PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE    

Dear VTT Community,   

Dip Your Apple - Fountainheads Rosh Hashanah

L'Shana Tovah U'm'tukah,

Cathy Lowenstein, Head of School 

clowenstein@talmudtorah.com   

Shabbat Parashat Nitzavim-Vayeilekh

Don't Just Talk the Talk, You Have to Walk the Walk  

Last week, Ms. Davey and I began our collaboration on the teaching of the Tikkun Olam curriculum (an integrated Judaic and General Studies program that focuses on the development of personal and communal identity and the motivation, skills, and ability to "repair the world"). Two of our first activities had our Grade 7 students creating a classroom covenant, which would dictate the rules of engagement in the class, and discussing the meaning of the term "universe of obligation," which they began to talk about last year in Grade 6. After a good deal of meaningful and thoughtful discussion in one of the classes, one of our students spoke up to say that he has been a part of many conversations such as this, where people say all the right things and have wonderful ideas, but very often that's as far as it goes. The talk and ideas do not get translated into action. This student was passionate about "walking the walk," not just "talking the talk."

On Shabbat this week, we read a "double parsha"/Torah portion. This happens from time to time during the year in order to make sure that we read through all fifty-four Torah portions before Simhat Torah each year. The names of the two parashiyot offer us a very interesting contrast of verbs, which reminded me of my student's passionate call to action. The word Nitzavim means "standing" and the word Vayeilekh means "he went." One of the lessons we learn just from thinking about this juxtaposition of words is that the lessons of Torah are not material until they are actually put into action. Standing (or sitting) and hearing/learning Torah is a useless enterprise without their translation into action. As my student said, when it comes to Torah, we must "walk the walk."

At the essence of education sits the move from cognitive intake to practical application. This is all the more true for Jewish education. Jewish life and living is not about thoughts, ideas, and beliefs. Judaism is a religion, culture, and nation that is based on the actions of the mitzvot/commandments. Thinking and believing are not enough according to Jewish tradition. It is our actions that show who we truly are. We are responsible, as God's partners on the Earth, to take action in order to make the world a better place. God and our tradition have provided us with the blueprint, it is up to us to perform the holy construction work.

As we prepare for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur in the upcoming days and weeks, we are instructed to renew our commitments to transforming ourselves for the New Year. May we all take inspiration from our Torah portions this week and accept the call of Torah to become better partners with God in the work of Tikkun Olam/repairing the world.

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 

GET TO KNOW OUR FACULTY   

Visit our faculty profile page to learn about the interesting backgrounds of our teachers and staff. Biographies added periodically. 

Keri Smith, Drama Specialist

SPACES STILL AVAILABLE IN TUESDAY'S MUSICAL THEATRE PROGRAM, "IN THE SPOTLIGHT" for Grades 1-4 

We are pleased to offer our students after school floor hockey, basketball, yoga, band, glee club, yearbook club, earth saver's 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!)