BH. Tevet
3, 5781 / December 18, 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 4:06 Shabbat Ends: produced by Rabbi Mendel Rubin & students in the TNT (Torah ‘n Technology) Program 5:11 Maimonides is accredited by the NYS Board of Regents & is a beneficiary of UJF-NENY
TRI-MITZVAH CELEBRATION This is not how the Gurocks planned it, but most plans these days have to be adjusted for Covid. But the Gurocks always find a way to make it fun and awesome anyways! As you can tell, they’re doing a Harry Potter theme and planned some in-person Covid-safe Harry Potter activities for their friends. We wish twins Max and Jacob Mazal Tov on their Bar-Mitzvah celebration and sister Sophia Mazal Tov on her Bat-Mitzvah celebration, and the whole family (including those who can’t make it now) and all their friends much continued Nachas!
maimonidesschool@gmail.com
MAIMONIDES 404 Partridge Street Albany NY 12208
This newsletter is dedicated in memory of Morah Rochel’s brother
Rabbi Abi Piekarski, obm R’ Avraham Abba ben Yechiel Michel and Risha who passed away today Zos Chanukah 5781 May his memory be a blessing
MORAH ROCHEL CONDOLENCE On the passing of her brother R’ Avraham Abba Piekarski today on Zos Chanukah after a very long and difficult struggle and recovery with Covid. Shiva times this Sat Night: 9pm10:30pm over Zoom ID: 672-547-2221 P: 122 TITLE PAGE PROJECT IN NEWS! Rabbi Rubin and the 7/8 boys began a unique More Shiva times to be posted later. “Title Page Project” scanning and scrutinizing DOUBLE SNOW DAY WEEKEND the amazing front pages of a unique collection Greater Capital Region area got 22.9 inches of of crumbling brown-paged Seforim in school library’s old section. snow Wed night into Thurs, and its turning This project was bitter cold on Friday with so much snow still featured this week on around, so it turned into an extended several Jewish Chanukah Snow-Day weekend. On Thursday websites for Hey (5th we had a school-wide Zoom from 11am-12pm of) Teves, a Chabad to screen the pre-filmed Chanukah songs and holiday of books. performances of Nursery, Kindergarten and
ALBANY CITY HALL MENORAH Mayor Kathy Sheehan couldn’t invite the girls in (due to Covid) as she does every year, but she did come out to address our HS Girls on the steps of Albany City Hall instead.
grades 1-3. Now MORNING MENORAH CUSTOM online, get the YouTube links Morah Devorah’s Kitah Alef students kept a on the school’s nice daily morning tradition of lighting a FB page or see Menorah before page 3. We also they prayed Shachrit played a fun (even though the MHDS Trivia mitzvah is at night) game about as part of the effort school over to publicize the CHANUKAH PKGS FOR SENIORS Chanukah. We had 20 teams playing and the These girls helped Rabbi Yossi pack a box of miracle. The Rebbe top 3 winners for the 22 question game can be encouraged this, & Chanukah treats and sweets to seen on this screenshot. Another school-wide locally Mr. Nathan share with local seniors as part of family Zoom was on Friday 12/18 10am-11:30 Rosenstein obm the school’s “Better Together” with Parsha, a Kahoot Game on Jewish Books, liked to do this at program even if we can’t visit inArt with Morah Rivi and more! Shomray Torah. person during Covid.
CURRENT AT SUPREME COURT High School’s Participation in Government class with Ms. Ramsay were each assigned a different case in the Supreme Court’s current docket and the students were surprised at how fascinated they were in the cases - their details, issues & legal/constitutional angles to explore.
SOTAH AND CHANUKAH 7/8 girls Chumash finished learning about Sotah in Parshat Naso with Morah Dini on DOUGHNUTS! Chanukah and they discussed an interesting Have you ever read the question about Yehudit, the heroine from the “Homer Price” story by General Helifones story. Robert McCloskey about the unstoppable HISTORY OF FEUDAL SYSTEM doughnut machine? One day on Chanukah Ms. Ramsay 7/8 history class learned about the reasons for the feudal system. It may be our school was like very far from democracy we know today but that! These students for its time it was a way for different parts of kept churning out delicious doughnuts, made from scratch! And society to be dependent on each other and on “Bake Sale” today their doughnuts were so come together for reasons of mutual interest. fresh and tasty that they sold more than 60!
THE WEDNESDAY FIRE-PIT
Morah Dini arranged a day-long firepit outside school for classes to take turns enjoying. Here Kindergarteners are enjoying roasting their marshmallows on sticks. Special thanks to Mrs. PARSHA DREAMS (AND US) There are a lot of dreams in the Parshas of this Hoffman and Morah Sara for bringing plenty time of year: Yosef’s 2 Dreams, the dreams of of Kosher marshmallows for everyone to enjoy. the Butler and Baker, Pharaoh’s two dreams… Morah Chaya Bracha’s Creative Parsha classes discussed dreams, what makes them different than reality, and how to utilize them.
IS IT GOOD TO BE PRESIDENT?
DREIDEL BOMBS This was all the rage this year all over the country, and at our school, too! Thanks to Morah Raizel for bringing in lots of hotcocoa mix and chocolate and marshmallows to make a whole bunch of this that once dumped into cooked milk turns it into exploding hot cocoa with marshmallows that’s really fun and delicious!
THE LATKES, AND THE SOUP Chanukah was a big food-making and enjoying week at school! A number of different classes made their own sizzling tasty latkes from scratch: peeling potatoes, dicing onions, frying them one after another. And Rabbi Shmuly made a delicious onion soup with help of some of the girls and a secret ingredient - a big huge pot that everyone enjoyed and was good to the last drop, almost nothing left!
That was Mrs. Tower’s 4th grade journal entry topic this week. They had to write one paragraph on why they’d want to be president and another one on why they’d prefer not to be president - even if they had a chance.
HERBIVORES & CARNIVORES The first only eats plants, the second eats animals, and omnivores eat both. 4th grade science are learning about different types of animals in the food chain.
PRACTICAL HALACHA TEST This was no pie in the sky! High School had a test on the laws of cooking on Shabbos where they each had to set up an actual scenario using kitchen equipment and utensils in “Nathan’s Kitchen” at school to physically demonstrate that halacha!
TALMUD PESACHIM ZOOM Rabbi Rubin is keeping up his weekly (number of times per week varies) Zoom study of issues in tractate Pesachim with the older boys and interested community members. This week they discussed preference for candles over torches and its connection with this week’s Parsha Miketz.
3D COLORFUL DREIDEL ART High School gave each class a stack of onedimensional blank Dreidel pages to color in their own creative ways and then turned them into a colorful string of Dreidels hanging in the computer lab & library room.
CHANUKAH ART CLASS Morah Rivi did all types of pastels outline candle, oil jugs and Dreidel art on dark paper with elementary art classes, and Chana Laber did candle art with the High School girls - with an illuminating the darkness theme that tied into an idea they learned with Morah Chaya Bracha in Creative Parsha.
FROM THE VINTAGE SEFORIM Among the old Seforim 7/8 boys scanned and explored with Rabbi Rubin (some pictured on oversized title pages they scanned) are an Alter Rebbe Shulchan Aruch printed in 1875, a typewritten copy of the Rebbe Rashab’s Rana”t Maamorim printed in Shanghai China with a handwritten title page cover, a Rambam set printed in Shanghai in 1943, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch from Warsaw in 1892, a Gemorah Shabbos printed in Shanghai by “Torah-Ohr” in 1943, a Machzor printed in Furth in 1845, a set of Maharal of Prague, the Kedushas Levi, Noam Elimelech and Tzidkas-Hatzdik of Lublin (a sefer that Salo Steper, obm was very fond of), Shitah Mekubetzes, among others!
CHANUKAH PERFORMANCES This year’s Chanukahs songs and skits were all filmed at school (no parent or school-wide inperson audiences this year) and then shared online on our Thursday snow-day Zoom. The links are also available online on the school’s facebook page or click on these links below (clicking on PDF while connected to internet should get you there or copy into browser). NURSERY SONGS: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=RHFJHrR9EcA KINDERGARTEN CHANUKAH INTERPRETATIONS: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI2Nz-esaWM FIRST GRADE SONGS: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj1R7YUmp6Y 2ND/3RD GRADE CHANUKAH SKIT: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=WYNMDVQe1mQ
HEBREW READING MILESTONE
MORE DREIDEL THAN EVER
Morah Raizel is our “Keriah” Hebrew reading specialist. This class completed and is pictured Somehow this year, there’s been more Dreidel games (and longerhere celebrating a set of books practicing lasting ones) at individual Alef-Bais letters and is now moving school than ever onto the vowels and connecting sounds. before. Maybe it’s GOT POTATO PEELS? because we had The compost bins are now piled high with more days of school snow but once we get the doors cleared we can on Chanukah this use some more veggie peels in there. Just year or maybe it’s remember that our compost worms (now dug the coins that in deep or gone for winter) don’t tolerate Morah Rochel gave onion or citrus peels, so please keep those out! the kids to use, but either way we’ve never had such avid Dreidel playing as this year - at most grade levels! EARTH (SCIENCE) & THE MOON Mr. Stark’s 7/8 earth science was CHANUKAH TERMS doing a piece on the earth-moon COMPLETED LECH-LECHA relationship this week when it This list of Hebrew Chanukah Third graders now completed their 3rd Parsha happened to be Rosh Chodesh, which is words and phrases (each has a in Chumash class, as they finished the last determined by the ever-changing lunar cycle! noun and a verb) is from pesukim of Lecha-Lecha this week! Morah Devorah’s classroom: Mesachakim BaSevivon = playing CHANUKAH FOODS AT HOME TELL US NEXT WEEK... dreidel, Metagnim Levivot = Some students reported on special foods they Students: Please tell us next week how you frying latkes, Mekablim D’mai enjoyed at home this Chanukah, aside for the spent your two snow-days and extended Chanukah = receiving classic potato latkes & fried doughnuts. One weekend, how you had fun with the snow, Chanukah Gelt, Ochlim Levivot family enjoyed baked hot potatoes with dairy ways you were helpful, or anything you did = eating latkes. Other classes toppings, another made cheese latkes, a few special for the last days of Chanukah and (especially with Morah Rivi) families made veggie latkes with all types of Shabbos! For next week’s MC! learned more terms, as well! vegetables,
at Maimonides and in the Community
Raffle-Auction: www.maimonidesschool.org/Auction
12/17-18: DOUBLE SNOW-DAY Thanks to an average of 22.9 inches that fell in our area (one of the highest single snowstorms to fall in our area!) on Wednesday night into Thursday morning we have a double-snow day Thursday and Friday with school-wide educational and engaging zooms for both days - and also an unplanned extended Chanukah & post-Chanukah weekend.
12/18: “ZOS (THIS IS) CHANUKAH” Today, the last day of Chanukah, has a special title, as it features the fully lit Menorah, the culmination of all of Chanukah’s light. We say Hallel and Al HaNissim on Friday, but once Shabbos begins it is no longer Chanukah, though we certainly are still basking in the glow of the holiday into Shabbos!
12/18-19: SHABBOS MIKETZ It’s going to be extra cold this Shabbos and with all the snow (and freezing in spots) please be careful and stay safe and warm!
12/21: “HEY (FIFTH OF) TEVES” The fifth day of Teves is celebrated in Chabad as a festival of books, to realize and appreciate books as a communal heritage to be cherished. Locally, we also remember the role that attorney Mr. Joe Saidel obm played (dedicated assiduously as was his way in the State Library of records above the NYS Museum) in the 1980’s court case to determine the fate of the Library of Agudas Chassidei Chabad Seforim collection.
Happy “Zos (last day of) Chanukah” and Good Shabbos to all of our students and teachers, school families, friends and supporters, newsletter readers and the entire community!
Students are very eager to continue the tradition to be the ones to draw the prize packages. Stay tuned for winner announcements. We will also post the winners of the A-Z prize packages in next week’s MC Newsletter.
THIS ALLOWS FOR LAST MINUTE TICKET SALES UNTIL SUNDAY DEC 20TH
12/21: RAFFLE-AUCTION DRAWING Due to the huge snow on the day of the planned Auction drawings, we’re postponing the drawings for Monday December 21st. Especially since our students are very eager to continue the annual tradition of them taking turns to pick the various prize-packages. They will be drawn by various classes at school on Monday morning, filmed and shared online. Look for the list of winners to be announced and also shared in next week’s MC. Buy your tickets by Sunday afternoon 12/20!
DUE TO SNOWSTORM THE DRAWINGS WILL BE ON MONDAY 12/21 AT SCHOOL.
But please no later than late afternoon as we need to allow time to process the tickets before the drawings on Monday morning!
KEEPING UP WITH PESACHIM
Tidbits of what Daf Yomi daily Talmud study came across this week. Numbers below correspond to the 12/24-1/3: LONG WINTER BREAK page of Talmud in tractate Pesachim A Corona change this year is no half days at school, to be completed just before Passover. so all scheduled half-days are full days off. That 22 - how various benefit-prohibitions are derived gives us an extra long winter vacation this year, Dec 23 - more of the same, and explaining how 24th thru Jan 3rd, school resumes 8am on Jan 4th. various opinions will interpret the same verses 24 - unusual atypical uses of forbidden foods 12/25: ASARAH (TENTH OF) TEVET 25 - how mixed-plantings may be an exception This year the fast of the Tenth of Tevet (an short 26 - sound, sight & smell are less tangible senses but important Jewish fast) falls on Friday, so we 27 - do two factors mitigate or support another? break our fast with Kiddush. 28 - 3 Talmudic metaphors for harmed by your own actions: spoon, the stocks, and arrows.
DRINK SALE & BAKE SALE Parents & Students! Thanks for your support and enjoyment of both these 7/8th grade weekly sales. It supports their year-end trips & extra-curricular and also helps them build skills like teamwork, responsibility, good service and responsiveness. The Pizza-Nites during winter supports our HS’s extra-curricular & year-end. And all get to enjoy!
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!”