BH. Tishrei
26, 5780 / October 25, 2019
ב“ה
Community Newsletter of the Maimonides Hebrew Day School of the Capital District Candle-Lighting: 404 Partridge Street Albany NY 12208 (518) 453-9363/3434 www.maimonidesschool.org 5:40 Shabbat Ends: produced by Rabbi Mendel Rubin & students in the TNT (Torah ‘n Technology) Program 6:39 Maimonides is accredited by the NYS Board of Regents & is a beneficiary of UJF-NENY
ANOTHER SHORT WEEK And one more short week newsletter due to the holidays, with school resuming with a late start on Wednesday this week… but classes got right back into learning on the first day back!
maimonidesschool@gmail.com
MAIMONIDES 404 Partridge Street Albany NY 12208
PHYLLIS LEVINE CONDOLENCE Phyllis (originally a Cohen from Schaghticoke) a registered nurse and master bridge player, was the wife of Robert Levine obm and mother of Mark Levine, communally known from the Levine Memorial Chapel. She passed away earlier this holiday month at age 90.
This MC Newsletter is dedicated in loving memory of
SAM POSKANZER CONDOLENCE A life-long resident of Albany, Sam worked as an electrical engineer and was a proud Jewish War Veteran, several times he arranged the flag color guard for our Lag B’Omer parades. He was close with Rabbi Rubin and once showed Rabbi Rubin an interesting Talmudic source for his last name Poskanzer.
Esty (Rubin) Cohen LULAV WEAVING
Yartzeit Tishrei 25 By her parents Rabbi Yisroel and Rochel Rubin and Family May her memory be a blessing!
Morah Rivi did Lulav weaving with 6th graders creating some surprisingly ALUMNI MEET-UP IN DAYTON NEED TUNA CANS! sturdy mats. It also ties into Mishna MHDS alumnus Levi Simon has been living Especially blue-ish and greenthat 4th graders are learning about and working in Dayton OH for many years ish colors! We need a lot of Sukkah mats (and mats that are or now with his family, and now another MHDS such cans! Thanks because our project is in the alumnus, Leib Agar (a descendent of the great aren’t Kosher to use for Sukkah covering). next few weeks… and we need to do trial Rabbi Akiva Eiger) moved there as well to take builds at the start of November. It all goes for up a position with Beth Jacob congregation. a good cause, each can will be donated afterwards to the Shalom Kosher Food Pantry.
ESTY’S 25 TISHREI YARTZEIT = BERDITCHEV + CHASAM SOFER
In connection with Esty (Rubin) Cohen’s 9th yartzeit this week on the 25th of Tishrei, Rabbi Rubin connected it with two other yartzeits on the same day: R’ Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev and R’ Moshe Sofer aka the Chasam Sofer. These two Rabbis had conflicting styles: R’ Levi Yitzchak was known as a beloved defender of the Jewish people, an advocate always seeing or seeking positives in others, tolerant and deeply understanding. The Chasam Sofer had a much stricter stringent style, was a defender of the faith and old-school observance and style. The combination of these two extremes very much reflects who Esty (Rubin) Cohen was: she was both principled & flexible, she had high exacting personal standards & observance yet with non-judgmental tolerance and total understanding and deep appreciation of others. May her memory be a blessing.
DUTCH DELFT BLUE TILE Mrs. Mattice’s first and second grade students learned about Dutch history and architecture and its influence in early Albany (then called Fort Orange). They drew Delft-style blue fireplace tiles around a pretend fire and cooking pot inside their classroom (similar to the ones you see around the fireplace at the Howe Library downtown). They learned about Dutch architecture and how the country is called Netherlands, it is referred to as Holland, and the language they speak is Dutch. The students are looking forward to a hands-on history trip to historic Mabee Farm near Schenectady this coming week.
NOT FAR FROM HERE... Did you see this front page “Times Union” headline this Wednesday? The “Winter” painting by Gari Melchers was purchased by a German Jewish publisher named Rudolph Mosse in 1900, in 1933 his art and holdings were confiscated by the Nazis (his newspaper Berliner Toggblatt was anti-Nazi). This painting was purchased by the Beachnut Arkell family in 1934 and on display at the Arkell Museum in Canajoharie NY. Until now…
WILLOW BARK ASPIRIN
MYRTLE SPICES FOR HAVDALA
While Aravot for the Lulav set are not the Weeping Willow type (also called White Willow) with zagged leaf edges, it was very interesting to learn that (white) willow has medicinal properties in its bark known and used way back into antiquity as a cure for fevers, inflammation or pain, mentioned as far back as Hippocrates and even earlier in the Ebers Papyrus from ancient Egypt. Willow bark is rich in salicylic acid, a key ingredient in modern-day aspirin! Morah Rochel told her students how amazing it is that (even) the lowliest of the four species (without either taste or smell) is so rich and valuable - as the expression in the Talmud: “even the emptiest of you is filled with good deeds as a pomegranate is full of seeds!”
Rabbi Rubin did much research and Halachic innovation on recycling Mitzvot to use them again for a meaningful purpose, so Morah Rochel and the 5th grade peeled off a whole bunch of the fragrant “hadassim” myrtle twig leaves of the Lulav set to make some type of Besamim spice out of it for Havdalah use.
PHOTO TAKEN AT 3:30AM! Maimonides students and alumni at the allnight Simchas Beis HaShoeva dancing in the streets of Crown Heights!
BACTERIA UNDER A SCOPE Ms. Brown’s 6/7 science students got to take a (much) closer look at the bacteria they’ve grow using a microscope. In fact, part of the lesson is how to use the microscopes!
SUKKOT
HIGHLIGHTS Students in various grades shared some of their Sukkot highlights, listed here in random order. Building the Sukkah was fun. Hot Cider with cinnamon sticks on a chilly
night in the Sukkah! We spent a lot of time helping people shake the
NEGLIGENCE VS ACCIDENT The difference can be a fine line, where do you draw the line? Rabbi Mendel’s Talmud students learned about this on Bava Kama 31a and discussed possible parameters or criteria (as well as numerous applications) to this important question whether to assign blame. And it is also a valuable lesson about balancing a sense of responsibility and ownership along with knowing that there are things that are not in our control and not our fault/ credit. We need to be aware of both!
ENDURING CONSTITUTION
Our American History class is now studying the US Constitution. This week they discussed how this old document still works well today, withstanding the test of time and the many CONTAMINATION SAGAS changes in technology and the human 6/7 English students have an option to submit condition and size of the country since it was a 100 word story on contamination (but it has written. Now this isn’t news for our students to be exactly 100 words!) and have it due this who study a much older Torah and find its week. If not for the contest it is due by the end continued relevance and application in daily of October (that one can exceed 100 words). life, but for a secular text the Constitution’s continued relevance and application is quite remarkable, and is a testament both to its original writers and framers as well as to the many generations of citizenry and lawmakers who have upheld it.
TREE OF KNOWLEDGE Why would Torah consider knowledge a bad thing? Isn’t knowledge and thinking such a huge thing for Jews? HS Girls learned much more about this tree based on “Kuntres Eitz HaChayim” (Chaps 6-10) how this important issue remains very relevant in America, today!
Lulav who didn’t have their own, on the street and in old age homes, and other places. The weather was great this Sukkot aside for maybe a day or two of rain. It wasn’t too hot or too cold, it felt like almost perfect Sukkot temp. Families went on Chol HaMoed outings to local libraries, area hikes, bounce places, arcades, laser-tag, as well as Mass MOCA, Dave & Busters, Schuyler Mansion, & more! We thought we couldn’t get Schach, and then when we did it was a big relief, last minute! Some kids got to ride/drive a Sukkah Bike with a mobile Sukkah on back. One family built their Sukkah Bike in a very big rush which was a memorable challenge. We played a lot of board games over Sukkot: Settlers, Triominoes, Bananagrams & more! I like visiting other people’s Sukkahs. Having a lot of guests for Sukkos makes the holiday extra special. Having less guests this year made our Sukkah feel cozier and made us appreciate the guests we had much more! I liked hot drinks and food in the Sukkah like tea, soups and hot cider. People sleeping in our Sukkah! Families went to Wal-Mart, each person who picked the name of another family member from a hat and then had to find something(s) for under $5 fitting for that person! Simchas Beis HaShoeva with glow-sticks! Visiting old age homes with the Lulav & Etrog. Sukkos this was happier, fun, and different! I liked leading “groups” in the Sukkah. Braving it in the Sukkah when it rains! We discovered Golden Hubbard Squash this Sukkot and did some nice recipes with it. Seeing how eager and interested some people are to do the Mitzvah of Sukkah and/or Lulav! Staying up late a lot of nights… My father says a lot of the same Sukkah stories every year, it becomes like a tradition. Sushi in the Sukkah!
STRUCTURE OF AN ATOM
HS Girls are now studying the interrelation between protons, neutrons and electrons TISHREI SUITCASE inside an atom, but started off this science Made in Kindergarten! There’s a Chassidic unit with the history of the evolution or expression (adapted from the Talmud) that all development in understanding the atom and CHAVA, THE FIRST WOMAN throughout the month of Tishrei “we’re filling how that view and theories changed over time. our suitcase” with all kinds of goodies we find Morah Leyee and the HS Girls explored The textbook’s metaphor was plum pudding positive messages and aspects to Chava (Eve) “at the fair”. Then we come home at the end the first woman and mother of all life, which but the girls preferred oatmeal raisin chocolate of the holidays and have all these wonderful may get a negative picture from the text alone. chip cookies instead. things to unpack and use for the year ahead.
SIMCHAT TORAH
HIGHLIGHTS Students in various grades shared some of their Simchat Torah highlights, listed here in random order. I helped my mother in the Shul Kitchen to
prepare the food. I liked doing the last 2-3 Hakafot outside! We had breakfast, lunch and dinner in the
Shul on Simchas Torah! The whole last days we only had one meal at
home, because all the other meals were at Shul with so much delicious food! Not only did we have Hakafot dancing, but there was a pre-party, and a post-party at a neighbors and when that was done, people came over to house for another post-party! My family went to Montreal for Simchas Torah and enjoyed visiting family there. Our shtick by the dancing was a lot of fun: we had clown noses that looked so silly, blow up balls and all kinds of hats. Jump ropes were the most fun. We went away to our Bubbe & Zeide for the last days of YomTov. The people there didn’t want to dance much more than the first Hakafah but it was lively anyways. I liked singing the Baby Shark and Duck songs at the Hakafot, it made it fun! Dancing out in the Sukkah was refreshing! I loved dancing in the streets… We had some amazing baked desserts on ST! Shmini Atzeret Night in the Sukkah was so packed, there wasn’t even standing room! The mist & chill and recent rain didn’t stop it! The shtick for Chazzan Eli on Simchas Torah Day was so much fun, especially the water for Geshem and the flip at Oseh (Ha)Shalom! Amazing how college students danced for 4 hours until midnight, so much energy both on the boys side and the girls side… My family was honored with two Hakafot, by night and by day! Dancing w/ Moishy K! Infectious Enthusiasm My favorite foods was pizza and garlic bread. It was funny to tell the Yankee Fans to say a Mishebayrach for them & then to say Yizkor! I like when they call up people for Hakafos with details, explanations, & connections. The Jalapeno Herring! All types of herring, different flavors and spices atop TamTams, Kichel, and a few kinds of lox. So delicious! We danced around The Nott, a landmark!
WE ALL LIVE IN A WATERSHED This is a NYS DEC poster contest for middle school students about how so many things end up in the water and what we can do about it. Like soil runoff, storm sewer, pesticides, rain barrels (like we have at school) etc. Due date is Jan 10, 2020. For more info, see their website: dec.ny.gov/education/32108.html
YIDDISH MAGAZINE FEATURES ALBANY (23 PAGES!) A Chassidic Jew called Rabbi Rubin if he could come visit for Shabbos Selichos. Turns out he is a reporter and writer for a full-gloss Yiddish magazine called “Moment” (in Yiddish, not to be confused with the very different Moment Magazine) and is starting a new feature called “Galus America” with Albany NY as its very first community visit. He did a 23-page in-depth write-up capturing a lot of the (surprising to him) colorful warmth and depth and breadth of the Jewish experience here in town. Perhaps more snippets of his descriptions another time, but he did spend a lot of time with Rabbi Rubin, spent Shabbos and late night Selichot at the Shteeble, went to CBAJ for the Selichot & concert and interviewed Rabbi Feldman, and also visited the Maimonides School (then closed for the weekend) but has pictures of all of it in this long rich write-up. He also included old Albany Jewish history (buildings and personalities) courtesy of Efraim Rubin’s research and archives.
BOUYANCY WITH ALUM BOAT
NATURE WALK & LEAF RUBS
Mrs. Maher’s 3rd grade science did a hands-on science experiment about buoyancy using boats made of aluminum foil holding up (how many) pennies. They’re redoing the experiment using the observations they noticed last time. Isn’t that the point of an experiment?
The weather was so nice out this week and so many leaves have already fallen that Morah Dini took her Kindergarten students out on a nature walk around the block at school to find the most colorful trees and collect a set of the most beautiful leaves they could find. When they got back they worked on leafrubbing, and enjoyed exploring the effects of different types of leaf patterns.
2 SUKKAH SACRIFICE STORIES Rabbi Mendel shared these two modern-day stories of Sukkah sacrifice, not from Russia or Spain or from hundreds of years ago but from 2016 in Dublin and 2019 in Albany! (1) a local professor on Sabbatical in Dublin built a small Sukkah of PVC pipe and wound string, her husband walked the larger pipes for 3 miles from the closest store!! (2) a woman living in the area with multiple sclerosis was looking for a handicap accessible Sukkah to at least eat one meal there and shake the Lulav and took Ubers and made the big effort to do it… something to think about when sometimes people complain about Sukkah inconvenience!
6 DAYS OF CREATION POSTERS Morah Devorah’s students worked on these posters (with help from Morah Chani until Morah Devorah returned from Israel) each box depicting one of the six days of Creation.
NEW PARSHA BOOK Yossi in Kindergarten is very excited about his new Parsha notebook as we begin the Torah anew this Shabbos! They will be filling it up each week… Parents be sure to ask KING EGLON GUIDED ART about it, cherish it, make sure Morah Chani’s 4th grade Navi class is doing they realize that you value it! some artwork about the Shoftim Judges story.
at Maimonides and in the Community 10/26: SHABBOS BREISHIS We begin the annual cycle of Torah reading anew! It’s also Shabbos Mevorchim (we bless the new month of Cheshvan) so many say extra (or the whole) Tehillim this Shabbos. Kiddush this week at Shomray Torah is by Rabbi Yisroel and Rochel Rubin in memory of Esther Aidel (Rubin) Cohen. Tot Shabbat 10:30am this week at CBAJ.
10/26: KUDAN SHABBOS KALLAH The Kudans happily invite women to their last Shabbos Kallah before the marriage of their daughter Sarale (this coming week in NJ) Shabbos afternoon, 4pm at their home 6 Peyster Street.
10/26: STAR-VIEWING PARTY At the Landis Arboretum in Esperance. 8pm (so there’s time to get there after Shabbos). Albany Area Amateur Astronomers will have a variety of telescopes set up to view planets and stars, nebula and more! Obviously, weather-permitting (its cancelled if skies are mostly cloudy).
10/27: PAUSE FOR PITTSBURGH There’s a global virtual effort for all of us to take a moment at 5:00pm on Sunday Oct 27th to remember the 11 victims at Tree of Life, one year ago on a Shabbos morning. You can sign up at www.PauseForPittsburgh.com to get a text message at 5pm with the names of the victims and a video of a memorial prayer and live link to Pittsburgh.
10/27: MINERAL SPRINGS TOUR Are you interested in trying the different mineral springs and the stories and legends behind them? Sunday tours meet 11am, 1pm and 3pm at the Creekside Classroom in Saratoga’s Spa State Park.
10/27: SCHEN GREENMARKET This year-round farmers market soon moves indoors, enjoy it now while it is still outdoors this Fall season. Sometimes they feature as many as 70 vendors at the intersection of Franklin Street and Jay Street in Schenectady, near City Hall.
Look up BenjaminsCircus.com for costs/info.
10/27: FREE CONCERT AT UNION 3pm UnionCollegeConcerts.org this time features an award-winning violinist from Australia, accompanied by a pianist. Look it up for more details. No charge & open to community.
10/28: J-FED WITH A. DELGADO Congressman Antonio Delgado represents the 19th District of NY is being hosted by the Jewish Federation for a discussion and Q&A on Monday morning. 10:15am registration, bagels & coffee, discussion begins 10:45am. At the Federation Golub Center: 184 Washington Ave Extension.
at Page Hall UAlbany Downtown Campus, 135 Western Ave at 7pm based on the true story of Elisabeth Eidenbenz (1913-2011) and her female co -workers who saved almost 600 infants in Southwest France during World War II. This 27th annual Kristallnacht Interfaith Commemoration is sponsored by Holocaust Survivors & Friends Education Center, Community Relations Council of Jewish Federation of NENY, and UAlbany’s Judaic Studies program.
10/29-30: ROSH CHODESH 2 days of Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan. 8am Minyan on Tuesday the 29th at Maimonides School.
11/3: ALBANY AUTO SHOW 150 new vehicles (all types!) on display from 30 manufacturers, plus vendors and accessories and auto related displays. 10am-5pm at Times-Union Center. $10pp (kids under 12 are free). Free parking in garage behind north of) TUC, via Beaver or Market Streets.
11/4: REALLY NEED CANS BY NOW Please send in cans or funds by this date as we will need to start the trial builds. See right or inside this newsletter for the colors/types we need most!
11/5: FIRST IN MED-ETHICS SERIES This will be the first class in a medical ethics series by Rabbi Roy Feldman at CBAJ.
11/7: ZAYIN (7TH OF) CHESHVAN This Hebrew date (when the last Jew arrived home after the Sukkot Jerusalem Temple pilgrimage) is always a big deal at school, look for what Rabbi Rubin has in store this year!
11/8: FIRST SHORT FRIDAY
As the clocks “fall-back” an hour on Sat Night/ Sunday of Nov 3rd. On Fridays until Spring. 1pm-3pm at the new Thacher Park Visitor Center Parents, please be prompt for all dismissal/pickups, Bats are an integral part of our ecosystem! Join for a especially short Fridays! bat themed story and learn more about bats with a bat craft drop-in activity and informational table 11/9: FIRST PIZZA NIGHT after each story-time. Lower level of Thacher Visitor Sat Night at Maimonides, by the High School girls Center. Park entrance fee is $6 per vehicle. in “Nathan’s Kitchen” stay tuned for updates and details. Eat-In/Take-Out.
10/27: BATTY FOR BATS
10/27: BENJAMINS CIRCUS
2 shows on Sunday 2:30 & 5pm under the big top at Viaport Mall in Rotterdam (near Schenectady)
11/12: THE LIGHT OF HOPE … is the title of the Holocaust film to be screened
RAFFLE-AUCTION Going to print soon! If you’d like to donate a prize or sponsor one, or have an idea for a new type of prize package please speak to Raizy 518-772-7299 as soon as possible as it soon goes to print!
OUR CAN COLORS: We’re looking for Blue or Green Tuna Cans (many of them!) and also Beige/White cans of any size or type. Kosher, of course, since they will be donated to Shalom Kosher Food Pantry after they are assembled and displayed… THANK YOU!!!
OR INSTEAD OF CANS… you can donate a set amount of money so that we can purchase the cans, as tuna cans are a very big part of our project and more expensive than regular cans would be. But think of how much more beneficial it will be! THANKS TO our first corporate can donors: Price Chopper ($100), Aldi’s ($100), Shop-Rite ($25) and Hannaford ($25). Thanks!
COMPOST UPDATE Remarkably (and probably thanks to the thick depth of the compost pile) our worms are still alive and eating, enjoying the compost, even with the few days of cold weather we had. In the meantime, we’ll keep adding to the pile.
DOWNTOWN IS PAWSOME See the 10 Nipper little dog Sculptures now on a Downtown walking tour: 683 Broadway, 30 S. Pearl Street, 374 Broadway, 25 Orange Street, Green Street btwn Beaver St & Hudson Ave, 25 Quackenbush Square, Tricentennial Park Broadway & Columbia Street, corner of Eagle & State Streets, 16 Sheridan Avenue. Riverfront Garage at Hudson River Walkway
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!”