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 In this week's Torah portion of Lech Lecha, we begin to learn about Avraham Avinu, the Patriarch Abraham, who is considered the first Jewish person. Avraham demonstrated unprecedented trust in, and dedication to, G-d. In return, G-d promised Avraham that he would be the founder of a new nation, the Jewish people. (Actually, G-d promised Avraham that he would be the "father of many nations," but that's a different story.) Hashem told Avraham that the Jewish people would, in time, become a great and multitudinous people and He compared them to three things: the sand of the seashore, the dust of the earth and the stars in the sky. What do these analogies teach us? Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, zt"l, explained that each comparison relates to a special feature of Am Yisrael. The "sand of the seashore" sets a boundary for the ocean and prevents it from flooding the land and causing death and destruction. This represents the promise that G-d will protect the Jewish people and shield them from harm. The "dust of the earth" contains a twofold message. The earth benefits mankind in innumerable ways by providing abundant natural resources, but it is also continuously being trodden upon by everyone. This represents the mission of the Jewish people to bring good to the world and strive to benefit humanity, but in a humble and modest way, devoid of arrogance and conceit. And, lastly, how do we accomplish this mission? To do so, we must emulate the "stars of the sky" striving to reach lofty spiritual heights and staying faithful to the values and teachings of the Torah. Thus, the three things mentioned by G-d, sand, dust and stars serve as symbols of both the blessings and responsibilities that have been placed upon us.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Zvi Kahn
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THE 2012 HIGH SCHOOL YEARBOOKS HAVE ARRIVED
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CTA High School students were so excited to receive their 2012 yearbooks this past Monday. With a cutting-edge cover designed by 2012 graduate Miryam Raizen, these yearbooks were created to resemble a very familiar piece of popular technology. But if you look inside, you will find no circuit board or hard drive - instead, you will see almost 100 pages of full-color memories from the 2011-2012 school year; ads from family, friends, and community members as well as local businesses and organizations; and a special "World Beat" insert section chronicling events in news, sports, and popular culture from the year. The yearbook staff, under guidance of adviser Ms. Amy Neiwirth, worked so hard to create a book that students will treasure for years to come.
The High School Yearbook has been published each year since 1995, the first graduating year of the High School. CTA is proud of its more than 800 alumni from graduating 8th and 12th grade classes since the school's founding in 1958. Graduation pictures from every year can be seen on the walls in the administrative hallway. Congratulations to the graduates from 1973, 1983, 1993 and 2003 who are celebrating milestone reunion years. You can view their pictures on CTA's Facebook page.
Each student in the CTA High School, including current freshmen and 2012 graduates, receive a yearbook free of charge. To make this possible, the yearbook staff had to work hard to raise money to pay for the printing costs through fundraisers and ad sales. Thank you to everyone who purchased ads in the 2012 yearbook - and keep an eye out in the next few months for information regarding ads for the 2013 yearbook!
Yearbooks for 2012 graduates with parents working at CTA or siblings attending CTA were distributed this week. Remaining yearbooks for 2012 seniors will be mailed. If you would like to pick up your child's yearbook instead of having it mailed, please contact aneiwirth@torahacademy.org and we will leave a copy for you at the front desk.
If you are not the parent of a current CTA High School student and would like to own a copy of the 2012 yearbook, you can purchase a copy for $30. Please contact Ms. Neiwirth at aneiwirth@torahacademy.org for more info to do so.
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Monday, October 29: Macaroni & Cheese-Volunteer: A. Hazan
Choir Practice, 4:00-4:45 pm
Tuesday, October 30: Chicken Nuggets
Wednesday, October 31: Grilled Cheese
Thursday, November 1: Turkey Pastrami-Volunteer: L. Schottenstein
Friday, November 2: Tuna-Volunteer: P. Schiff
End of 1st Quarter
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Sunday, November 4: Daylight Savings Time Ends; turn clocks back 1 hour
November 4-8: 8th Grade Washington Trip
Wed. & Thurs., November 7 & 8: Prospective Kindergarten Open House
Friday, November 9: 2:00 pm Friday Dismissal Schedule Begins
Monday, November 12: Executive Board Meeting, 7:30 pm
November 12-16: Scholastic Book Fair
Wednesday, November 14: Parent-Teacher Conferences, No School
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SCRIP UPDATE - PLACES TO PURCHASE SCRIP
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CTA Scrip Office, 864-0299 ext. 112
Monday-Thursday- 7:30am-4pm; Friday- 7:30am-3pm
The Scrip Office keeps a variety of available scrip on hand. Special order scrip from hundreds of stores is available by sending your request to scrip@torahacademy.org. To see a complete selection of all of the Scrip choices, go to www.glscrip.com. To benefit CTA with online purchases, register at www.iGive.com.
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"I heard through the Grapevine..." We have a new participant in our Scrip Program - AMERICAN GIRL! Its Fall ...Time for yard work! In stock: Lowe's - 4%; Special Order: Menard's - 3%, Home Depot - 4%, Anderson's - 4% ... And time for sports and Basketball! Sports Authority - 8%; Dick's - 8%; Finish Line - 10%; Foot Locker - 9%; Champs Sports - 9%; Kohl's - 4%; JC Penney - 5%, Target - 2% ... And also time for L colds and flu: CVS Pharmacy. The special order scrip only takes 3-4 days! Please visit GLscrip.com to see available participating retailers!
"L'chaim and Todah Rabah to ...The CTA parent (you know who you are!) who purchased a dehumidifier with Lowes Scrip, a Williams Sonoma card for a wedding present (8% to CTA) as well as a Macy's card for another wedding present; LL Bean (10%!) for a bar mitzvah present, and because she's on their email list, she gets offers for free shipping or a free gift card with her purchase. Good work using the SCRIP program, and inspiring us to do the same!
Reminder about our NEW Call & Deliver Program for Scrip. Email scrip@torahacademy.org or call 864-0299 to order scrip and we can have it delivered to your home.
The Give & Get (G&G) Commitment for 2012-2013 is $2,000 per family. G&G is fulfilled through donations, Scrip purchases, solicitations & volunteering. The weekly G&G Grapevine gives you ideas of how to easily do your part. Send a record of all G&G volunteer hours to gandg@torahacademy.org.
If you would like to volunteer, contact Volunteer Coordinator, Kim Abelman, at 855-5195 or kimabel3@gmail.com. Volunteer time is worth $25 per hour towards Give & Get.
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NEWS FROM THE LOWER SCHOOL JUDAIC STUDIES DEPARTMENT
By Dror Karavani, Lower School Judaic Studies Coordinator
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Last Friday, we were honored to have a Biblical guest, Noach, during the kabbalat Shabbat party for the Kindergarten and First Graders. Noach visited with the Teiva (ark) and the students helped him place the animals and members of his family in the right places. This week, Avraham came to visit us and taught us all about his journey to Israel.
CONGRATULATIONS TO BENTCHERS OF THE MONTH:
Yaacov Simcha Arieh Blum Aaron Ligator
 
Mina Schulman
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SAY IT IN HEBREW
By Galit Golan, Hebrew Language Coordinator
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Each week I put the spotlight on the great learning in our Hebrew classes. However, no less important is the learning in our Hebrew learning center. Many of our Hebrew teachers work as Hebrew learning center teachers as well. The purpose of our Hebrew learning center in to help students catch up and reach their grade level in Hebrew, and to enable them to become  integrated in class again. Morah Minna works with Joshua Levy. They are now focusing on topic-related vocabulary, as well as composing correct Hebrew sentences. Below is a story Joshua wrote, using vocabulary and sentence form he learned with Morah Minna:
הילד בחולצה הסגולה/ מאת יהושוע לוי
הילד בחולצה הכחולה אוהב לאכול פלפלים טריים צהובים, והיו לו הרבה חברים. יום אפור אחד היה טורנדו שחור בבית התכלת. הילד בכה עם דמעות כחולות, כי הכלב הרך, האדום והנעים מת, יחד עם החתול הלבן והחום של השכן. הפלפלים הירוקים והכתומים עפו החוצה, ובסוף המיטה הוורודה של האחות שלו עפה. המשך יבוא...
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ON THE UP & UP:
NEWS FROM THE UPPER SCHOOL JUDAIC STUDIES DEPARTMENT
By Rabbi Zecharia Weitz, Upper School Judaic Studies Coordinator
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 This past week, Rabbi Drandoff's 8th grade Chumash class took a brief break from their intensive study of Chumash and Rashi in order to shift their focus to a special research project. Each student was assigned a  mitzvah and empowered with the task of doing research about it to understand its practical implications, spiritual depth and to learn the various halachot (laws) related to its fulfillment. In addition to their research, students presented to their classmates the unique lessons that they internalized through researching their mizvot. Thestudents also utilized their creative muscles to create visual aids which they used to enhance their presentation, such as poster boards, videos
 and power point presentations. Reflecting on the experience, Rabbi Drandoff noted that, "Observing the students unravel the beauty of the mitzvot and begin to appreciate the significance of the mitzvah that they researched was an awesome experience. It was very rewarding to hear students declare 'Wow! That is so cool, I never knew that before'".
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NEWS FROM THE LOWER SCHOOL JUDAIC STUDIES DEPARTMENT
By Mrs. Stock & Moreh Dror, 3rd Grade Teaching Team
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Third grade has been very busy in General Studies! The students have really been enjoying Science lessons, collectively their favorite subject so far. We are learning about rocks & minerals. Every day at recess we find new fossils or quartz on the recess grounds to share during classroom team meetings. Moreh Dror came into our class last week to explain how we can have fossils that date scientifically beyond the current year on the Jewish calendar. We also made models of geodes using different solutions in eggshells. Our crystals are growing! What a great start to our year!
In Judaics, the third grade is focusing on Chumash. Using the Tal Am program, in addition to a special curriculum designed for our school-aged children, we are learning the content of the story, the vocabulary, the grammar, the Rashi and Jewish values learned from the story. Learning the content of the story is done mostly through reviewing the pesukim in the Chumash, class discussions, and visual enhancements. We learn the vocabulary in order to learn the text inside more fluidly. Grammar is taught by paying attention to the word make-up and their shorashim (root words) and additions. Exceptions to the rule make this skill more challenging. My goal is to emphasize critical thinking skills. We're training our students to ask questions, compare and contrast words with the same shoresh (root word), detect "unnecessary" or repetitive information, and more. We look at Rashi and other commentaries as part of our discussion, once we have raised questions/concerns which come from the pesukim. While we are studying, we always ask ourselves how things which happened many years ago are relevant to us today. The children will create an album to display some of these issues, at the Achievement Fair. When we learn the different stories, we try to incorporate "true to life" examples, through archaeology, geography, science, arts, and more. All of these skills and concepts are taught through games, activities, technology and modeling. Using these various techniques, we bring the stories of the Torah alive through the eyes and imaginations of the Third Grade children.
In Hebrew class we are all about how to learn successfully, בהצלחה Behatzlach, which also happens to be the name of our 3rd grade Tal Am text book. The students are improving their writing and reading skills: They record themselves reading each week, learn from their mistakes and improve their fluency. This process helps the students read with more confidence, recognize more words as sight words and express them correctly. We already see big changes as we strive to be fluent Hebrew readers and confident Hebrew speakers. In October we have been focusing on composing sentences about the weather, answering the question: "What is the weather today?" During the next few weeks the students will compose sentences abut clothing (answering the question, "What do I wear today?") and continue to other topics related to vocabulary. As a summary, each student will write a short booklet, using the sentences forms and the vocabulary we learned.
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NEWS FROM THE UPPER SCHOOL GENERAL STUDIES DEPT.
By Josh Pollack, World History & Jewish History Teacher |
The 9th Grade World History and 10th grade Jewish History students are currently working on their respective research projects, each assignment formatted to mimic the longer more demanding papers they will be required to write later in their academic career. As I receive questions such as, "Can I graduate from college without taking a history course?" I keep my positive frame of mind by thinking of a training segment from one of my favorite films "The Karate Kid."
In the film Mr. Miyagi begins Daniel's training with a series of menial tasks such as waxing cars, sanding a wooden floor, refinishing a fence, and painting Miyagi's house. Each chore is accompanied with a specific movement, such as clockwise/counter-clockwise hand motions. Daniel fails to see any connection to his training from these hard chores and eventually feels frustrated, believing he has learned nothing of karate. When he expresses his frustration, Miyagi reveals that Daniel has been learning defensive blocks through muscle memory learned by performing the chores.
Similarly, while a student might not see a need for an Abstract or a Bibliography, as they progress and their academic training becomes more demanding, if these skills are not already almost instinctive, they will struggle, but if they have become part of their intellectual tool belt, they will excel, which is my goal with every assignment, every step of the way.
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| MAZAL TOV TO: |
Leah Weisz (Class of '01) on her marriage to Uriel Sturm
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| PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES | |
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SCHOLARSHIP DINNER TRIBUTE BOOK UPDATES
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Reminder, solicitations for Scholarship Dinner Tribute Book are underway. Thank you to the parents who have come to ask for help or for names to solicit. Please look inside your checkbook and solicit places where you spend money: insurance agencies, hair dresser, doctor, dentist, lawyer, plumber, and more. Deadline for ads is Friday, November 2. Contact Shari at sherszage@torahacademy.org with any questions.
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| SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR SET FOR NOV. 12-16 |
 The Scholastic Book Fair is coming to CTA, and you're invited! Our theme - All Star Book Fair: Every Reader Is a Star! - is part of an exciting reading event bringing to school a wonderful selection of fun, engaging, and affordable books kids want to read. Giving kids access to good books and the opportunity to choose their own books motivates them to read more and provide hours of enjoyment. And, the more kids practice reading, the better they get!
Join us in CTA's K - 8 Reading Library from Nov. 12 - 16. We're also open Conference Day from 10:00 - 4:00. Stock up on great books for your children for Hanukkah, birthdays, or just because you love them!
Visit our Book Fair Homepage:
http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/cta for information about books and special features of our fair like All for Books, Classroom Wish Lists, Online Ordering, eBooks & being a Book Fair Volunteer.
Past Book Fairs successfully helped update and grow CTA's library with quality books for kids to borrow. Every book purchased supports our school.
Online ordering, from Nov. 5 - 25, is a great way to accommodate busy schedules, involve out of town relatives and find an even wider selection of books. Online orders are sent to school and delivered to your child after the fair closes. See the link on CTA's Book Fair Homepage for this option.
Volunteers are needed during fair hours. Can you help? Earn Give and Get, and help put books in children's hands. Contact Cheryl Miller cmiller@torahacademy.org Thanks and see you at the Book Fair!
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| PTO'S INNISBROOK FUNDRAISER |
 The PTO's Innisbrook Gift Wrap & Giftware Sale continues through Monday, October 29. All forms should be turned in to the front desk. Remember, you can also make purchases on-line at www.innisbrook.com and still give credit to your child. Send a link to your family and friends out of town so they can help out, too. Questions can be directed to parent coordinator, Rachel Metz.
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| FROM THE NURSE |
The nurse has received word from the Columbus Public Health Department that there is an outbreak of Shigella (Shigellosis) in Franklin County. It is most common among younger children, aged 2-4. Shigella is a bacteria that causes severe diarrhea. It is spread through the stool of an infected person. Hand washing is the best way to prevent the spread of this bacteria.
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| BASKETBALL TEAMS ORGANIZING FOR 2012-2013 SEASON |
Basketball Season for Junior High and High School teams are beginning next week. Student athletes have already been conditioning and getting ready for a successful basketball run this year. The game schedule is posted online (www.ctaathletics.blogspot.com) and the Google Calendar will be updated shortly. On the first day of practice, the athletes will receive a game/practice schedule, registration form, and other pertinent information. We are looking forward to seeing you at the games! Go Lions!
Official Basketball Start Dates:
Middle School Girls Basketball Tuesday, October 30th 4-5:30pm
Middle School Boys Basketball Wednesday, October 31st 4-5:30
Varsity Girls Basketball, Monday, October 29th 5-6pm (Yearbook 4-5pm)
Varsity Boys Basketball, Wednesday, October 31st 5-7:30pm
Season Practice Schedule - (SUBJECT TO CHANGE) Varsity Girls (VG), Varsity Boys (VB), Middle School Girls (MSG), Middle School Boys (MSB)
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| VARSITY SOCCER TEAM WINS CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP |
The Torah Academy Varsity Soccer team won the Conference Championship finishing the regular season undefeated at 8 wins, 0 losses and 2 ties. The team was led by its seniors: Midfielder, Aaron Polster, Goalie, Max Herszage, Fullback, Alec Salutsky, and Fullback, Zach Ziv. Helping out the seniors were juniors Bradley Rosenstein, sophomores, David Polster, David Wolfson, Orri Benatar, Zach Sukienik, Arik Bality, Roston Shore, and Avi Kahn. Great Job Lions!
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| COMMUNITY NEWS |
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD: Join us on Saturday, November 3rd for SRO's (Senior Repertory of Ohio) production of "To Kill a Mockingbird." The Pultizer Prize winning novel written by Harper Lee, stars our 5th and 6th grade general studies teacher, Kate Willis and 8th grader Jenna Rodier. To reserve your spot, email Norma Whitmyre at nwhitmyre@torahacademy.org but your payment is your reservation. Cash or checks made out to Norma Whitmyre need to be in by Monday, Oct. 29. Cost: $13 Adults and $10 students.
JCC Jewish Bookfair: Susan Levine, author of Packard Takes Flight: A Bird's Eye View of Columbus, Ohio, will be speaking on Sunday, Nov. 4, at 1:30 pm.
JCC Texas Hold'Em Tournament will be held on Sunday, November 11 at the Zusman House at the JCC on College Avenue. This event benefits the JCC's Early Childhood Parent Association which funds activities for the preschool. For more information or to register, contact jccpokertournament@gmail.com. Only for adults ages 18 and over.
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SEVENTH GRADERS CELEBRATE MOON FESTIVAL
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 Seventh graders in Mrs. Moreno's Social Studies class completed study of Ancient Chinese civilization with a Moon Festival celebration. Moon Festival is one of the most important holidays on the Chinese calendar and dates back more than 3000 years ago. After learning how to use chopsticks properly and creating their own "mooncakes", ate eggrolls and drank Chinese tea, the students created Chinese lanterns. Pictured is the 7th grade class posing with their chopsticks.
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1. What benefits did G-d promise Avraham if he would leave his home?
a. He would become a great nation, his excellence would become known to the world, and he would be blessed with wealth.
2. "And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you." What does this mean?
a. A person will say to his child, "You should be like Avraham."
3. Who were the souls that Avraham and Sarah "made?"
a. People they converted to the worship of G-d.
4. What were the Canaanites doing in the Land of Canaan when Avraham arrived?
a. They were in the process of conquering the land from the descendants of Shem.
5. Why did Avraham build an alter at Ai?
a. He foresaw the Jewish People's defeat there in the days of Yehoshua due to Achans sins. He built an altar to pray for them.
6. What two results did Avraham hope to achieve by saying that Sarah was his sister?
a. That the Egyptians would not kill him, and would give him presents.
7. Why did Avraham's shepherds rebuke Lot's shepherds?
a. Lot's shepherds grazed their flocks in privately owned fields.
8. Who was Amrafel and why was he called that?
a. Amrafel was Nimrod. He said (amar) to Avraham to fall (fel) into the fiery furnace.
(Parsha Lech Lecha Quiz originally appeared on the
Ohr Somayach website, www.ohr.edu)
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As part of our partnership with the Shiloh school in Israel, we will be receiving riddles each week relating to the Parasha. You will notice this each week on this back page. The goal is to have the parents and children discuss the parasha, while trying to figure out the connection between the picture and the parasha. All answered riddles should be given to the Judaic teacher on Monday. The names of the winners will be announced and sent to our friends in Israel.
What is the connection between the picture and the parasha? Look in Chapter 15, Verse 5. You will find the answer there.
 The winner of last week's riddle is Ariel Ilin.
Moreh Dror Karavani will collect all of the submitted answers, put them into a box, and save them for the big raffle! You will hear more about this very soon. Keep your answers coming.
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