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HEADMASTER'S MESSAGE |
In this week's Torah portion of Bamidbar we learn about the ways that Bnei Yisroel (the Jewish people) traveled through, and camped, in the wilderness during their forty-year journey to Eretz Yisroel. The Sages of the Talmud point out that the parsha of Bamidbar is always read on the Shabbat directly preceding the holiday of Shavuot. This is intended to indicate that the experience of being in the desert was a vital prerequisite for the people to be properly prepared to receive the Torah. Why is this so? Rabbi A.L. Scheinbaum suggests that in the desert it was clear to each and every member of Bnei Yisroel that he or she was dependent on G-d's mercy for their very survival. The lack of food, water and shelter made their reliance on Hashem absolutely clear. So too we, in our day, must realize that success in our endeavors is dependent on G-d's favor and blessings. When we recognize that fact as clearly as our ancestors did while traveling through the wilderness, we will be ready to celebrate Shavuot fully and joyously.
Rabbi Zvi Kahn |
PLAY BALL! CTA HOSTS FIRST-EVER JEWISH BASEBALL TOURNAMENT |
Join us Friday, Saturday night and Sunday for CTA baseball as you've never seen it.
Students from Ida Crown Academy in Chicago, The Ramaz School in New York, and Kushner Academy in New Jersey are arriving in Columbus to play baseball against the Lions starting Friday in the first national day-school tournament ever organized.
The games begin at 10:30 a.m. Friday at the Columbus JCC, continue on Saturday at 10:30 p.m. and conclude with games and an awards ceremony Sunday morning at Bishop Orton Park off of Etna Road. There will be a community-wide oneg at Congregation Ahavas Sholom on Friday night for all of the members of the tournament and for all CTA students. The weekend will feature classes and informal educational programming focused on "Life Lessons from a Ball and a Bat," Torah values for today's Jewish high school teenagers learned from America's favorite game.
Tournament organizers Steve Guinan, Matt Bailey and Eddie Karmia designed this tournament to give the students a chance to compete in a wider arena. "Our winter sports have a post-season event," said Guinan "But our spring sports never had one. This year we've invited some of the best schools in the country to come here and play ball. We hope this can be the building block for a future continuing event."
More information about the tournament is on the CTA Web site in the "sports" tab. |
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PREVIEW OF THE WEEK OF MAY 16-21 |
Sunday, May 16: Bingo! Come Volunteer!
Monday, May 17: Pizza Bagels: Volunteer-A. Hartstein
March of the Living Reunion, 7:30pm
Tuesday, May 18: Chicken Nuggets: Volunteer-M. Makias
Erev Shavuot, 2:00pm dismissal
Wednesday, May 19: Shavuot, No School
Thursday, May 20: Shavuot, No School
Friday, May 21: Tuna: Volunteer-M. Rosenberg |
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PREVIEW OF THE WEEK OF MAY 23-28 |
Sunday, May 23: Bingo! Come Volunteer!
Monday, May 24: Pizza Bagels: Volunteer-J. Cohen
Tuesday, May 25: Hamburgers: Volunteer-M. Napper
CTA Twirlers, 4-4:45pm
Wednesday, May 26: Pizza: Volunteer-H. Katz
Senior Exams
Thursday, May 27: Chicken Wraps: Volunteer-D. Meyer
Senior Exams
Art Club, 4-5pm
Executive Board Meeting/Elections, 7:30pm; Town Hall Meeting following
Friday, May 28: Fish Sticks: Volunteer-S. Blumenfeld |
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DATES TO REMEMBER |
Monday, May 31: Memorial Day - NO School
Tuesday, June 1: Senior Exams
Kindergarten Meet the Teachers, 6pm
Wed-Fri, June 2-4: Senior Trip
Thursday, June 3: Spring Show, Grades 1-4 performing, 9:30am
Friday, June 4: Lower School Dress Down Day
Monday, June 7: 12th Grade Graduation, 7:30pm
Mon-Thurs, June 7-10: 9th-11th Final Exams
Wednesday, June 9: 8th Grade Graduation, 7:30pm
Thursday, June 10: Kindergarten Celebration, 9:30am
Friday, June 11: Last Day of School - - 12:00 dismissal
Awards Assembly, 10am |
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SPORTS |
Columbus Baseball Invitational
Saturday, May 15: Second Round Games
at JCC fields, 10:30pm
Field 1: CTA vs. Kushner
Field 2: Ramaz vs. Ida Crown
Sunday, May 16: Final Round Games
at Bishop Park on Etna Rd.
CTA vs. Ida Crown at 8:30am
Kushner vs. Ramaz at 11:00am |
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SCRIP UPDATE - PLACES TO PURCHASE SCRIP | |
Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:00pm
CTA Scrip Office, 864-0299 ext. 112 or contact Aliza Finegold at
REMEMBER: Target Take Charge of Education Program; SchoolMall; Box Tops for Education; turn in paper for recycling in the bin in the upper school parking lot, and empty inkjet cartridges into the box at the school entrance. To view the vendors participating in the Scrip Program go to CTA Scrip List.
Yossick's is offering pizza after Shabbos and a delicious Sunday brunch. Get your Yossick's scrip and give them a try. Yossick's is located at 539 South 5th Street in German Village.
Gili's Goodies: Miss your kids, family and friends in Israel? Send them a gift basket, birthday cake, balloons or other treats for any occasion from Gili's Goodies, a bakery and gift basket company in Jerusalem. CTA will receive 10% of your order. Call 1-866-721-7292 or go to www.gilisgoodies.com.
GIVE & GET: We invite all parents to take an active part in the education of our children by becoming involved at CTA as a volunteer. We hope each family will contribute at least 20 hours in the 2009-2010 school year. There are many ways to volunteer. Please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Robin Garvin, at 235-0350 or rgar234@yahoo.com, to get involved.
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MAZAL TOV TO: | |
Jenny Shindel Sinowitz (8th Grade Class of '93) on the birth of a daughter
Elisheva Capland Balouka (8th Grade Class of '00) on the birth of a son Dina Vinar Cieplinski (8th Grade Class of '91) on the birth of a daughter |
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THANK YOU TO: | |
Agi Hartstein for repairing the school's Torah cover. |
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The combined Annual Meeting and Town Hall Meeting will be Thursday, May 27, at 7:30 p.m. Everyone is invited to attend. At the Annual Meeting, you will be asked for your approval of a revised Code of Regulations (bylaws) for CTA as well as the Board slate for the upcoming school year. The slate is enclosed and the by-laws can be found on the Torah Academy website, www.torahacademy.org, under Downloadable Documents. |
CTA EXECUTIVE BOARD PROPOSED SLATE |
PROPOSED
2010 - 2011 Executive Board of Trustees
Officers:
President: Michael Schiff
Vice President, Administration: Bob Lane
Vice President, Building: David Bernzweig
Vice President, Development: Jeff Koppes
Vice President, Education - Upper School: Rephael Wenger, Ph.D.
Vice President, Education - Lower School: Sarah Blumenfeld
Vice President, Endowment: Joel Greff
Vice President, Finance: Dan Chase, M.D.
Secretary: Aliza Finegold
Treasurer: Lawrence Binsky
Members of the Executive Board of Trustees:
Stuart Cole
Jonathan Hartstein
Ian Heyman
Gary Liebesman
Jeff Polster
Jeff Rosenberg
Patricia Fine-Rosenstein, M.D.
David Schottenstein
Joey Schottenstein
Steve Shulman
Non-elected officers or members of the Executive Board of Trustees:
Monica Calabrese, Chairman of the Board
Ira Nutis, Past President
Kim Binsky, PTO President
Jay Schottenstein, Honorary Chairman of the Board
Jon Diamond, Honorary Life Member
Pearson Press, Honorary Life Member
Irving Baker, Honorary Life Member
Congregational Rabbis and Rabbis Emeritus
Members of the Honorary Board of Trustees
Ivan Gilbert, M.D., Lifetime Honorary Member
Richard Barnett
Marilyn Cole
Ann Deshe
Susan Diamond
Mark Ebner
Murray Ebner
Sheldon Estreicher, D.D.S.
Donald Garlikov
Herbert Glimcher
Josh Greenberg
Marcia Hershfield
Bernard Hirsch
Marty Hoffman
Richard Kohn
Alan Levy, D.D.S.
Milton Lewin z"l
Frank Nutis z"l
David Portman, M.D.
Samuel Portman, M.D.
Thea Press
Pearson Press
Ellen Romanoff
Bernard Ruben z"l
Larry Ruben
Mrs. Herbert Schiff
Jeanie Schottenstein
Jerome Schotttenstein z"l
Robert Schottenstein
Saul Schottenstein z"l
Steve Schottenstein
Ellen Siegel-Pollak
Warren Sobol, M.D.
Hal Tanenbaum
Julius Vargo
Philip Weinerman
Michael Weisz
Bernard Yenkin
Miriam Yenkin
Leonore Zusman
Larry Zusman z"l |
COLOR WARS AND COLORED PENS
STUDENTS COMPETE IN ANNUAL FIELD DAY | |
At the signal they put their sneakers to the grass and lunged forward, batons in hand. Their teammates and their teachers yelled and shook pom-poms. Athletic Director Matt Bailey tried to stay clear while guiding the competitors in several events. Field Day, held annually for students in grades K-8, included single and team relays, basketball throws and a massive dodge ball game (with soft foam balls, of course). Here are some highlights from the morning's activities:
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AYELET WENGER PLACES IN TOP 10 IN NATIONAL
CHIDON HA-TANACH |
 Remembering the names, places and events of the Tanach is no small feat. But 10th-grader Ayelet Wenger was up to the challenge. She studied. Her parents quizzed her. She studied some more. Then she placed fourth nationally in the National Bible Contest, held May 9 at the Ramaz middle school in New York City.
"I wanted to know more about the Tanach, and I figured this would be a good way," she said.
This year's national contest drew 108 students, grades 6 though 11, from 40 Jewish day and Hebrew schools; participants were tested on Genesis, Samuel I, and sections of Ezekiel and Psalms.
Questions on the exam included "Which place did God desire for his seat?" Who said: "What do we gain by killing our brother and covering up his blood?" and "What was the source of bitterness to Isaac and Rebekah?"
Ayelet said the hardest questions on the test dealt with subtle grammatical differences between phrases. |
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Summer Reading Lists and Student Supply Lists will be mailed with final report cards the week of June 14. If you are going to be out of town and need these lists sooner, please contact Norma Whitmyre at nwhitmyre@torahacademy.org. All Medications need to be picked up by the last day of school, Friday, June 11 at noon. Any medications left after that time will be disposed of by the nurse. All Lost and Found items not claimed by the last day of school will be donated to a local charity. And, Final Report Cards will not be sent if students: have outstanding library books; have not returned text books or have not paid hot lunch and breakfast fees. |
ANNUAL GIVING EVENT MOVES CTA CLOSER TO GOAL - BUT WORK REMAINS | |
CTA has made a huge difference to its students. Avi Kagan, Columbus community Israel shaliach, said his children acclimated to life in the United States and greatly increased their knowledge of Judaism with the help of friends and teachers they made at the school. Dr. Gary Blumberg stood to describe CTA as a wonderful surprise in the city where his family had relocated from South Africa.
 Both parents (pictured below along with student presenters Hannah Polster and Josh Tolle) publicly pledged financial support of the school, along with several others, at the annual-fund event held May 6 at the home of CTA President Michael and Patty Schiff.
Total pledges from the evening exceeded $200,000, including several single large gifts, placing the school ever closer to its 2010 goal. But the Annual Campaign is not over, said Rabbi Avram Elbaz, development director.
 "We are about $100,000 from our goal," he said. "These funds are important. They help the school pay salaries and maintain its excellent programming. They also allow us to educate all students who seek a Jewish education, regardless of ability to pay.
"Every gift counts. Please join those who have already stepped forward and make sure Columbus Torah Academy continues to provide Jewish educational continuity from kindergarten through 12th grade."
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Parents please search your homes and return any black kippot your child has left at home and bring them to Rabbi Hauser's office. |
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Are you short on your Give & Get hours? We need your help manning the front desk during the following events: March of the Living Presentations on Monday, May 17, 7-8:30pm and Kindergarten Meet the Teachers on Wednesday, June 2, 5:45-6:45pm. If you are available, please contact Norma Whitmyre at nwhitmyre@torahacademy.org. |
COLUMBUS BUS RIDERS - FORMS DUE TODAY |
Your 2010-2011 Application for Pupil Transportation forms are due today to Norma Whitmyre. Bus service cannot be guaranteed for next year without this form. You can access this form on the Columbus Public Schools Website at www.columbus.k12.oh.us.
Click on the link labeled Transportation.
- Click on Links & Forms.
- Click on 2010-2011 Application for Pupil Transportation to a Non-Public School
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March of the Living Reunion
Please join us as our teens share pictures and
stories from their incredible journey to Poland
and Israel
Monday May 17, 2010
7:30 pm
Columbus Torah Academy
181 Noe Bixby Road 43213 614 864-0299 |
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It has been a time-honored Jewish tradition to give tzedakah in recognition of important events. Todah Rabah to the following for their donation to the Scholarship Fund:
Sonia Modes Schottenstein in memory of Naomi Laks, Helen Silberstein, Gladys Herwald, Frank Nutis, and wishing get well to Irving Chasin
Ian and Pamela Rodier in memory of Morah Joanne's mother and in memory of Bill Rubin, father of Robbie Moskovitz
Larry S. Pollak in memory of Lt. Steven Zilberman who died a hero in service to our country
Marcia and Robert Hershfield in honor of Mina Weisz' engagement, Ariella Weisz Eltes' new baby, Rebecca Weisfogel's engagement, Jessica and Zach Sterns' engagements, and in honor of Chani and Chaim Capland's new grandchildren
Baruch and Minna Shifman in memory of Henry Schwarz's mother
Alex Bisman wishing himself a refuah shlaima
Ken and Nancy Supowit in memory of Henry Schwarz's mother
Daniel Newman and Ilana Klamka for their donation to the Annual Giving Fund in memory of Ann Klamka |
PARSHAT BAMIDBAR QUIZ
By Rabbi Zecharia Weitz |
1) This parsha records just one of the many times Hashem instructed Moshe to count the Jews. Why were we counted so often?
a) To show how dear we are to Hashem
2) What was the color of each tribe's flag based on?
a) The color of their stone on the kohen gadol's breastplate
3) How did the Jews know when it was time to travel?
a) The cloud over the Ohel Moed (symbolizing Hashem's Presence) would depart and the kohanim would sound the trumpets
4) The Torah says "these are the descendents of Aharon and Moshe" but goes on to list only Aharon's descendents. Why is that?
a) A person who teaches someone Torah is in a sense considered their parent. For this reason, they were Moshe's descendents as well.
5) What are the names of Aharon's two sons that died, and what are the names of the two living sons?
a) Nadav & Avihu died, Elazar & Etamar were still alive
6) What tribe was not included in the general census?
a) Levi
7) From what age and up were the 12 tribes counted? From what age was Levi counted?
a) 20 years old for the other tribes; 1 month for Levi
8) Who did the Leviim replace in the service of the Mishkan and why?
a) The first born; they forfeited the right to serve in the Mishkan when they sinned at the Golden Calf
9) Why did so many from the tribe of Reuven fall with Korach in his fight against Moshe?
a) They were encamped next to Korach. From here we learn that it is detrimental to live in proximity to the wicked.
10) Why were there so many scholars from the tribes of Yehudah, Yissachar, and Zevulan?
a) They were encamped near Moshe. From here we learn how beneficial it is to live near the righteous.
Discussion Questions
1. Why do we stay up all night on Shavuot? What is the basis for having dairy on Shavuot? (Anonymous 7th grader)
2. We all know that Shavuot is the day Hashem gave us the Torah on Har Sinai. Astonishingly, this fact is mentioned nowhere in the Torah! The silence is deafening...why might Hashem have omitted this fact?
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