BH. Sivan
18, 5778 / June 1, 2018
ב“ה
Candle-Lighting: Community Newsletter of the Maimonides Hebrew Day School of the Capital District 8:09 404 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 9:20 Maimonides is accredited by the NYS Board of Regents & is a beneficiary of UJF-NENY
MAZAL TOV SPIELMANS to MHDS alumna Fruma (Morrison) and Yeshiya Spielman on the birth of a baby boy. Special Mazal Tov to Bubbe and Zeide Elisheva and Leibel Morrison!
maimonidesschool@gmail.com
MAIMONIDES 404 Partridge Street Albany NY 12208
MAZAL TOV VOLOVIKS To Rabbi & Mrs. Volovik and family on their daughter Riki’s Bas-Mitzvah! Much Nachas…
JOURNAL AT THE PRINTER Thanks to all who participated in honoring the Rubins and congratulating our graduates, the 80-page Tribute Journal/Yearbook is now at the printer to be ready for the dinner event on Tuesday. It’s not too late to RSVP for the dinner event on Tuesday night June 5th, do it online at www.maimonidesschool.org/dinner. For more info call Sharona at the school office at 518-453-9363 or Raizy at 518-772-7299.
This MC Newsletter is dedicated in honor of the Bas-Mitzvah of
Rikki Volovik By her parents and family
J.F.S. SOCIAL WORKER
RIGHT OUTSIDE OUR WINDOW Rabbi Rubin is a big believer in figurative windows at Maimonides. “WOW—Wide Open Windows” was the official title of the program bringing local guests, hobbyists and experts into school to broaden our student horizons. In his public Menorah debate with the Albany Law School dean Rabbi Rubin argued for windows in the important wall between church KINDERGARTEN PARSHA PICS and state. These Nursery students (pictured Most weeks Morah Chani illustrates images of above) have a front seat window view of the weekly Parsha for her Kindergarteners on construction behind school on Glenwood the whiteboard as they learn about the Torah Street. There’s been a lot of street construction portion. But this week she asked them to draw in the neighborhood for a few weeks, this time the Parsha based they get to watch it all at their window! on the ideas she told them. Here SEE INSIDE FOR SCHOOL TRIPS are three examples This Wednesday was our big trip day at school. of student art they Nursery played outside with water-fun in the came up with— gorgeous weather in the yard. Grades K-1 went filled with key on a trip by van to Adirondack Animal Land. icons, symbols and And most of the school, Grades 2-8, went by imagery from this bus to Old Stubridge Village. And the HS week’s Parsha of stayed to study for Regents as they just got Behaalotecha. back from their Jersey Shore trip. More inside!
Julia Duff, a social-worker from Jewish Family Services is doing a few end of year sessions with our middle-schoolers about key life-skills and interesting psychological insights.
NOT TOO LATE TO RSVP... The annual school dinner honoring Rabbi Rubin and Morah Rochel is this coming Tuesday at Shabbos House. If you’d like to come and take part please call Raizy: 518-7727299 or online: www.maimonidesschool.org/ dinner. This is the 38th year of the school, and 30th year of the dinner, established in memory of Dr. Morton Berger in 1998.
INDIVIDUALS TOGETHER These 7th grade girls are each doing their own independent work on the same online course, using chromebooks & earphones at school.
BINDERY SOON UP TO SPEED
CHUMASH—NAVI CONNECTION
Rabbi Shmuly has been teaching 5th graders the art of re-binding books to reinforce them when they get a little torn or weaker worn spines. At first it was just a demo but this week they’ve bound a Chumash, a few well-worn hardcover graphic comic books in the Esty Library, a textbook. They are getting better at it! They are also getting a better feel of books, more sensitive and aware of their condition.
4th grade Navi is learning about Ehud son of Geira from the tribe of Benjamin. And in Chumash they learned that one of Benjamin’s 10 sons was named Geirah. Hey, they realized how this name Geira carried on over the generations in the Benjamin family! Biblical genealogy…
WHY IS A DRILL PRESS QUIET?
ADIRONDACK ANIMAL LAND
Interestingly, the drill press for book binding operates quieter than you’d expect. First of all it has to do with what it is drilling: books are softer material than woods or metals. But Rabbi Shmuly explained that it also has to do with the mechanism because it is based on a drive-train system using a belt to drive the tool. So, they learned some mechanics on the side!
Grades K-1 went on a school trip this week (accompanied by Morah Devorah and Mrs. Hoffman) to the safaristyle Adirondack Animal Land in Gloversville NY. They saw giraffes and zebras, ostriches and camels, pigs and little bear cubs, monkeys and more! Some animals they saw from their “Safari Ride” while other animals they walked around to see. They enjoyed a picnic lunch and had fun on the playground. A man (with another school) ran over to Morah Devorah, he recognized her & our school from years ago. His name is Steve and he is the Head Custodian-Caretaker at Beth Emeth and remembered her from when our school was USE WHAT YOU HAVE AROUND housed there for seven years in the 1990’s! Wow! Of course, we all remember Steve, too! Everywhere around the school there are so many maple-seed “helicopters” flying about and landing all over. So, Mrs. Mattice turned them into a lesson about seeds, & an artwork project about wings to imaginary insects, and then they wrote a paragraph about it, too!
BREADTH OF KNOWLEDGE
HS GIRLS AT JERSEY SHORE Why Jersey Shore for their year-end trip? They wanted accessible Kosher restaurants, nice nature (the beach) and scenery and things to see and do that weren't expensive. They went kayaking (the owner opened his shop just for them), walked the boardwalk (at night, day and everything in between), ate at eateries in Deal & Monsey, had an inspiring short visit at Chabad of Toms River (stories were amazing! ask the girls for some of them), they loved the water, and enjoyed some amusement rides. They climbed atop a lighthouse and much more! And they also visited the Sterling Hill Mining Museum & Mine tour (a great compliment and review of their earth science studies) and had a lot of fun with their guide Bill. They saw florescent minerals, enjoyed the UV lights which made their teeth and finger nails and even on the Maimonides/Bnos Chaya logos on their sweatshirts all shine! The girls came back from the trip glowing even brighter than that! Thanks to Rabbi Yossi and Leyee for chaperoning and to all the patrons of Pizza-Nights for enabling this wonderful group bonding amazing trip.
Now that 7th grade Talmud is reviewing all the Talmud segments (on the subject of Sukkah) they learned this year via charts in a birds-eye view, they are seeing the added value that breadth of knowledge brings to any subject, the more you know, the more ways OUR STUDENTS AT PARADES you can see it, better comparisons & contrasts Several of our students and families attended SPEAKING OF SAFARIS... can be made, you get a bigger & better picture. one or more of the local Memorial Day This week Morah Rivi’s art students “went to parades this past weekend. They saw marching Africa” where they painted Serengeti-colored CLASS NEWSLETTER bands, bagpipe players, fanfare and really cool backgrounds upon which they imposed black Mrs. Maher’s 4th graders are making a yearold vintage cars, firetrucks and of course, army silhouettes of African foregrounds, especially end newsletter for their class, reflecting on veterans marching classic African animals such as lions, elephants what they learned and did, and ending off the proudly in uniform. and giraffes, whose distinctive recognizable year on with great memories! Some sold drinks! shape works well for this type of contrast art.
YEAR-END SCHOOL TRIP TO OLD STOCKBRIDGE VILLAGE IN MA Grades 2-8 traveled by rented bus for over 2 hours each way to step back in time and see how things were done the old-fashioned way. The exhibits tied right into a lot of their history classes, and even their Jewish law classes about Shabbat prohibitions. It’s a sprawling place and there’s a lot to see (even if all the areas aren’t as well attended to as in years past) so the school split up into class groups each with teacher chaperones and different class groups covered different areas according to their own choosing, with lots of overlap. This is why many of these pictures are mostly of one group, as they had the camera. Our students learned how breakfast back then was often made of rehashed dinner leftovers (and there were no fridges around), they pumped water out of a well, saw a potter at work and asked him questions and also saw the big towering kiln. One group went into a tin-smith, another saw a man working with copper, they saw an old printing press (with stamped letter type), and a saw-mill. They got to see period wallpaper designs and commissioned portraits from that era, and a selection of vintage coins on display. Some of the characters in costume were very talkative and explanatory, some much less so, but there was something to see and learn from everyone. It was cool to see many of the biblical laws of Shabbos prohibitions in action (as the original contexts are no longer as applicable or evident in modern day life). They saw sheep-shearing, followed by spinning that wool into yarn or thread, the loom setup and other things that they know from their Halacha books! The takeaway lesson most kids came back with was to better appreciate basic things we take for granted nowadays: refrigeration, running water, plentiful food choices, ease of technology. When you see how many steps went into everything back then, you realize Some also learned about how nothing went to waste, resources were limited and therefore better valued than they are nowadays. Some students spoke of the sense of pride people have when they actually make something from scratch not just pull it off a shelf.
at Maimonides and in the Community 6/2: SHABBOS PARSHAS BEHALOSECHA
6/12: THE YEAR-END SCHOOL BBQ
Torah portion this week has kindling (literally “raising”) lights of the Menorah (and that famous educational Rashi message of lighting it until it “lights up on its own”), the people’s initiative and laws of the Second (chance) Passover, people’s dissatisfaction with Manna, & Miriam’s complaint, Moshe’s prayer.
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. PARENTS: Please note that BBQ begins at dismissal but students without parents at pickup will go to office to wait for BBQ, so there can be parental supervision.
6/2: WOMENS SHABBOS AFTERNOON SHIUR
6/13: MENDEL C.P. PUTS ON TEFILLIN
4:45pm by Dini Gordon at her home, 29 Glenwood Street.
Mendel R. (of Clifton Park) first-time Tefillin at 8am Shachris at Shteeble.
6/3: HUCK FINNS PLAYLAND IS OPEN FOR SEASON
6/14: JEWISH FEDERATION NENY ANNUAL MEETING
Huck Finns (formerly Hoffman’s) Playland in downtown Albany (near the 787) is open for the season 11am-8pm daily through September 3rd.
7pm at the Golub Center Fed Offices, 184 Washington Ave. 518-783-7800.
6/3: EAT LOVE PRAY: WOMENS LUNCHEON & TALK Featuring guest presenter: speaker, singer, and social-worker, psychotherapist Rus Devorah Whalen LCSW PC (her recent book is: “Therapy? Who needs it?”) along with a gourmet buffet brunch, silent auction, and musical presentations. 11am at Hyatt Place (20 State Farm Place) in Malta with the Clifton Park Jewish Womens Connection. $25pp. Info? 518-495-0779/2.
6/3: ELI G. PUTS ON TEFILLIN At Shteeble 8am Sunday Minyan (with a breakfast!) in preparation for his summertime Bar-Mitzvah.
6/3: CELEBRATE ISRAEL PARADE IN NYC w/J-FED
6/17: DAD FEST IN WASHINGTON PARK A Fathers Day celebration by the City of Albany, with music, vendors, kids activities and a day in the park. 1-6pm, no admission charge.
6/17: WILDERNESS CRAFTS AT VAN DYKE PRESERVE 1-4pm at Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy’s Van Dyke Preserve in Delmar led by Dave Muska of Ondarta Adventures. No cost. Info? 518-436-6346.
6/18: MOVING-UP DAY AFTERNOON As a number of families are getting their kids to camp (some starting earlier this year) on Tuesday, we’re moving Moving-Up Day to Monday afternoon at 2pm. Parents and families are welcome and encouraged to attend.
J-Fed’s bus to 5th Ave parade in Manhattan. $30pp includes bus trip (leaves 7:30am, returns to Albany 8pm) & t-shirt. RSVP/Info: 518-783-7800 x239.
6/19: SCHOOL CLEAN-UP & PACK-UP DAY
6/5: 30TH ANNUAL MAIMONIDES DINNER HONORS RABBI RUBIN AND MORAH ROCHEL!
6/20: EIGHTH GRADE & HS GRADUATION
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! 6pm at Shabbos House. Please park in the first few rows of UAlbany Dutch Student Lot closest to Shabbos House. Not too late to RSVP: call Raizy 518-7727299 or online at www.maimonidesschool.org/dinner
6/10: CBAJ REDEDICATION CELEBRATION 10am event at CBAJ to showcase recent shul renovations & growth. CBAJ.org
Teachers are all encouraged to come to school on “day-after” to close up year.
Wed evening, after 8th grade returns from graduation trip. MAZAL TOV!
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.
7/10: SHLOMO DOVBER PUTS ON TEFILLIN Our 7th graders are putting on Tefillin one by one as their 13th birthdays near. We look forward to a nice group of Bar-Mitzvah boys next year!
6/10: FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE WALK 1-3:30pm in Tawasentha Park (188 Rt 146) in Altamont. Wear sneakers! BBQ after walk/run, ArtsCrafts for kids & fire-truck demonstration. $10pp/$30 family. RSVP: capitalfriends.org/events/ friendship-circle-walk-2018/
6/10: NEIMAH CHORUS + KATZ: “AFRICA TO ZION” 7pm at Massry Center for the Arts at College of St Rose. $15pp, $10pp for students/seniors. The 35-member co-ed Neimah Chorus will be accompanied by Rabbi Noam Katz and his band with a theme of “From Africa to Zion”.
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!”
8/20-27: JGR—THIS YEAR A ONE WEEK RETREAT What makes the Jewish Girls Retreat different this summer? It’s only one week instead of three, but what a one week it will be! Call Nechama Laber to find out more about what it has to offer for Jewish girls. Located at a lakefront campsite, with several divisions for Jewish girls of a range of ages. See www.JewishGirlsRetreat.net for more info.