimonidesschool.org Shabbos Ends: produced by Rabbi Mendel & students in the TNT (Torah ‘n Technology) Program 7:59 Maimonides is accredited by the NYS Board of Regents & is a beneficiary of UJF-NENY

maimonidesschool@gmail.com

TWO SIMCHAS THIS WKND Mazal Tov to This newsletter is dedicated by the Kochmans on Sholom’s Bar-Mitzvah formerly of Albany, parents & with an aliyah on Thursday, the celebration at school on Nursery teacher at Maimonides, Thursday evening, and a Kiddush this Shabbos with continued fond memories of at Shomray Torah. Mazal Tov to Andrusiers KINDERGARTEN HAGGADAH Maimonides & our community. on Shaina’s Bas-Mitzvah to be celebrated this These Kindergarteners are holding up pages of Sunday. May we continue to happily celebrate the Haggadot they are making for their Pesach Simchas, and enjoy much Nachas!

Seders, look closely to see Yachatz, Karpas, & JUDY IN CANDYLAND Urchatz. All classes have already begun to LEHRFIELD BRIT MILAH learn about Pesach, whether by doing projects When the HS girls visited Judy this week at St. The Lehrfield Brit-Milah was on Wednesday in younger grades and via classic texts in older Margaret’s she was moved to a more brightly colored room morning at CBAJ and the baby was named grades in Mishna or Gemorah, Halacha, and with a Shaya Zev. Mazal Tov, much Nachas!

Yahadut classes, & Chumash, too.. See inside! roommate named Miriam.

SYNONYMS & ANTONYMS The nurses Mrs. Maher’s 4/5 is learning about words that suggested they have similar meanings or opposite meanings. tell her a story or Now at the Seder we drink four cups because play a game with of the four similar expressions of redemption her. So Chana L. made up a story about vHotzaysee (and I will take you out), v’Hitzalti Candyland, with vivid descriptions of a raging (and I will save you), v’Go’alti (and will redeem chocolate river and very tall candy-canes, and you), v’Lakachti (and I will take you). There are our girls and the nurses were delighted to see plenty of Pesach antonyms, too: slavery vs.

Judy’s (non-verbal) responses, she really lit up freedom, night vs. day, sadness vs. joy! See the at the mention of the chocolate and reached U SHOULD KNOW ALBANIAN! last Bracha of Maggid for a list of antonyms. her hand up for the virtual candy-canes. The Rabbi Mendel was on the checkout line in a girls learned from this about the power local store this week and overheard two teens AMAZON SMILE $5 UNTIL 3/31 of non-verbal communication and speaking an unfamiliar foreign language.

Amazon will give $5 to Maimonides, plus a body-language, something we may Curious he asked them what language they small percentage of the purchase price for any overlook when we take spoken communication were speaking. size purchase made on Amazon.com via this for granted.

The room was adorned with some “Albanian,” they replied. Albanians in Albany! link: www.tinyurl.com/SmileMHDS (then log pretty paintings done at the recently relocated “Is Albanian a Slavic language or maybe like on to Amazon as you usually do) by March Albany Art Room (at 350 New Scotland) that Hungarian?” Rabbi Mendel asked.

31st.

Give it a try, get something you need and were donated to St. Margarets.

“It is a language all its own. You should help our school this weekend.

Thanks! know!” they insisted, “Our country saved all of its Jews during the Holocaust!”

MAIMONIDES Back at school, we looked up this story and 404 Partridge Street found that the Republic of Albania (the only European country at the time with a Muslim Albany NY 12208 majority) and 69 individual Albanians were honored as “Righteous Gentiles” by Yad VaShem, for nearly all of its Jews within its pre -war borders were saved from the Holocaust, in fact, there were more Jews in Albania after the war than before! Albanians who hid Jews or helped them escape attribute this to a strong tradition of hospitality and “Besa” their code of honor with “commitment to the promise”.

Dr. Eli & Raizel Neiman

SODA, CRYING, NIGHT, PIZZA?

BIG SUPREME COURT CASES

What do teacher, night, soda, butter, building, crying, baking and pizza have in common?

They are all 4-letter Hebrew words ending in “Hey” that Morah Rochel used for Hebrew typing class with the 6th graders.

HS girls are learning about landmark Supreme Court cases such as Plessy v.

Ferguson in the late 1800’s and then Brown v. Board of Education in the mid 1900’s, etc… and how the court’s rulings help shape our society.

CHELM STORIES IN IVRIT CLASS

Also in 6th grade Ivrit class, Morah Rochel told them a few funny Chelm stories, and they CHUMASH PESACH BOOKENDS had to try to write it in Hebrew. Humor is Grade 5 is just beginning Parshas Shemos, PREPARING FOR A SKIT hard to translate into another language, but when the new Pharaoh who “didn’t know” These 2nd graders finished the 2nd chapter of being a Chelm story it was fun to work on.

Yosef starts to treat the Jews differently, at the Noach in Chumash class with Morah Devorah very beginning of the Pesach story, Moshe Leah and are working on their own skit, with wasn’t even born yet! Grade 6 is now learning WHAT WOULD YOU DO? lines DL K. & Rikki V. wrote. Great initiative! about the Korban Pesach in Parshas Bo, when In connection with reading Elie Wiesel’s “Night” Mrs. Gray asked her the Jews are on the threshold of redemption at CHEWING IT OVER students to think about how the climax of the Pesach story. Either way, its In connection with the laws of Kosher animals very timely and they get a “front-seat” view of they might react to chewing their cud in last week’s Shmini Torah discrimination and hatred in the Chumash events as they unfold! portion, Morah Devorah Leahs’ a current context. They class got toffees to chew and then watched a few online episodes of “What discuss how taking the time to Would You Do?” including one about anti“chew things over” can help us Semitism in a bakery. think things through and make better choices before we act impulsively.

It so happens that many grades are learning geometry this week & last: first grade, 4&5, 6th and HS, too!

HISTORICAL CONNECTIONS 7th grade history class is learning about the IN ART: Patterned art, especially M.C. mid-18th century with the Civil War and Escher’s tessellation style are based on Industrial Revolution. Shmuel Dovid brought principles of geometry, and need to be in a book written by his maternal grandfather precise even in art form. For 3-D art to Jacob Judd with Joseph Frese titled “An look right, you need proper measurement of angles and a good sense of proportion.

Emerging Independent American Economy 1815-1875” about this same time period.

IN THE MISSING PLANE SEARCH: In When Dr. Judd was in town he led our the global search to find missing flight students on a guided tour of the Lower East MH370 experts analyze data including the Side immigrant exhibit at Beth Emeth. plane’s last known flight direction, the

GEOMETRY USES & FUN

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THE WEEKLY COMIC BOX

amount of fuel on board and carefully measure possible trajectories, using points, just as geometry students would.

Last week we featured a student illustration,

LETTERS FROM COLONIST KIDS this week’s was done by Chaya using an online 4/5 grade with Mrs. Maher are learning about Colonial times in America, so she asked each student to write a make-believe letter as if they were children growing up back in those days.

Most kids back then didn’t get much schooling, usually not for more than three years. Some people lived on farms and had to get up early to do all kinds of chores. It was customary for older children in cities to apprentice to a craftsman to learn a trade. It seems that some things were more fun and adventurous back then, but some things were not. One student wrote how much he enjoyed working on the farm, milking cows etc, and another student imagined he was apprenticed to one of the earliest Rabbis in North America. Writing these letters helped put our students in the mindset of kids their age back then.

comic generator. Students are welcome to submit a comic-box (remember, one box not a strip) for an upcoming newsletter.

GEOMETRIC ART 4/5 graders display their art based on geometry. 6th graders made tessellations and reflections based on the geometric artwork of M.C. Escher, a Dutch artist whose artwork reflects geometric mathematical principles.

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IN ROAD SIGNS: A stop sign is octagonshaped, yield signs are triangular, exit signs are rectangular, Dead-End and DeerCrossing signs are diamond-shaped, and all traffic lights are round. There’s a lot of hidden geometry in the road surface itself, including the angle for rain runoff and drainage, and the angles on ramps.

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IN SIZE OF MITZVOT: How big must a Kiddush cup be? How to transfer the Gemorah’s square shape to the common circle-shaped cup? How much volume of flat Matzah would equal a Kzayit (olive-size) and many other Halachic calculations.

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MAKING ROOM: How can I make more space in my bedroom? Pesach cleaning is often a time when people change their room configurations. Or what’s the best way to fit more guests around the Seder table, or where to place the tables for maximum space? Lots of geometry!

MATZAH, SELL YOUR CHAMETZ

GARDENING SUPPLIES NEEDED

Contact Rabbi Rubin 423-4103 or your Rabbi.

Spring is around the corner now. Mrs. Carroll plans to be out with her students: weeding and trimming, tilling and planting, beautifying our school and connecting our students with nature and the value of physical work. They can use some more shovels & rakes, gardening gloves, soil & mulch (we used to get a big load from the city, hopefully again), seeds & bulbs.

NEW APPS PROJECT “CLEAN 14” This time students will have a longer window, as it won’t be due until about 2 weeks after Pesach. It might be a hectic time now at home to work on extra projects, but it’s not too early to brainstorm and think, especially considering the theme: “Clean Fourteen!” ‘14 is the year, 14 is the day of the month that we have to be clean of Chametz, and 14 rhymes with clean!

At the APPS brainstorming sessions students came up with some of these ideas: favorite cleaning products or tools, reasons why its important to keep clean, Jewish sources or texts on cleanliness, is there such a thing as too much clean, 14 (or any number) of cleaning tips or steps, something about clean air, or being clean spiritually, how to clean for Pesach or clean classrooms, or bedrooms, it can also mean how to keep ourselves or our clothes clean, how to clean your glasses etc…

WHO IS WHO?

7th grade girls made this interactive bulletin board about the four sons, with Velco-backed pieces, so that students can match the picture OFF TO SCIENCE CONFERENCE of the son with the Haggadah’s name for each. Three of our General Studies teachers (Mrs. Ballard-Hubble, Mrs. Carroll &Mrs. Hoffman) will be attending a National Science Teachers THE END OF TUCK Conference in Boston at the end of next week.

6th grade finished “Tuck Everlasting” a fictional fantasy book by Natalie Babbitt with We look forward to their new ideas! the message that in real life everything has a HAVE A LOT ON YOUR PLATE? beginning and an end (except for G-d).

That’s how a Seder plate feels! Students LEARNING TO TELL TIME are already making Mrs. Hoffman’s Kindergarteners all kinds of handslearned about the big and small on and beautiful hands of a clock, how the small Pesach projects for hand at 12 is “o’clock” and as CLEANING HALACHOS the students to that hand travels to other Actually this week 7th graders with Rabbi actually use at their numbers it shows a different Abba learned laws of Shabbos that have to Seder table: from time within that hour. It also shows the value do with cleaning, whether it’s a stain on a shirt of time, and how seconds make up minutes, Seder plates to or crusted caked-on mud on one’s shoes, or a minutes make up hours, and hours make up placemats, pillowbig blot on the carpet or tablecloth. And 8/9 cases, multi-sensory days… and that’s how the years fly by! grade Halacha class with Rabbi Shmuly Haggadot & more! learned about how kitchen equipment must be L’CHATCHILA & B’DIEVED properly cleaned before it can be Kashered for 7th grade wrapped up a piece of Talmud WHAT Pesach or other year-round Kosher use.

HAPPENS TO Sukkah 9b this week about a Sukkah under a

FROG’S GARDEN ADVICE Mrs. Carroll’s first grade students read “Frog and Toad Together” about how Toad’s admires Toad’s garden and would like to have one, too. This is about what the students thought Frog’s advice should be to Toad and what it takes to make a garden to grow.

NAVI PASTA PARTY Rabbi Laber’s 6th grade finished 10 chapters of Navi (Prophets) and therefore threw a Pasta Siyum. Everyone brought in ingredients which they cooked up and seasoned themselves in “Nathan’s Kitchen” and they actually did a very good job!

Tree and a number of specific conditions FOOD... which may allow the Sukkah to remain … when you eat it?

Kosher, which ends on the following note: Science Enrichment “Without Rava’s statement, we would have students learned this thought that this specific scenario is only week about how we allowed B’dieved (after the fact, as a last resort) digest food, what but Rava teaches us this is allowed even happens in our L’chatchila (to begin with, even as an ideal stomachs and what scenario).” Rabbi Mendel shared with the boys our bodies do with two nice life lessons (not the simple practical it once it is digested. meaning) from this Talmud ending: It also depends on (a) Torah teaches us that sometimes even if the the type of food. situation isn’t ideal, not all is lost and it can still be OK. Don’t give up so fast, there’s hope. BRINGING W.O.W. BACK (b) Some positive people take life situations WOW is an old Maimonides program, dating that others view as a B’dieved, and they turn it back to our Ohav Shalom days, which stands into a L’chatchila - their attitude makes it ideal! for “Wide Open Windows” in which we invite people from the greater community to come PHOTO-VIDEO EQUIPMENT into our classrooms or school assemblies to As part of the Library-Media grant the school share a talent, hobby or interest or professional is in the process of ordering photo & video expertise. We have had many guests in the past equipment. If you’d like to support this share their own story including Holocaust substantial purchase, by helping us meet the experiences, a huge Israeli stamp collection, matching grant, and invest in upgrading our insights from a newspaper newsroom, cuttingimaging capabilities, please speak to Rabbi edge science research, restoring architecture Rubin 423-4103 or call the school office 453- and all kinds of other areas of life. And we 9363 or email: maimonidesschool@gmail.com hope to share tidbits in this newsletter, too!

at Maimonides and in the Community 3/28: JOURNEY THROUGH THE BODY FIELD TRIP

4/2: K&3 BUDDIES OFF TO MAPLE TRIP AT 5FIVERS

Grades 2-5 will be going on a school field trip to Journey through the Body at Colonie Center this Friday afternoon and be back in time for dismissal.

The Kindergarten and 3rd grade Buddies will be going on a Maple-Sugaring trip to Five Rivers this coming Wednesday.

3/29: PARSHAS “HACHODESH” & BLESS NEW MONTH 4/3: HARRY ROSENFELD SPEAKS ABOUT HIS BOOK This week we read “HaChodesh” the last of the 4 Special Torah Readings in preparation for the month of Nissan which begins this coming week. It is also customary for many to say (extra or) the complete Tehillim.

3/29: KIDDUSH FOR SHOLOM’S BAR-MITZVAH After the (very delicious!) celebration on the actual date of his Bar-Mitzvah on Thursday, this Shabbos Shalom will read from the Torah and there will be a celebratory Kiddush after Musaf at Shomray Torah.

“From Kristallnacht to Watergate - Memoirs of a Newpaperman.” 7:30pm at the Schenectady JCC. No charge. Call 377-8803.

4/3-4: AFLAC INSURANCE/SAFETY-NET REP AT MHDS Rep available Thurs & Friday after 3:30pm dismissal up in Teachers Lounge.

4/5: THE MYSTERY OF THE WOODEN SPOON

3/29: WOMENS VICKY’S B-DAY MELAVA MALKA

Rabbi Rubin will speak at Shomray Torah on Shabbos morning about the significance of the customary wooden spoon in the Chametz Search and its traditional particular position during the Chametz burning as well.

Hosted by Ellen Kaplowitz (459-3984) at her home 44 Oakwood Street, 9pm10:30pm. Bring a Vicky-memory to share in honor of her special birthday.

4/6: AJCC PILLAR AWARDS EVENT AT BETH EMETH

3/30: PRICE CHOPPER KOSHER OPEN HOUSE 10am-2pm at the Colonie Kosher Price Chopper showcasing selections of 1,000+ Kosher for Passover products with vendors & samples.

3/30: A PRE-PASSOVER MUSICAL HAGGADAH

RSVP by March 28th. 9:30am. Honorees include Mark & Jane Levine, Ben & Ruth Mendel, and Mark & Beth Scher, Paul & Elaine Scher & Marty & Barbara Scher. Info? 438-6651 ext 114.

4/9: CHAMETZ PASTA DINNER AT MAIMONIDES

Stay tuned for details, tentatively on Wednesday April 9th.

7pm at Saratoga Chabad, 130 Circular Street. Join Rabbi Israel Rubin for a discussion of the Seder songs, accompanied by Yehoshua Sussman on violin 4/8-23: MAIMONIDES PASSOVER SCHEDULE with a musical medley. Suggested donation $5pp. For more info call 526-0773. Parents, please note the following dates: 4/8-9: Half-Day Nursery. 4/10-11: No Nursery, Half-Day English only for all grades. 4/14-23: No School (including 3/30: MORE MAPLE SUGARING IN UPPER HUDSON the day before, the day after, and all intermediate days of Passover).

Travel north to farms up the Hudson for a number of last of the short season Maple Sugaring events. Maple Valley Farms at 84 Harris Road in Corinth NY 4/14: NATL GEOGRAPHIC “JERUSALEM” FILM is having hay-wagon rides, blacksmith and frontier demos, as they boil maple Pre-sale $5 tickets (by April 14) for JFed showing on May 6th at Proctors for sap into syrup. Other farms in that area have events or demos as well.

Yom Ha’atzmaut, use “Israel66” code at Proctors or via Jewish Federation.

3/31: AMAZON SMILE $5 UNTIL 3/31

4/14: NEED A PLACE FOR THE SEDER?

Amazon will give $5 to Maimonides, plus a small percentage of the purchase Many local families love to host guests! Call Rabbi Rubin 423-4103. price for any purchase made on Amazon.com via this link: www.tinyurl.com/ Communal Seders at CBAJ, Shabbos House, & at a number of area Chabads.

SmileMHDS (then log on to Amazon as you usually do) by March 31st. Give it a try, get something you need and help our school this weekend. Thanks!

4/14: CHAMETZ BURNING AND FIRSTBORN SIYUM

3/31: AEPI ROAD TRIP TEFILLIN STOP AT MHDS A Minyan of AEPIers on a Jewish Identity Road trip will stop off to put in Tefillin at school around noontime on Monday.

3/31: DAF HAYOMI TALMUD SUKKAH SIYUM Before Mincha/Maariv at CBAJ, approx 6pm, there will be a Daf Yomi Siyum on tractate Sukkah in memory of Mrs. Esther Finkelstein (founder of Albany NCSY) whom longtime Maimonides faculty remember fondly as a friendly and helpful CBAJ secretary back on Hackett Blvd and Federal Street, and also in memory of Reb Moshe Rubin, near his 18th yartzeit.

4/1: ROSH CHODESH NISSAN, MINYAN AT SCHOOL 8am Shachris meets at Maimonides instead of at Shomray Torah in honor of Rosh Chodesh. Unusual for this month, the Hebrew and secular calendar dates line up: April 1st is also the 1st of Nissan!

As every year, with Shachris, Siyum and morning-time communal burning at the school. First Seder is that night. Pesach is quickly approaching!

5/10: CBAJ DINNER HONORING KAGAN & POZNERS CBAJ honors life-long Albanian Ethel Kagan and community leaders LouisJack & Rona Pozner at a special Mother’s Day dinner at the synagogue. For dinner & journal info, contact CBAJ office at 489-5819 or: www.cbaj.org.

5/28: THE MAIMONIDES TRIBUTE DINNER Wednesday, 6pm at the Maimonides School, with elegant buffet dinner and desserts, honoring: Rabbi Moshe & Karen Mirsky (the Dr. Morton Berger Memorial Award), Mrs. Reeva Nowitz and her late husband Bernie OBM (“Eitz-Chaim” Award), & Dr. Madhavi Sahay (Exemplary Educator Award).

Couvert $72pp/$126 couple. For info, journal ads/tributes, contact school office: 453-9363 or email: maimonidesschool@gmail.com. Since the first year in 1989 this is a much anticipated annual communal event and important fundraiser for the Maimonides Scholarship Fund. Invite coming soon!

MAIMONIDES SCHOOL & COMMUNITY (Nursery / Elementary / High School) 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!”