BH. Tishrei
12, 5776 / October 14, 2016ב”ה
Community Newsletter of the Maimonides Hebrew Day School of the Capital District Candle-Lighting: 5:56 404 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 6:54 Maimonides is accredited by the NYS Board of Regents & is a beneficiary of UJF-NENY
maimonidesschool@gmail.com
האזינו
This newsletter is sponsored by Maxine Morgenbesser in memory of her mother
Rebecca Amann Rivka bas Shmuel & Chana Rochel
First Yartzeit on the 2nd Day of Sukkos
MAZAL TOV RESZNIKS On the recent birth of a soon-to-be-named baby girl, and a sister to our student in the Nursery school. Best wishes for continued Nachas and much happiness!
CONSTRUCTION IS IN THE AIR Sukkot is just about here, and construction is in the air! These Kindergarteners had a short hands-on session about tools, from different types of screwdrivers to measuring tape and hammers. Look for this picture of them in the Sukkot Jewish World newspaper!
LULAV & ETROG SETS FOR SALE Still don’t have a Lulav & Etrog of your own? Rabbi Simon still may have some Lulav sets available! Call 439-8280 for more details, to arrange a time to come over and choose yours or for a drop off arrangement.
NEW SUKKOT STAMP!!! The US Post Office and Maimonides collaborated on a new special edition Sukkot stamp! After all, the Sukkot message is: it’s what you make of it…
FEEL BETTER SOON MS. FORD
Oy! Too many of our teachers have been sick Maimonides Students: Take a picture of you lately! Ms. Ford’s students really miss her and shaking Lulav & Etrog with a senior (on Chol HaMoed, of course) and email it to hope she gets all better very soon! Thankfully, maimonidesschool@gmail.com to be while still in the hospital, she’s turned a corner entered into a raffle for a gift card, and is on the mend. Hopefully all better soon, soon after Simchas Torah! we can’t wait to have her back after Sukkot.
MAIMONIDES UNGERMAN WILLOW BUSHES Mr. Heshy Ungerman planted these Aravot willow bushes alongside our school (south side near the office) and they really flourished! They will be used for the Hoshanot sets at the end of the holiday, for sale by Maimonides. And the good thing is that they need the trim now and will G-d willing grow back in time for the Sukkot season next year!
BETTER TOGETHER RAFFLE
404 Partridge Street Albany NY 12208
THE PHONES AT SCHOOL We apologize for the long delay in restoration of phone service at school. The problems began after a surge after National Grid’s restoration of power after the road work, and the subsequent effect on our system, and the work to figure out the problem–and who will pay for it. Thankfully, we just got word that National Grid will pay 75% of the cost, and now we hope the subcontractor will get the work done soon.
AFRICAN ACHIEVEMENTS
EDIBLE SUKKOT CONSTRUCTION Morah Mushky’s 3rd & 4th graders enjoyed making edible Sukkot out of tea-biscuits and sticky gooey marshmallow fluff. And the schach? The TNT photographer wasn’t there for that part…
HS Girls history looked at African civilizations PAN-SCALES MORE before the arrival of the Mrs. Maher’s 4th graders SUKKAH Europeans. They learned about are learning precise DECORATION the gold and salt trade, animal measurement in science. These colorful multiskins and ivory were also very in They used pan-scales to layer rolled paper demand. Ghana had a strong determine the weights of decorations made by military, the eastern coast had busy trade various everyday classroom objects, using Kindergarten takes routes to Arabia & India. counter-weights whose exact (metric!) weight hanging Sukkah had already been determined and marked. decorations to a TORAH STAR The students thought of a connection to this whole new level (and time of year– with scales of justice of CHAMPION layers!) Wow, so beautiful! the High Holidays, balancing our good We’re very proud of deeds and bad, with the good Yochanon who won hopefully far outweighing the bad. this “Torah Star Trophy” at camp this past summer for excellence in Torah study. It’s a little while since the summer but never too late to highlight and congratulate such an nice honor, you make Maimonides proud! A BLANK SHEET OF PAPER A TNT roving student photographer took this IDIOMS FROM BALAK RASHIS very nice photo in the Nursery. We don't know exactly what they were doing, but it HS Girls with Morah Leyee are learning symbolically represents where we are this time Parshas Balak in depth with commentary and SUKKAH DECORATIONS of year after Yom Kippur: a fresh, clean slate, came across some valuable life lessons based open and listening, eager and interested— on the classic Rashis there, including: Older classes also made Sukkah decorations, aside for being a fun activity, it does take some about to start a new year and do our best to fill • “G-d leads a person along the way they work and skill, and you learn a new art form. it with our own colors… choose to go.” • “Love and hate are both strong motivators to do things beyond your comfort zone.” TISHREI CONNECTIONS • “Procrastination can be a sign of Rabbi Yossi and the HS Girls disinterest.” learned about interconnectedness • “Dislike and hate aren’t the same thing.” between the many holidays this Tishrei: • Gematria of Schach = 100, reflecting the THE SIX “ZACHORS” IN GESHEM 100 blasts of the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah. Morah Dini asked HS Girls to figure out who • Sukkah (according to a Talmudic opinion) the six “Zachors” in Geshem (the rain prayer reminds us of the clouds of glory that on Shmini Atzeres) refer to. Do you know? protected the Jews in the desert, and a key service of Yom Kippur was Ketoret incense offering, which rose up as a pillar of cloud. “THE CRUCIBLE” ALLEGORY HS Girls with Mrs. Crawford are beginning to • The 7 serious days of Teshuvah between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur turns into WORDS BEHIND THE WORDS read a play titled “The Crucible” by Arthur the 7 (biblical) joyous days of Sukkos. Miller which is written as an allegory, and they Behind Sophia’s reading of Chumash words first discussed that form of literature. hang classic words of High Holiday Machzor.
TABOO & PICTIONARY Morah Mushky played these two games with her 4th grade students in preparation for the upcoming double-holiday of Sukkot and Shmini-Atzeret/Simchas Torah. They had a great time with it.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE FUDGE
EDIBLE SUKKOT: PACKAGED
HERE’S WHAT I WANT IN MY SUKKAH..
Mrs. Maher’s 4th graders recently finished 4th graders are pictured above with their “SuperFudge” & are now onto “Fudgemania”, edible Sukkot all finished, and packaged ready two fun books by Judy Blume. to save to eat on Sukkot—in a real Sukkah!
You can see this boy’s imagination at work as he uses markers to draw his own Sukkah in the Nursery. What are your dreams for your Sukkah? What makes it special?
THE BIG SUKKOT BREAK….
COLORFUL FALL WORD TREES Last week Ms. Arika Ford’s first graders made these brown paper word trees with colorful leaves. Guess what words she used? All Yom-Kippur themed! Ms. Ford goes the extra mile in making crosscurricular connections.
NEW MEZUZAH ON LIBRARY This door had trouble keeping the Mezuzah on its post, maybe its because the Library gets used so much! Here Rabbi Caras & Nesanel are nailing the Mezuzah up on the door post.
SNACK TIME IN NURSERY A TNT student photographer caught this photo in Nursery as they were about to make a blessing and enjoy their snacks.
TRIP TO AN APPLE ORCHARD
1st and 2nd graders went on a fun trip this week to Goold’s Apple Orchard. Not only did It’s the holiday season, take a few minutes to they pick apples but they play the holiday game to answer the questions at the TorahPalace.com game site. It is run by learned all about how they grow and how they are harvested. They listened very attentively the Morrisons and there are seforim prizes and learned a lot from the farm presenters. available if you keep at it for a few holidays. They even got to wear the bucket that apple harvesters wear, and jumped on haystacks, saw NORTH AMERICAN BIOMES A science project for some of the older grades, pumpkins galore, and climbed onto a giant fake pumpkin for a picture. They took lots of researching and classifying, seeing different great photos, but we couldn’t get them in time species & environments in unified lens. for this newsletter. Hopefully after Sukkot!
TORAHPALACE.COM
LAWS OF SUKKAH CONSTRUCTION from several of Rabbi Shmuly’s Mishna/Gemorah classes
ROLL YOUR OWN ETROG? It won’t work for the Mitzvah, but it works for learning about the Mitzvah! Nursery students got lumps of white modeling clay which they worked hard to roll into a smoother (but still a bit lumpy) rounder shape like an Etrog. It’s one of those things that gets easier the more you do it.
After today, there’s no school until after Simchat Torah, school resumes on Oct 26th at 9:30am. Much of this break is holiday time, with prayers and festive meals, time with family and at Shul, but there’s also time for outings and activities, reading and learning, try to keep up some learning over break!
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HEIGHT: The minimum height of a Sukkah is 10 Tefachim, and the maximum height is 20 Amos (though Rabbi Yehudah says there’s no maximum height). Some classes learned the Gemorah on 3 reasons why there would be a maximum height.
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THE VINE: Schach is something that grows but has been cut. A live vine growing onto a Sukkah was a big question, does that invalidate the Sukkah, and depending on that answer can cutting it do the trick?
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BOARDS ON TOP: Wooden boards can be Schach, because wood grows and it has already been cut. But if the board is too wide it might not be Kosher. They learned all about that.
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CANOPIES INSIDE A SUKKAH? In most cases a non-Schach canopy underneath or above the Sukkah’s Schach would invalidate it, but they learned cases in the Mishna were it would be OK.
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OLD SUKKAHS: A Sukkah that’s made for the purpose of a Sukkah is good even if it was made a long time ago. But if it wasn’t made for a Sukkah, though it happened to meet the requirements, it isn’t Kosher if it was made more than 30 days before the holiday, within 30 days would be OK.
SHORTER WEEKS, YET Even with 2 of 5 days missing this week
at Maimonides and in the Community 10/15: SHABBOS HA’AZINU
due to Yom Kippur, we have a full MC Newsletter. Thanks to all the eager TNT student reporters and everyone who makes the newsletter happen each week!
10/20: SUKKAH ON PARTRIDGE
It’s not quite yet Sukkot, but it’s only one day away. Dr. Yehoshua and Chaya Bracha Rubin will be This week we read Ha’azinu, the Torah portion hosting a Simchas Beis HaShoeva evening in their written as a poem, as seen in Torah’s formatting. Sukkah at 419 Partridge Street, just across from Maimonides. After Maariv in the evening. Stop in!
10/16-17: FIRST YOMTOV NIGHTS Sunday night after the meal head over to Rabbi Rubin’s Sukkah (122 South Main) and Monday night after the meal at the Kudan’s Sukkah (6 Peyster Street) for songs & stories, lively and warm Simchas Beis HaShoeva farbrengens.
10/18: MOTZAI YOM TOV TUESDAY Tuesday night after YomTov, a Simchas Beis HaShoeva in the Caras’ Sukkah (96 Grove).
10/19: SUKKOT RALLY FOR KIDS 10:30am-11:30am at Shomray Torah. Rabbi Motti will be back with storytelling, holiday trivia, raffles and prizes, and treats in the Shteeble Sukkah. Suggested donation $1 per child. Advance email RSVPs are helpful to: mottel770@gmail.com.
10/19: SUSHI IN THE SUKKAH 8th annual at Clifton Park Chabad, 495 Moe Road, 5-7:30pm. Kosher Sushi made on-site with Mr. Fuji. Plus soups, salads, hot cider & desserts with live Klezmer Music. More info? 495-0772/9.
Just FYI: Albany Institute for History and Art is free on Thursdays, 5-8-pm. Also for a Chol HaMoed evening: “Breathing Lights” is a public arts project funded by a Bloomberg grant to illuminate windows of area vacant homes in Albany, Troy & Schenectady. See list of locations etc at www.BreathingLights.com and there’s also a behind-the-scenes exhibit of this project at Arts Center of Capital Region, 265 River St, Troy.
10/21: FRIDAY NIGHT IN SUKKAH After the Shabbos meal head over to the Gordon’s (29 Glenwood) for a lively warm Shabbos Simchas Beis HaShoeva farbrengen in their Sukkah.
SCIENCE CENTER PROJECT This is a major ambitious project to expand the MAIMONIDES STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) program with new, improved facilities, equipment and program. Speak to Rabbi Rubin (518) 423-4103 if you’d like to get involved in this great effort to raise the funds necessary to receive dollar-for-dollar matching funds from a national organization eager to get us new state-of-the-art hands-on science facilities. Help us make this project a reality for our students and the(ir) future!
10/22: MUSICAL HAVDALAH+PIZZA
FOR PJ LIBRARY FAMILIES
CBAJ’s Sat Night “Pizza in the Hut” Sukkot celebration. Musical Havdalah begins at 7:45pm.
Visit: PJLibrary.org/GetTogether You can get up to $150 to pay for the cost of a get-together with other PJ Library families, but you have to sign up by October 31st. It can cover the cost of an informal outing or activity together!
10/22: HOSHANA RABBA NIGHT Late night Chumash Devarim and Tehillim at Shomray Torah as customary on the eve of Hoshana Rabba, the last day of Sukkot.
10/23: FESTIVAL OF NATIONS
11:30am-5pm at Empire State Plaza Concourse. $5 adults, $2 children. Obviously most food there won’t be Kosher, and there’s no Sukkah, but it’s a colorful event that some families might enjoy. See If you plan to go to Clifton Park for the above event, here more at festivalofnations.net are some nearby interesting places to go: • All Star Wine and Liquor in Latham has a huge 10/30: SWING DOCS BAND AT B.I. fishtank in a bottle, amid a scenic setting. 3-5pm at Beth Israel, call 377-3700 for more info. • At Wits’ End (visible from 87 Northway, off Route 9) is a unique shop filled with trinkets 10/31: PJ LIBRARY EVENT SIGNUP and tschtchkes, maybe not best with little kids. Would you like to do a personal event or outing See giant toy soldiers on the side of the building. with a fellow PJ Library family or two? See box on • Clifton Park Center Mall has been redone as right. Deadline is October 31st. outdoor shops in pastel colors, Florida-esque. • There are several nearby nature preserves or 11/7: PERSONA NON-GRATA FILM parks with nice walking trails, esp with foliage! Check out Vischer Ferry Nature Preserve, Kinns This is a new Japanese feature film on Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese diplomat who saved Road Park at the Saratoga County Forest, the 100 Acre Wood Trail System at Luther Forest… thousands of lives during the Holocaust by issuing transit visas including Rabbi Rubin’s father. It will be screened in honor of Kristallnacht, on the night 10/19: WOMENS SUKKAH EVENT before election day, at the Clifton Park Library, the 8pm at the Caras home Sukkah—a special womens premiere screening of this film in upstate NY. For Chol HaMoed event. Live local music, food etc. more info call Rabbi Yossi: 495-0772/9. Contact Leah to see how you can help out.
“KEL-BNAY” TORAH JOURNAL SUBMISSIONS Once again MHDS alumni are preparing for an interesting and varied journal of Torah thoughts, inspiration and discussion. Hebrew and English submissions are both welcome. Please email: lebedik1@gmail.com to submit your piece or if you have any questions.
MAIMONIDES TISHREI HOLIDAY SCHEDULE 10/3-4: Rosh Hashanah, No School 10/5: Fast of Gedalia, 9:30am start* 10/11: Erev Yom-Kippur, No School 10/12: Yom Kippur, No School 10/13: Day after Yom Kippur, 9:30am start* 10/17-25: Sukkot (including Chol HaMoed) through Simchat Torah, No School 10/26: Post- Simchat Torah, 9:30am start*
* on days with a 9:30am start, grades 1+ please daven before school
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!”