~Hashem . . . Caleb Siegel
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?מה חדש
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Parent Child Pirke Avot Chavruta Study
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Who is wise? Is it preferable to be a tree with many branches and few roots or a tree with few branches and many roots? Ask a sixth grader and they will be able to tell you what chazal think. In accordance with the widespread Jewish custom to study the six chapters of Pirke Avot during the six weeks between Pesach and Shavuot, the mishnayot of Massechet Avot were divided up between sixth grade classes. The students then learned their portion with their parents b'chavruta. These six weeks, in which we are preparing ourselves to receive the Torah on Shavuot, are befitting for study of Pirke Avot, which is replete with insights about understanding and improving our character.
On Wednesday, May 27, erev, erev Shavuot, a siyum was held in honor of the sixth grade's collective completion of Pirke Avot. After a festive pizza luncheon in their class area, Rabbi Linzer gathered the students."Standing here and having this view of you as b'nei and b'not mitzvot, having accomplished something of significance together, is a beautiful sight," he began. "This is not just a party we're having today, though it is that too; it is also a siyum, which many of you know means conclusion. When concluding a significant work of learning, we celebrate and have a seudah to mark the occasion. But no seudah is complete, as it says in Pirke Avot, without divrei Torah."
Students presented beautiful words of Torah based on what they had learned, considered, and clearly reflected upon in their study of Pirke Avot. Rabbi Linzer concluded the siyum in the traditional manner by leading the group in learning the last section of Massechet Avot together.
In order to be equipped for this endeavor, each student received their own Hebrew-English edition of Pirke Avot to add to their seforim collection. "This is just the beginning of your wonderful learning of Pirke Avot," Rabbi Linzer concluded.
Mazal Tov sixth graders on your accomplishment, yasher koach sixth grade teachers, and thank you sixth grade parents for your partnership!
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Pirke Avot Carnival
 Following the siyum, the students transformed SAR's lunchroom into a carnival filled with booths, created by the students for the students, each of which brought various mishnayot of Pirke Avot alive. It was a fun, hands-on opportunity to reinforce what had been learned during the six week study. In order to illustrate the mishnah to "know what is above you: a seeing eye, a hearing ear, and a book in which all your deeds are recorded." (Perek ב mishnah א) students created a recording station. To help their peers make the connection between three different ideas in Massechet Avot, students manned a matching booth. Other sixth graders hosted a cooking center to convey the value of haknasset orchim. What does fortune telling have to do with Pirke Avot? Ask a sixth grader to find out!
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The PLC Character Counts
Because It Really Does Count!
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 The Professional Learning Community 'Character Counts' concluded their final session of the year by reflecting on what committee members gained in their study of character development. The group then worked in their sub-committees: Big Things, Little Things, Hakarat HaTov, and Parent Education to collaboratively design one quadrant of a mural entitled ומצדקי הרבים ככוכבים לעולם ועד, "Those who lead the many to righteousness shall be like stars forever and ever." It is hanging outside Morah Becky's office adjacent to the shul. One group created a collage of all the initiatives implemented in the ELC toward raising students' awareness of derech eretz; another incorporated quotes by our school's namesake, Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, "It is harder to change one character trait than to learn the entire gemora." and, "The way to develop any middah is to express that quality over and over again." A third highlighted the concept: Olam chesed yibaneh; and the fourth incorporates Dawna Markova's quote: "If you suffer greatly, when you have a toothache, it's only right that you be grateful in equal measure with the 'untoothache'."
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On Tuesday afternoon, 6Y hosted a Science Fair in the Multi-Purpose Room. The three other sixth grade classes came to visit and walked through the presentation boards to listen to their friends' explain their projects. All students chose a topic, began with a hypothesis, and conducted an experiment to test their hypothesis. Topics ranged from testing various cleaning supplies, if people remember word lists better if they hear or if they see them, and what kinds of substances popcorn can pop in and why. Some booths had activities for the visitors to try based on their experiments. For example, one student asked her visitors to choose one stain remover to try out on a ketchup, mustard, or barbecue sauce stain. She found that Shout Wipes remove the stain the best because of their concentration of hydrogen peroxide and other chemicals. The Shout Wipes worked better than hydrogen peroxide alone, because, as the pharmacist told the student, it was diluted with water. One student read twenty words out loud to thirty different sixth graders, then asked them to recall as many words from the lists as possible. She then asked them to read a list of twenty different words on their own, then turn the sheet over and recall as many words as possible. While the results for both were about the same, students could recall more words after reading them on their own versus hearing them. While this student admitted that her testing sample is too small to draw conclusions from, she theorized that the results she did find could be due to the students' heavy reliance on SMARTBoards, television, computers, whiteboards, etc. Thank you, Mrs. Krasner, for organizing this year's Science Fair.
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Your Turn To Learn
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Rabbi Rosenberg concluded this year's Your Turn to Learn Adult Lecture Series on Wednesday morning with an engaging shiur on The Maharal's Golem: Fact or Fiction. It turns out that none of the Maharal of Praque's contemporaries ever talked about the Golem. The story came out three hundred years later and seems to be suspiciously similar to a Sherlock Holmes story. Should the Golem stories be re-titled to Sherlock's Golem? Get your detective hats on, folks, because additional research may be necessary to crack this case!
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~Moshe Rabbeinu . . . Sarah Brooks
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| Insights . . . by Kathy Kafer
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Through The Windshield of The Family Car
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A few years ago, I was teaching my son how to drive, and a good friend was trying to convince her elderly father to stop driving. It struck me that so many of life's milestones can be seen through the windshield of the family car. Suddenly, I had an idea for a new play - The Lincoln Continental, the story of a father, a daughter, and the car that drives their relationship for 35 years.
The Lincoln Continental will be performed this summer in the Midtown International Theatre Festival. It's hard to say how long it took to write - and rewrite - the play. The short answer is a long time. But even now, as rehearsals are beginning, I'll probably still change a few lines or maybe even rework entire scenes. I've tried to share that message with my students - that writing is rewriting and that only turkeys cooking away in the oven are ever "done."
I'm always looking for opportunities to bring a bit of theater into my lessons. When reading aloud, like every teacher I know, I love to ham it up, and I encourage my students to emote as well. When we come across passages rich in dialogue, I'll assign parts and have the students read their "roles" with expression and drama. From there, it's very natural to discuss how each actor felt and what he or she thought.
This year, I was fortunate enough to lead a few drama groups. As students did improvisations, they learned just how vital it is to listen carefully to one another; they learned that it's not just what you say, but how you say it. More than anything, I hope they came to realize how exciting it is to tune into their own imaginations instead of a computer game or TV show.
For $18 tickets to The Lincoln Continental go to www.midtownfestival.org
or call 866-811-4111. Time & Place: July 19 @ 2 p.m/July 20 @ 8:30 p.m./July 28 @ 6:30 p.m./Aug. 2 @ noon
Workshop Theatre Main Stage
312 W. 36th Street, 4th floor
New York City
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~my reading enrichment teacher . . . Inbal Katz
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| Spoken From The Heart . . . by Jessie Sherman, 5Z |
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The Israeli Day Parade took place on Sunday May 31st this year. It was a beautiful day for marching-sunny and warm. Lots of people showed up to support Israel and cheer the marchers on.
The theme of the parade was Tel Aviv because this year is the 100th anniversary of it's founding. SAR's banners showed different aspects of Tel Aviv: it's beautiful beaches as well as it's busy city life. We carried bouquets of shiny streamers in different colors which we waved as we marched. The 8th graders held the bigger props showing the pictures of Tel Aviv. There was loud Israeli pop music which gave lots of spirit to the atmosphere.
The Israeli Day Parade was loud and colorful. I look forward to marching next year.
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~Rabbi Akiva . . . Ariel Greenwald
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| איפה חדש : Washington, D.C.
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This past Monday and Tuesday, the eighth grade traveled to our nation's capitol, Washington D.C., for their final, graduating trip. We arrived at school at 6:30, davened, had breakfast and then loaded onto the buses. Our first stop was a tasty one at the Herr's factory where we learned how pretzels and potato chips are manufactured and even got to try some hot potato chips right from the conveyer belt. There were many photo opportunities at the Capitol building and monuments. Following mincha and dinner, we went to Sheer Madness, a hysterical comedy show about a murder mystery. We loved when the actors involved us in the show.
The next day the eighth graders woke up at 7:30 to daven and have breakfast. We journeyed to the White House where we took many pictures of the famous landmark. Afterward, Rabbi Drelich filled us in on a little history about the third president at the Jefferson Memorial. An interesting next stop was the Department of Engraving, where we learned how complicated producing money is and how many machines and procedures the bills have to go through. After a quick lunch, we went to the Air and Space Museum and visited many different exhibits such as those about planets and airplanes. After that, we were privileged to visit the Spy Museum and learned to deny everything and never to trust anyone. The SAR eighth graders left the gift shop in disguise with cool gadgets. Before boarding the bus, we were treated to a delicious barbecue and snow cones for dessert. We thanked all our teachers for making this final trip so fun and memorable.
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~George Washington . . . Nate Katz
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באמצע: JHS News
. . . in the middle of Middle School |
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Torah . . . Well Done
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In honor of Yom Yerushalayim, over seventy-five people including seventh grade students and staff had celebrated the day with a chagiga at the home of Rabbi Moshe and Debbie Drelich. Students prepared and shared divrei Torah and stories. They were treated to a barbecue with all the accoutrements. Delicious brownies were prepared by Dr. Fine. The highlight was roasting marshmallows and listening to Rabbi Drelich's personal story about the kotel. Next time you see him, ask him to tell it to you! |
~my grandfathers . . . Gila Weinrib
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דבר תורה
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 By: Ethan Metzger
There were many things to learn from this week's parasha, Naso. One thing we can learn is from the description of a nazir, someone who is does not drink wine, cut his hair, or become impure. Unlike a kohen who also can't be impure, a nazir cannot even go to the funerals of their closest relatives.
In this week's parasha, at the conclusion, it is written in the Torah that a nazir, who is previously described as holy, must give a korban chatat, an offering of sin. Why does a nazir need to bring a korban chatat? What would the sin be? The Meshekh Chakhma suggests that it is because a nazir misses out on performing mitzvoth such as saying kiddush and burying a relative because of the restrictions he has taken on. Even though he does many mitzvoth and is considered very holy, because of his chumrahs he is not able to fulfill other mitzvoth and therefore must bring a korban chatat. It is from this that we learn not to take on additional chumrahs lightly. If being "super holy" prevents us from doing other important mitzvot, maybe we need to carefully weigh the true value of taking on additional restrictions in our lives to make sure that the costs do not outweigh the benefits.
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~Barak Obama . . . Josh Morris
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| Photo Of The Week!
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"We're celebrating Israel and 100 years of Tel Aviv!"
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~the guiders of my life, my parents . . . Nina Siegel
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| Helping Our Chayalim |
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Toba Stern is collecting the following items to deliver to apackagefromhom.com, an organization that sends care packages to Combat Chayalim Bodedim (soldiers without family in Israel) and severely wounded soldiers who are receiving long term hospital care. Please drop donations in the box in front of the big building:
Deodorant (non aerosol)
lip balm
sunscreen
toothbrushes
If everyone drops off one thing, we can make a big difference!!!
A box for this collection is in the Atrium. |
| Lost and Found |
Girl's wallet found - See Chavie
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| Mazal Tov! |
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Mazal Tov to Toby & Stuart Smith upon the birth of a daughter, sister to Arit, kindergarten, Eliana, 1st grade and Gavriel, 5th grade.
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| Condolences |
| Condolences to Moshe Ollech on the passing of his father, Natan Ollech, grandfather of Yonit ('10), Yaron ('06), Eli ('02) and Tanya.
Condolences to Milton, Eddie and Pearl Sussman on the loss of their mother, Helga Sussman, grandmother of Avi and Hillel (SAR alum), Hannah (10th), Malka (8th), Yoni and Zev. |
| Thank You |
| Miriam Herring would like to thank everyone in SAR who donated to the RJC Journal and Dinner on her behalf. |
| Community News |
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An Evening of Inspiration to benefit BONEI OLAM
Sunday, June 7th at 8:00 pm
Helping infertile couples achieve their ultimate dream
at the home of
Mr. & Mrs. Alain & Naomi Spira
5245 Blackstone Avenue, Riverdale, NY 10471
Guest Speaker: Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser
Executive Message: Rabbi Shlomo Bochner
Refreshments will be served
Free Admission · For Men and Women
For more information please contact yhl@boneiolam.org or Valérie Roshwalb roshwalb@yahoo.com
RJC TEENS
RJC Teens Presents
Teen BBQ & Baseball Game @ JHS
When: Sunday, June 7th 2009 @ 5PM Join the RJC Teens
for a fun and friendly game of soft ball against the Teens of HIR.
The game will be followed by a BBQ on the RJC Deck (outside the RJC office)
Cost of BBQ: $5 per person
Where: JHS Ball field
Time: 5:00
See you then!
For Info on teen events contact Noam Schneck @ noam.schneck@gmail.com
Special KLL Announcement
The Championship games & BBQ/Trophy Celebration will NOW be taking place at Seton Park.
Join us @ Seton Park as we all celebrate a wonderful Season!
BRACHA/MELACHA BEE
RJC Youth Congratulates all the participants of the 2009 Bracha & Melacha Bee on a job well done!
Congrats to our four mega-prize winners!
Melacha Bee:
1st place: Ayelet Senderowitz
2nd place: Yehuda Dov Reiss
Bracha Bee:
Tied for 1st: Tali Kronisch & Nachi Spierer
RJC Teens Presents (New Date)
Teen BBQ & Baseball Game @ JHS
SAR Academy Chess Championship
Sunday June 14th
K- 12th Grade
Registration at 9:00 am
Young Israel Oheb Zedek (YIOZ) of North Riverdale Scrip Program
Proceeds for the youth program.
For more information contact SAR parent who chairs the program, Hindel Jesselson at 347 449 5730.
RJC Scrip Program
With over 70 stores participating, these cards are perfect or birthdays, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, Year End Teacher gifts and more. Visit http://www.rjconline.org/gc09.pdf for more info or contact the RJC Office at 718-548-1850
Tefillin For Sale
Two mitzvot with one act. Support Israel and purchase kosher tefillin from Israel at a wholesale price. All profits from the sale go directly to the sofrim and the tefillin makers in Israel. Contact Rabbi Drelich for details email drelim@saracademy.org or 718-548-1717 ext 1212.
News from Wave Hill
Admission to Wave Hill is free on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 9AM to 12Noon.
Wave Hill Members: Wave Hill Members who are Shomer Shabbat and would like to visit the facility on Shabbat and do not wish to carry their ID cards, may provide their names when they arrive at the front gate; Wave Hill staff are provided with a pre-printed Member list.
Wave Hill Non-Members: Wave Hill Non-Members who are Shomer Shabbat and would like to visit the facility on Shabbat afternoon or on Jewish holidays, may call in advance and prepay for their visit. A record of this arrangement will be held at the front gate, to be checked when such visitors arrive. |
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SAR Academy
655 W. 254th Street Phone:718-548-1717
Riverdale, NY 10471 Fax: 718-601-0082
www.saracademy.org | |
