| 22 Adar, 5772 - March 16, 2012 |
From the Menahel
Keeping Shabbat
Parshat Vayakhel begins with a restatement of the commandment to keep Shabbat and continues with commandments related to the building of the Mishkan (Tabernacle). The Rabbis teach us that we learn that though the building of the Mishkan is surely a critical mitzvah, it does not override the mitzvah of keeping Shabbat. And we learn the prohibitions of Shabbat from the weekday labors to build the Mishkan.
There are many lessons we can learn from this.
One lesson is the old adage that "the end does not justify the means." Even if the end would be a quicker conclusion to the holy effort to build the Mishkan, this would not justify using the improper means of violating Shabbat. This lesson can be applied in countless cases where one might be tempted to sin in order to accomplish an otherwise worthy goal.
But another lesson we can learn is of the importance of Shabbat. After all, if Hashem wants work on "His House" to be suspended in order to have Shabbat, clearly Shabbat is vitally important to Him--and to us.
Sometimes we do not fully appreciate the tremendous gift of Shabbat. Even if we are quite careful to observe all of its halachot, we may not truly treat Shabbat as the treasure that it is. This treasure is to be appreciated in how we dress, how and what we eat, how we choose to spend our time on this Holy Day, and more.
There is a famous story of the Chafetz Chaim zt"l and how he interacted with a young man who smoked on Shabbat. He neither berated nor insulted him. Rather, the Chafetz Chaim held his hand and cried bitter tears, saying, "Shabbos. Shabbos." It was tragic for him to see a beloved fellow Jew not keeping this mitzvah and missing the glorious opportunity to connect to Hashem and His precious Shabbat. Why would anyone wish to miss keeping Shabbat?
When our children see we view Shabbat as a Holy treasure--and neither a burden nor a wasted day- they, too, will appreciate this gift. When they see Shabbat not only as a day of what we don't do, but also a wonderful and unique day of the special things we do, they will appreciate even more the gift of being a Shomer(et) Shabbat Jew. And that will help us to raise our children's love for Hashem and appreciation of His Torah.
May we all truly keep Shabbat and have a Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Shmuel Jablon
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INCREDIBLE SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
The Jewish Day School Collaborative of Greater Philadelphia, a project of the Kohelet Foundation, is offering a limited amount of scholarships for the 5773/2012-13 school year. If your child is the first child in your family entering Jewish day school in the Philadelphia area, entering 6th grade or entering 9th grade, they may qualify. Visit www.jewishdayschoolgrants.org to learn more! |
ENROLLMENT CONTRACTS!!
Registration packages for 2012-2013 school year have been mailed out. If you have not received your enrollment package by now please contact the business office at 610-642-7870 x224.
Please remember, the deadline for returning the enrollment and tuition contracts is April 2. Please make every effort to meet that deadline to avoid late fees and to hold your children's places in their classes! |
LOST AND FOUND
Please note that there is a large amount of clothing items on the lost and found rack near the security desk. Please make every effort to look at this rack and identify any of your lost clothing items. All items that are not claimed by Pesach, will be donated to a clothing Gemach. |
IMPORTANT LMSD TRANSPORTATION ALERT!!
We have been informed that middle school students will NOT be permitted on their K-5 busses--even with siblings. This means that when students return to "Regular Fridays" on March 23rd middle school students will still need to be picked up via carpools. We apologize; but this is not within our control. |
MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS WITH HaRAV SHACHTER
Torah Academy's Middle School girls have a wonderful opportunity to learn from HaRav Hershel Schachter shlit"a. By special arrangement, they will have a program on Sunday morning, March 25th 11:00-11:45am. In addition to hearing a short shiur, they will have the opportunity to ask Rav Schachter questions. Please r.s.v.p. to Rabbi Schwersenski or Rabbi Gross to indicate whether your daughter will attend. |
T.A. Annual Art Show!!
Torah Academy's Annual Art Show is planned for Tuesday, March 20th from 4pm-7pm in the T.A.Gym. The artwork of all our amazing students grades K-8 will be featured as well as LIVE DEMONSTRATIONS BY THE T.A. ARTISTS THEMSELVES!
Come see what our students have been learning! |
4TH GRADE PESACH CHESED PROJECT
The 4th grade girls and boys will be collecting Chametz and donating it the to the Kaiserman JCC in conjunction with The Mitzvah Food Project. There is a table outside the educational office for drop off. Food should be in sealed pacakges. When dropping items off, please enter via the door nearest the security desk. Any questions, please contact Miss Marshall at 610-642-7870 or kampsu@aol.com |
FROM THE ATHLETICS DIRECTOR
Mazal Tov to the Boys' and Girls' Interscholastic basketball programs!
The Boys Tigers finished the season with the best record amongst the Jewish day schools in the community with a 8-2 record, while the Girls Tigers won the championship in the 1st Annual Barrack Hebrew Academy tournament over host Barrack Hebrew Academy 13-12.
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MS. BRESLER'S MATH PI DAY
Happy Pi Day! This week, math students celebrated the ratio of the circumference to the diameter by writing in pi-lish, eating circular pies and challenging all comers to recite the digits of pi from memory. Congratulations to Yitzy Tanner for the Torah Academy Middle School record of 55 digits of pi!
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MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE LAB
Middle School Boys working in the science lab.
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Middle School Girls Student Council Chesed Project
Spreading Purim Cheer!
The MSG Council enjoyed visiting senior citizens at the Brith Sholom House this past Friday, Shushan Purim. Before the visit, the girls organized a mishloah manot food drive. They asked all of the students in the school to contribute food items, which they used to create beautiful mishloach manot. It was amazing to see our students interact with the elderly of our community. They brought smiles to many faces!
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T.A. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR JRA COLLABRATIVE
Dear Collaborative members:
SUNDAY MARCH 18th, The Jewish Day School Collaborative JRA Day!! Our JRA day to hand out our scholarship flyers.
We need 2 ambassadors from your Torah Academy to volunteer for this chesed. This is such a great way to get the word out about the scholarships. Over 1000 people are expected to come that day for JRA.
The specifics for the ambassadors:
9:15 am- come to JRA at 10980 Dutton Road, Philadelphia,PA 19151
Scholarship flyers will be at JRA waiting for you!
- Bring a big stack of your school's brochure (only one piece of material)
- Feel free to wear your school t-shirt or sweatshirt- not for competition, but, for identification purposes!
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TENTATIVE 5773/ 2012-13 CALENDAR
The tentative calendar for next year is available on line.
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MAZAL TOV......
to Rabbi Avraham and Mrs. Dini Steinberg and family on the birth of a baby boy.
to Mr. and Mrs. Sanker and family on the recent bat mitzvah of their daughter Hadassah
to Mr. and Mrs. Kenny Spero and family on the bat mitzvah of their daughter Noa Batya.
to Mr. Tatum on being presented this week with his "Teacher as Hero" award from the National Liberty Museum. |
CONDOLENCES TO...
Morah Marcia Rosenthal on the loss of her dear father. |
NEW PUBLICATION: Daily Dose of DISK
We are happy to present this new publication on internet safety. Please visit:
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HAGADDOT
Exciting news! The Haggadot that the Torah Academy students from Rabbi Silver's classes have worked on are finished and available on-line to be purchased. The Haggadah is 248 pages. Besides the text and translation of the Haggadah, opposite every page is a page of activities and questions helping link the Seder to your family history. In addition, there is a section with Divrei Torah written by the students, a section of just questions formulated by the students, over 25 translations of the 4 Questions, and new this year, a section of recipes provided by the students from their family traditions.
If you, family members or friends would be interested in purchasing this wonderful Haggadah, it can be order by going to the link below.
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/the-haggadah-for-the-generations-2012/12609094
Or you could go to Lulu.com and search for "The Haggadah for the Generations 2012". |
On The Calendar....
*** Please remember that we do NOT have staff available to watch children after dismissal. We charge a $1 per minute fee for each child not picked up within 10 minutes of a scheduled
dismissal time. ***
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Friday March 16th 1:30pm dismissal, last early dismissal
LMS = Carpool
Philadelphia (NE and Center City Bus)
Cheltenham = BUS
Friday March 16th 1:30pmLS Faculty In-Service
Sunday April 1st 8th Grade Pre-Pesach Car Wash
Wednesday April 4th 8th Grade Pre-Pesach Spaghetti Dinner
Thursday April 5th School Closed
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PTO NEWS:
* Cleaning for Pesach....don't throw out your baggie of Box Tops!!! Send it in to TA today to qualify for great collectors' raffles in June. Every little bit counts- and will top $1000 this year for PTO. Please take advantage of this easy, free opportunity!
* 4 great, new programs to boost our clipped Box Tops and Labels for Education earnings- sign up your store club cards for the programs listed below and help PTO! Please note- if you print out your personal pages with electronic Box Tops recorded, PTO will add these totals to your clipped totals for credit in the year- end raffle!!!
www.eLabelsAddUp.com ... enter your ACME, Shoprite and Genuardi's club numbers.
All funds go back into your children's classrooms!! Please take 5 minutes to sign up on behalf of TA PTO.
* Ongoing PTO Free 'n Easy FUNdraisers include: Box Tops for Education (including Acme Growing Local Learning register receipts), Brown's Shoprite receipts, Labels for Education UPCs (BIC, Pepperidge Farms, Post cereals and Pop Secret), www.goodshop.com, www.goodsearch.com and Target "Take Charge of Education". Please participate in some or all of these "no cost" / minimal effort fundraisers and encourage others near and far to get into the act today. For additional information, see the flyer posted at www.torahacademyonline.org (Parent Center/ PTO tab) or contact Janet Eisenberg (eisenber@pol.net or 610- 664- 8554). |
COMMUNITY NEWS
Torah Youth: 4:30 - 5:30pm on the lower level.
Grades K-8th. Please note the new time! If you would like to help sponsor a Shabbos or want more information contact Rabbi Ari Silver at 610-6686-6833 or SilverDollar@verizon.net
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Bnei Akiva Snif: 5:40 - 6:40 pm, 1 hour before Mincha, on the lower level.
For more information contact Vered Schwell or Adi Ciner at lmbneiakiva@gmail.com.
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Bnos of Bala Cynwyd will iy"H meet this shabbos, Parshios Vayakhel-Pekudai, March 17, from 4:30pm - 5:30pm at LMS (PLEASE NOTE NEW TIME).
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Hazon CSA, in partnership with Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative and Congregation Adath Israel is now accepting applications for the 2012 growing season! Purchase a full or half share of vegetables, fruit and/or eggs and you will enjoy a bounty of wonderfully fresh, locally grown produce throughout the season (May- November). All produce is organically grown in Lancaster County, picked fresh and delivered to Adath Israel each week. What is a CSA? Community Supported Agriculture is, quite simply, a wonderful partnership between those who grow food and those who eat it!
Contact TA parent Rachel Loonin at 610-664-2858 rachelmollyloonin@gmail.com or Lori Dafilou at 610-934-1903 dafilou@adathisrael.org
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A WOMEN'S EVENING OF INSPIRATION
With Mrs. Esther Sternberg
How Two Flickering Candles Light Up the Entire World
Personal reflections from an activist and pioneer in women's outreach
Personally appointed by the Lubavitcher Rebbe zy"a to found the Candle Lighting Campaign, Mrs. Sternberg has devoted the last four decades to bringing the light of Shabbat Candles to women around the globe. Hear how the Rebbe created a revolution with an army of 3 year old girls.
Sunday, March 18, 2012 - 7:30 P.M
24 Adar 5772
Chabad of the Mainline
625 Montgomery Avenue
Merion Station, PA 19066
610-660-9900
RSVP:TwoLights613@gmail.com
Suggested Donation $10
Dessert and light refreshments following the event.
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Kohelet Yeshiva High School
The Shalem Center is a Jerusalem research institute that has done pioneering work in the fields of philosophy, political theory, Bible, Jewish and Zionist history, and economics. Hazony is the author of four books and numerous articles.
Hazony's address, which is free of charge, will be the first in an annual lecture series entitled "Jews and Judaism in the World at Large."
223 North Highland Avenue, Merion Station, Pennsylvania 19066.For more information, please call 610-667-2020.
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Jewish Overnight Camping Scholarships Now Available
Memories and learning that last a lifetime...
The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia has made scholarship funds available to assist families in need. Need-based scholarships are available through the camps listed here and families are encouraged to contact the individual camps.
Scholarships are only available to families living in Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery, Chester, and Delaware Counties. New Jersey residents should contact their local Federations about possible scholarship availability.
For more information, please contact:
We are a proud affiliate of Koshersync.com Main Line's Orthodox Community Organization Calendar.
Did you know that our community has a community organization calendar? Koshersync.com is a free service which serves to synchronize Orthodox events throughout Philadelphia's Main Line and helps to avoid unfortunate conflicts by posting events in advance for all to see. Thirteen community organizations participate as affiliates, so, before planning a simcha or event make sure to check the website for possible conflicts. To post an event, simply send an email containing all the information you want posted to support@koshersync.com and they will be happy to post it within two business days. The website also includes links to the participating organizations' websites so that you can keep updated on all of the activities in the community. Koshersync.com looks forward to sharing many exciting events with you!
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PTACH COSTUME GMACH
Got Costumes? Thank you to all those who patronized the P'TACH Purim costume gemach this year! Now that Purim is over, we would like to welcome any and all costume donations. We'll gladly arrange for pickup. ************************************************************** 
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To submit news or announcements, please email Michal Weinstein at mweinstein@torahacademyonline.org . Please note that in order to keep this eNewsletter readable, community announcements will only run two weeks.
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742 Argyle Road
Wynnewood, PA 19096
610-642-7870
fax: 610-642-2265
www.torahacademyonline.org
Rabbi Shmuel Jablon
Menahel
Educational Office email:
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"WHAT I LOVE ABOUT T.A.!" |
I feel that the ECP Program offers a lot of Hebrew for the children which I see as very positive. The Bnot Sheirut provide great Israel Advocacy Programs which helps create a wonderful flavor of Israel in our school and helps the children get a stronger connection to Israel.
Asher Coren
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IT'S AT
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