Maimonides Community

BH. Iyar

5, 5778 / April 20, 2018

‫ב“ה‬

Candle-Lighting: Community Newsletter of the Maimonides Hebrew Day School of the Capital District 7:25 404 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 8:29 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

RABBI RUBIN’s 70TH BIRTHDAY Happy Birthday Rosh Chodesh Iyar Rabbi Rubin! This June, Rabbi Rubin and Morah Rochel will be the honorees at the annual Maimonides dinner, in the dinner’s 30th year, and 30th Dr. Morton Berger Memorial Award since 1998. Dinner invites are now in the mail, and tribute journal info is also now available online at: www.maimonidesschool.org/dinner

THE GORDON BABY NAME AND ITS SPECIAL ALBANY MEANING All the school and many in the community celebrated the Bris of the new Gordon baby at school on Monday, Rosh Chodesh Iyar, and there was great emotion in the room as the baby was named “Meir Yisroel Yosef” for Meir O’Brien and Yosef Costa, may their memory be a blessing and a merit.

This MC Newsletter is dedicated in honor of Rabbi Rubin’s

70th Birthday!

On Rosh Chodesh Iyar BARBARA BUSH, FIRST LADY Mrs. Barbara Bush was the wife of president George H.W. Bush (41st president) and mother of George W. Bush (43rd president) and was even a distant relative of Franklin Pierce ( 14th president). She died this week at age 92, she had been married to her husband for 73 years! One of her big projects was family literacy (helping kids—and their parents, too!— learn to read, read more and read better).

BRIS BEHAVIOR LETTER Morah Rochel got this very nice letter from someone who attended the Gordon Bris: I was really impressed with how the middle aged boys (the 5th graders) folded and dragged down the tables, and asked for and found a broom for the clean-up. I think it's a tribute to the kind of education at Maimonides that the kids know they are capable and valued because they are permitted to do real helping. They know they are part of the whole effort. Also, I don't know if you noticed but the children standing on the bench to watch the bris, were all focused, watching intently.

It was clear they have learned and feel what a significant event a bris is…

A PEELER, DRY-ERASER, A CUP? What do these objects have to do with Israel?

That’s the game played at the falafel lunch: Students were assigned random objects and asked to come up with connections to Israel.

One beautiful example was Jacob’s “dry-erase marker” with an eraser tip. He said enemies of Israel keep trying to erase us but we keep writing on! Odelia said the peeler reminded her of Israel’s amazing fruits & veggies. DL had a cat on that cup, and Israel is full of cats!

ANNUAL FELAFEL LUNCH Most years on modern Israel’s birthday, Maimonides kids enjoy a delicious falafel lunch. Top: Our 4th graders cut up much of the Israeli salad (and there was a lot of salad!) while all the students enjoyed it very much from the pita to the tehina sauce and everything inside!

Morah Devorah Leah told a story of Mel Alexenberg, the Rebbe and the founding of Bar Ilan University of the Negev in Yerucham.

WHAT CAN THIS JOB TEACH US There’s a famous Chassidic teaching how R’ Zushe of Anipoli learned 7 life lessons from a thief. Rabbi Motti put a list of good jobs (not thievery!) on the board and asked 7th graders to each pick one and come up with life-lessons from that line of work.

ALPHABETZING AN I-SPY GAME Mrs. Mattice bought her class an I-Spy game but wanted to make sure that all the cards and pieces were returned to the box, so they alphabetized the cards and put 4 playing pieces on each. It was a fun exercise to get it in order.

THAT WHICH TIES TOGETHER This week’s Parsha of Tazria-Metzorah speaks about the consequences of negative speech, so Nursery did an activity about positive speech.

Morah Rivka passed a big ball of yarn around the circle, and each student had a chance to say something nice about someone else before passing the ball of yarn to them (while holding onto their part of the string) until a really nice interconnected web pattern began forming between them!

NEW READING PROJECT

WHY THESE PICTURES? These are two recess time pictures taken this week of students playing HOPSCOTCH IN NURSERY together, working to create something as a On one rainy afternoon this week Nursery team, with positivity and pleasure, happy to do couldn’t go out to play so Morah Chani set up it together… That’s the kind of news we like an indoor hopscotch game on the carpet, and are proud to share! using a big dice and numbered boxes. It was a lot of fun: jumping and hopping, calculating SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIPS the numbers and figuring out 5th grade science is learning about which way to skip that box! the interconnectedness of various animal species, how they depend on one another, and how that relationship can go in different ways— sometimes it benefits one animal but doesn’t hurt the other, sometimes the other animal is negatively affected, and sometimes it can be a benefit to both! This can also be an important life lesson for people, to think more about our interactions and connections with others and hopefully make more of our relationships of benefit and blessing to everyone involved!

CALCULATING THE SEFIRAH Girls Talmud with Rabbi Shmuly learned the various Halachic opinions about the start and end dates of the period of semi-mourning (no music, no weddings, no haircuts) during the Omer (that we are in now, according to all opinions) and marked them using a few extra Jewish Art Calendars, and also learned the background reasons and nuances that support each of these different calculations.

IVRIT CLASS ISRAELI SYMBOLS 3rd grade Ivrit class with Morah Rivi wrote Hebrew sentences filling in the blanks with symbols of Israel including numbers, colors, shapes, icons and cities.

WATER! HS Earth Science is learning about glaciers & erosion, as water’s presence & flow influences & changes landscapes in so many ways.

Mrs. M. divided her 6/7 English class into reading pairs or teams, and tasked them to each find a book of their own that is at their reading level. Once a book was chosen and approved each pair or group began to read the book on their own, and are sending readerresponse letters to each other (a minimum of 3). Independent reading is an important goal!

MANY CONNECTIONS 5th graders love finding interesting connections. This week with Rabbi Shmuly they learned a story in the Talmud about a conversation of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai concerning the Romans that was overheard by them, which sent him into hiding for 12/13 years. In history class with Mrs. Ramsay this week they began to learn about the Romans! Ah, but the connection gets even better (in a daisy-chain kind of way) because the Talmud story references Elijah the prophet, and this week there was the Gordon Bris at school with a special chair designated (as at all Bris Milahs) for none other than Elijah! The connection continues: At a Bris the baby’s name is given and a blessing is recited over a cup of wine, known as Kos Shel Bracha. Guess what? Right now in Yahadus class with Rabbi Motti they are relearning the section about Kiddush and Havdalah (laws of a blessing over a cup of wine) with all the rich details and background info they missed while studying it for the Chidon. It all comes together, learning is all interconnected!!!

LIGHTS AND VESSELS HS Girls learned how relevant & insightful this Kabbalah term is to many areas of life!

9 QUESTIONS ON “LINCOLN” 7th graders answered 9 questions about the thought-provoking Lincoln film with at least 3 sentences for each. The film shows different sides to Lincoln that you’d expect at first.

THE GREAT KAPOK TREE 4th graders are reading about a man who wanted to cut down a Kapok Tree in the tropical rain forest but got tired and napped there and as he slept the animals that lived in the tree and depended on the tree all talked about it…

HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR SPEAKS TO OUR STUDENTS

Ivan Vamos (bicycle enthusiast & former deputy commissioner of Parks for NYS) was born in 1938 in Budapest, so he was a young child living through the Nazi occupation of Hungary. His father was the first to be affected, as he was in Jewish regiment MORAH RIVI IN THE IDF of Hungarian army, all of them were demoted and killed. He Students were quite intrigued to hear Morah and his mother first fled to the countryside, then to a Swedish Rivi tell of her time serving in the IDF as a safe house, but even so—he was already on a street line to be soldier, especially about special ceremonies. taken to a concentration camp saved only by his mother’s quickthinking courage. He talked about their hiding places and ways they survived, even how they 70 SECONDS IN THE IDF were able to eat raw split-peas. Eventually they were liberated by the Russians, there was a story Rabbi Mendel showed 7th graders a about that, too! Despite the grave dangers he faced, as a child he saw some of these escapes as 41 second video called “What can adventures (which is perhaps a credit to his mother’s perspective). He tried to get into America, you do in 70 seconds?” which tells some cool but the Hungarian quota was exceeded, so he had to go back (at age 10!) but eventually was things about the IDF but also emphasizes the able to be reunited with his mother and move to this country. It’s amazing at what kids (the age value of time and utilizing time to the max for of our students and even younger) had to deal with! He showed them his own drawings (very everyone. They said it tied into what they nicely done, like an artist!) that he drew from memory of his own experiences as well as learned in English class about research and that of other Jews Holocaust experiences of which he was spared. He spoke to extracting the key theme from articles several classes, each on their own level. they read—even when it isn’t spelled BIG MAP OF out that way on the surface.

ISRAEL

THE SEVEN COWS & PARASITES 4th graders are learning in Chumash about the seven skinny cows that swallowed the 7 fat cows and you couldn’t even tell that they did.

This reminded them of what they are learning in science about parasites that can live on or inside other animals and you can’t even tell!

This was a joint project of first grade (who painted the Did you take “kids with seniors” pictures? backdrop of Israel and did some pictures of things that are special in Israel) and second graders who labeled the cities of Israel from the North to the South.

REGESH ROBOT Both begin with the “R” sound. This robot has KUF IS FOR KESHET different faces that change according to its Nursery is now learning the Hebrew letter Kuf feelings = Regesh. Kindergarteners are learning UALBANY KOSHER DINING both the Hebrew letter Reish as well as our and one of their favorite Kuf words is Keshet UAlbany’s Kosher Kitchen in the Indian different feelings and our ways to which means rainbow. They used cut colored Quad Dining Hall is open for lunch & express them and how to be able to papers to decorate a rainbow arc. dinner under Vaad Supervision. Visitor tell these feelings in other people. parking is just outside Indian Quad.

GEOMETRY IN FIFTH GRADE Call 518-442-2668 for info, menu, cost...

MORE PICS NEXT WEEK… Now learning all about angles in math class.

at Maimonides and in the Community 4/21: RABBI RUBIN’S 70TH BIRTHDAY KIDDUSH

5/3: LAG B’OMER PARADE & PARK AT SCHOOL

Birthday was on Rosh Chodesh, Kiddush this Shabbos Shomray Torah.

The school looks forward to making another Lag B’Omer Parade on Thursday morning. Stay tuned for this year’s theme, route details and timing.

4/21: SECOND WEEK OF WOMENS SHABBOS SHIUR Women’s Shabbos afternoon Shiur this week given by Mrs. Rochel Rubin at her home 122 South Main Ave, at 4:45pm.

5/4: EVE KNEZNEK YARTZEIT

Now screened 10:15pm on Motzai Shabbos at the CBAJ Media Center.

The day after Lag B’Omer, the 19th of Iyar is the yartzeit of Eve Kneznek whose bequest to Maimonides helped purchase 404 Partridge and ensure the viability of local Jewish education into the future. This date is also the yartzeit of Mr. Bernie Nowitz who left his extensive Judaic library to Maimonides.

4/22: FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE DINNER AUCTION EVENT

5/10: SCHOOL PICTURE DAY

4/22: WILTON PRESERVE CORNELL FIRETOWER

5/14: JNF BREAKFAST FEATURES IZZY EZAGUI

4/21: RABBI REISMAN’S SAT NIGHT SATELLITE SHIUR

Dress your best that Thursday! Individual student pictures, class pictures and 6pm at the Jewish Federation, 184 Washington Ave Extension. Delicious Chinese Dinner Buffet. Admission is $30pp/$54 per couple. Raffle tickets for the official school picture scheduled for that Thursday. Parents will have options to purchase a variety of digital/print picture packages. Stay tuned! some very nice prizes are extra. Info? Chaya@capitalfriends.org Opens 10am weather-permitting this Sunday and next for high-up views of the Izzy Ezagui lost an arm in the IDF but that didn’t keep him from fighting his way back into combat. Hear his story about overcoming the odds and physical preserve and to learn about the role of fire-towers. Contact Larry Gordon at challenge at a JNF program 8-9am at the Albany Marriott. RSVP (& more (518) 469-0918 to confirm hours, availability and weather conditions. info) online at: jnf.org/capitalregionbreakfast.

4/22: BABY ANIMAL BARN AT INDIAN LADDER

9-6pm Sunday (also weekday hours) thru May 6th. $7 per child (no charge for 5/20-21: SHAVUOT 3-DAY HOLIDAY Shabbos (5/18-19) runs right into Shavuot (Sunday & Monday May 20 & 21) accompanying adult, other adults $7pp). Plus the outdoor farm animals for free. Info? Chrystie Stafford (518) 573-7485 or: indianladdertours@gmail.com. for a 3-day YomTov. School resumes Tuesday morning at 9:30am.

6/5: 30TH ANNUAL MAIMONIDES DINNER HONORS RABBI RUBIN AND MORAH ROCHEL!

4/22: MOUNTAIN RIDGE ADVENTURE OPENS New outdoor adventure park (30 minutes from Albany, on Weathermax Road in Schenectady) with treetop challenges, gorge zip lines & obstacle courses opens this weekend. Info, costs & details at mountainridgeadventure.com

4/25: AGAINST ALL ODDS, CHANGE IS POSSIBLE Join Chabad at Union College for an Evening with Dr. Bernd Wollschlaeger 5:30pm at the Old Chapel at Union College. Hear the story of a son of a Nazi tank commanders exploration of his family past and his eventual conversion to Judaism and service in the IDF. His book shares the title of this entry.

4/29: EAT SOME MATZAH ON PESACH SHEINI

Save the date! Dinner invites are in the mail and webpage with online options is ready. This year, 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 to this day!

6/12: THE YEAR-END SCHOOL BBQ 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.

It’s now one month since the first Seder and customary to eat some Matzah to celebrate the “never too late” holiday when people who missed the Korban 6/18: MOVING-UP DAY AFTERNOON Pesach had a second chance to do it on this date. We usually have a Matzah As a number of families are getting their kids to camp (some starting earlier lunch in school but this year it falls on Sunday. this year) on Tuesday, we’re moving Moving-Up Day to Monday afternoon at 2pm. Parents and families are welcome and encouraged to attend.

4/29: HADLEY MAPLE IN APRIL FESTIVAL

9am-4pm on Rockwell Street in Hadley NY with vendors, arts & crafts, a car show and more. Info? hadleyba2003@yahoo.com

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

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 the 8th grade returns from their graduation trip.

5/2-3: LAG B’OMER IN THE COMMUNITY Wednesday late evening and Thursday afternoon and evening will be a number of communal events including a 5pm BBQ with Clifton Park Chabad, a 7pm firepit for young professionals on South Lake Ave, firepit at Shabbos House for college students, stay tuned for more events and details.

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!”