BH. Nissan
7, 5775 / March 27, 2015
Candle-Lighting: Community Newsletter of the Maimonides Hebrew Day School of the Capital District 6:57 404 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
MAZAL TOV KAUFMANS
PESACH FIRE SAFETY TIPS
Mazal Tov to Dr. Nissim and Devorah Leah Kaufman and the Kaufman siblings at MHDS on the birth of a daughter last Friday whom they named Rivka Rochel.
Some fire departments have listed Sabbath and holiday fire-safety tips. A few are listed below: Be extra careful with the Bedikas Chametz candle, and don’t go too close with it near drapes, couches, beds or other flammables. Be sure to turn pot handles inward so they don’t extend out over the stove. Keep children 3-feet away from a hot stove. Never leave burning candles unattended. Extreme care with overnight warming. Stove knobs can turn on accidentally. Hot plates & crock-pots (only on non-flammable surface) should never be covered with towels or blankets. Throw out any frayed cords. Do not use any aerosols or accelerants on a Chametz fire. Be sure it is in safe container.
THE MIDWOOD FIRE TRAGEDY Last Shabbat on Bedford Ave in the Midwood neighborhood of Flatbush, seven children of the Sassoon family died in a fire and their mother Gila bas Francis and sister Tziporah bas Gila were burned and injured, their father Gabriel was away that Shabbos. The Jewish world and a great many New Yorkers joined in mourning this tremendous loss. “Elian, Rivka, David, Yehoshua Moshe, Sarah, Ya’akov. Seven lilies. They were such pure children,” their father said at the funeral. Later he said, “I had such nachas from my children. Earlier difficulties in my life didn’t bother me because I had my kids. The happiness they brought us made life easy. We were privileged to have children like this. I worked hard. My wife worked hard. Our lives were all about our children. I know that I can say to Hakadosh Baruch Hu that the children that you asked us to watch for you are as pure and as holy now as when you gave them to us.” This tragedy is also an important wake-up call and reminder about fire-safety, to make sure there are enough working smoke-alarms in the home, and other fire-safety precautions.
Dr. Leonard Morgenbesser Leib Yisroel ben Eliezer & Shoshana
Yartzeit on Erev Pesach by Maxine Morgenbesser, children & their families
PERU, DUBAI, SOUTH KOREA... Mrs. Simon recently met a man at a Chabad event in Delmar. Then she got an email from him. He was traveling on a trip to Peru and stopped off in the Lima airport coffee shop in where he met 2 Lubavitcher Yeshiva students enroute to make a Seder in a remote location. They talked a bit, “played Jewish geography” and it turns out they know (MHDS alumnus, Mrs. Simon’s son) Aharon very well! He was so excited that he eagerly put on Tefillin with them, and told Mrs. Simon, “This may be the highlight of my trip!” This week, Aharon is traveling to S. Korea to help with Passover there. He and his friend took this selfie with some white robed Sheiks in the background at a Dubai stop along the way.
EREV PESACH CHAMETZ BURN Here’s the history of the annual Erev Pesach communal Chametz burning: Years ago, before the Bach Library was built on New Scotland Ave, there was a large empty lot adjacent to the fire-station. To ensure firesafety Rabbi Rubin asked the firemen if they would supervise a communal burning, which would be safer than a lot of small fires burning that morning throughout the neighborhood. When the Bach was built the Fire Department authorized a communal Chametz burning in a metal basin on the sidewalk in front of the Maimonides school, this year as well.
This MC Newsletter is sponsored in loving memory of
MAIMONIDES 404 Partridge Street Albany NY 12208
MATZAH-MEAL SAND DUNES Mrs. Maher’s students did this experiment in “Nathan’s Kitchen” instead of the Science Lab, blowing at piles of crushed Matzah (timely for Pesach!) using straws to create sand dunes.
PESACH PILLOW-MAKING Morah Dini’s 3/4 grade made their own Pesach pillows out of fabric and stuffing. They cut strips on all ends of two sides of the fabric and tied each set of ends to hold it together.
HOUDINI’S TEFILLIN A recent article by Joshua Spivack in the “Jewish Forward” quotes a 1926 Harry Houdini obituary from “The Milwaukee Sentinel” that the famous magician (who wasn’t known for Jewish observance) always brought his Tefillin along on his travels! 3/4 graders were excited to hear about this because they read a lot about him (and reported on it in the “MC”) earlier this year.
KING HENRY VIII & YIBUM “Yibum” is the laws of levirate marriage (re: a brother marrying the childless widow of his late brother) from the Torah that are discussed at great length in Talmud tractate Yevamos. This was a big personal issue for King Henry VIII of England (who consulted religious experts, including Rabbis of the time) and a matter of much royal and religious controversy that led to the founding of the breakaway Church of England. Mrs. Ramsay, the HS Boys and Rabbi Rubin are working on an article about this in time for the Erev Pesach Siyum on Talmud tractate Yevamos.
TEI: CLEANLINESS AS A VIRTUE With all the Pesach cleaning going on this week, and the emphasis on “cleaning up” the alter ash in this week’s Parsha Tzav, 7th grade TEI topic was “why is cleanliness considered a virtue”. BTW they did an interesting historical trace of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter’s 13 Middos system of character improvement to a Maskil’s book called Cheshbon HaNefesh, which in turn seemed to get the idea from Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography. Here are some ideas our students came up with on why cleanliness is so important and considered a virtue: It’s easier to function in a cleaner space. Some people sleep better with less clutter. Creates a calmer, less chaotic & stressful environment. Much easier to prioritize and focus when KITCHEN FIREWORKS things are orderly and organized. These don’t explode or light up the sky but Helps you feel better about yourself. they did make beautiful swirls of color inside a There’s more space for things. small pan on the 5/6 classroom table. It’s just More pleasant for yourself and others. 3 ingredients: milk, dish soap and just a little Cleanliness is not only about dirt and dust bit of food coloring. They swirled it around but about keeping a clean mind and heart. gently with straws to make exquisite designs. Cleanliness can be an expression of dignity, taking pride in yourself and surroundings. Its one of those things that depend a lot on SEDER CHEMISTRY your mood, but also helps create a mood. Dr. Joe McFeeran and the HS Girls are Some people love cleaning up, some don’t. exploring the chemistry behind many of the It depends on the person. Seder’s components: think saltwater, charoset, bitter herb, why is Romaine lettuce considered a bitter herb, how does grape juice turn into wine - what elements & processes are involved, what gives these foods their properties?
MISSING ESTY LIBRARY BOOKS
HAPPY HAGGADAH MAKERS These Kindergarten students are happily making Haggadahs for use at the Seder. They learn about each of the Seder’s 15 steps, color or decorate each page and make it their own!
“LO SASUR” IN TRIPLICATE HS Boys learned the verse “Lo Sasur” about heeding the teachings of the Rabbis, 3x this week: In Chumash class with Rabbi Simon, it was in their Rambam studies, and also came up in their Gemorah class with Rabbi Rubin!
Many of our students are avid readers so the books in the Esty Library are getting good use! This is especially true of our readers in grades 2-6. The following books are missing, we ask parents to check for them during Pesach cleaning or any other Esty Library book that needs to be returned so others can enjoy. The Three Merchants Room 210 The Fur Traders Shikufitsky I SuperShoes Penina’s Plan
NAMING CLASSROOM TOOLS
5th graders named their classroom tools. The whiteboard eraser? Eraser Shmaser. BlackENTERING A BIG CONTEST board eraser? Eraser Daser. The expo spray is Morah Dini’s 4th grade Yahadut class hope to Expo Rexpo. Fred IV the stapler goes back a be entering national testing for the Yahadut few years, but every time a stapler retired, Rambam curriculum they have been studying. another Fred took his place. The 3-hole punch Some of our students may have the amazing hole-puncher is Holey Moly. A benefit of opportunity to attend a special Shabbaton and naming objects is that you tend to take better enter a national competition/bee of 4th grade care of them. When something with a name is students all studying the same texts! lost, there’s more concern to go find it.
GLAZING THEIR SEDER PLATES Nursery students brushing glaze onto their ceramic Seder plates with Rabban Gamliel’s super-important 3 Seder words: Pesach, Matzah & Maror.
ELEANOR ROOSEVLET’S CAKE Mendel read a story “Eleanor and Amelia” in Mr. D’s 4th grade class. At the end of the story the book had a recipe of an “Angel Food Cake with Pink Clouds” that Eleanor Roosevelt liked to make. Then Mendel’s mother’s birthday came up, and he decided to try that recipe at home to surprise her with a cake. With his father’s supervision, he and his brother followed the textbook recipe… it was an applied taste of classroom learning!
WAYS TO JAZZ & SPRUCE UP YOUR SEDER
HAGGADAH TWEETS Rabbi Mendel wrote 50+ tweet--sized Seder Tidbits, under 140 characters each and shared these with the HS students. Some of the “tweets”need extra explanation, others are selfexplanatory. They’ll be posted online after this Shabbos. To check them out for your Seder, search online for: Haggadah Tweets Shabbos House.
MORE SEDER SIGNS THE BIG PLAGUE PUZZLER HS Girls made this vibrant poster of the Ten Plagues and then cut it up into large puzzle pieces which they placed around school. Kids found them and put it back together again. It is now displayed in the main entrance.
ANTARCTICA JOURNAL 3/4 are reading “Antarctica Journal” that is both a story of adventure and also shares lots of facts about what it is like down near the South Pole. One interesting fact that a student reported in TNT: The largest creature on earth (the blue whale) eats one of the smallest foods on earth (krill) that has little or no taste!
Mrs. Lori Calka came back to teach more Pesach sign-language to Kindergarten and first grade. The kids were very into it, and Morah Aviva really likes the hand-motions that accompany and reinforce the concepts learned.
WAGONS & WAGONS 6/7 learned in history class with Mrs. Ramsay about the Oregon Trail and the covered Conestoga Wagons that took families out west to start new lives and new communities, although often fraught with great difficulty and challenges. At the same time in their Chumash class with Morah Leyee, they learned about the contribution of wagons for Mishkan (tabernacle) transport by the leaders of each of the Twelve Tribes. We love intercurricular connections!
Knock, Knock! Who is there? Eli Ya. Eli Ya Hu? Eliyahu HaNavi! (from the 2nd graders!) What does a Matzah like to play when its outside? Matzah-Ball! (BTW, does anyone remember “The Matzah Ball” contest from the early 1980’s?) Who was the straightest person in the Torah? Yosef, because he was the ruler!
MORE PESACH PILLOWS In addition 3/4 grade pillows on front page, Morah Devorah’s first graders made their own pillows, too! What makes their pillows different? These were stitched, hand-sewn by the first graders themselves!
THE WICKED SON’S TEETH Many classes are making their own Haggadahs filled with commentary and/or illustration. Here’s 2 explanations for “blunt his teeth” expression (Maxwell House keeps it in the Hebrew but skips it in the English) said to the wicked son that our students shared: (A) Gematria of Rasha (wicked) is 570, the gematria of teeth is 366. If you subtract (knock out) 366 from 570 is 204 which is the Gematria of Tzadik (righteous)! (B) Lubavitcher Rebbe explains it means take the sharp edge off, take the stinger out.
$7 FOR TREES, BRING MONDAY Last call if you want to participate in the $7 per family for a fruit tree in Israel. Bring to the office Monday (with your vote on tree type).
1
ACCESSORIES: You can get bags of plastic frogs and wild animals, or light ping-pong balls (for the hail). Passover finger puppets are available online or from Judaica shops, but there’s also a free paper cutout version available online.
2
KEEP IT MOVING: Some people like a long drawn out Seder, and get a special thrill when it lasts long past midnight. But for a lot of people its best when it keeps moving at a good pace. One way to do this is to be as prepared ahead as possible, so as things are needed they are brought out and do no have to prepared on the spot. Also, its best when adult Dvar Torahs are shared crisp and short and to the point. It can help if certain parts are done all at the same time, like Kiddush, instead of one at a time.
3
KIDS PROJECTS: Kids come home with their own Haggadahs, Afikoman bags, pillows, Seder plates, you name it! Make sure to highlight them and refer to them throughout the Seder. While fancy stuff by famous Rabbis and commercial enterprises may add to the Seder, too, nothing adds to a Seder like a personal touch that a boy or girl worked on himself or herself.
4
MAKE IT HAPPENING: Some Sephardic Jews “whip each other” with scallions, going to the door with candles for Eliyahu adds a lot of drama. So much of the Seder is action-oriented, but the goal is to add to that so that it is a happening situation!
5
INSIGHTS AND TIDBITS: Family customs, personal stories, kids sharing a commentary they learned (or asking a question!) or adult to share a short to the point Dvar Torahs. That keeps the Seder interesting and meaningful especially during the parts where the Maggid gets a little long.
Parsha Tzav speaks about the Mitzvah of “Terumas HaDeshen” removing the ash from the altar. Mega-Thanks to Jon Dunn for helping our school take out the trash and recycling. Also all the students who not only throw out their own garbage but take pride in the school and pick up stuff even if they didn’t make that mess. Thanks to the Krimmers for donating puzzles to Morah Devorah’s classroom, the students really got into puzzles and they enjoy doing them.
at Maimonides and in the Community
SALE OF CHAMETZ FORMS, MAOS that morning. CHITIM AND SHMURAH MATZAH We finish eating Chametz by 10:50am & burn it All the above pre-Pesach items are available with Rabbi Rubin, please call 423-4103 or email him at: RRalbany@gmail.com, or most of these can also be arranged through your local Rabbi. Pesach is around the corner now, and coming very soon!
3/28: SHABBOS HAGADOL Shabbos before Pesach is known as “The Great Shabbos” and its customary for Rabbis to give special communal lectures. Rabbi Lehrfield’s CBAJ Shabbat Hagadol learning will be on “Stealing the Afikoman” and it relates to teaching good Jewish values. Rabbi Rubin will be speaking on “Fire!!!” Grand Kiddush for the Great Shabbos at Shomray Torah sponsored by the Levins, Gordons and the Starks. Some have a custom to say portions of the Haggadah this Shabbos afternoon after Mincha to prepare for the Seder this coming week.
3/28: RABBI REISMAN SHIUR Sat Nights 7:30pm at CBAJ Luchins Media Center with Rabbi Y. Reisman, televised from Brooklyn. Rabbi Frand’s class Thurs 9pm.
3/30: 11 NISSAN FARBRENGEN
by 11:50am.
4/3-4: COMMUNAL SEDERS CBAJ (489-5819) and Bethlehem Chabad (8667658) are hosting each hosting communal Seders on the first night, Shabbos House (438-4227), Union Chabad (496-0779) and Saratoga Chabad (526-0773) are hosting communal Seders on both nights. Call ahead for info & RSVP.
4/8: PASSOVER FUN DAY Saratoga Chabad is once again hosting a fun day on Pesach, this year on Wed of Chol HaMoed. Program includes carnival booths, a performing juggler and balloon artistry, plus a delicious Kosher for Passover meal. $36 suggested per family, $10pp. Questions? 526-0773.
4/19: JCC PILLARS 15 HONORS M. LOSICE & CARL BLOOMBERG Reb Moshe Losice, well-respected in our community, is one of JCC’s Pillars event awardees this year, along with Mr. Carl Bloomberg, a past recipient of the Dr. Morton Berger Memorial Award. Info? contact Sidney Albert Albany JCC.
5/7: LAG B’OMER
On a Thursday this year after several years of A planned speaker didn’t materialize as expected Sundays. Look for the return of the Maimonides but there will be a Monday night farbrengen after daytime Parade & also a special communal event Mincha (7pm) & Maariv (7:20) at Shomray Torah. being planned for late afternoon. Stay tuned! No MHDS Pre-Pesach Pasta Night this year due to the back and forth uncertainty of the date, but will 6/1: THE MAIMONIDES DINNER bring it back next year! This year’s Dr. Morton Berger Memorial Award recipients will be Dr. William “Bill” and Adrianne 4/1-13 PESACH SCHOOL SCHED. Rockwood, and the school’s involvement and our Wed 4/1 & Thurs 4/2: General Studies only, 8am- partners in the “Better Together” teen-seniors 11:30. Morning begins with Davening at school. program will also be recognized and highlighted. Friday Erev Pesach 4/3: No School thru end of Pesach. See Erev Pesach schedule below. CAMP GAN ISRAEL UNDER NEW Monday 4/13: School resumes at 8am. MANAGEMENT Morah Devorah Leah Mathless will be the Camp Gan Israel director for this 8am Minyan at Maimonides followed by Firstborn year, efforts are underway to bring Siyum by Rabbi Nachman Simon on Yevamos, the talented, capable and dedicated staff recent tractate studied by Daf Yomi. Communal and add some new exciting programming. Contact Chametz burning outside the school will be later Devorah Leah with questions, stay tuned for info.
4/3: EREV PESACH
BETTER TOGETHER ESSAYS Most of our middle and HS students submitted quality 2-page essays to the “Better Together” Better2Write essay contest, about their interactions with seniors and lessons learned. Our schools essays were judged by a panel: Sue Ann Grosberg, Johanna Steper, & Ellen Kaplowitz. At a school assembly today, the winners were announced: High School Better Together Scholarship Winner Chaim Kudan (Grade 10) “We Knew it the Whole Time” Original portrayal of seniors/himself Middle School Better Together Scholarship Winner Nechama Krimmer (Grade 7) “My Grandmothers Chicken Soup” Vividly depicted her personal experience & interaction with seniors High School $50 Winner Chani Rubin (Grade 11 “Give & Take - Our Relationship with the Elderly” informative essay, beautifully written on ‘Give and Take’ Middle School $25 Winner Mendel Volovik (Grade 8) “Eric My 82-year-old Friend” close friendship with a Holocaust survivor Middle School $25 Winner Shaina Laber (Grade 7) “My Beloved GreatGrandmother - Meme Rachel” beautiful description of a dear loved one in her rich old age Additional Essays, all wonderful! Esti Backman (Grade 10) “Mrs. Smith and I” Chaya Simon (Grade 11) “The Zest of Life: Good to the Last Drop” Moshe Kudan (Grade 11) “Better Together, Then & Now” Moshe Rubin (Grade 10) “Our Link to the Past” Azriel Laber (Grade - 10) “Altogether, What I Gained from Better Together” Eli Kochman (Grade 11) “The Age Old Lesson” Chana Laber (Grade 11) “Timeless Connection of Love” Sara Rubin (Grade 7) “True Respect for Elders” Chaya Hecht (Grade 7) “My Senior Community” Moshe Rubin (Grade 7) “My Zaidy” Orley Morrison (Grade 8) “Lessons from our Elders”
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!”