Once again, our students continue to impress us with their chessed activities outside of our building.  Even though these activities do not take place during school hours, we like to share news of them with you because we are proud of our students and how their actions reflect the values that we teach.  Also, we hope to inspire you to do chessed.  Let us know what you do!

            Charlie Laifer (1A): "I donated some of the toys from my birthday to the New York Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's hospital.  I gave some games, and my three year old sister Emmeline gave a book about dolls.  We brought our toys to a party for brothers and sisters who had siblings who weren't feeling good and had to stay in the hospital.  The people who worked at the hospital said 'thank you so much.  The brothers and sisters who have someone who is a patient are going to be so happy that you brought them new toys.'  I gave away toys because I wanted to help make sick kids and their siblings happy.  It would be really great if other kids could also share their toys with kids in the hospital, because then the kids in the hospital would have so many toys to play with.  I hope to give toys again!"

            Yosef Garbow (7B): My parents and I were thinking of starting a project in honor of my upcoming bar mitzvah.  My older sisters, both alumnae of MDS, also did projects for their b'not mitzvah.  My sister Esther collected books and donated them to a school in honor.  My sister Chana shared her bat mitzvah with a girl in Israel who lived in a group home for children whose parents couldn't take care of them, and we visited her in 2006.  My bar mitzvah is in January 2011, and I began a mitzvah project this year.  I like helping sick kids, and I like sports, so we created a project called Champ2Champ.

            Here's what Champ2Champ does: we give personalized, signed sports memorabilia and sports tickets to kids fighting serious illnesses.  We think of the sports stars who sign autographs as champs for signing memorabilia, and we think of the kids as champs for fighting cancer.  We went online to Chai Lifelines, and we connected with a director who linked us with kids.  I have a friend who works for Nestle, and they put billboards on Yankee stadium, so she was able to obtain signed baseballs.  The director at Chai Lifeline connected us with a boy in Georgia who survived cancer, and in honor of his bar mitzvah, his parents wanted to be able to take him to a Yankees game to see his favorite baseball team in action.  I networked through my family friend who works at Nestle to get the boy's name on the scoreboard.

            So far, I haven't met most of the kids that I've helped, because they often live far from the NY area.  Also, some are too sick to go.  For example, we had a pair of sports tickets, and the Chai Lifeline director asked us if they could accommodate a wheelchair.  My family and I realized that even though we can't help heal them, we have the power and ability to make a big difference in opening these kids' worlds and giving them something incredibly special to look forward to.

            This project has made me realize how lucky I am to be healthy.  If you would like to help me, here are some ways:  If you have season sports tickets, and have a extra date available, I can contact Chai Lifeline, and if a kid is healthy enough to go, then we can make the connection.  If you have a connection to a current or former athlete who might be willing to sign autographs or even meet with kids, please let me know.  If you would like to make to make a donation, we would use the money to purchase sports memorabilia to donate to the kids.  I've already distributed all of the signed balls that are in the picture.  And some tickets, as well.  Not all kids like sports, so we were really happy to find a connection to Jimmy Fallon, who is a comedian on Saturday Night Live.  Please let me know if you have a connection to an entertainment figure.  Finally, we're working on a website.  We could use some technical assistance!

7G, accompanied by Mrs. Melzer, Ms. Neuer, and Rebecca Barnet, and our own art teacher, Mrs. Linda Kastner, visited the unique exhibition of illuminated manuscripts loaned by Rene Braginsky.  The collection of manuscripts was co-curated by our own Rebbetzin Sharon Mintz.  The students were very impressed by the magnificent megillot, manuscripts, and, especially, the beautiful ketubot.  After viewing the exhibition and learning about the Jewish culture transmitted from generation to generation, the students created their own rendition of an illuminated first letter of their Hebrew name, in the style of the ketubot, which were truly inspiring and beautiful.  These original decorative pieces will be on display on Tuesday evening, June 8th, on our night of excellence at Manhattan Day School. 

            We live in a dynamic world where everything is in motion, or so it seems.  But not everything is moving the same way.  Some things move from one place to another.  Other things go around and around in a rotational motion.  Still other things are stationary, stable for a time, balanced on a thin line between stop and go.  These are the global phenomena that our fourth graders experience in our balancing objects lab.

            Students discovered numerous ways to balance two dimensional shapes made out of tag board.  They used a piece of pliable wire and counterweights (clothespins) to make a pencil balance on its point.  They created mobiles from paper clips, rubber bands, straws, and index cards to apply their understanding of balance, stability, and counterweighing.  They learned that an object can be balanced in many ways.  A stable position is one that is steady; the object is not falling over.  Counterweights can help balance an object.  A mobile is a system of balanced beams and object.

 

Kindergarteners have been studying about the eyes, optical illusions, motion, and air. Safety and the parts of the human eye were first discussed with the children and then they constructed a thaumatrope motion device.  This device combines two images into a motion picture. Some of the children drew original pictures for their thaumatropes. The history of animation (and movie-making) begins with this simple device from the early 1800's. The thaumatrope is the most basic of motion toys. It consists of a disc that is attached to two pieces of string. When twirled, the images on the sides of the disc are perceived together as a single image. The kindergarten thaumatropes were attached to pencils which allowed them to twirl it.  The helicopters that the students made were constructed from a lightweight napkin and reinforced the idea that air is there even though we do not see it. The children decorated their helicopters, dropped them and observed them float in the air.  We will be studying the eye further in upcoming science classes.

            The third graders welcome you to learn about the United States of America!  We each put together a report on a different state, including the state flower, state bird, state tree, and cool facts.  Some of the states that were focused on were Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Massachusetts, Texas, Alaska, Kansas, Louisiana, and many more.  We were told to be as creative as possible and to use their imagination.  Last week, we presented our reports to the class.  Each of us did a great job preparing posters and reports.  We are all very proud of each other. 

            Here are some interesting facts that we learned from each others'  reports: a third grade class helped create a resolution that was passed in Massachusetts making the chocoloate chip cookie the official cookie of Massachusetts.  We also learned that Tennessee is home to three of our presidents and is the state where Miley Cyrus was born.  Over 75,000,000 people visit Florida each year - amazing!  We hope you will enjoy our reports which are hanging on bulletin boards inside and outside our third grade classroom.  We hope you learn a lot from our good friends, the third graders!

          Grade 4 students followed up their excellent trip to the Lower East Side with a visit by former MDS parent Rena Sichel Rosen of the Lower East Side Conservancy.  She used a smart board to show and analyze pictures of life on the Lower East Side with the students.  In small groups, the students reviewed several images, placing them in a timeline. 

            Preparations are underway for next week's play.  Here is a letter Elan Bettinger wrote to Governor David Patterson:

My name is Elan Bettinger, and I am in fourth grade at Manhattan Day School on the Upper West Side.  Our class has been learning about New York State.  We are putting on a play called New York State: Then and Now.  Our play will take place on June 11^th, at 9:30.  We would like to invite you to our play.  Can you come?

          Unfortunately, we were informed that the governor would not be able to attend.  But we hope you will join us!

• Mazal tov to Marissa Wolf and Ari Fries on their recent marriage!  Yashar koach to Rabbi Czeladnicki for juggling flaming torches at the wedding!

• Reprinted from the Ma'ayanot Stream, May 28^th: Mrs. Ruth Wang Birnbaum offered a challenge to her eleventh grade English class: memorize Hamlet's famous soliloquy, "To be or not to be..." and earn extra credit towards the final exam. Thus far, only one student has come forward, MDS alumna Esther Garbow '11.  Esther did, in fact, learn the whole soliloquy, which she recited with accuracy, understanding and enthusiasm. To date, she is the only member of her class to accept the challenge and meet it successfully. How much extra credit did she earn? "That is the question."

• From Morah Sagit Hoffi: Thank you to the MDS family.  I am very impressed with the hashavat aveidah process here.  For the second time, I lost something important and quickly found it, due to everyone working together.

• Perhaps you borrowed one of our library reference texts but forgot to return it.  If so, please do so asap! Artscroll Talmud (large):  Volumes #2 (Berachos), #11 (Pesachim III), #20 (Megillah), #58 (Menachos)

  Artscroll Saperstein Chumash with Rashi, translated: Bereishis, Bamidbar

  Torah Temimah: Bereishis (new, large)

• June 8                    MDS Celebrates Our Students
• June 9                    Student-Faculty Basketball Game
  
• June 11                  Kindergarten End-of-Year Program
• June 11                  Grade 4 Play, 9:30 am in the Beit Midrash
  

• June 12-13              Rosh Chodesh Tammuz

• June 15                  3C Publishing Party, 9:30 AM
• June 16                  3A Publishing Party, 9:30 AM
  

• June 17                  Grade 8 Graduation

• June 18                  Last day of Preschool

• June 20                  Father's Day

• June 21                  Last day of school grades 6-7

• June 22                  Last day of school grades 1-5

• June 29                  Fast of Tammuz

After viewing different genres of art, from classical to contemporary, our Nursery 4A students visited the rooftop garden, and posed against the Manhattan skyline.

• We are delighted to let you know about a brand new weekly chessed project, Zeidy and Bubby Chat at the Esplanade. 
  
• Parents Tehillim group meets each morning at 8:15 am in the library
• We are continuing to collect cell phones in the lobby for the Major Stuart Adam Wolfer Cell Phone Drive.  These phones will be exchanged for calling cards which Jewish U.S. soldiers can use to call home. 
• Please label your childrens' clothing and other items.  We have a large lost and found for misplaced items.
• Thank you for keeping our school nut-free.

            The end of the school year is a bittersweet time, arriving amid a rush of final report cards, field day celebrations and for many an anxious parent, the quandary over how to ensure their children will keep learning alive over the summer months. To be sure, the experts offer disparate opinions of the agrarian school calendar - a timeworn tradition established in the 19th century granting children the summer off from school to work on the family farm during the growing season and harvest. While some educators cite research that indicates a three-month summer vacation is an anachronism, resulting in children losing one quarter of the knowledge gleaned in the previous school year, others insist that the annual hiatus is necessary to rejuvenate and renew a student's spirit and joy of learning.

            Four educators offered these affordable and creative ways to keep learning alive for kids in the summer:

            Head outside: Judy Melzer, associate principal at the Manhattan Day School in New York, suggests that parents urge kids to unplug their iPads, Nintendo and Wii and head outdoors to explore a neighborhood park, local hiking trail or farmers market. "Our goal for the summer months is that children who are overroutinized and overstressed can discover that learning can and should be fun," says Melzer, who also encourages parents to teach their children the social value of community service, for example, enhancing their language arts skills by writing letters to soldiers in Iraq, and developing empathy and maturity by visiting residents at a senior citizen center.

           Plan a summer trip: Even if a tight budget is limiting a family's vacation options, Los Altos, Calif.-based author and counselor Ana Homayoun says that parents can educate and empower their kids by asking them to plan a family excursion. "Kids love researching places to go, and planning an itinerary," says Homayoun, the author of "That Crumpled Paper Was Due Last Week" (Penguin Books), and the founder and director of Green Ivy Educational Consulting. "They're enhancing their reading skills by researching places to go and where to stay, and developing math skills by working out a budget. Siblings can also learn how to mesh all their ideas together, so they are more engaged in the trip as a family."

           Surf educational sites: As a former teacher and founder and CEO of Grockit (grockit.com), a social network for studying that uses collaborative learning, Farb Nivi begs to differ with those who suggest that kids should scale back their use of technology in the summer. "With all the different activities going on during the summer, it's still easy to jump online and spend 10 minutes here and 20 minutes there playing an educational game," says Nivi, whose Web site is available free of charge to kids for limited use, with a Summer Academy featuring online customized language arts, reading and math tutorials for $79.

            Pack a bag: Nivi urges parents to assemble a summer learning bag for each of their children stuffed with age-appropriate books and magazines, puzzles, games and an I-Pad or handheld, educational video game or two: "The bags are really easy to put together, and you can leave them in the car all summer so the kids have something to do while you're driving them to activities, and while they're waiting around at games."

            Change is good: Marissa Wolf, enrichment program coordinator and middle school math teacher at the Manhattan Day School, says summer is a great time to teach children how to budget and invest their pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. Kids should learn to choose how they will spend their money by saving for a book or game, or perhaps carrying their cash to a neighborhood bank, where they can open their first savings account. "They are learning how to budget, practicing addition and subtraction, and getting a lesson in economics, too," Wolf said.

        Send in your RSVP on time. Don't show up at the bar mitzvah party in sneakers. And no text messaging during the bar mitzvah boy's speech.  Has Miss Manners gone Jewish? Maybe not but a growing number of yeshiva day schools are arming their students with such etiquette tips before they take their spin on the bar/bat mitzvah circuit.

Day schools in Manhattan, Long Island, Riverdale and New Jersey say they are going beyond teaching students about the ritual obligations of becoming a Jewish man or woman; they are coaching them on appropriate behavior at the event celebrating this milestone.

        As they attempt to impose a sense of decorum at parties marking students' Jewish rite of passage, some of the principals admonishing teens to thank their hosts and not push at the buffet sound strikingly similar to Emily Post.  But for a generation in which Miley Cyrus and Sponge Bob Square Pants are icons, the manners lessons are as relevant as reading, writing and arithmetic, educators say.  "It's a big leap for these kids to go from a kiddie birthday party that they had up to age 11, which was a two-hour event for a few hundred dollars to a five-hour bar or bat mitzvah that costs thousands of dollars," said Rabbi Dovid Kupchik, middle school principal of the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway (HAFTR). "It's necessary to give kids the proper guidance as opposed to leaving it to chance."

        Rabbi Binyamin Yablok, associate principal of Manhattan Day School (MDS) agreed. "Today, as the bar has been raised and people are making larger parties with more children, the mom and dad (of the guest of honor) alone cannot keep a handle on this. The hosts can't worry about chasing after a bunch of 12- and 13-year-olds."  MDS and other schools have responded by establishing a contract for parents and students to sign and a list of guidelines for parties. The rules touch on everything from appropriate dress and behavior to the guest list and menu.

Among the requirements? Parents should make a strictly kosher affair and not exclude anyone in the class and attendees should honor the importance of this once-in-a-lifetime occasion through their behavior as well as attire.

"If you have a nice simcha and everyone is dressed up, you don't want someone showing up in sneakers and jeans, mused Rabbi Yablok.

        HAFTR tries to impart its message by creating a mock bar/bat mitzvah party, which allows students to practice their manners. "At each stage of the party we pause and we reflect with the students on that phase to determine what they did right and wrong," Kupchik said. For example, when the kids arrive at the party, he points out, did they all remember to look for the bar mitzvah boy and his parents to wish them a mazel tov before doing anything else?"  Like other school principals, Kupchik advises his students to participate in the dancing because it enhances the simcha for the guest of honor. To insure that students are as graceful on the dance floor as Fred Astaire, a dance expert is on hand to teach them steps to several circle dances. 

        As for the most crucial tip he imparts to parents of the bar/bat mitzvah, Kupchik says, "We encourage the parents to invite more kids and spend less on the event. ...We want 100 percent participation."In fact, many schools have a rule that if a student invites more than 50 percent of the class (or one gender in the class) to a party, then the entire class (or that entire gender) must be invited. In that way, nobody will feel excluded.

        Rabbi Chaim Hagler of Yeshivat Noam in Paramus says he spends lot of time talking to his students about how to behave appropriately during prayer services (get there on time and sit quietly), how to sit during a series of speeches (quietly and respectfully), and during a kiddish or buffet table (don't push).  "Even if everyone else is pushing at a kiddish, you shouldn't push," Hagler said. "Be patient and wait your turn. If it's a buffet table, it's the same idea, you wait your turn. Then, after you take your food, you step away from the table. It sounds funny, but it's important for them to learn that."

        Atara Berliner, director of professional development and student guidance at the Ramaz Middle School, said that the school's advisory program not only teaches students to assume full responsibility as Jewish adults for observing the mitzvot, but also to behave with proper derech eretz (respect and manners) when they are guests at their peers' bar/bat mitzvah celebrations.  "We talk about what it means to behave appropriately, including taking food in an orderly and respectful manner, not grabbing or cutting the line, offering seats to the adults if there's a shortage and even returning the response card in a timely fashion," she said. "We stress the importance of seemingly obvious but often overlooked behaviors such as thanking the hosts - both their classmate and the parents - at the end of the celebration...."

        The school gives both the student and the parents a copy of these expectations for signatures. "This way, maintaining proper decorum at these pivotal life events becomes a cooperative endeavor between parents and the school, where everyone agrees on basic guidelines for appropriate conduct," she said.

        Of course many of the rabbis and teachers emphasize that such essential life lessons about appropriate behavior and treating others respectfully are as much a part of Jewish law as the prohibition against eating a ham sandwich. The obligation to enhance a simcha and not to insult a classmate are right up there on the Jewish "to do list" with putting on tefillin and lighting Shabbat candles, they say.

        But sometimes, kids need to be reminded. Hence the need for gentle nudges like contracts and rule lists.

Rabbi Yablok added, "It's fair to say that even well behaved and well brought up students, when they get together in a group and perceive they are not being held accountable, will take liberties. It begs some greater level of planning and supervision.  At the very least, it needs to be talked about."

Thanks to all students, parents, and teachers

who brought in box tops and raised OVER $800 for MDS,

DOUBLE the amount that was raised last year!!!!

Congratulations to 5G!

Your class brought in the most box tops! 

You are the winners of an ice cream party!

Congratulations to our final winner of the year, Yonina Segal (5G), who brought in the most Box Tops in May - 443!  Honorary mention goes to Jonathan (2C) and Joshua (K5A) Kloepfer, who brought in 405 box tops.  Thank you to all who brought in box tops over the year - every box top counts! 

SUMMER GOAL

If every student brings in 10 Box Tops, we will raise $500!  You can clip 10¢ Box Tops coupons from hundreds of your favorite products such as Cheerios, Ziploc, Kleenex, Hefty, Huggies, Pullups, and more! 

It's that easy to raise money for MDS! 

Thank you to our Box Tops Program Coordinators

Mindy Chassin Horowitz and Sharon Newman.

1. (a) Why does the Torah relate the meraglim incident right after Miriam's tzara'at (2 reasons)? (b) (1) On what date did Moshe send them? (2) How do we know this (2 ways)? (c) Why does the order of the meraglim's shevatim differ from that of the census (1:5-15) or inauguration korbanot (7:12-83)? (d) Who: (1) were Calev's 2 wives? (2) was his son? (e) Why is Yehoshua called "bin" (son of) Nun instead of "ben"? (Bamidbar 13:2-16)

(a) (1) After the meraglim saw Hashem punish Miriam for lashon hara, they failed to learn a lesson and they went ahead and spoke lashon hara about Eretz Yisrael (Rashi). (2) Moshe sent them on the day Miriam finished her tzara'at isolation; (b) (1) 29 Sivan of Bnei Yisrael's 2nd year in the midbar; (2) (i) Bnei Yisrael left Har Sinai on 20 Iyar of the 2nd year (Bamidbar 10:11), traveled 3 days (Bamidbar 10:33) till 23 Iyar and camped at Kivrot ha-Ta'ava, where they demanded meat. Hashem provided meat for a month (29 days) (Bamidbar 11:20) until 22 Sivan, when they arrived in Chatzeirot. On this day, Miriam spoke lashon hara and was afflicted with tzara'at for 7 days (Bamidbar 12:15) until 29 Sivan, and Moshe sent the meraglim on that day. (ii) The meraglim returned to Bnei Yisrael on 8 Av (the day before Tisha B'av) after spending 40 days in Eretz Yisrael (Bamidbar 13:25); therefore, they had left Bnei Yisrael on 29 Sivan (29-30 Sivan (2 days), plus 1-30 Tamuz (30 days), plus 1-8 Av (8 days), for a total of 40 days) (Taanit 29a). (c) The meraglim are listed in the order of their personal stature before their emotions caused them to sin (Ramban). (d) (1) (i) Miriam (Sifri); (ii) Bitya, Pharaoh's daughter (Megilla 13a). (2) Chur (Sifri). (e) Bin Nun sounds like the word 'bina" (understanding); the Torah emphasizes Yehoshua's great understanding of Torah (Ramban).

2. (a) Why did 10 meraglim decide to report negatively about Eretz Yisrael? (b) Since their report did not contain overt lies, why were they punished? (c) (1) When the verse states, "they [the meraglim] ascended in the Negev, and he arrived at Chevron", why does the Torah change from plural to singular? (2) Why did Yehoshua not go to Chevron, too? (Bamidbar 13:22-29)

(a) Under Moshe's leadership, they were nesi'im but knew from Eldad's and Meidad's prophesy that Yehoshua would lead Bnei Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael and probably appoint new nesi'im. By detaining Bnei Yisrael in the midbar, they would remain leaders (Torah Ohr). (b) While the meraglim began by giving factual information, they showed a lack of faith in Hashem by using the word "efes" ("but") to express their opinion that despite the land's goodness, it was unconquerable (Ramban). (c) (1) While the meraglim went south, as Moshe had instructed, only Calev went to Chevron to daven at Me-orat ha-Machpeila that Hashem save him, in the merit of the avot, from the meraglim's plot; (2) Yehoshua did not need to ask Hashem for help at that time because Moshe already had davened for him (Bamidbar 13:16), when he added the letter yud to his name (Sotah 34b).

3. (a) Why did Hashem want the meraglim to return on the night before Tisha B'Av? (b) What did Yehoshua and Calev mean by "[the Cana'anim's] protection has left them" (2 explanations)? (c) Why did Hashem decree that Bnei Yisrael's additional time in the midbar after the meraglim's sin would be 38 years (2 reasons)? (d) Which 5 groups were excluded from Hashem's decree that Bnei Yisrael die in the midbar and not enter Eretz Yisrael? (e) Why did Hashem punish only men between the ages 20 - 60? (f) From where do we learn that those causing others to sin are not given a chance for teshuva? (Bamidbar 14:1,9,28-34)

(a) On this date, Ya'akov defeated Esav's angel (Bereishit 32:25-31); Hashem wanted Ya'akov's merit to help overcome the meraglim's yeitzer hara to speak against Eretz Yisrael (Zohar). (b) (1) He nullified the Cana'anim's guardian angels' power (R. Bechaya). (2) Iyov, whose virtue protected the Cana'anim, died (Rashi). (c) (1) Hashem punished them with exile of one year for each of the 40 days that the meraglim, who went during the 2nd year in the midbar, were in Eretz Yisrael (Rashi). (2) The Cana'anim showed Sarah respect at her funeral and to Avraham who was buried 38 years later; when they showed respect at Iyov's funeral, their reward was 38 more years before Bnei Yisrael's conquest began (Oznayim laTorah). (d) (1) Yehoshua and Calev; (2) the generation's women, and (3) members of Sheivet Levi, who did not participate in the sins of the eigel and the meraglim; (4) males under 20 years old; (5) men above the age of 60 (Bamidbar Raba). (e) They were eligible for the army but refused to combat the Cana'anim (Chizkuni). (f) The meraglim were punished instantly so that they could not repent (Alshich).               

4. (a) (1) When did Bnei Yisrael begin performing the mitzvah of chala? (2) Why do the nesachim (libations) and chala laws follow the meraglim's sin (2 reasons)? (b) Why do we separate chala today, when it cannot be given to the kohen? (c) (1) How much dough requires separation of chala? (2) How do we know this? (d) To which 5 grains does the chala requirement apply? (e) How much dough has to be separated as chala? (f) If a liquid other than water is used to knead the dough, is separation of chala required?  

(a) (1) When they entered Eretz Yisrael - not in the midbar (R. Bechaya). (2) (i) Hashem comforted Bnei Yisrael with laws for Eretz Yisrael, telling them they would enter the land despite their sin (Rashi). (ii) After the cheit ha-eigel, libations were required for communal korbanot to give a rei-ach nicho-ach (sweet savor); after the meraglim's sin, libations were required to give a rei-ach nicho-ach for individual korbanot (Sforno). (b) So that this law should not be forgotten (we burn it instead of giving it to a kohen); (c) (1) an omer (size of 43.2 eggs); (2) Bnei Yisrael had to separate chala from "ari-soteichem" (your kneading); the amount of mon with which Bnei Yisrael was familiar was an omer (Sifri). (d) wheat, barley, spelt, oats, rye; (e) The Torah sets no minimum; Chazal required 1/24 of a private person's dough and 1/48 of a baker's be separated; (f) yes (Seifer haChinuch - Mitzvah 385).

Parent Update: We are now able to view our school's minutes. Once your child has logged in, click on the tab, next to Manhattan Day School Minutes Board, save your school. Follow the prompts to add your e-mail address.

In doing so, you and your child can view our school's progress.

Thank you for doing such a great job!  Let's keep those minutes rolling.

Julie Averbuch & Daphne Herskowitz, Reading Coordinators