BH. Iyar
12, 5778 / April 27, 2018
ב“ה
Candle-Lighting: Community Newsletter of the Maimonides Hebrew Day School of the Capital District 7:33 404 Partridge Street Albany NY 12208 (518) 453-9363/3434 www.maimonidesschool.org Shabbos Ends: produced by Rabbi Mendel Rubin & students in the TNT (Torah ‘n Technology) Program 8:38 Maimonides is accredited by the NYS Board of Regents & is a beneficiary of UJF-NENY
maimonidesschool@gmail.com
MAIMONIDES 404 Partridge Street Albany NY 12208
SMALL SCHOOL MONUMENTAL TASK—IT CAN BE DONE!
To sponsor an issue of the weekly MC Newsletter in memory of a loved one or in honor of a special occasion contact the School Office 518-453-9363 email maimonidesschool@gmail.com
“We know that for a small school this was a monumental task. We’re proud to say that it can be done—a small school can make quarterly payments for 10 years and accomplish its goal. It has been our pleasure getting to know the school and the important work that it is doing for the children of Albany.” - from the letter from the Avi Chai Foundation upon the completion of the building loan that they lent us in 2008.
MAZAL TOV MORAH LEAH Leah (Lynn) Gross was a music teacher at Maimonides before she and her husband David moved to Israel. We wish them a Mazal Tov on the birth of a grandson Boaz Netanel to her daughter Marissa and Aaron Yarm. And the way things worked out, Rabbi Morey Schwartz (originally from Schenectady, who returned to Albany for a time to work here) was the Mohel!
DAN HERSHBERG HONORED Mr. Dan Hershberg was honored with Temple Israel’s Circle of Humanity award this Sunday along with Hon. Paul Tonko, Drs. Nini Wu & Ira Zackon. Among many communal works, activities and involvement, Mr. Hershberg and his engineering firm helped our school with our 2008 expansion wing, efforts towards the lab project and other works. He is a real mentsch and indeed a very worthy honoree!
In addition to high-staff student ratio & small classes with individualized focused attention, Last week’s MC Maimonides devotes time and resources to had pics of it individual student support and one-on-one indoors, this tutoring for both Judaic and General Studies week thanks to using both school staff as well as community springtime volunteers. We aim for all of our students to weather, Nursery reach their goals, learn necessary skills and kids hopscotch develop their personal potential. Of course, game moved review and reinforcement at home go a long outdoors. It’s lots way towards this end. Success to all! of fun and it keeps them on PESACH SHEINI & LAG B’OMER their toes and … are coming up next week, on Sunday and calculating Thursday respectively. See page 4 for more! numbers!
HOPSCOTCH MOVES OUT
LOOK FOR A PRE-SHAVUOS TTN Rabbi Michael Caras and the 7th grade boys are working on a Pre-Shavuot edition of the Torah Times News (TTN) video that will hopefully be ready in time for the Giving of the Torah anew on Shavuot. This will likely be their final TTN video project of the year. What a great run… so much fun! Stay tuned...
INDIVIDUALIZED LEARNING
HOW WILL YOU USE THE MATH That’s a question kids often ask, but this time their teacher Ms. Coffey did! Their final year end project is to focus on a specific area of math and present on how it can be used or is beneficial in everyday life. As Rabbi Rubin says: Relevance is the key word in education!
MAKE YOUR OWN TEST Rabbi Mendel came up with this idea in 7th grade Talmud. It seemed easy at first, but it was more of a challenge than they expected. They each had to come up with 20 questions on a piece of Talmud (4 parts of the Gemorah on the bottom half of Sukkah 11a) divided up among multiple choice, vocab, charts, true and false, and open-ended questions. You have to think of an intelligent question and know enough of the answer to formulate it well.
MAKING AN ETCH A SKETCH Everyone knows these old toys with two knobs that Morah Devorah Leah’s 3rd graders concluded create (with lots of skill and the Parsha of Lech Lecha, and to celebrate she effort) erasable line art took them on a field trip to a private person’s pictures on a screen. In observatory with a high-powered telescope. He STEAM class this week showed them how the telescope works and Rabbi Yossi and the students using the computer showed them stars, planets used strings and pins and pens on a board that and constellations that can be seen at night. could be manipulated to write. Why an astronomy field trip? Because they learned in Chumash how Hashem took Avraham outside to see the stars in the heavens as a vision for the future of the Jewish people!
VISIT TO AN OBSERVATORY
NOW ONTO SOCCER Grades 2-5 boys have now discovered that soccer is a happy choice with more kids engaged and less arguments. So (for now) that’s the game of choice during recess. No worries, there will be days when they will want to go back to playing basketball!
SHTENDER MAKING 5th grade boys and Rabbi Shmuly spent some time this week (but only after they completed their Gemorah review) doing woodworking workshop on building their own Shtenders. Accurate measurement is a big part of it!
CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES Mrs. Ramsay assigned each of her 7th graders two different Civil War battles to research and present about; collecting dates, region and location, maps, statistics, random facts and its significance and role in the overall war.
GIRLS DANCE CLASS Noa Bahir (Morah Rivi’s daughter) teaches dance to girls in grades 3-5 once a week, and they really enjoy it. They learned an Israeli dance and a Brazilian one, and then played a freeze-dance game and Odelia won.
FINANCIAL LITERACY GAME Rabbi Yossi set up some of the middle schoolers with an online financial literacy game by EverFi that makes you mayor of a town, and you have to deal with a budget, all the types of income and expenses, and areas of priority. It’s a fun way to learn these crucial life skills.
EARLY TASTE OF PERCENTAGE Mrs. Mattice’s 2nd grades used color bars to fill out how much percentage of each color there was on a grid design they colored in. It’s pretty cool stuff for 2nd graders to learn!
DINNER/JOURNAL WEBPAGE Visit: www.maimonidesschool.org/dinner
MANY HATS OF LAG B’OMER We’re changing things up for this year’s parade (Thursday morning). After many years of painting banners, we have quite a big pile of them from past years. So this year we’re painting, coloring or decorating our own hats for the parade. Thanks Morah Rivi for guiding along this effort in art class.
TWO RASHBI STORIES As Lag B’Omer approaches next week, Rabbi Shmuly’s Talmud classes learned the classic Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and his son in (and out of) the cave story in Talmud Shabbos. They are making animated powerpoints on the story, too! High School girls learned a lesser-known story from the Zohar about Rabbi Shimon’s un-prayer for rain using the verse “Hinei Mah Tov” and how that’s reflected in Lag B’Omer.
4TH GRADE AT NYS MUSEUM
5th graders learned in Talmud Shabbos that Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai’s urge to do something healing for the world was learned from what Yaakov did, and they remembered that Rashi on Chumash from last year and made the connection!
Mrs. Maher’s 4th graders learned a lot of NYS history (especially about the Native Americans of this area) but had a big Pesach break and needed a good refresher review before their Social Studies test. But even as the focus of the trip was on Social Studies (seeing the long houses, wigwam and wampum etc) they also saw things they learned in science (like rocks and crystals and saw nice exhibits of some of the biomes they did research on such as salt marsh, estuary, swamp, wetland etc.), they did some math (calculating money’s worth from past time periods) and even got to ride the carousel (twice!) It was a great trip. Thanks Mrs. Maher!
THE HEART IN SCIENCE
A WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING
7th graders are now learning about the heart in their science class. A few students made the connection to what Tanya speaks of about the right and left ventricles of the heart.
Morah Rochel and 7th grade Navi class are learning about the complex relationship between David and Saul, and while both were righteous and key to Jewish history, their emotional interplay has lifelessons for us. They discussed how manipulators often portray or disguise themselves as victims as they prey on others.
TALMUD CHUMASH CONNECT
A TELL-TALE HEART BY POE Speaking of the heart, but totally unrelated, 7th graders read this macabre classic enigmatic short story by Edgar Allen Poe.
MIXED FEELINGS ARTWORK This Holocaust art was in a past newsletter, now it up on the bulletin board—with the addition of 3-dimensional birds of hope. (More birds have been added since photo was taken). It’s a mix of bright colorful scenery, trapped by rows of barbed-wire, with birds of hope flying out of it.
HOW TO REMEMER THE OMER
No room for High-5 column this week, but students shared ideas on how to remember the Omer count each night and make it special: (1) count together as a family (2) use a phone DRAGON app or set an alarm (3) have an Omer chart— ART AND especially one made by the kids—to check off ANIMAL PUPPET SHOW each night (4) see how many languages you WORDS Mrs. Mattice took some dollar store puppets Mrs. Mattice’s can count in—that’s a Shabbos House Friday and doctored them to match animal Night Omer tradition (5) make it more than first graders characters in a play called “Where are my just a number, think about Sefirah and its read a story animal friends?” which her first grade students about a dragon focus of character development for that night. performed as a puppet show for several other which they classes. Pictured above you can see them in illustrated on UALBANY KOSHER DINING front of their “stage” and hiding behind it. their own and captioned with their own SEMESTER IS SOON ENDING! sentences. Dragons are fun to draw because UAlbany’s Kosher Kitchen in Indian Quad HONORING THE RUBINS they are fictional and imaginative, and have Dining Hall open for lunch & dinner under .. at this year’s dinner June 5th. Please share lots of shapes and styles to work with. the Vaad. Visitor parking outside the Quad. dinner link with friends, family, alumni!!! Call 518-442-2668 for info, menu, cost...
at Maimonides and in the Community 4/28: WOMENS SHABBOS SHIUR
5/14: JNF BREAKFAST FEATURES IZZY EZAGUI
This Shabbos afternoon at Leah Caras’ home, 96 Grove Ave, at 4:45pm.
Izzy Ezagui lost an arm in the IDF but that didn’t keep him from fighting his way back into combat. Hear his overcoming the odds story at a JNF program 8 -9am at the Albany Marriott. Info/RSVP: jnf.org/capitalregionbreakfast.
4/28: RABBI REISMAN’S SAT NIGHT SATELLITE SHIUR Now screened 10:15pm on Motzai Shabbos at the CBAJ Media Center.
5/16: KOSHER TROOPS BAKEOFF FUNDRAISER
4/29: EAT SOME MATZAH ON PESACH SHEINI
8pm at Bethlehem Chabad. 100% of the profits from this pre-Shavuot bakeIt’s now one month since the first Seder and customary to eat some Matzah to off go to KosherTroops.com. Present will be high-ranking (and local!) US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and Orthodox Jew. celebrate the “never too late” holiday when people who missed the Korban Pesach had a second chance to do it on this date. We usually have a Matzah 5/20-21: SHAVUOT 3-DAY HOLIDAY lunch in school but this year it falls on Sunday. Shabbos (5/18-19) runs right into Shavuot (Sunday & Monday May 20 & 21) for a 3-day YomTov. No School on Friday the 18th. School resumes Tuesday 4/29: BABY ANIMAL BARN AT INDIAN LADDER 9-6pm Sunday (also weekday hours) thru May 6th. $7 per child (no charge for morning at 9:30am. accompanying adult, other adults $7pp). Plus the outdoor farm animals for free. Info? Chrystie Stafford (518) 573-7485 or: indianladdertours@gmail.com. 6/3: EAT LOVE PRAY—WOMENS LUNCHEON & TALK Featuring guest presenter Rus Devorah Whalen LCSW PC, along with a buffet brunch, silent auction, and musical presentations. 11am at Hyatt Place 4/29: EAT SOME MATZAH ON PESACH SHEINI Now one month since the first Seder, it is customary to eat Matzah to for the in Malta with the Clifton Park Jewish Womens Connection. 518-495-0779. “never too late” holiday when those who missed the Korban Pesach had a 2nd 6/5: 30TH ANNUAL MAIMONIDES chance to do it. Usually a Matzah lunch in school, this year falls on Sunday.
DINNER HONORS RABBI RUBIN AND MORAH ROCHEL!
4/29: HADLEY MAPLE IN APRIL FESTIVAL 9-4 on Rockwell St in Hadley NY with vendors, arts & crafts, car show etc.
4/29: 2ND CHANCES WOMENS GROUP
Dinner invites are in the mail and webpage with journal options is: www.maimonidesschool.org/ dinner (please share the link with friends, family, old Albany families and alumni!). This year, the 30th year of the dinner & the Dr. Morton Berger Memorial Award honors Rabbi Yisroel & Rochel Rubin who founded the school in 1980 and continue to shepherd it daily!
8pm at 26 Glenwood Street. Share stories of second chances at Pesach Sheini Jewish Womens Group event.
6/10: FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE WALK IN TAWASENTHA
4/29: HEALTH FAIR FOR ADULTS @ALBANY JCC 10:30am-2:30pm. Free, co-sponsored by Beth Emeth. Health screenings and other services. Info? (518) 438-6651x112 or claires@albanyjcc.org
Stay tuned for more details!
5/6: BABKA-ALLAH BAKE CLIFTON PARK
2:30-4:30pm at 6 Clifton Common Ct., $5. For children and 6/12: THE YEAR-END SCHOOL BBQ families. Info? 518-495-0772. This year it will be a few days before the end of the school year, on Tuesday during the last full week of school. Cost per family is $25 or $5pp.
5/2-3: LAG B’OMER IN THE COMMUNITY
6/18: MOVING-UP DAY AFTERNOON Wednesday evening & Thurs afternoon & evening will be a few communal events including 5pm BBQ with Clifton Park Chabad, a 7pm firepit for young As a number of families are getting their kids to camp (some starting earlier professionals on South Lake Av, firepit at Shabbos House for college students. this year) on Tuesday, we’re moving Moving-Up Day to Monday afternoon at 2pm. Parents and families are welcome and encouraged to attend. 5/3: LAG B’OMER PARADE & PARK AT SCHOOL Minyan 8am at Maimonides. Parade to begin at approx. 9:30am with police escort to Washington Park. Families and community are welcome!
5/4: EVE KNEZNEK YARTZEIT Iyar 19 is Eve Kneznek’s yartzeit, her bequest to Maimonides helped purchase 404 Partridge and ensure viability of local Jewish education into the future. It is also the yartzeit of Bernie Nowitz who left his Judaic library to our school.
6/19: SCHOOL CLEAN-UP & PACK-UP DAY Teachers and students are all encouraged to come to school on the “day-after” to put things away, tidy up and close up the school year.
6/20: EIGHTH GRADE GRADUATION Wednesday evening, after 8th grade returns from graduation trip.
5/10: SCHOOL PICTURE DAY Dress your best that Thursday! Individual student pictures, class pictures and the official school picture scheduled for that Thursday. Parents will have options to purchase a variety of digital/print picture packages. Stay tuned!
7/9-8/17: CAMP GAN ISRAEL DATES Gan Israel Day Camp dates for Summer ‘18: July 9th thru Aug 17th. Dedicated staff, engaging program, meaningful memories. For more info call Morah Devorah Leah: 518-698-1836.
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!”