PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE    

Dear VTT Community,  

With the new Jewish year underway, the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver has begun its annual campaign. Vancouver Talmud Torah is fortunate to be one of the beneficiaries of their fundraising efforts. Each year the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver generously allocates a portion of its budget to Jewish education in Vancouver. This allocation helps VTT to offer the best in general and Judaic studies to all families.

As we have done in past years, we are again reaching out to families, alumni and friends of VTT to ask them to please consider making a gift to the Federation. If you are a first time donor, you may designate up to 75% of your gift to VTT. If you have donated in the past, you can allocate 75% of your increase.

These are excellent opportunities to support the Federation while simultaneously supporting Talmud Torah. A double mitzvah!  

Last year, VTT received over $20,000 in additional funding from Federation supporters who designated to Talmud Torah. Unfortunately, most Federation donors are still unaware of this program and fail to designate any beneficiary for their 75% allocation. This is a real loss to the school. This year - more than ever - we are counting on donor advised gifts to support many of our important educational initiatives.

Every donation helps! When you are approached for a Federation pledge, please consider allocating 75% of your first-time or increased donation to Talmud Torah.  VTT will confirm receipt of the donation to you in early 2012, when we receive it from Federation.

We thank you for your kind consideration, your on-going support of VTT and for your support of the Federation Campaign.  

All the very best to you and your family for a sweet, happy and healthy new year.  

L'shana tovah,

Cathy Lowenstein, Head of School 

clowenstein@talmudtorah.com   

Shabbat Parashat Ki Tavo

The Purpose and Power of Prayer 

The first aliyah/prescribed section of Torah reading from this week's parasha is a textual source for a great deal of commentary, explanation, and additional application. We learn here that we are required to present the first fruits of our harvest to the Kohanim/Temple Priests each year and, when doing so, to recite a particular prayer. A variety of questions could be asked about this practice, but it is the text of the prayer and its meaning that serve as inspiration for this week's D'var Torah.

To begin, while there are numerous occasions when characters in the Torah do indeed pray to God, it is here that we find the first and only mandated or commanded prayer to be recited on a particular occasion. This is another worthwhile piece of Torah trivia, for those who may be interested. In addition, the text of the prayer itself should sound familiar. It begins with: "My father was a wandering/fugitive Aramean and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there..." (Deuteronomy 26:5). This text and the verses of the prayer that follow are central to the telling of the Exodus story in the Passover Haggadah. Much rabbinic commentary exists on these verses, excerpts of which are included in most printed Haggadot as well. At first glance, this text does not really present itself as sounding like a prayer. It does not ask or thank God for anything directly. Rather, it is a short history lesson describing the triangular relationship between Nation-God-Land. It is this different genre of the text of this prayer that makes it particularly powerful and worthy of discussion.

SCHOOL SHOFAR PROJECT   

As Rosh Hashanah approaches, we would like to set up a display table to highlight different shofars/rams horns' (shofarot).  If you have a special shofar that you would like to display on a table in our main hallway, please bring it (labelled) to school on Sept. 26th, 27th or 28th. Rest assured that we will take special care when displaying it.  All shofarot must be claimed before we leave school on Sept 28th at 11:20.

Thank you for your help in this Jewish new year project! Questions? Contact Fred Cohen 

SPACES STILL AVAILABLE IN WEDNESDAY'S AFTER SCHOOL FLOOR HOCKEY PROGRAM   

We are pleased to offer our students after school floor hockey, basketball, yoga, band, glee club, yearbook club, chess, lunch time Israeli dance and musical theatre. In January, stay tuned for MAD SCIENCE and a specialized art program. To register for any programs, click this link (Monday floor hockey is FULL!)