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Adar 22, 5778 / March 9, 2018
ב“ה
Candle-Lighting: Community Newsletter of the Maimonides Hebrew Day School of the Capital District 5:37 404 Partridge Street Albany NY 12208 (518) 453-9363/3434 www.maimonidesschool.org Shabbat Ends: produced by Rabbi Mendel Rubin & students in the TNT (Torah ‘n Technology) Program 6:38 Maimonides is accredited by the NYS Board of Regents & is a beneficiary of UJF-NENY
MAZAL TOV KELLMANS Mazal Tov to MHDS alumna Naama (Kellman) and Nathan Green on the birth of a son in North Carolina. Mazal Tov to the grandparents Rabbi Yaakov and Lisa Kellman, Much Nachas!
maimonidesschool@gmail.com
MAIMONIDES 404 Partridge Street Albany NY 12208
MAZAL TOV SIMONS Mazal Tov to MHDS alumnus Baruch and Sara Simon on the birth of a baby boy in Brooklyn. Mazal Tov to grandparents Rabbi Nachman & Clara Simon. Much Nachas!
MAZAL TOV MORGENBESSERS Mazal Tov to alumnus Avi and Shoshana Morgenbesser on the birth of a baby boy in Lakewood NJ. Mazal Tov to grandmother Maxine Morgenbesser, much Nachas!
This MC Newsletter is dedicated in loving memory of
Salo Steper
שלמה יעקב בן מרדכי וחיה
On his first Yartzeit—Adar 20th MAGNIFIER & MARSHMALLOWS Do you remember the magnifying-glass fire from last week (based on a Talmud and Rashi they learned with Rabbi Rubin)? This week they did it again (with teacher supervision) only this time they roasted marshmallows on the fire, too! Amazing how much the weather changed in one week. They were outside in shirt-sleeves with little snow about, and by the end of the week it’s snowy white everywhere!
TEHILLIM FOR RECOVERY We’re all saying Tehillim for the complete recovery of Reb Moshe Losice, a true life-long central pillar of our community, respected by all: Eliezer Moshe ben Bracha Yospeh. Wishing him and his family the best.
INSIDE A FEDERAL COURT
To celebrate their completion of the biblical Book of Judges, Morah Rochel took the 5th OUR GIRLS BEAT THE SNOW graders to the Federal Courthouse downtown. 14 Maimonides girls are participating in this They got a tour of the building, saw inside a weekend’s international Chidon HaMitzvos courtroom, met both defense and prosecuting MAZAL TOV (RUBIN) COHENS Shabbaton in Brooklyn. They went down one On Chana’s Bas-Mitzvah this weekend in attorneys, they met with a US Marshall and day earlier to beat the snow and get settled in Manchester England. Morah Rochel flew there some got handcuffed, and they spent quality earlier. Thanks to Morah Chani, Morah Esti, for the special occasion, Mazal Tov to the time with the Honorable Lawrence Kahn who and Mrs. Levin for chaperoning them. They is a federal judge. These students had a lot of Rubin-Cohen families. Much Nachas! questions and they got a lot of interesting are pictured (top) in the Albany Bus Station and (above) in the Times-Square subway station MAZAL TOV ON LUZ BABY GIRL explanations. And they got shirts as well! on their way to Brooklyn. We look forward to Mazal Tov to Shachar (formerly of Albany) and a full report on their return next week. So far Ilana Luz on the birth of a baby daughter. PIZZA NIGHT & TIME CHANGE they enjoyed treats on Kingston Ave and met It’s the last Motzai Shabbos pizza night… Much Nachas from both their girls! girls from all over, including Australia!
SALO STEPER’S FIRST YARTZEIT COMMEMORATED AT MAIMONIDES Originally planned for the day of his first yartzeit on Wednesday it was moved up a day because of the forecasted snow. Thankfully Mrs. Johanna Steper and Salo’s friend Mr. Jack Kaplowitz were still able to join us despite the last minute change. All students enjoyed a delicious pasta lunch plus rainbow cake for dessert. Rabbi Rubin introduced the program with how much Salo loved to study and to study with others and how he considered the students of Maimonides as his own children. Several grades did visual presentations of their Talmud studies in memory of Salo. (A) High School students are pictured here with their nearly finished posters about the Seven Prophetess women of the bible (and key details about them) which they learned about in Talmud Megillah class with Rabbi Rubin. (B) 7th graders Menachem and Eli built a wooden model (with a removable Schach lid to show the inside) of “Inner and Outer Pottery Huts” from Talmud Sukkah 8b. Thanks Rabbi Shmuly for some of the wood-working assistance. (C) Are you on the Permanent or Temporary “side of the street” when it comes to Sukkah-type preference? Mendel and Tziyon put Abbaye’s list of 8 different cases on either side of this divide, and ran the Sukkah Truck and Sukkah boat right down the middle of the road. Rabbi Rubin gave them the idea of using gold seals for Sukkah Hechsherim based on the certifying Rabbi for that case. (D) See the big paper house with all 9 windows and a door? Each window (and the door) opens to a different halacha about a house that doesn’t apply if it is less than 4x4 area. (E) Mr. Jack Kaplowitz spoke of how much he misses sitting across the table studying Daf Yomi Talmud with Salo, but also grateful for all that he learned from him especially since he didn’t have opportunity to study Talmud as a child (as Maimonides students are so fortunate!). He also shared how Salo took advantage of every opportunity to study, and treated every person (no matter their level of knowledge) and every question (no such thing as a bad question) with respect. And that there are different types of learners, Jack himself is a visual learner, and Salo was an auditory learner, and among Maimonides students there must also be all different types of learning styles. (F) 7th grade girls presented posters that they are working on illustrating some of the intricate yet practical laws of Shabbat’s 39 Melachot. (G) 5th graders now know 2 Dafim/Blatt (that’s 2 double-sided pages) of Talmud Bava Metziah that they can read and understand in the text. Rabbi Shmuly presented a lively Lipa song that 5th graders learned that whips together dozens of classic Talmudic expressions, referenced quickly in the song, but they learned each stanza in class and made a powerpoint (shown at the luncheon) to highlight and illustrate each of the expressions, names and references. Salo’s first Yartzeit was this past Wednesday, SALO’S YARTZEIT AT SCHOOL
S.T.E.A.M. GRAGGERS
PLEASE, WE NEED YOUR KIDS PICTURES WITH SENIORS!
Nursery experimented with make-their-own graggers to see which might make the loudest noise. Morah Rivka put out a variety of canisters and put an assortment of different small items they could put inside them. They were surprised to find that less items made more noise than a canister filled with items!
CLEANING BELT Now onto Pesach, Nursery students made their own cleaning belts with various tools they might need to help clean up around the house. You think cleaning is an unhappy chore? This student is happily modeling her belt and is excited to help her family clean their home for Pesach.
BIOME PROJECTS IN SCIENCE 4/5 graders are starting to bring their finished biome projects into school, each poster depicting a different type of biome living environment with details of its species of flora and fauna, a map of where you could find such a biome, its type of climate and more!
SURVEY PROJECTS IN MATH 7th graders are wrapping up their survey projects. One survey sought to find out how often students (who had glasses) cleaned their glasses? Another focused on the length of books that students read on their own. Their completed projects presented their collected data in various forms, showing the average, mean & median, in chart form.
MAKING ORIGAMI IN ART Morah Rivi’s art students learned how to make these fun foldable origami’s based on choices of colors and numbers. You turn the folded paper this way, then that way, but it only works if you lined it up right (accurate!) to begin with. They had fun with it.
NEW PILOT COURSE IN H.S. Our High School is one of 6 High Schools in the country to pilot a new course by the Jewish Learning Institute. It applies Jewish learning to contemporary issues and modern cases. They got their textbooks today and enjoyed getting started on it with Rabbi Yossi.
THAT’S MAIMONIDES MIDDOS! A student photographer in TNT took this photo of a girl shoveling the front (old entrance) walkway at school and exclaimed to Rabbi Mendel: “That’s Maimonides Middos!”
KCINZER THE CLOWN IN NURSERY In honor of the happy month of Adar and for Meira’s fifth birthday a familiar face came into the Nursery dressed up in an unfamiliar way, and he entertained and juggled and they giggled and enjoyed and all had a wonderful time.
CHANGING THE CLOCK! Late on Sat Night this weekend, the clocks spring forward one hour. That means this Friday is the last early dismissal for the year, and it also means this Sat Night will be the last Saturday Night Pizza Night for the year! Remember the new time on Sunday morning.
TRACING MODERN SLOGANS Mrs. M. and the HS Girls English class traced commonly used modern expressions all the way back to Shakespeare's writings, including: “It’s Greek to me!”, “vanished into thin air”, “seen better days”, “good riddance”, “without rhyme or reason” etc.
FINISHING UP THE “KERESH” Now that we’re reading this week’s Parsha about the completion of the Mishkan, Rabbi Shmuly’s class is finishing up their “Keresh” beam project, complete with upper and lower hooks for the outer horizontal connectors, the Adonim that fit snugly at the bottom and a hole through its center for the BriachHaTichon connector rod. They put a lot of work into it and learned a lot along the way!
We’re asking students and families to submit a nice picture of a student (any class: Nursery thru HS) doing something (reading, a craft, taking a walk, doing a Mitzvah, etc) with a senior (this could be a grandparent, a neighbor, a family friend etc) for a photo-book with meaningful intergenerational messages that our High School girls in the “Better 2 Lead” program will be making for the seniors they visit. For moore info or to submit your picture: speak to Rabbi Yossi or email: BnosChayaPrograms@gmail.com There will be prizes for photos in each age category. This need to be in by Pesach. Thanks all!
THE PYTHOGREAN TRIPLE Given only one side of a triangle, you can figure out the rest. But it’s more complicated than that! High School is getting this taste of trigonometry in their geometry math class.
PICK & PACK FOR OTHERS This dates back to before Purim, Nursery students each brought in one item (enough for each child in the class) and then they each decorated bags and filled them with treats to share with one another. It felt like shopping!
BOOK REPORTS DUE SOON
SKELETON SONG IN SCIENCE Mrs. Ramsay taught 7th graders a catchy and unforgettable song about the skeleton and the bones of the body. It’s not the kind of thing you’d expect kids to sing about but somehow it caught on and they’ve been singing it…
BOYS CHIDON NEXT WEEKEND
5th graders are working on theirs for Mrs. M’s Time to brush up on the whole book! English class. It’s on any book of their choice.
at Maimonides and in the Community
3/11: LAST DAY OF SKATING AT EMPIRE PLAZA This is the last day of the outdoor Empire State Plaza skating rink (in the shadow of the Capitol) for the winter season. Free skating, skate rentals are for a small fee.
3/11: ISRAEL’S SECRET SERVICE MISSIONS Jewish Federation Joint Society event presents Dr. Michael Bar -Zohar, former paratrooper and intelligence officer, best-selling author, professor and former member of Knesset to speak about “Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service” at CBAJ. $20 at the door. STAY TUNED FOR ONE MORE MISHMAR BEFORE PESACH… TBA!
3/18: “GIANT TRY IT” AT THE TROY ARTS CENTER 3/9-10: NATIONAL DAY OF UNPLUGGING!!! A digital-Sabbath, by Laura Price in today’s “Times-Union” newspaper—atop the Perspective Page… it is sundown Friday to sundown on Saturday!
3/9-10: CBAJ SCHOLAR IN RESIDENCE DR. ANISFELD Dr. Rachel Anisfeld is back in town this weekend from her new home in Atlanta for a series of talks at CBAJ including Sfat Emet insights, Mussar basics and Tefillah meditations.
3/10: SHABBOS V.P., PARAH, CHAZAK, MEVORCHIM A very long Torah reading for Vayakhel+Pekudei+Parah! Chazak on the Book of Shmot! And this week we bless also the new month of… Nissan! Rosh Chodesh is the following Shabbos. Indeed, Pesach is coming up so soon.
3/10: CHANGE THE CLOCK PIZZA NIGHT
12-3pm at the Arts Center, 265 River Street, Troy. Mush clay, hammer metal, and break glass to your hearts content, no charge, for this one afternoon try any of their many art studios and programs.
3/18: CLASSICAL MUSIC SHOWCASE AT NYS-MUSEUM 1-4pm in the Adirondack Hall at the NYS Museum, free music, all types of instruments played by members of the Albany Musicians Association, Local 14 of the American Federation of Musicians.
3/30: EREV PESACH MORNING AT MAIMONIDES A longtime annual tradition. Morning Minyan, Siyum Bechorim and Chametz Breakfast treats. Communal Chametz Burning later that morning. Stay tuned for times and info.
3/30-31: PESACH SEDER NIGHTS The first Seder is Friday Night, March 30th, second Seder on Saturday Night. That leaves a long weekday Chol HaMoed this year, Monday thru Thursday. Stay tuned for communal Seder listings in next week’s MC. Any ideas for outings or day-trips? Please let us know for newsletter listings…
It’s the last Sat Night Pizza Night of the winter season just hours before the clocks spring forward an hour… 7:45pm at “Nathan’s Kitchen” at Maimonides. Enjoy eat-in or take-out and support our High School’s extra-curricular programming! 4/22: FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE AUCTION EVENT Fresh hot Pizza (with or without toppings), sushi-rolls, fries At 184 Washington Ave Extension. Stay tuned for details. and flavorful garlic-knots, etc...
3/10: RABBI YISROEL REISMAN NAVI SHIUR Sat Night Broadcast from Brooklyn 9:30pm at CBAJ’s Media Center.
3/11: TIMELY MINYAN ON THE NEW TIME
6/5: 30TH ANNUAL MAIMONIDES DINNER HONORS RABBI YISROEL AND MORAH ROCHEL! Save the date! More details soon. This year, the 30th year of the dinner & the Dr. Morton Berger Memorial Award honors Rabbi Yisroel & Rochel Rubin.
Don’t forget to come Sunday’s Minyan, having changed the clocks to the new time. Set your alarms.
3/11: SNOWSHOEING IN THE PINE BARRENS 1-2pm at Pine Bush Discovery Center on Route 155. Pre-registration is requested. $3pp/$5 per family. Call ahead for more info: 518-456-0655
7/9-8/17: CAMP GAN ISRAEL DATES Gan Israel Day Camp announces its dates for the Summer 2018 season. Dedicated staff, engaging program, meaningful memories. For more information call Morah Devorah Leah: 518698-1836.
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!”