Hillel Academy
of Pittsburgh
5685 Beacon Street
Pittsburgh, PA
15217
P: (412) 521-8131
F: (412) 521-5150
www.hillelpgh.org
November 19, 2010
12 Kislev 5771
Candle Lighting: 4:42 pm
Havdalah: 5:52 pm
Parshat Vayishlach
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Shh...it's a Silent Auction
Do you want Steelers tickets? Well so do we. You can support Hillel Academy by donating tickets to sporting events, gift cards, and/or NEW ITEMS to the silent auction. For more information, please call the office at 412-521-8131.
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Dvar Torah
For thousands of years, the Jewish people have lived in exile. Ever curious what enabled them to flourish despite foreign surroundings? Aviva Itskowitz has the answer in this week's Dvar Torah.
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Support the Senior GirlsNeed a quick batch of cookies? Support the Senior Girls by purchasing cookie dough.
Click "yum" to find out more details.
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Interested in Writing for the Jewish Chronicle?
Please speak to Mrs. Levari for more details.
[email protected].
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Ready to Wok?
Are you hungry for General Tso? Mordy Brown Catering has Chinese food available for Tuesday, November 23rd. You must have your orders in by Monday, November 22nd. Click "egg roll" for more details.
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College Information Night at Hillel
Parents of students in grades 9-12 are invited to a special college information night with Connie Pollack, Guidance Counselor, on November 22nd at 7:00pm at Hillel Academy. Please click "admissions" for more details.
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Did You Know?
Mrs. Greenberger is one of fifteen siblings and her father is the Rosh Yeshiva of Telshe Yeshiva in Chicago.
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Mazel Tov
Yehuda and Rickah Miller on the birth of a daughter.
Michael and Basya Nemoy on the birth of a granddaughter.
Brian and Elana Miller on the birth of a granddaughter.
Laura and Yossi Goldman on the bar mitzvah of their son Evan.
Stanley and Carolyn Greenfield on the bar mitzvah of their grandson Evan.
Would you like to share something with the Hillel Academy family? If so, please email us at [email protected].
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Around TownThe Kollel is offering a women's learning class titled, "Decoding Rashi," on Tuesday nights from 8:10-9:00.
Click "learning" for more details.
Bnei Akiva snif this week is from 3:30-4:30 pm at Shaare Torah.
On Thanksgiving Morning (10:00 am) at the Kollel, Chaplain Nosson Sachs will be delivering a talk titled, "Shabbat in Saddam's Palace." Click here for more details.
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Chance for a Glance
Here's a peek at next week's Hillel Happenings:
Feast and Famine: Sobering details from the Girls High School's Hunger Banquet.
Vayeishiv:
Live it up and read this Dvar Torah. It is going to be great.
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Are You an Artist?Whether you've got more Chagall or chagrin, this is definitely the contest for you. The Jewish Chronicle invites students from day schools and religious schools to present their cover designs for a Chanuka edition, which will be published Nov. 25. The winning covers will appear in print and on their website at thejewishchronicle.net. A few guidelines: � The cover dimensions are 10 inches wide, 13 inches deep. � No black and white. � The deadline for submissions is Nov. 16. Once your cover is done, the rest is simple: Send your signed artwork submission, in JPEG format only, to Angela Leibowicz
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Volunteers Needed
Hillel Academy is looking for volunteers for Pre-School vision screening. Training only takes a few hours and is free. If you are interested, please contact Rina Itskowitz by phone at (412) 422-1179 or by email at [email protected].
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Interested in Playing Some Hockey, Eh?
Mr. Steve Berman and Dr. Harold Wiesenfeld will be offering a hockey clinic for boys and girls ages 6-12. Sessions begin November 28th. Please click "zamboni" for more details.
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Mordy Brown Catering
Every Thursday night, Mordy Brown Catering will be selling pizza for $16.00 a pie. $1.00 of each sale will be donated to Hillel Academy. Help support our school! Click here for a menu and more details.
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Hillel Academy
of Pittsburgh
Administration and Staff
Mr. Daniel J. Kraut
Chief Executive Officer
[email protected]
Rabbi Avrumi Sacks
Principal and Education Director
[email protected]
Mrs. Elky Langer
Assistant Principal GHS
[email protected]
Rabbi Sam Weinberg
Assistant Principal BHS
[email protected]
Rabbi Dov Nimchinsky
Judaic Studies Coordinator K-8
[email protected]
Mrs. Deborah Oz-Halbritter
General Studies Coordinator K-8
[email protected]
Mrs. Yikara Levari
Administrator and Student Activities Coordinator [email protected]
Mrs. Phyllis Harris
Director of Support Services [email protected]
Mrs. Selma Aronson
Executive Administrator
[email protected]
Ms. Hadar Glazer
Administrative Assistant
[email protected]
Mrs. Adina Shayowitz
Administrative Assistant
[email protected]
Ms. Sarah Hartman
Finance Manager
[email protected]
Mr. Adam Reinherz
Director of Community Relations
[email protected]
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Want to go to Israel?
Raffle tickets are now available for the upcoming Hillel Academy Awards Night Dinner. Prizes include four round trip tickets to Israel or $4,000 cash, a 37" flat screen television, or $500 in Giant Eagle gift certificates. Purchase tickets online at www.hillelpgh.org or by clicking
SEND ME TO ISRAEL.
Tickets may also be purchased by calling the office at (412) 521-8131.
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Dvar Torah
Aviva Itskowitz - 3rd Grade
"שְׁכֶם עִיר שָׁלֵם יַעֲקֹב וַיָּבֹא"
"Yaacov arrived intact at the city of Shechem"
(Bereishit 33:18)
Yaacov returned to Eretz Yisroel after living for 34 years outside of the Land. The Torah teaches us that the secret of Jewish survival in exile is hinted by the word שָׁלֵם. The word שָׁלֵם is an acronym for shem (name), lashon (language), and malbush (clothing). Although Yaacov lived in a difficult environment, he maintained his Jewish identity and values during his exile. We, the children of Yaacov, will only survive the exile if we also maintain our Jewish names, our Jewish language, and our Jewish clothing.
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Vietnam Vet Visits Hillel for Special Presentation
Chasya Cowen - 12th Grade, Girls High School
My grandfather, Bob Greenwald, a retired Vietnam veteran came to speak to my class on Veterans Day. He came to make the students aware of what goes on in a war and how tragic it truly is. He also spoke about nuclear warfare as well as his experience as a guinea pig and the effects that the nuclear explosion had on him. My classmates really enjoyed the speech and learned a lot, such as how important it is to show respect to veterans who have served, or to soldiers who currently serve, as these people protect our rights as citizens. I hope my classmates take what they have learned and appreciate the sacrifices that these men and women have given. I hope the next time my classmates see a man or woman in uniform or someone with a veterans hat on, they will think of my grandfather, gather their courage, and thank them for their service because they deserve at least that much!
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Isadore Joshowitz Early Childhood Center Chanukah Collaboration
This week, the entire early childhood center worked collaboratively on a huge Menorah which can be seen down the hall when you enter Hillel Academy. The Kindergarten decorated the Menorah and the shamash, and each of the pre-k and nursery classes decorated two candles. Thisshowed every class' individual creativity as well as the unification of the preschool teachers.
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Plimoth Voyage
Ms. Oz - [email protected]
On Tuesday, November 16th, grades 1-4 had the opportunity to participate in a thirty minute online field trip to meet a Pilgrim and a Wampanoag-straight from Plimoth (not Plymouth!) Plantation in Massachusetts. The plantation is a living museum with workers dressed in period clothing. The classes joined together in the library to take this exciting trip to visit Plimoth, made possible through Scholastic.com.
While meeting a Wampanoag brave and Pilgrim mother and daughter, students learned that the Wampanoag was a thriving culture for hundreds of years before the English arrived, the Wampanoag were hunters and gatherers who lived off the land, the Wampanoag ate most of their daily food fresh and dried squash to supplement their meals in the winter, not all of the Wampanoag were happy to have the English as their neighbors, and the word Wampanoag means 'people who see the first light' since they lived on the east coast. Please feel free to contact me if you're interested in learning more.
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The Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh Library wish list is now available online. You may access it by clicking "book."
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Interview with Mr. Logue
For several weeks, Hillel Happenings readers recommended Mr. Logue, math teacher extraordinaire, as the next Hillel Happenings interviewee. Over the course of a two hour battle of non-combative Tetris, Reb Shaw and Mr. Logue discussed Hillel, playgrounds, and Israeli folk dancing. For the benefit of our readers, excerpts of this conversation have been reproduced below.
Reb Shaw: Hey Mr. Logue, thanks so much for sitting down with me today. Before we talk about Hillel, a lot of our readers are curious where you grew up.
Mr. Logue: I grew up in a town called Pearl River, NY. It is right near Monsey, New York for those that have been around that area.
Reb Shaw: Great. How long have you been teaching at Hillel?
Mr. Logue: This is my second year at Hillel.
Reb Shaw: You teach in the Boys High School, Girls High School, and Middle School. How do you prepare for each environment?
Mr. Logue: Besides actually preparing the lesson plans, I try to prepare for the range of off topic questions I'm bound to receive!
Reb Shaw: Makes sense. If you were recruiting prospective parents, how would you sell Hillel Academy?
Mr. Logue: I would emphasize how remarkably close the student body is, and how much each teacher cares about the success of each student. I would also point out how convenient the addition of Google Docs has been.
Reb Shaw: Rumor has it that you regularly coach a rugby team. For rugby newbies, which is a better initiation: Invictus or Forever Strong?
Mr. Logue: I'm actually still playing, so that doesn't leave too much time for coaching! Both are good movies to see to get a feeling for rugby, but I think Forever Strong shows more of the sport. Invictus is actually based on true events, and it shows how Nelson Mandela, during his Presidency, used the South African Rugby team to unite a country that was essentially on the brink of civil war. Forever Strong is more of a coming of age movie that is centered around how the sport (and coach) help the main character grow up.
Reb Shaw: Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, recently declared email past its prime. What's your assessment of digital communications?
Mr. Logue: I doubt that, seeing as you can now email from a large variety of phones. Texting is used quite a bit (mostly to chat) but I think the bulk of information that is digital is still passed via email.
Reb Shaw: Better sports dynasty: Carnegie Mellon University Tartans or St. Louis University College of Pharmacy Eutectics?
Mr. Logue: Obviously CMU. The football team had a 35 year streak of seasons at .500 or better, which just ended this past year. Thankfully, I ended my career there with an 11-1 record. Top that, Eutectics.
Reb Shaw: It's a Monday night in Squirrel Hill, are we more likely to see you at the Israeli Dance Class or Rabbi Yolkut's cheva nach?
Mr. Logue: Depends on what time, I could be watching football! Maybe cheva nach, its always good understanding another language. Don't tell my students though, they still think I can't understand them.
Reb Shaw: Squirrel Hill Trivia: Who was the last rabbi of the Russian shul?
Mr. Logue: Survey says...Rabbi Rosenberg?
Reb Shaw: Can you explain why four Hillel seventh graders drafted you in the sixth round of their fantasy football draft?
Mr. Logue: Well that depends. Some eighth graders are convinced that I'm actually Joe Flacco, so that could be why. But who would pick Flacco in the 6th round? I guess I could explain that by admitting that I constantly tell my kids I'm 42 years old, and 41 year old quarterbacks (cough Favre cough) aren't always great.
Reb Shaw: If you were coach Tomlin what would you have done differently to win a nationally televised game?
Mr. Logue: Let Troy run around like the crazy man he is. That and get an offensive line that isn't completely injured.
Reb Shaw: You are late to your math class at the Boys High School, knowing that your main route from Hillel to the JCC is through the grass field and that the new playground stands in your way, are you more likely to swing on the monkey bars or go down head first on the slide?
Mr. Logue: Interesting question. I think I would use the monkey bars to get myself on top of the playground, then jump over the fence and get to class on time. Win, win, win.
Reb Shaw: I've seen you at least six times at Costco's new kosher bakery. What do you recommend?
Mr. Logue: Cookies. All of them.
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Hillel Gear Spotted Here
This week, while recruiting potential Hillel teachers at the Yeshiva University job fair in New York, Rabbi Sacks was spotted wearing a Hillel Heat jersey and speaking with former Hillel student Aryeh Wasserman. Way to go Rabbi Sacks!
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Hey Hillel Happenings readers, we all know that Hillel nation extends well beyond Squirrel Hill. So here's our chance to prove it. Send a picture of yourself in Hillel gear (uniform, t-shirt, etc.) to [email protected], and each week we'll select the best picture for inclusion in the Hillel Happenings.
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Nursery Update
Morah Leah - [email protected]
Morah Devorah - [email protected]
This week, both Nursery classes learned about the human body and the five senses. The students experienced the five senses all week by focusing on a sense every day. On Monday, the students focused on the sense of sight (we use our eyes). They decorated blue binoculars (it was also letter "B" week). On Tuesday, the students focused on the sense of hearing (we use our ears). They wore bell bracelets during the day and played with musical instruments. On Wednesday, the students learned about the sense of touch, by making a touch collage (we use our hands). This displayed all different types of textures including soft, fuzzy, scratchy, hard, tickly, rough, and more. The students also enjoyed playing with shaving cream. On Thursday, the students focused on the sense of smell. The Morahs brought in different spices, powder drinks, and foods with distinct smells. The students each got to smell the item, and then they closed their eyes to smell again and were asked to point to the item they smelled. On Friday, the students learned about the sense of taste. They had a taste party, with all diferent types of foods, including sour, sweet, and salty. Then, the students went on a "sense hunt." They looked, listened, felt, smelled, and tasted things that were around the school and outdoors. The students also had a special science lesson with Mr. Garwood on the five senses, and the body parts which we use to see, smell, listen, touch, and taste. The students got to see models of the different body parts and a human body up close. This was a very exciting unit and both the teachers and students enjoyed it very much. Seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching are all ways in which our nursery students learn and grow each day.
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Sheirut Leumi UpdateMorah Irit - [email protected]This week, the girls visited grades 1-5, talked a bit about the importance of TZAHAL (the IDF), in protecting the land, country, and people of Israel. Achinoam and Ela also spoke about the importance of הכרת תודה (giving thanks). The students then wrote thank you letters to soldiers of the IDF. These letters will be sent along with Chanukah packages.
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