BH. Cheshvan
ב“ה
5, 5781 / October 23, 2020
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 5:42 1st Days Ends: produced by Rabbi Mendel Rubin & students in the TNT (Torah ‘n Technology) Program 6:41 Maimonides is accredited by the NYS Board of Regents & is a beneficiary of UJF-NENY
LOCAL WEDDING MAZAL TOV Mazal Tov to MHDS alumna & parent Debbie Jellet on her marriage this week to Daniel Ari Govindan. Wishing them life-long happiness together! Mazal Tov to Odelia & Shua, Leah & Barry Siegel and all their family & friends.
maimonidesschool@gmail.com
MAIMONIDES 404 Partridge Street Albany NY 12208
This MC Newsletter is sponsored in loving memory of
Risha Piekarski
MAZAL TOV TZIPORAH & FAMILY ON HER BAT-MITZVAH
Yartzeit Cheshvan 4 By her daughter Morah Rochel and family, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren...
It was supposed to be back in March but then Corona happened. Thankfully it was held this past Sunday, on Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan, a beautiful day outdoors with a beautiful backdrop with as many guests as they could invite given the circumstances. She is pictured here with her friends. May we continue to share joyous occasions and happy, meaningful milestones.
MAZAL TOV COHENS Mazal Tov to MHDS alumna Rivky (Rubin) and Rabbi Mendel Cohen of Manchester England on the birth and bris of Mordechai Dov, named for a respected family patriarch Rabbi Mordechai Dov Altein of the Bronx. Special Mazal Tov to the baby’s grandparents Rabbi Rubin and Morah Rochel.
RAVENS OUT THE WINDOW 4th grade was looking out the window of their corner classroom and saw ravens outside (might have been big crows but they were pretty sure they saw ravens) really big and a very shiny black. How fitting ANIMAL PUZZLES FOR NOACH for this week’s Parshat Noach, when at Mr. Ed Marks donated some sturdy & vibrant the end of the flood Noach first sent a Melissa & Doug brand puzzles to our school in raven out of the window of the Ark! honor of the Maddalis & Starks. This was the perfect week for Nursery kids to put together KITAH ALEF RAINBOWS the African and Farm animals puzzles as they Morah Devorah’s learned about animals in Parshas Noach. 1st graders made these beautiful WELCOME JACK HARTSTEIN tissue paper Jack is graduating from YU undergrad, soon rainbows and the beginning Semicha program at YU’s RIETS blessing upon and will the new NCSY coordinator at CBAJ seeing one. for their youth programming and activities.
R’ MEIR SHAPIRO ARTICLE Marc Gronich has a big article in today’s “Jewish Press” about Rabbi Meir Shapiro, founder of the prestigious ground-breaking Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva and of the daily Talmud Daf Yomi study cycle (in honor of his yartzeit this Sunday, Cheshvan 7). The article has nice quotes from our Rabbi Rubin and connections to the “Salo Beis Medrash” for Talmud studies at Maimonides in Albany NY!
HOW MANY CAN YOU NAME? 7/8 grade girls’ Jewish history class with Morah Leyee did a fast exercise in which she named a specific historical time period and students had under 2 minutes to quickly come up with as many names as they could think of (off the top of their heads) from that time period.
ABSALOM’S REBELLION Morah Rochel’s 7/8 grade Navi class is now OPEN WINDOWS, FRESH AIR learning about this sad time of King David’s One of the things we can do to help mitigate life when his own son rebelled against him, virus spread (or viral load) is keeping windows used tricks and managed to garner support from many prominent as well as ordinary Jews. open for fresh outdoor air. This is more of a challenge as the weather turns colder and we have to have the heaters on at school. It will THE ZAYIN CHESHVAN WAIT Everyone waited to pray for rain “until the last raise our school’s heating costs but this is what we have to do for now during Corona. Please Jew returns home” after holiday pilgrimages, which would be the 7th of Cheshvan, this year keep classroom windows open at least a few inches for fresh airflow, but be sure to shut this coming Sunday. 7/8 grade girls learned them at the end of the day. about this two ways: In Pitgam class they wrote about the selfless sensitivity involved in this wait to pray for rain, and in their Mishna class they learned how when announcing a lost object one has to calculate this “last Jew getting home” after the holidays into the days of waiting after the lost object announcement.
MAKING RAINBOWS
Morah Devorah’s 1st graders traced/drew all types of animals captioned with their Hebrew names for their classroom bulletin board in time for Parshat Noach and all the animals aboard the ark during the flood. Among the Baalei Chayim (animals) above are: Sus = horse, Aryeh = lion, Tzipor = bird, Kelev = dog, Shafan = rabbit, Keves = sheep, Peel = elephant, Kof = monkey, Chatul = cat… and more!
ABOUT WEARING MASKS AT SCHOOL
SHEEP ON THE DESK What!? Sheep on the desk!? What is going on at Maimonides? Morah Rochel’s 4th grade Chumash students are learning about Jacob’s speckled and spotted sheep so she took them down to the school basement where they each looked around and found a sheep toy to keep on their desk while they learned this.
ANIMALS IN HEBREW
A couple of things to keep in mind, as this is one of the key factors allowing our school’s reopening during Covid: Masks must be worn throughout the day in all classes, aside for when eating/drinking when seated apart. Our students and teacher have been very good about this, even though its not so easy all the time. Thanks all! Please remember to bring your own mask. School does have a large supply of standard white cloth (we have many of the white cloth type if you need, but a more limited supply of) blue disposable masks for those who forget so please remember your own. Cloth masks must be washed on a regular basis for everyone’s benefit and health hygiene, especially your own. Masks breaks are important! Teachers please remember to build in a few minutes in a few periods each day (beyond recess times) for kids to go out and get some fresh air without masks. And students need to remember that these quick outdoor mask breaks are not recess, and should be kept to a brief in & out to be back in class on time.
Nursery students had a pom-pom color-coordinating rainbow-making activity center this week for the rainbow at the end of the flood in this ANIMAL CELLS, PLANT CELLS 6th grade science is learning the differences week’s Parsha. between animal and plant cells, membranes vs. cell walls and other differences.
ELI’S SONS’ CORRUPTION
6th grade Navi class is learning about bad ways of Eli’s sons who abused their priestly position TORAH ON THE ROCKS to take advantage of (and distance the) people 4th grade Navi learned when the Jews entered Israel, the Torah was inscribed on 12 rocks. who brought offerings to the Mishkan.
PAINTING THEIR CLASS ARK These Nursery students are helping paint their classroom Teiva = ark, as they do hands-on study of this week’s Parsha in so many ways.
MOSTLY SCI-FI STORIES Mr. Cohen is working with 7/8 boys on short story writing in English class, and it appears a bunch of them will be in science-fiction style.
MENORAH DIRECTIONS Rabbi Mathless’ 7/8 boys Chumash class is now learning a lot about the Menorah in the Mishkan. They learned about the directions: including which way the cups’ spouts faced with the wick inside, whether the Menorah was positioned E/W or N/S inside the Kodesh, parallel or perpendicular to the Holies and & Holy of Holies entry walls. According to measurements they studied and calculated, the Mishkan Menorah (made of solid gold) was much smaller than usually envisioned.
R’ MEIR SHAPIRO YARTZEIT EXHIBIT << Rabbi Rubin made a book and materials exhibit about R’ Meir Shapiro who founded the daily Talmud Daf Yomi study of which Salo Steper (pictured above the exhibit) was the local enthusiast, promoter, teacher and organizer. The exhibit includes books in Hebrew and English, photos and pamphlets which Rabbi Rubin showed & explained to middle school students in preparation for R’ Meir Shapiro’s 7th of Cheshvan yartzeit this Sunday.
“DROP IN THE BUCKET” BULLETIN BOARD
COLOR THE WORDS This cactus page is color coded by the vocabulary on top, the picture only emerges if you color the various areas as per the legend on top. It matches the story they read which has a desert theme.
DAILY JOURNAL WRITING
It’s less possible to do Mishmar this year, so High School girls decided to do an interactive bulletin board each month instead. For Cheshvan they put up this bucket theme, with blank droplets for students to write “Mitzvah-Note” of appreciation or recognition for someone else who did something nice that they noticed. Some of our teachers and alumni readers may remember Mr. Arnold Grosberg’s “Caught Being Good” at the school assemblies, this is like that, a grown-up middle-school version of early childhood Mitzvah Notes. Add your note to the growing notes in the bucket!
SHAVING CREAM CLEAN Morah Chani gave her Kindergarten students shaving cream to have fun with on their desks, making it messy of course, but once it evaporates it actually leaves the desk quite clean. This reflects the Chassidic teaching that in addition Noah’s Flood being a destructive (messy) punishment it also had an inner purpose of serving as a (cleansing) Mikvah to purify the world.
4th graders take time to write in their journals each day. Some days they have a specific writing prompt, and some days they are free to HOW TO TALK TO PHARAOH write whatever they wish. This isn’t the Pharaoh of the Exodus, but the one of Yosef’s era. The 5th graders liked the Rashi how Yosef was clever and strategic in PEMDAS IN MATH how he presented his brothers and which 5th grade math is now learning the Order of specific brothers he brought to meet Pharaoh. Operations, PEMDAS which stands for: parentheses, exponents, multiplication, CONTINENTS AND OCEANS division, addition & subtraction. 5th grade’s finding their way around the globe!
5W’s IN ENGLISH WRITING Mr. Cohen’s English classes are focusing to see that their writing addresses 5W’s: Who, What, When, Where, & Why. Some of his English classes are learning the standard components of a story, each student is writing their own story using the same template of components. So their stories will have shared characteristics but with totally different plots and genres.
THROWN OUT THE WINDOW Mr. Stark’s HS physics class did a lab about velocity, distance & acceleration. They divided into two groups who took turns throwing and dropping a metal object out of the teacher’s 2nd floor lounge window with the other group standing behind school on the ground below timing the fall with a stop-watch.
SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES In Morah Chaya Bracha’s HS English class this week students each chose a social-justice or environmental issue currently discussed currently in the news, and wrote a persuasive essay from one perspective of that issue.
SIMILAR WORDING HS Girls noticed a similar wording used for the end of the flood in Parsha Noach and the Megillah word for King Achashvairosh’s anger leaving him which they are studying now with Morah Raizy.
A RIDDLE AND A BET 5th grade Navi class is learning about a bet about a riddle with Shimshon (Samson).
STILL LEARNING TISHREI 5th grade Yahadus class is learning Shofar and Lulav and other Tishrei mitzvot, but also the 39 Melachot of Shabbat, which is one of the hardest things to know for the Yahadus test.
SPLITTING AN APARTMENT HS Personal Finance was given an assignment to divide apartment living between 3 profiles of house-mates with their varying income, lifestyle, types of jobs and needs.
at Maimonides and in the Community 10/23-25: SPY BEHIND HOME PLATE 10/27: ERUV: Schenectady JCC’s Film Festival is featuring this WIRE IN SKY documentary film (view at home available Friday through Sunday) about Moe Berg a professional baseball catcher and a spy for USA’s OSS. Cost for non-member households is $22, sign up or see more info at schenectadyJCC.org. There will be an online film discussion on Sunday at 7:30pm.
10/24: SHABBOS PARSHA NOACH So much in this Parsha: from the building of the ark, gathering the animals, the flood, the rainbow, entering the ark and leaving it, Noach’s episode with the vineyard, and the Tower of Babel. Be sure to stay in touch with Parsha whether you can hear the Torah reading in Shul or are staying home.
10/24-16: A NICE WEEKEND!
CBAJ hosts a 3-part series on Eruv: Law (Oct 20), History (Oct 27, 7pm) and Practice (Nov 1, 8pm) over Zoom. The 3rd class on Nov 1st will be a Sunday 10am local walking tour of a section of Albany A VILLAGE IN THREE CIRCLES Eruv with Rabbi Morah Rivi’s art students drew 3 circles within each other, to create a baseline Bomzer of the Vaad. for a birds-eye symmetrical view looking down at a flowery village with houses of varying (but consistent) heights. One class did it of Jerusalem. Beautiful work!
10/28: JEWISH WOMEN, 5 OBJECTS
Jewish Federation’s Womens Philanthropy is Weather-wise! Now, Parsha Noach isn’t known for hosting a free communal event with Laura the best weather, but this weekend it looks like Leibman titled “A History of Jewish Women in we’re going to luck out with higher than usual Early New York in Five Objects” covering the years temps for this time of year and not much rain until 1750-1850 and a springboard to appreciate Monday. Shabbos should be nice for a Shabbos meaningful underappreciated items that we may walk, and Sunday for a nature outing or hike. have at home. 7pm over Zoom, register on Federation’s website.
10/25: ZAYIN CHESHVAN
This is the day when the last Jew reached home 11/3: ELECTION DAY, USA! returning from the pilgrimage holidays and Jews in Many are taking advantage of early voting options Israel finally began to pray for rain (we in diaspora or absentee ballots but there’s also regular day-of start the V’Tein Tal uMatar in our Amidah on voting at your usual polling place. December 5th). This date has a message of sensitivity and inclusion for all. It is also the yartzeit 11/3: NEW of Rabbi Meir Shapiro of the Chachmei Lublin BOOK BY Yeshiva in Poland, founder of the Daf Yomi, and RABBI HECHT Rabbi Rubin’s teacher’s teacher. On announcement of his Nov 3rd book 10/25: FREE CARWASH SUNDAY launch, “Kabbalah of at Hoffman’s Car-Wash with a donation of any Food” by MHDS non-perishable food item. 1 Free Exterior wash. parent Rabbi Hanoch Hecht of Rhinebeck, 10/25: WINTER RAPTOR FEST “it has been years in This year this festival is virtual. Family viewing pass the making or shall is $25 and can be used to stream it all the rest of we say, the baking!” October and November. Learn about owls and We hope for Rabbi hawks, kestrels and falcons, even lynx and foxes Hecht to address our who share their habitat. See: winterraptorfest.com communities about his book as well!
11/9: FIRST CHIDON TEST While we continue to use the Yahadus books and curriculum in school, Maimonides will not longer administer Chidon tests and any children wishing to enter Chidon must do so on their own and take the tests online at home. Morah Dini has more information how all this works. See the first online test date and unit chapters in the image on left.
11/9: TOUR OF NYS ED BUILDING This is the building alongside the NYS Capitol with all of those imposing pillars! There is some amazing architecture and artwork inside and out of that old-style building built in 1912. Get to see inside with a virtual Zoom Tour by NYS Museum 12pm-1pm on Monday. You have to pre-register, look up nysmuseums.org/2020fallprograms for more details on this & other virtual tour programs.
IDEAS FOR OUTINGS? Please send to mhdsnews@gmail.com as the weather is still nice this time of year. Thanks!
10/26: OLDEST HOUSE IN ALBANY
Are you curious about the oldest house in Albany dating back to 1728 (on the site of the former Saul Equipment, owned by Bernie and Ella Saul who some of us still remember)? There will be a Virtual Tour of the Van Ostrande-Radliff House which the Historic Albany Foundation is in the process of restoring. Sign up for your Zoom link from the NYS Museum at: nysmuseums.org/event-3975577 it will be from 12pm-1pm on Monday the 26th.
RAFFLE-AUCTION PRIZES Prizes packages are lining up! We do not yet know what format this year’s Raffle-Auction will take, but we are going ahead with this fun annual fundraiser. If you have a prize to donate, or can help solicit prizes, please be in touch with Raizy, the Raffle-Auction coordinator.
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!”