Since the start of the school year, VTT has accumulated DOZENS and DOZENS of random plastic containers that have fallen out of lunch bags or have been left behind in the lunch room, on the playground or in classes. As hard as we try to return them (as evidenced by the full boxes on display during Parent-Teacher Conferences), unclaimed items will inevitably find their way to the landfill. If you find that the containers you send to school do not find their way back home, perhaps consider using a plastic bag or plastic wrap. Though "less environmental," the space they claim in our landfills is significantly less than the mountains of containers we will be forced to throw out. (There are many expensive unclaimed bottles as well; by labelling them, you may get yours back!)

Thank you for doing your part!

WEEKLY TORAH PORTION WITH RABBI BELLAS  

 

Shabbat Parashat Hayyei Sara

Choosing to "Stay Jewish"

 

In this week's parasha, Yitz'hak has come of age and Avraham decides that his son is ready to get married. However, he has a dilemma. After having left his native land and moved to the Land of Canaan, Avraham's family is surrounded by idol- worshipping and pagan nations. Avraham does not want his son, the next link in the chain of God's new monotheistic religion, to be assimilated into these communities after marrying one of their women. Avraham comes up with a plan: he will send his servant Eliezer back to their native land and people to bring back a wife for his son. This task was so important to Avraham that he made Eliezer take an oath to fulfill his wishes, even if Avraham were to die in the interim. Eliezer took the oath and headed back to Avraham's native land, finding Rivka - the daughter of Avraham's brother - who agrees to leave her home to become Yitzhak's wife. As the parasha comes close to its conclusion, Rivka and Eliezer have arrive at the tent of Avraham and Yitzhak and the couple becomes husband and wife.

 

This story reminds us of the effort that it often takes to preserve and do our best to guarantee the future of the Jewish people. Avraham went to great lengths, through the work of Eliezer, to ensure that his tradition and customs would be sustained through his son Yitzhak and his future family. The surrounding community in which Avraham lived was a powerful, and potentially overwhelming, one. Avraham must have been in a constant struggle to maintain the uniqueness of his faith as such a diminutive minority. As Jews who have made the choice to live as members of the modern world, not in isolation from it, we face the same struggle.

 

Shabbat Shalom,

 

Though her accent is unmistakably South African, her work ethic is 100% North American. With seven years as a primary specialist under her belt, Janet Kaplan embodies the true spirit of a first grade teacher with just the right combination of soft and firm to successfully launch each and every one of her Grade 1 students on a path of lifelong discovery and learning. An identical twin whose sister Nicole just happens to have the same vocation and passion for her craft, Ms. Kaplan immigrated from Durban to Canada when she was 17 years old and settled in Toronto. After earning a Bachelor of Arts from York University and then a Bachelor's degree in education from the University of Western Ontario, Janet moved west to Vancouver and began her career at Richmond Jewish Day School. A year later she joined VTT where she has inspired 5-7 year olds ever since. A mentor to new primary teachers, Ms. Kaplan has served on the school's Professional Development and Literacy Day committees for many years.

When not organizing her classroom and meticulously preparing the next day's lesson, Ms. Kaplan can be found Skyping with her treasured niece and nephew on the east coast.

Please pass along our Early Years Open House information to family and friends with children of preschool or kindergarten age. Pre-registration highly appreciated!
Email Tammy Kalvari at tkalvari@talmudtorah.com

Thank you, Ms. Mac(aroni) for a wonderful two months of learning! VTT thanks Katie McIntyre for so ably filling in during the last two months of Ms. Collet's maternity leave. From Monday, Tamara Collet will be the general studies teacher for 3A & 3B.

These Grade 4 girls show off the extra large fortune teller they created for all their fine arts specialists to thank them for their hard work with concert rehearsals.


Grade 3 students were inspired by the work of Claude Monet, the major French impressionist.

Apologies for the wrong caption last week!
Kindergarten 2 students performed a mitzvah for Jewish Family Services Agency by collecting books and pajamas for less privileged children in our community. Kol Ha'Kavod!


Grade 2 students celebrate completing learning about the third day of creation with Morah Anna.

Preschool 3 students peer inside VTT's food bank box after depositing their donations for JFSA.