BH. WED Shvat
17, 5780 / Feb 12, 2020
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 5:07 Shabbat Ends: produced by Rabbi Mendel Rubin & students in the TNT (Torah ‘n Technology) Program 6:09 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
This MC Newsletter is dedicated in beloved memory of
Deveyra Gurevitch
A Russian immigrant to our area who loved Shul & Jewish tradition Yartzeit this Shabbos: 20 Shevat TORTOISE AND THE HARE Ms. Brown’s chemistry students did a science experiment last week putting yeast into four liquids and covering each of the bottle tops with an uninflated balloon: Coke, Diet Coke, Apple Juice and Grape Juice. Here’s the interesting thing: Diet Coke blew up largest at first, and it did so quickly. But when they THE TU BISHVAT BREAKFAST AT SCHOOL came back after the weekend to check on it, The Tu Bishvat Breakfast is a highlight every year! Kids can count on sweet fruity cereals, a big the soda deflated but the apple juice assortment of dried fruit & nuts and Rabbi Rubin bringing in hard-to-get & hard-to-eat Boksergrew to be the biggest. Think of all Carob retelling the story of Choni and the message of planting for the future. (Top) 4/5 grade the life messages and analogies! girls were the class that did the best job finishing their big plate of dried fruit. (Middle Left) Part of Nursery was seated in front of the food-blessing posters that Kindergarteners worked in teams to create. (Middle Right) Morah Rochel shows Avraham Meir how to open dates and figs. Mrs. Mattice and her students made the cheerful tree centerpieces for all the tables.
TU BISHVAT TRIVIA Q’S
IBN EZRA IN SCIENCE LAB
Here are some trivia questions asked by Morah Rochel and others at the Tu Bishvat Breakfast: Which 2 of the “7 Kinds of Israel” would be considered the most opposite of each other? Which fruit of the “7 Kinds of Israel” has an inedible peel? Which is the most (currently) expensive dried fruit or tree-nut on the table?
In Chumash class with Morah Leyee HS Girls are learning about the Golden Calf which Moshe “burned and then crushed” but wait, burned gold melts into liquid and can’t be crushed!? Ibn Ezra asks this and explains that an added substance (like tartaric acid) would blacken the gold permanently as if it was burned and then it could be broken down as Moses did, before its melting point of HAPPY PLANTS & PLANTERS becoming a liquid. Ms. Brown’s chemistry The lima beans sprouted and are now planted students didn’t have extra gold lying around but they did some Ibn Ezra experiments in planters (Top) Happy Kindergarteners (Above) 1st & 2nd grade’s plants. in science lab with other metals.
MORAH ROCHEL 70TH ON MON This coming Monday night Feb 17th, 7:30pm at the school will be a 70th birthday celebration. Men & Women, please come!
PARSHA & CHUMASH LINE UP
INSURANCE LIABILITY
It’s always exciting for our students when their Chumash studies and the Parsha of that week line up. This week Rabbi Mathless’ chumash class not only is learning Yitro (read in Shul this week) but their studies even lined up to the daily Chitas of the day! They loved that.
Rabbi Mendel’s Talmud class is now learning the 1st Mishna & subsequent piece of Talmud in Bava Kamma’s “HaKones” chapter about reasonable care and protection under normal conditions, and what situations warrant care beyond the normal conditions of protection. The Talmud doesn’t mention insurance but there are a lot of insurance implications!
THE HEALTH OF CORAL REEFS
COLOR SHAPE POSTER ART
7th grade science is learning about the role the coral reef plays in marine life and in the health of the oceans & how rising water temperatures are among the problems (along with pollution, underwater storms, scuba divers and debris) hurting the reef and all that relies on it. They are each working on Powerpoint presentations which is cool because the reefs (when they are healthy) are so colorful and picturesque!
4th graders did this with Morah Rivi in art class, drawing random connected shapes and filling them with colors from the same family. More on this next week.
BALLOON INDEX CARD CARS 4th grade science with Ms. Tang are making lightweight balloon cars with parts like balloon engines, index card bodies and candy wheels… Stay tuned for pictures and details.
PITGAM POETRY This week’s Pitgam Poetry with Morah Raizy was on the Talmud teaching that farmers “believe in Hashem when they plant” (that’s part of why America’s heartland is called “the FRUIT PACKETS FOR SENIORS Bible Belt”). It takes a lot of trust and patience Rabbi Yossi & our 7th graders went around to to plant with so many unknowns and variables HS GIRLS AT NYS ASSEMBLY deliver student-packaged dried fruit packets to that we can’t control. Our High School girls went to the annual Tu area seniors for Tu Bishvat. Among the people Bishvat reception in the NYS Capitol prior to they visited, they met a Korean War veteran the start of session on Tuesday this week. They Neil Levine who shared some stories with are pictured with Assemblywoman Pat Fahy. them, and he was eager to see our school’s newsletter! One senior was very happy to put FLIP A COIN IN MATH on Tefillin. Our kids may not all be Sounds like fun? Not as simple as it thrilled with dried fruit but the seniors sounds. 7th grade math is learning really enjoyed getting it. about probability, making lots of charts & calculations.
THE ROARING TWENTIES This was a big decade in US History, just after the end of WWI. Our students learned about some of the changes and progress of that time that brought broader mass access of new inventions like cars, movies & radio to more people. It was the time of the lively Harlem Renaissance and development of jazz music, & the Red Scare after the rise of communism in Russia. It was a time of migration into cities, and new economic prosperity that crashed at the end of the decade.
KINDERGARTEN PARENTS Your child’s Hebrew and English report cards went home in their backpacks today.
CURIOSITY MADE A PINWHEEL DATE TRUFFLE MAKING Mrs. Mattice was reading an illustrated story to her first graders and in one of the pictures they noticed something on the stick that they didn’t recognize. Although it wasn’t significant in the story, Mrs. Mattice used the teachable moment to explain what a pinwheel is, how it works (there’s science involved) and how they can make one. So make it they did!
Thanks to Marci Stryker, Chef Gail Sokol came to school today (Wednesday) to make deliciously rich date truffles (a Tu Bishvat treat) with heavy cream and cocoa powder with both the 6/7 grade girls and our HS girls. They talked about precision, ratios and timing in baking, balanced with the fun and joy of making something delicious together. You can look up GAIL SOKOL on Youtube.
THE NURSERY FAMILY TREE
THE MITTEN
Mrs. Hoffman and the Kindergarten Nursery’s back wall has read the story of a big beautiful family the ever-expanding tree with pictures of mitten with all the the students families. animals that It is nice for students crawled into it to to see themselves and stay warm during their families pictured the cold winter. and it helps them talk They stitched a big about their siblings paper mitten and and parents to their fellow students. then colored all the different animals of all sizes in the story that fit inside the mitten together.
ORDER “THE TORAH-TIMES” This is the best season for it… Breishis & Shmos!
www.TheTorahTimes.com (printed, bound and shipped via Amazon).
SUPPORT LOCAL KOSHER Stop in to shop at the Colonie Kosher Price Chopper or call 518-456-2970 x8 to make a special order or find out about prepared meals. --------------------Kosher Dining on UAlbany’s Indian Quad (under Vaad supervision) is open for the semester and the community is welcome for lunch or dinner. Communal participation is helpful for the continuation of this important service.
PROFESSOR VERED NOAM Vered is chair of Jewish Studies at Tel Aviv University and a professor of Jewish Philosophy and Talmud. She will be awarded the prestigious Israel Prize for her research and “ability to communicate Rabbinic and Talmudic text to all students in Israel”.
RAV SOLVEITCHIK ON TORAH
IMMIGRATION FAMILY TREES Mrs. Maher’s 3rd graders had an assignment to research 3 generations of their families and document who emigrated to America from other countries. They then put up stickers on their big classroom globe map and discussed patterns of immigration to this country.
LITTLE LIBRARY CORNER
Timely for this Parsha Yitro on the Giving of the Torah: some of our students saw a powerful clip of Rav Joseph Solveitchik about what “V’Hagisa” in Torah really means. See it on YouTube by searching for: Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik on Torah Study. (Rabbi Mendel also has a research piece on this same rare word הגהused for Torah study).
They’re just starting to read some basic words now but our Kindergarteners already love books and they love leafing through them during their free time or in between studies. ROBBER BARONS IN LATE 1800’s Parents: Keep practicing their Hebrew and English reading, as they are getting better and HS American history is learning about the period of the Robber Barons in the late 1800s, better at it every day! the consolidation of wealth, eliminating YAHADUS TEST III competition etc. They also learned the Most of our students in grades 4-7 did well on personal stories of some of these titans of the 3rd and final Yahadus test of the year. We industry and how many of them began from are happy and proud to once again send a nice very humble beginnings. Maimonides student delegation to the FEDERATION GRANT BY FEB 21 international Chidon weekends in Brooklyn. See the Jewish Federation’s website for a list of After the test on Monday each student got grants for enrichment programs like overnight bubble-gum because “they blow us away” with CIVIL WAR FOLDABLE PROJECT how much (and how diverse the) Torah they summer camp or academic programs such as Morah Chani’s 5th grade social studies class studied! It’s amazing how often their Chidon made foldable projects vividly depicting issues college or seminary. More on page 4. knowledge comes up in other Judaic classes. and factors of the Civil War. It’s a great visual!
PARSHA VAYISHLACH 4th graders finished Parsha Vayishlach with Morah Rochel. Vayeishev comes next!
BIG ISSUES, LITTLE PEOPLE
HS Girls learned a story about Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneersohn’s (her 22 Shevat yartzeit is this Monday) concern for students MORNING BLESSINGS stuck in middle of a much larger communal Morah Leyee’s Halacha class divided up the crisis. Her concern was how this might affect morning blessings among the HS girls for each them personally, how they were to research and present background, meaning, adjusting from the upheaval, how it customs and nusach, inspiration, could affect their relations with their stories etc. It is all about gratefulness parents and impact their future. Sometimes we for the very basic blessings of life that get too caught up in the big issue and forget we often take for granted. how it affects & impacts “little people”.
TU BISHVAT TREE ART Last week’s MC Newsletter was filled with Tu Bishvat art and learning projects but the spirit of Tu Bishvat was still big in school this week. This tree art by various grades is now hanging above the sink in the school dining room.
at Maimonides and in the Community 2/13-17: FEBRUARY BREAK No school Thursday through Monday, Presidents Day. School resumes 8am on Tuesday 2/18.
2/14-23: TEN DAYS OF PLAY
2/17: MORAH ROCHEL 70TH
On Monday, Presidents Day, there will be a 70th birthday celebration for Morah Rochel 2/14-15: PARSHA YITRO at the school, It’s going to be a cold Shabbos, so timely Minyan men & women help will be appreciated especially on Friday Night. are welcome. This Shabbos we hear the Giving of the Torah and 7:30pm. the reading of the Ten Commandments, Desserts and Refreshments. 2/15-16: DAF YOMI THIS WKND Some people are This weekend the daily Talmud page Daf Yomi preparing study cycle will conclude the 6th chapter of tractate surprise Berachos about laws of blessings. presentations. Please come and be part of this 2/15: RABBI REISMAN SAT NITE special Rabbi Reisman’s Navi Shiur is screened live from celebration. Brooklyn now at 7:30pm on Sat Nights at CBAJ. Special programs for kids and play opportunities at the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield. For 2020 all kids are free, admission for age 18+ is $13pp. Contact the museum for details, schedule & info.
2/15: TWO SAT NIGHT FILMS > Schenectady JCC’s Jewish Film Festival is showing “Shoelaces” an Israeli drama/comedy about an aging father & his autistic son & a dilemma. 7:30pm. $10pp ($5 for members). > Bnai Shalom Albany is showing the 1973 comedy of disguises and mistaken identities in the frantic “The Adventures of Rabbi Jacob” 7:30pm, $5pp.
2/16: WOMENS KINUS BANQUET See it live online at Chabad.org/Kinus on Sunday evening. No Albany speakers this time, but the Albany area will be well-represented!
2/16: ROCK & FOSSIL FUN FAIR
2/21: FEDERATION SCHOLARSHIPS Jewish Homeland: Then, Now, Tomorrow.” Feb 21st is the deadline for the Northeast NY Federation Scholarship applications for Jewish enrichment programs like overnight summer camp or academic programs for this coming year. See their website for info and application paperwork: jewishfedny.org/services/scholarships/
7:30pm at Beth Emeth, all are welcome. No charge.
3/9-10: PURIM EVE & PURIM DAY Stay tuned for communal events and activities this Purim throughout the area. But you can start thinking about and planning for your costume and Mishloach Manot now!
2/21-22: REGIONAL SHABBATON
This year’s regional Chabad on Campus Shabbaton 3/3: A JEW IN A SLAVE SOCIETY will be hosted at Shabbos House with guest coming This lecture by Dr. Aviva Ben-Ur takes you back to Suriname! 6:30pm at the Colonie Town Library. from 8+ campuses throughout Eastern New York. More info? Call: 518-442-5300.
2/22: ESCAPE THE INQUISITION 7:30pm on Sat Night at Troy’s Beth Tephilah, 82 River Street, an adult adventure & learning game for ages 12+. $5pp. More info? 518-894-3490
3/15: J-FED SUPERSUNDAY
This is a big day of calling to support the Jewish Federation’s funding for local and Israel needs, including the Maimonides School which receives funding from the Federation. Parents are 2/23: MEET A SLOTH & MORE 2/16: SUGAR ON SNOW encouraged to sign up for one of three calling shifts 10am-5pm in the Empire State Plaza. Little Ray’s Actually, its maple syrup on shaved ice. And you on this day and we all can contribute some amount get to see their maple facilities. 12-3pm at Riverside Nature Centers & ZooAmerica are bringing a sloth, to this important communal fund. alligator, porcupine, python, lizards & more to the Farms 7152 Amsterdam Road in Glenville. Empire State Plaza. Cost is $14pp, goes down to $10pp after 4 in a group and you can save $2pp by 3/22: ONE GIANT TRY IT 2/17: ALBANY INSTITUTE FREE At the Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy. sharing event on Facebook. Free admission at Albany Institute of History and 12-3pm, all types of arts and activities, all are free. Art for Presidents Day. The Joan Steiner “Look Alike” exhibits are back and kids love to find things 2/26: GIL TROY SPEAKS IN ALBANY The Jewish Federation hosts American History in them. Clifford the Big Red Dog is also coming to the museum that day, there are TV shows being Professor Gil Troy of McGill University (now in Jerusalem) a presidential historian, Zionist activist, filmed there, kids can join by pre-registering. and author. He will be speaking on “Visions of a 10am-1pm at NYS Museum. 10 science activities, plus facepainting and more.
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!”