| Mark Your Calendar |
Sunday, May 9th - Mother's Day Wednesday, May 12th - Yom Yerushalayim
Thursday, May 13th - Blood Drive at SAR Academy from 2:30 to 8:30pm
Thursday, May 13th - Your Turn to Learn Series at 9:30am
Friday, May 14th - Rosh Chodesh Sivan-SAR's Mi'Dor L'Dor Siyum HaTorah
Sunday, May 16th-Spring Musical at 5pm in the gym
Monday, May 17th-Spring Musical at 7pm in the gym
Tuesday, May 18th - Erev Shavuot - Early Dismissal: 1:15 ELC; 1:30 Academy
Wednesday, May 19th - Thursday, May 20 - Shavuot, No Sessions
Sunday, May 23rd - Salute To Israel Parade Monday, May 24th - Matan Bat Mitzvah Program
Wednesday, May 26th - Academy Faculty Meetings, Early Dismissal ELC 3:00 Academy 3:15
Thursday, May 27th - First Grade Intergenerational Math Fair, First Grade Area, 9am
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Helpful Hints
 Our Siyum HaTorah will be held at Seton Park on Independence Avenue, between W 235th and W 232nd Streets on
Friday, May 14th from
10 to 11:15 A.M.
We will celebrate the completion of the Mi'Dor L'Dor Learn-A- Thon with a siyum ceremony, Divrei Torah, singing, and dancing. Please join us as we honor all those who participated in the Mi'Dor L'Dor Learn a Thon! | |
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| In Our Community |
Mazal Tov
Mazal Tov to Morah Rivki (ELC) & Sam Schacher upon the birth of a granddaughter, Emma Esther. Proud parents are Yael & Ed Canedo
Condolences
Condolences to Morah Linda Rosenberger (Day Care Teacher) on the loss of her husband, David Rosenberger, father of Joseph, Michael, Brian, Robert, and Rachel. |
| Spring Parent
Forums | |
Moshe and Abbie Greenberg will host the final Spring Parent Forum on May 11th.
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SAR Academy's Spring Musical
The Little Prince
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5th and 6th Grade Musical
The Little Prince
Based on the book by Antoine de Saint-Exup�ry
Sunday, May 16th at 5PM
Monday, May 17th at 7PM
SAR Academy Gym
Tickets can be purchased at the door
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| AUCTION COMMITEE
MEMBERS NEEDED
We are looking for parents to get involved in planning one of our key fundraising events of the coming year, the SAR Auction!
Parents and community members raved about our online auction last year, and with your help, we will build on our past successes. Be part of this exciting event where you will get to know many SAR parents while raising much needed funds for SAR.
Our first committee meeting will be on Monday, May 10th at 8:30 pm at the SAR High School. Please reply to [email protected]to let us know if you can make it. If you are unable to make the meeting but still want to volunteer please let us know.
We can't wait to hear from you!
Deena Berger, Elana Minkove, Dana Teplitsky
2010 Auction Chairs |
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Candlelighting: 7:40 Havdalah: 8:43
Parashat Behar/Bechukotai |
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A Message from Rabbi Krauss |
Dear Parents,
This past week we held the Michael Schreck Memorial Basketball Games. Our faculty and student players and spectators enjoyed the games, as we remembered Michael Schreck and commemorated his yarhzeit, which was on the seventh day of Pesach. Michael made work fun. He loved life, he loved kids, and he loved Israel. This event celebrates what Michael embraced and helps provide scholarships for students who wish to study in Israel the year after high school.
Thank you to Jenny Horowitz and Tali Cohen for organizing this event. Thank you to Vera Schreck for joining us and supporting this initiative. Thank you to all those who donated. For those who still wish to contribute: Please click here to donate online. After "Donation Type" please choose "Michael Schreck Memorial Fund". Alternatively, you may send in a check payable to The Michael Schreck Memorial Fund and mail it to the attention of Zelda Stern.
Shabbat Shalom,
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| Tizku L'Mitzvot! | | HELP SAVE A LIFE IN OUR COMMUNITY
Swab, Donate, Volunteer
Bone Marrow Registry Drive for Matt Fenster
and 9 year old Sarah
Matt Fenster, an SAR parent, is a father of four young children, a husband, a son, and a brother. He is a friend to many. He has worked endlessly to help his community in Riverdale, NY and beyond. Now he needs our help. Matt was diagnosed with AML - Acute Myelogenous Leukemia - in April 2010. He now needs a bone marrow transplant to save his life and we are desperately searching for a marrow match for Matt.
Sarah is 9 years old and was diagnosed with Leukemia for the second time and is in urgent need of a bone marrow transplant to survive.
Also, a relative of an SAR teacher who is undergoing chemo is in need of A- blood. To help please contact:
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Mothers are . . . (See quotes throughout.) |
| ?מה חדש |
*Michael Schreck Memorial
Basketball Games*
 
SAR Staff teamed up on Monday for the annual Michael Schreck Memorial Basketball Game. To raise money for the Memorial Fund in his name, the Female Staff team played against the 7th and 8th grade girls' basketball team and the Male Staff challenged the 8th grade boys' basketball team. The students in the "stands" first heard a little about Michael Schreck himself, former executive director of SAR. "His smile lit up the business office, lunch room, and entire building, and he was always concerned with learning and tzedakah." Michael's wife Vera watched from the sidelines, supporting both teams.
Each game had four 8-minute periods, and every four minutes the players rotated to give everyone a chance to play. The ladies began with team huddles and were off running at the referee's whistle. The pressure was on as Sara Waxman scored the first points for the girls' team. Students cheered on the staff with hand-made signs, and the first basket for the staff was soon scored. Passing was prominent, fake outs and calls abounded, and in the end, the staff won. During the half-time show, the High School Girls Basketball Team and this year's league champions performed a ball handling drill with coach Tali Cohen. Sammy Marcus then took three shots from the midline to raise money for the Memorial Fund. He made it on the third try then showed off his skills with a few lay-ups and slam dunks. The men's game was exciting, entertaining, and full of teamwork. Many assists to the bottom of the basket kept the staff team in the lead. The sixth graders watched eagerly, awaiting their turn to play in two years. At the end of the game, before dismissal, everyone jumped onto the court for a little impromptu dribbling and shooting practice.
Thank you to all those who donated to the Michael Schreck Memorial Fund and helped to send SAR graduates to study in Yeshiva in Israel.
*Nature's Classroom*
 Year after year, Nature's Classroom is a favorite experience of SAR students. Passing by the fifth grade area on Monday morning before their departure, fifth graders were overheard saying, "We're so, so excited!"
This trip is a unique educational experience that offers hands-on interdisciplinary environmental education. Spending the better part of a week living and learning together gave our fifth graders the opportunities to further develop their sense of community. They strengthened peer cooperation and expanded student-teacher relationships. "Besides all the science learning going on, which includes raising consciousness and gratitude for every thing in nature, including what we eat," fifth grade teacher Morah Julie Levinson said, "Nature's Classroom is really all about working together as a team, about living and working together in nature."
 Students had Field Groups and Special Interest Groups each day. Their Field Groups included: looking at changes throughout time, predator/prey relationships in the natural environment, and the ways in which producers, consumers and decomposers all depend on each other, and more. In the science special interest groups our students' choices included: studying pond life, investigating the aerodynamics of a boomerang; in math class they had the chance to construct a geodesic dome or find their way through the woods with a map and compass; in social studies class they played Native American Games or designed and built a miniature community, and in humanities classes students had the chance to enhance their senses with a blindfolded walk in the woods. Meals and evening activities were replete with learning opportunities as well. "Our students began to consider ort, all the food leftover from their plates," said Morah Milly Rosner. "The leftovers are weighed at the end of the first meal and it's something like eleven pounds!. By the last meal close to one pound is leftover. The students learn to be conscious about taking only what they need and not wasting resources."
Nature's Classroom is an unforgettable experience. Our fourth graders are already looking forward to it!
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~kind . . . Amram Zeitchik |
| It's That "KIND" of Week |
  Last week, the Chessed Club gave back to the Bronx Jewish community and had a great experience. We visited the Kingsbridge Center of Israel in efforts to help revitalize the Shul, and help it rebuild itself into a thriving place of tefillah. In order to accomplish this, we repainted rooms in the shul, particularly the nursery room. We came with energy and excitement to do a great job, and came out satisfied with the beautiful work we did along with the assistance we were able to offer to such a great shul.
-Anna Ballan, SAR 8th Grade Chessed Club
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| ~able to do a lot in a little time . . . Nina Siegel |
| Spoken From The Heart . . . With Poems In Their Pockets |
National Poetry Month is a month-long, national celebration of poetry established by the Academy of American Poets. According to the AAP, "the concept is to widen the attention of individuals and the media to the art of poetry, to living poets, to our complex poetic heritage, and to poetry books and journals of wide aesthetic range and concern."
Fourth grade had a lovely "Poem in Your Pocket Day". Children chose a favorite poem to memorize and then recite for their classmates. Some students even penned poems of their own. Some teachers did too! It was delightful to hear the students' interpretations of poems and see the enjoyment on their classmates' faces as they listened intently to each poem that was recited.
 In 6Z, students studied various poems and then memorized four lines from one of them. To give her students the opportunity to recite their poems, Morah Pearl Taback got creative. She borrowed stop signs from the guards' station and divided the class into three groups. Each group visited a class or stopped an individual, put up the stop sign, and the group recited their poem. It was enormous fun and a real show "stopper".
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~caring, loving, helpful, and generous . . . Davida Krauss |
| Learning To Look |
 In the final classroom session of Learning to Look this year, we introduced the children to sculpture. The children looked at two sculptures: Rodin's Adam and Degas' The 14 Year Old Dancer. They noticed how the Rodin sculpture was very muscular and full of tension, while the Degas sculpture was more static and refined. We discussed the different materials that sculptors use such as clay, bronze, stone, etc. The children learned how a sculptor utilizes positive and negative space. The children also learned about relief sculpture and how it differs from sculpture in the round. We showed the children an example of relief sculpture that they use everyday, coins! The lesson culminated in a clay project where each child created their very own sculpture. Finally, all classes will be going on a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see the works they have studied in their "Learning to Look" sessions.
We would like to thank all of our "Learning to Look" parent and grandparent volunteers without whom this program would not be possible. We look forward to continuing "Learning to Look" next year.
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~kind and nice . . . Devorah Cohen |
| בראשית : ELC News
the beginning steps . . . |
Four year nursery classes enjoyed their spring
visit to Wave Hill. |
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~people who help you . . . Caleb Siegel |
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באמצע: JHS News
. . . in the middle of Middle School | |
*Sixth Grade Pirke Avot Study*
In accordance with the widespread Jewish custom to study the six chapters of mishnayot of Pirke Avot during the six weeks between Pesach and Shavuot, our sixth graders are participating in this endeavor.
These weeks in which we prepare ourselves for the receiving of the Torah on Shavuot, it is befitting to study Pirke Avot which is replete with insights about understanding and improving our character. The students are learning b'chavruta, individually, and guided by their teachers. Due to the nature of the topics in these mishnayot, their study is thought provoking, enriching, and sparks many discussions between students and among the students and teachers.
The grade is looking forward to their Pirke Avot-themed carnival!
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~there for you in good times and bad times . . . Zvi Kaminetzky |
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דבר תורה |
 By: Miya Gorodischer
Grade: 4
This week's parsha is Behar-Bechukotai. Parashat Bechukotai opens with a very important lesson. The first pasuk says: אִם בְּחֻקֹּתַי תֵּלֵכוּ, which literally means, if you will "walk" in my laws.
Rashi asks why the pasuk says "walk" in my laws, and not follow or do my laws instead? Since we know that every word in the Torah has a special meaning, we must try to understand why the Torah chose to use that specific word. Rashi answers that the Torah says "walk in my laws" since it wants to teach us that the path to Torah and Kiyum Mitzvot is a journey and we must always be trying to do our best to reach our goals.
This is an important lesson for us to know, since we learn that our goal is not to be perfect, but it is the effort and our intention that count. We should not be discouraged when certain challenges feel like they are too hard for us to accomplish. Hashem understands that it not always easy to be perfect, and He appreciates when we try our hardest to be a good Jew.
Shabbat Shalom.
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~fun and nice . . . Elan Hirsch |
| Photo Of The Week |  Running With The Rabbi
Tuesdays at 3:15 . . . Be there!
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~loving. caring, and wonderful . . . Ariella Goldman |
| PTC News | |
Youth size flannel PJ bottoms are all sold out - Adult sizes S,M,L still available ($15.00)
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| S&S Cheesecake at SAR! | |
Buy a Famous S&S Cheesecake for Shavuot and Support the 8th Grade Yearbook!
Click on the Photo Above to Order
Order Deadline is Wednesday May 12th
Please submit forms to Sally Oshins in the Business Office |
| Community News |
Matan B'Seter - BAMBI
THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2010
AT 8:00 PM
At the home of Anna Kest
4660 Livingston Avenue
Riverdale, NY 10471
Please join us for a spectacular BAKE SALE To Benefit Matan B'Seter - BAMBI
Guest Speaker: Rachel (Bambi) Chalkowski
For more information please call Joan Junger 718-548-4372
Matan B'Seter is a non-profit organization in Israel
That provides regular monthly financial assistance
To nearly 300 genuinely needy Jewish families.
DRISHA INSTITUTE CLASS IN RIVERDALE FOR BAT MITZVAH AGE GIRLS FOR SHAVUOT
This Bat Mitzvah year, enhance your learning with the Drisha Mother/Daughter Bat Mitzvah Program in Riverdale. For girls ages 11-13 and their mother or other partner. Learn together for the holiday of Shavuot. The class to be taught by Tammy Jacobowitz who will discuss: Learning from Ruth: Hessed and Leadership - Monday, May 10 from 7:00pm - 8:00pm, at the Riverdale Jewish Center, 3700 Independence Ave. To register: please call Ariella 212-595-0307 ($18 per learning pair).
Yom Yerushalayim: For the sake of Jerusalem I will not be silent
Join Mt. Kisco Hebrew Congregation on May 11th, Tuesday evening at 7:00 pm, for a night of activism on behalf of Israel. There will be a letter writing campaign, words of support from elected officials, and Jon Weiss will sing songs in honor of Jerusalem. For more information, please contact the shul office at 914-242-7460. MKHC is at 15 Stewart Place, Mt. Kisco, NY 10549.
Family Day at Citifield to Benefit Beit Issie Shapiro
Sunday May 16th 11AM-3PM Highlights of the day include: Activities For Children of All Ages! Slow Pitch Batting Cages and Wiffle Ball Arts & Crafts, Magician, Music & Entertainment Kosher BBQ Lunch EACH PARTICIPANT RECEIVES A FREE TICKET TO AN UPCOMING METS GAME!! For Details & Registration go to www.afobis.org
YINR 3rd Annual Bake Sale Young Israel of New Rochelle Women's League invites you to the 3rd Annual Bake Sale to benefit the Mikvah of New Rochelle, to be held on Sunday, May 16th at 7:00 pm at the home of Lizzie and Jonathan Tropper, 160 Wellington Avenue, New Rochelle, NY. Guest speaker: Shera Dubitsky, Clinical Supervisor at Sharsheret "The Value of Ordinary Moments". All are welcome.
RJC Invites you to attend our 56th Anniversary Dinner
Tuesday, May 25, 2010 Honoring the first recipients of the Miriam Schonfeld Hering Community Service Award Rose Spindler * Bert Kabak Tamar and Isaac Hakimi * Yonatan Fine Visit www.rjcdinner.org for more info and to donate online
Keeping our Kids Safe
Wednesday , May 26th
8pm at the Young Israel of New Rochelle
Minimizing the risks of child sexual abuse. Speaker: Barry Horowitz, LCSW-R
Riverdale Riverfest 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010, from 1 to 5 p.m
"Riverdale Riverfest 2010," a celebration of the Hudson River, which will feature music, entertainment, food, educational programs about the river, and a variety of environmental and river-oriented exhibits, including one about the Hudson River Greenway project. The festival will take place on Marillac Lawn, on the campus of the College of Mount Saint Vincent, which offers spectacular views of the Hudson and Palisades. In addition, a two-acre plot of land at the water's edge, connected to Marillac Lawn by a bridge across the Metro- North train tracks, will get people close enough to the River to reach out and touch it. Check out the event Web site at riverdaleriverfest.org for more details and to see how you can get involved.
NORPAC Mission to Washington
SAVE THE DATE! If you wake up in the morning wondering what happened in Israel overnight then you will want to go on the NORPAC mission to Washington on Wednesday, May 12th . This is a rare opportunity to have private small group meetings with Senators and Congressman to talk about issues vital to Israel's security. To sign up, go to www.norpac.net. If you have any questions, contact David Frankel at [email protected]
THE PARTY GOES ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FROM YOUR SIMCHA ........TO THE NEXT ...........
SAR IS PROUD TO PRESENT A NEW, EXCITING, ONGOING PROJECT.
ENRICH YOUR SIMCHA BY DONATING YOUR UNUSED PARTY ITEMS TO OTHERS.
WE ARE COLLECTING PARTY GIVEAWAYS (HATS, GLASSES, Wigs . . . . .)
ITEMS AND CRAFT PROJECTS TO GIFT TO THE NEEDY HERE AND IN ISRAEL.
WE WILL EVEN ACCEPT BENCHERS IN QUANTITIES GREATER THAN 50. PERSONALIZED FOIL LABELS WILL BE CREATED FOR POOR BRIDES IN ISRAEL.
PLEASE DROP OFF @ ZELDA'S OFFICE
INQUIRIES TO SHOSHANA @ 914-632-7902; [email protected]
Items will be distributed in Israel by KEDMA.
Tefilin 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 [email protected] or 718-548-1717 ext 1212. |
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SAR Academy
655 W. 254th Street Phone:718-548-1717
Riverdale, NY 10471 Fax: 718-601-0082
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