Kibitzer header 

How absolutely fitting the penguins are in our atrium these days! They are part of Mrs. Rapp's 1st/2nd graders study of Antarctica. Read more about their project on our blog.
Leah Finkielsztein's Winning Taste of Torah
dvarMazal tov to Leah Finkielsztein, whose entry won this week's Taste of Torah competition hosted by the ATT. We're happy to feature her winning Dvar Torah:

 

In Parshat Tetzaveh, we read about the Urim Ve'tumim that the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) wore while serving in the Beit Hamikdash. The Urim Ve'tumim were divine names written on a scroll in the fold of the High Priest's Choshen - breastplate. It gave the breastplate the miraculous ability to answer questions that were important for the welfare of the Jewish people. The Torah describes this as "Aaron will carry the judgment of the Children of Israel over his heart before the Lord at all times." Rashi explains that the Kohen Gadol would use the Urim Ve'tumim to figure out solutions to the problems of the Children of Israel. Rashi also offers an alternate explanation on the word "judgment." Rashi teaches us that they are referred to in the Pasuk as "judgment" because of their role in attaining forgiveness for the sins relating to faulty judgment.

 

I noticed that there is a connection in Rashi's commentary to the story of Eli and Chana. In the beginning of Sefer Shmuel, Chana, the then barren mother of the great prophet Shmuel, pours out her heart before Hashem at Shilo. Eli, the Kohen Gadol, seeing Chana davening quietly to herself, thought she was mumbling incoherently to herself. According to the Vilna Gaon's commentary, Eli consulted the Urim Ve'tumim and four letters lit up for Eli - shin, reish, kaf, and hey. Eli rearranged those letters to spell שכרה - shikora, the Hebrew word for drunken woman. He rebuked her by saying, "How long will you be a drunkard? Remove the wine from yourself." However, Eli should have arranged the letters into the word כשרה - keshaira, showing that Chana was "kosher" - worthy and righteous in her actions. We see here that Eli, the Kohen Gadol and leader of the Jewish people at the time, made a mistake and judged Chana unfairly.

 

This brings me back to my point about the forgiveness of the sins of judgment. The Gaon points out that Eli lost his divine inspiration after judging Chana unfavorably. However, I think there may be another explanation here as well: We can learn from the story of Eli and Chana that even one who is on a high level, such as Eli, is capable of making an incorrect judgment. We must learn from this that if someone like Eli can make such a mistake and must be so careful when judging others, so too must we take extra special care to judge others favorably and always look for a more favorable explanation, even when one does not come so easily to mind.

Preschool Update
Asher and Mira count coins.
This week the Purple Kindergarten explored the world of money. The children examined pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. They counted, sorted and compared an assortment of money that each child brought in from home.
 
This week, the Upstairs Yellow Room as been continuing their author study of Ezra Jack Keats. After reading Keats' book Pet Show! the children were excited to put on their own pet show. Working with paper shapes and other
Josie shows off her pet, "Every Color" the Love Bug. It won the "Most Wings Award."
materials, each student created their own unique pet. During meeting time, the children gave each other creative blue ribbon awards, including "The Tiniest Tail Award" (a pig), "The Cuddliest Kitty Award" (a cat) and many, many more! Please stop by the Upstairs Yellow Room and have a look at their pets.
Grades 1-8 Update
Mr. Salk's 1st and 2nd grade class is having a lot of fun with words. They are collecting "sound alikes," words that sound the same but have different meanings. The students have found that some have different spellings (wood and would), and some are spelled the same ('play' as in a theatrical production and 'play' as in messing around with friends). They even tried reading some heteronyms, namely words that are spelled the same but are pronounced differently, as in "the bandage was wound around the wound." English is not always easy, but it can be a lot of fun! Students continue to collect their versions of compound words, so even 'animation' counts: an+i+mat+i+on.  When someone illustrates the parts, the class tries to guess what word it is!

In Kitah Gimmel (3rd grade Hebrew) Akiva and Netanel hold up their interpretations of the joyous month of Adar.

Mrs. Burov's Kitah Gimmel is already feeling the joyful spirit of the first month of Adar. Students had a great time dancing to wonderful Purim songs that triggered students' memories. The dance was combined with a special game, which involved hidden clowns.  They also played a riddle game and every student had his own interpretation of "משנכנס אדר מרבים בשמחה"...

Kitah Dalet holds up their Adar poster.
Mrs. Burov's Kita Dalet learned about human characteristics (such as laziness, curiosity, etc.) and their special form in Hebrew. They sorted them by their quality, and every student had to write something about his/her own characteristics. Since there are two months of Adar this year, the class learned about the Jewish leap year (שנה מעוברת - "pregnant year" in Hebrew). They did some simple calculations to understand the difference between the Hebrew calendar (~12 moon cycles) and the Gregorian calendar (365+ days) so they could figure out why one month needs to be added to the Jewish calendar every 2-3 years (7 times in 19 years). They also learned the theme of Adar: "משנכנס אדר מרבים בשמחה" (When we enter Adar, we increase our happiness) and made joyful posters for our class.

Mrs. Burov's Kita Hey-Vav finished reading all kinds of texts, ending up with newspaper articles. The students read and analyzed articles about ecology (in honor of Tu B'Shvat) and are working on writing their own articles now. With that they have finished the official Kita Hey curriculum and successfully took a comprehensive test.

Mr. Esse's 5th grade Math class practiced manners this week when they learned "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally," which is an acronym to remember the order of operations. They had a fun time coming up with alternative acronyms for this important lesson. As they continue in their studies, they will be using it more and more.

Mr. Esse's 5/6th grade History classes have been learning about Hammurabi's Code. Using short skits, the students had a great time acting out court cases and deciding how to apply the laws. They discussed and debated ideas such as fairness, equality, honesty, hierarchy and harsh punishment. It would be no surprise to Mr. Esse if several lawyers eventually emerge from this group of students!

 

Mr. Coleman's Math groups are learning a variety of interesting topics.  The 5th graders are all mastering addition and subtraction of mixed numbers.  7th and 8th graders are multiplying polynomials, or reviewing ratios, proportions, and percentages, or exploring similarity and congruity of geometric shapes.

Both groups of Jewish History have met during the past two weeks. The 5th grade learned about the Babylonian exile and the early Second Temple era, up to Alexander the Great, while the 6th grade studied the origins of the American Jewish community and its pre-Civil War development.

 

Mrs. Gold's 6th Grade Tanach class continues their learning of Sefer Shmuel Alef (Samuel I). They have read about Chana, the future mother of Shmuel, and her pain of not having a child. They learned many important lessons about how to pray from her intense prayer for a child. They learned that when we pray, we should make sure to pronounce the words with our lips, but not be too loud so that others won't be distracted. They also learned how vital it is to have Kavvanah (intention and focus) in prayer. In addition, the class recently began a project to learn the Pesukim (verses) of the prayer that Chana says to thank Hashem for her son. Each student will study one verse and teach it to the class. A question for discussion: Why did Eli falsely accuse Chana and what does this teach us? (See this week's Dvar Torah!) 
Mrs. Gold's and Mrs. Brackman's classes study together.

In celebration of Rosh Chodesh Adar Alef, Mrs. Gold's and Mrs. Brackman's 7/8th grade Jewish Thought classes spent this week learning about Simcha (joy): Mishe Nichnas Adar, Marbim B'Simcha (When we enter Adar, we increase our happiness) They discussed what it means to be happy and studied different Jewish sources about happiness. One source was actually from Shmuel (which we are studying in Navi) about how the prophets only received Nevuah (prophecy) when they were singing and dancing with instruments, because Nevuah can only come to a person in a state of happiness. The class then did a "Simcha (happiness) Campaign" where each group came up with a skit or poster teaching about Simcha, including a Jewish joke! They really enjoyed the skits and jokes and also learned a lot about happiness. A question for discussion: Why shouldn't your own happiness depend upon others?

As Mrs. Gold's and Mrs. Brackman's 7/8th grade Navi classes continue studying Shmuel Bet, they see more of David's strong leadership qualities. He never rejoices in the downfall of an enemy and even punishes the people who kill Shaul and his sons. It is wonderful to see the students learning the original Hebrew text together. They had a special opportunity to combine classes and learn together. A question for discussion: What do we learn from the fact that Avner so easily switches sides?
 
Yippee! Yay! Yeay! The Akiba-Schechter Orchestra performed at the Havdalah Hoedown at Congregation Rodfei Zedek.

 

Chesed Club
Tomer makes calls on behalf of the Chesed Club.
The members of Chesed Club have been hard at work on their latest project! They want to assemble bags to give out to the homeless people of Chicago and have been trying to get supply donations from local stores. The students have been spending time writing letters, emails and making phone calls and are looking forward to a successful project.
Art Corner
Making 3D tree collages.

Kindergarten artists created 3D tree collage pictures by using � paper tube for the trunk, then making branches, leaves and blossoms with craft sticks and lots of small wooden shapes; they painted their trees with brown, green, pink, and white. The results were really beautiful and are on display now. This week, they made very cute teddy bear pictures with pop-up "talking" mouths; they had fun performing impromptu little skits amongst themselves with their talking bears!

 

Leah and Rachel show off their trees.

 

First grade artists made lovely standing trees with paper tubes for trunks, pipe cleaner branches, and colorful tissue paper blossoms and leaves. Each tree was painted and given its own unique treatment by the artist-some even braided their branches! This week they explored the winter landscape, using a limited palette of earth colors; they used scumbling (dry-brush technique) to give their scenes anything from a mild dusting to a blizzard of beautiful snow!

 

Second grade artists explored a variety of fun and fascinating origami models. One second grade class spent three sessions making and assembling their 6-piece modular Sonobe cubes. The other class made the aptly named Un-Unfoldable Box and the traditional origami inflatable cube. They are now folding a clever two-piece sumo wrestler; it's a generic human figure that will assume any persona the artist wishes-and much of the fun is in the decorating!

 

Bella and her beads.

 

3rd and 4th grade artists finished their paper bead projects, many of which turned into beautiful wearable art of one sort or another. We really had a good time. Now the students are doing studies from a master work of art of their choice. They have already lightly mapped out the most important features of the foreground and background. They are off to a really great start!

Issue Number
February 7, 2014
Volume 10, Issue 19
Candlelighting: 4:53 p.m.
Parasha: Tetzaveh

Watch your mail...coming soon...your invitation to our Annual Benefit and Silent Auction!
In This Issue
Dvar Torah
Preschool Update
Grades 1-8
Chesed Club
Art Corner
Dates to Remember
Quick Links

Parent Portal

 School Calendar 

 

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Dates to Remember
Thursday, February 13
1:00 - 9:00 p.m. Grades 1-8
4:00 - 9:00 p.m. Preschool & Kindergarten
12:30 p.m. Dismissal for Grades 1-8; 
3:30 p.m. Dismissal for Preschool & Kindergarten; 
No Late Pick-up or After-School Programs; 
Buses leave at 12:30 p.m.
 
Friday, February 14
9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
No Classes
 
Monday, February 17
Presidents Day
Preschool in Session
No Classes for Grades 1-8
Mandatory Rehearsal for Middle School Musical Cast
Teacher In-Service
 
Friday, February 28
All-School Musical
 
Sunday, March 2
All-School Musical
 
Dvar Torah
Parasha Tetzavah
by Leah Finkielsztein
 
This week, we are happy to feature 8th grader Leah Finkielsztein's winning Dvar Torah. See our main column.

 

Refuah Shlema
...to Judaics teacher Mina Schanowitz, who unfortunately broke a leg in this challenging winter weather.
Report Cards

   

for all grades are now available on the

Parent Portal!

If you have any trouble accessing the Parent Portal, please contact frontdesk.

Parent/Teacher Conferences
 
Thursday, February 13
conferences1:00 - 9:00 p.m. Grades 1-8

4:00 - 9:00 p.m. Preschool & Kindergarten  

 Friday, February 14

9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

 
To register, go to

Grade school parents, please enter Event Code VDQVR.

Preschool parents, please enter Event Code U4UR6.

Note that these codes are different from last fall's codes, and you will need to re-enter your contact information. 

Please contact Elisa Aranoff if you have any questions.

Vacation Days at the JCC

  Thursday & Friday

February 13 & 14

 

The Hyde Park JCC is offering Vacation Days during Akiba-Schechter's Parent/Teacher Conferences. More info here.

Hebrew Reading Incentive Program

for Grades 1-6

Students are encouraged to read Hebrew books and record the number of minutes they read. This popular program makes reading Hebrew fun, while improving fluency. There are three prize levels and books are available at the school for the children to borrow. Click here for a full description of the program as well as a reading log.   

MSI Field Trip Chaperones Needed

   Tuesday, February 25

9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

 

The 5/6th grade science classes are going on a field trip to the Museum of Science & Industry labs. A few chaperones are needed who can come along on the entire 6-hour field trip. Please contact Michelle Rotfeld if you'd like to chaperone.

Mrs. Basa's
Math Corner

   Math Corner

 

Colored beads are placed in the following order: 1 red, 1 green, then 2 red, 2 green, then 3 red, 3 green, and so on. In all, how many of the first 100 beads are red?

 

Scroll down to check your answer.

Middot!
    
We have a new Middah of the month. It is Mesiroot Nefesh, which means "giving one's soul." We are loosely translating it to mean "Going above and beyond the call of duty." The students have been challenged to look for these types of extra acts of kindness and helpfulness. Middot envelopes have been placed in every classroom at Rodfei Zedek, as well as on the second floor of the day school and one outside of the day school office. 
 
Middot of the Week: 
Chavie Zeller and Abigail Koifman saw that Sarah Campbell forgot her coat and gym shoes in class. They brought them to Sarah. This was noted by three different people. Way to go, girls!
 
Thank you, Lunch Volunteers!
  hot lunch  
Thank you to our lunch volunteers for the month of January:
Jennifer Uson, Barbara Vogel, Dolores Erlebacher, Rebecca Winitzer, Ronit Blisko, Cathy Bowers, Stefanie White, Ashley Barnes, Sandy Aranoff, Anne Silverman, Dafnit Rudik, Shevy Ebert and Tracy Koppel.  Thank you also to our volunteer cook, Mordy Spero.
Lunch Volunteers! Needed
  hot lunch  
Thank you to those who have continued to volunteer for lunches. We are currently looking for volunteers for the following dates: 
2/4, 2/5, 2/11, 2/12, 2/18, 2/19, 2/25, 2/26, 3/4, 3/5, 3/11, 3/12, 3/18, 3/19, 3/25, 3/26, and we have a special Monday volunteer shift 3/17 from 
11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m
Tuesday volunteers are here from 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. and Wednesday volunteers are here from 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Even if you can only do part of a shift, we gladly will accept your help. To volunteer, please email Havah Hope.  

Kol Hakavod!

 
Kol HaKavod to the following students who entered the ATT Yediot Klaliyos Contest:

Meira Tova Cohen 
Ezra Landman-Feigelson 
Leah Kanter 
Gavi Levy

We wish them luck on the second test! 

Kehillah Matters Essay Competition

 

  Kehillah Fund logo 

 The Kehillah Fund is proud to sponsor its first Kehillah Matters Essay Competition, open to all students in grades 6-8 attending Kehillah Fund supported schools.

Deadline is February 13.

Click here for the essay prompts and more info!

Jewish Day School Night

Dessert reception for parents, teachers and board members of JUF's affiliated day schools.

 

Bully, Bullied or the Bystander; The Roles Children Play

 

Presentation by Dr. Rona Novick. There is no cost to attend - reservations are required.

 

Tuesday, April 1

7:15 p.m.
Holiday Inn North Shore

5300 W Touhy Ave
Skokie, IL 60076

 

For further info, contact Mindy Bass (312) 444-2839
Email: mindybass@juf.org.

ATT Educator of the Year Award

The ATT proudly announces the Fifth Annual Hartman Family Foundation Educator of the Year Awards. Your children have outstanding rabbis and teachers in their lives. Show your appreciation by nominating them.

One award of $15,000 and two awards of $5,000 will be presented to three outstanding teachers.

Nomination Form

Nomination deadline:

May 9, 2014.

For more information, call the ATT at 773-973-2828 or visit www.att.org.

Math Corner Solution

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