The students in grade 6 had a remarkably successful Art Fair on Thursday morning. The students have all spent weeks learning about different art forms and artists. They each chose one particular artist to profile and learned to paint in that style.

The Art Fair profiled the research the students had done on the artists and their own paintings. The students went further, though, and came up with different methods of teaching the younger students about them too. Students from grades 1-5 came through the Fair (and Rambam's students too). There was playdough to try and sculpt Rodin's The Thinker, frames and tissue paper to create tiny Chagall stained glass windows, even a blank canvas so all the students could take part in creating a Jackson Pollock-style abstract painting.

Below, clock-wise from top left: Josh with his Romero Britto-inspired painting; Joseph as Guiseppe Arcimboldo; Marlin as Van Gogh (complete with bandaged ear) plays a game with first grade students Amira and Catherine; the finished abstract piece Victoria oversaw; Noah's's painting and poster on Andy Warhol; Shira and Max try to make a face using pictures of fruit in Archimboldo's style; Taylor and artist Katerina Mertikas pose with Taylor's Mertikas-inspired painting; middle, Marlin's Van Gogh painting.

Last Sunday evening, the cast, crew and proud families of Brighton Beach Memoirs attended the Cappies Gala to support their nominees. We are delighted to tell you that Itzy Kamil, a former Hillel student now in grade 9 at YRHS, won in his category of Best Actor in a Comedy Role! Itzy played the lead role, Eugene Jerome. Below, nominees Michael Sadinsky (mother, Kate Jerome), Itzy and Raphael Sandler (brother Stanley) pose with YRHS principal and play director, Cynthia Bates.

Following their field trip to Upper Canada Village, the 3rd grade students have been learning more about pioneer life. Thursday, they had fun putting that knowledge to the test. Below left, Oren and Adam try the butter they just made, on crackers. Right, Sam and Dalia display their handmade toys.

Scientist and Hillel dad Itzhak Bayaz (below) came in on Tuesday to teach grades 1 and 3 about perception. The students learned about sight and how what our eyes see is perceived by our brains, and how Mr. Bayaz is working on programing a computer to 'see'.

Every day in free play, these ADK boys build extensive and impressive structures from geometric shapes and every day they then have to unbuild and put the shapes away again, so this week, they asked for a photograph. Unfortunately, the structure was so big that it was hard to get the whole thing and all the boys in. And while the structure is impressive, the boys are cute - we went for the cute. Above, top row, Jasper, Simon, Sascha and Zev. Bottom row, Michael, Aaron, Josh, Charlie and Kyle.

Rabbi Finkelstein is a busy man. He is the full-time rabbi at Beit Tikvah synagogue and Judaics Director for Yitzhak Rabin High School, which he took part in founding in 1995. Recently, Rabbi Finkelstein took on another role, as he has become the Judaics Director for Hillel's senior school as well - students in grades 7 and 8.
 
When asked if it is daunting to add another two grades under his supervision, Rabbi Finkelstein says absolutely not. "In the younger grades, it is important to teach them the basics about the holidays and the prayers. But by the time they reach grade 7, they are ready for more. Curriculum needs to be changed and updated all the time and I think this is the ideal time to make this move."

Rabbi Finkelstein will be teaching grades 7 and 8 as well as supervising the Judaic curriculum for grades 7 - 12. He says he has found that the way they present the material to the high school students has been very successful in keeping the students engaged. "The curriculum needs to be exciting, meaningful and relevant and I think the students in Hillel's senior school will respond very positively to this new approach. I am very much looking forward to this new challenge."

Rabbi Finkelstein points out that teaching in a community school like YRHS or Hillel presents the extra challenge of teaching children from all across the Jewish spectrum, but it was his goal when he helped to found YRHS. He strongly advocates for focusing on our similarities and not our differences.

When asked what he liked to do in his spare time, it is understandable that he laughed. Between his rabbinical duties, administrative ones and teaching, he clearly does not find a great deal of spare time. Fortunately, Rabbi Finkelstein says, what he really loves to do is to continue to learn, and he loves to teach. "When you love what you do," he points out, "then you don't really need anything else."