Levine Academy Shabbat Celebration

Every Friday at 8:00am, we have a Shabbat celebration. Feel free to join your child as often as you wish.  

Save the Date!!!!  

Middle School Mini School is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug 23, at 7pm. The evening will begin in Beit Aryeh before parents will move through a modified version of their children's core classes.

You will meet teachers, hear first-hand about class expectations, and hear about some of the exciting adventures that await your children.

Parents are an essential part of their children's success; we so look forward to having you with us!

Team Try-Outs for Grades 6-8:

 If your child is interested in co-ed soccer or girls' volleyball, please contact Coach Al at pe@levineacademy.org or acoseglia@crullfitness.com.

If your child is interested in Cross Country, please contact Caroline Bernstein (5th and 7th grade mom) at cbbntx@tx.rr.com.

Emotional Eating

"All you need is love." The popular Beatles song posits that all you need is love, and if you are loved you will learn how to be yourself and save others as you make your way through life. In a certain sense, it's true; without love it is difficult to move forward, to blossom and grow into a successful, active and productive member of society.

This week's parshah, Eikev, teaches this principle in a different light. The text maintains "And if you do obey these rules and observe them carefully, the Lord your God will maintain faithfully for you the covenant that he made on oath with your fathers: He will love you and bless you..." It seems simple at the outset: all you need is love, and so if you follow the mitzvot and the path that God has set before you, you will receive this love, and from this love will come abundance of land, crops, blessing and more for your family. Over and over again in the parshah, we're reminded that the Israelites' relationship with God is not based on fear of punishment or hope of reward, but rather on the fundamental idea that we follow the mitzvot because God loves us, and we take pride in doing something for the one that we love.  

While this section of texts continues with different references to the history of the Israelites and even contains in it the second paragraph of the Shema, it also focuses on this idea of need. While it is a lofty and romantic idea that we can live through love alone, we also know that we have higher order necessities in life. One of these necessities is food, but the text teaches in chapter 8, verse 3 that "He [God] subjected you to the hardship of hunger and then gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had ever known, in order to teach you that man does not live on bread alone, but that man may live on anything that the Lord decrees."

While love is an emotional need, human beings all require physical sustenance in order to survive. This text is teaching us that perhaps there is more to our physical order, but that our spiritual, emotional and physical needs must all be in sync for us to maintain a life of blessing. We see the Israelites constantly complaining to Moshe and to God about their lack of food and water, and in their cries, the astute reader notices that they are also emotionally malnourished. They cry out because they remember a time in Egypt where it didn't seem too bad. They have a need for stability and for trust. They are a people that came out from a situation where love was lacking and faith was dwindling. The text in Parshat Eikev reminds us that we cannot live on the physical alone, and it is our spiritual appetite that pushes us to search for a deeper meaning in our daily lives.

The text also gives us a formula for ensuring that we take note of the moments when our appetite for love, food, learning or other cravings are satiated. In chapter eight, verse ten the text teaches:

 

י וְאָכַלְתָּ וְשָׂבָעְתָּ וּבֵרַכְתָּ אֶת ה אֱ לֹהֶיךָ עַל הָאָרֶץ הַטֹּבָה אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לָךְ:

"And when you have eaten and you are satisfied, and you blessed God, your God for the good of the land which He has given you."

This verse is the basis for Birkat HaMazon, the blessing after meals, because it teaches that after we have satiated our hunger for good, it is necessary to thank God. Being able to thank God here requires faith in the land that God has created, faith that the rain will come and the land will continue to produce crops. We are constantly reminding our young ones to remember their "please" and "thank you," and the Torah does the same for all of us. While food sustains our physical needs, it is the blessings of abundance, of thanksgiving and of faith that move us through life.

ללמוד To Learn: ללמד To Teach: Visit our website by clicking HERE to learn how to recite Birkat HaMazon, the blessing after a meal. Practice makes perfect. Continue working on your please and thank yous. We learn through modeling, this week make an extra effort to thank those who help you. The notion of blessing is a lofty one. Try this week to say thank you as a family for the nourishment you receive in the form of food, shelter and love.

לשמור To Keep: לעשותTo Do: visit a local food pantry and make a delivery of needed supplies so that others can partake of the Mitzvah to bless and thank God for sustenance.

The Levine Academy Parent Association

Welcomes our students back to school!

The Stallion Stop Gift Shop

will be open this Friday

8:00am -10:00am

We have a lot of new cool items!!

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ECC Back to School Breakfast:

August 22nd 

Contact Nina Goodman or Debbie Weinstein 

for more information.

Other important Parent Association information you NEED TO KNOW!

The Parent Association Info Packet is available on the Levine Academy website. Go to www.levineacademy.org and Click on the PARENTS link at the top.  This page contains a link to the packet.  Or, CLICK HERE to retrieve the packet now.

In the packet, along with membership information, are the following items:

How to Volunteer? Check out page 3 of the Info Packet. You will find a detailed list of volunteer opportunities through the PA.

Magathon! This is the biggest fundraiser for the PA. Magathon is a fun filled event that the students love as they are able to win awesome prizes. Information regarding this event is on page 10 of the Info Packet. For this event, students will sell magazines to friends and family, which helps raise money for our school. Magathon Kick Off is Friday, September 9th.
 

Students/Parents may renew and/or purchase new magazines by going to www.qsp.com and entering our school code:1075000. Make sure you enter your child's name and grade so that your child will receive credit. You may place an order before Magathon Kick-Off begins and your child will still receive credit for the prizes!!

Any questions, please contact Marla Buskin at buskin@sbcglobal.net or Nina Goodman at goodmanemail@verizon.net or Debbie Weinstein at jadews@flash.net for any questions. 

It's Back and it's

Better than Ever!!

Sunday, August 28

10:00 am-6:00 pm
Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center

Buy your tickets NOW!!

Click HERE for more information! 

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