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The Columbus Torah Academy
181 Noe Bixby Rd, Columbus OH 43213
614.864.0299

January 10, 2014

          9 Shevat 5774 

Beshalach
  Candlelighting 5:08 p.m.
This Week on E-Dateline
Headmaster's Message
What's With All the Drama?
Preview of the Week of Jan. 6-10
Dates to Remember
Sports
Scrip Update - Places to Purchase Scrip
Give & Get Grapevine
News from the Upper School Judaic Studies Dept.
Mazal Tov To
Condolences To
Thank You To
CTA Blood Drive
PTO Directory
Basketball Night at the Games
Kindergarten Preview Day
Parent Breakfast
Shawarma Night
PJ Library Community Day
Community News
Tzedakah
Parsha Beshalach Quiz
A Riddle from Israel
Join Our Mailing List
HEADMASTER'S MESSAGE

In this week's Torah portion of Beshalach we read about two of the greatest events in Jewish history: the Exodus from Egypt and the Splitting of the Sea. One might have thought that after experiencing these two unprecedented miracles the Jewish people would have been permanently set on a path of righteousness and trust in G-d.  However, we see later in the parsha that not much time passes before some of the people find reasons to complain and question Hashem's benevolence.  They want to know how they will survive in the wilderness without regular access to food and water.  How should we view these people and their questions?  On the one hand, their points are eminently reasonable.  After all, human beings need food and water to survive and it would be foolish not to be concerned about such essential matters.  On the other hand, the people had witnessed first-hand how G-d had rescued them from slavery, punished their oppressors and dramatically superseded the laws of nature in order to assure their escape from Egypt. After seeing all this, couldn't the people have demonstrated enough trust in G-d to believe that He would provide for their needs?  This question is one with which we must challenge not only our Biblical ancestors, but ourselves as well.  We must strive to recognize and appreciate the countless blessings that Hashem has bestowed upon us, and learn to trust that He will continue to protect us as we travel through the "wilderness" of life.  

 
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Zvi Kahn
WHAT'S WITH ALL THE DRAMA?

No.  Not that kind of drama, although, it is high school.  Auditions took place this week for the High School play, 12 Angry Jurors.  Through the initiative of 11th grader, Becky Portman, the High School students will be performing this drama in early April.  Bringing Laurie Alexander, drama teacher, out of retirement, the students will spend time after school practicing, preparing costumes, props and staging and promoting the play which will be open to the entire community. 

 

Becky explained, "I like participating in plays and I felt like there was a need to offer an extra-curricular activity for students who might not like participating in athletics or want to try something new.  I am excited by the turnout for auditions and to see this happen."

 

Drama is also a major focus of the 7th grade as they prepare for their annual Shakespeare Festival which will be performed for the community on Thursday, January 30 at 7:30 pm on stage at the JCC.  The Shakespeare Festival is a trademark curriculum event of the 7th grade year as it combines both learning about English literature with the value of working on a theatrical performance. For more than 30 years, the CTA Shakespeare Festival has been a memory-making part of the CTA 7th grade experience. Pictured are the students working on team building and improvisational exercises with artist in residence, Angela Barch.

PREVIEW OF THE WEEK 
Sunday, January 12: Shawarma Night, 6-8pm, Ahavas Sholom
Monday, January 13:  Pizza Bagels: Volunteer-B. Martin
2nd Grade Night at the Games
Executive Board Meeting, 7:30 pm, CTA Library
Tuesday, January 14:  Tacos: Volunteer: L. Schottenstein
3rd Grade Night at the Games
Wednesday, January 15:  Grilled Cheese: Volunteer: P. Wolf
Parent Breakfast, Grades K-6, 8:00 am
Thursday, January 16:  Sloppy Joes: Volunteer-A. Rosen
Friday, January 17:  Tuna: Volunteer-M. Rosenberg
End of 2nd Quarter
DATES TO REMEMBER:
Monday, January 20: Martin Luther King Day, NO SCHOOL
January 21-24: PLEASE NOTE DATE CHANGE: High School Mid-Term Exams
Tuesday, January 21: Town Hall Meeting, 7:30pm
Thursday, January 23:  Blood Drive, 8am-2:30pm
January 21-31:  7th Grade Shakespeare Festival
Thursday, January 30: Shakespeare Night Performance, 7:30pm, JCC
Friday, January 31: Shakespeare Performance, Grades K-8, CTA Shul
SPORTS:
It's Basketball Season!

Monday, January 13
HOME Games vs. Cypress Christian
Middle School Girls, 5:00 pm
Middle School Boys, 6:15 pm
 
Tuesday, January 14
HOME Games vs. Liberty Christian
Middle School Girls, 5:00 pm
Middle School Boys, 6:15 pm
 
Thursday, January 16
HOME Games vs. Polaris Christian
Middle School Girls, 5:00 pm
Middle School Boys, 6:15 pm
SCRIP UPDATE - PLACES TO PURCHASE SCRIP
CTA Scrip Office, 864-0299 ext. 112
Monday-Thursday- 7:30am-4pm
Friday-7:30am-2pm

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 [email protected]. 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.  
GIVE & GET GRAPEVINE

Remember: Target Take Charge of Education Program; Box Tops for Education; Giant Eagle Apples for Students, Kroger card, and empty inkjet cartridges into the box at the front office. To view the vendors participating in the Scrip Program go to www.glscrip.com.

 

Call & Deliver Program for Scrip: email [email protected] or call 864-0299 to order scrip and have it delivered to your home!   

 

If you would like to volunteer, contact Volunteer Coordinator, Kim Abelman, at 855-5195 or [email protected]. Volunteer time is worth $25 per hour towards Give & Get.

 

Featured Fundraisers: Fun Factory collection of Ink Jet cartridges, and iGive.com.

ON THE UP & UP:
NEWS FROM THE UPPER SCHOOL JUDAIC STUDIES DEPT.
By Rabbi Zecharia Weitz 
Weitz

Mega-Terms: After completing the never-ending winter break, H.S. students jump back into motion with the upcoming midterm...and Junior High? There are officially no midterms for J.H. but the members of the J.H. Gemara classes have embarked on Megaterms.

 

Inspired by the aspiration for mastery and retention, of developing and building, we in J.H. Gemara are doing our own comprehensive review of everything we covered since August. This epic journey entails team work; review in chavruta pairs and then dividing the manpower to create tutorials, review summaries and mock midterm units. This collective effort will finale with taking the Mega-term that we communally designed. This is going to be big.

 

Table Talk: The splitting of the Sea marks the crescendo of our Exodus from Egypt, a miracle we recount in Shacharit (morning prayers) everyday. At face value this was a one-time event but our rabbis tell us otherwise. Two of our life endeavors, making a living and finding our zivug, or marriage partner, are "as difficult as the Splitting of the Sea". What do you think is the idea behind this analogy?! 

MAZAL TOV TO:

Rabbi Yaakov Schwartz (8th Grade Class of '72) on the marriage of his

   son Aharon Meir to Esti Skaist

Samuel Rosenstein (Class of '11) on his marriage to Emunah Winer

Ronnie Shulman (8th Grade Class of '95) on the birth of a son

Keshet (Shenkar) Starr (Class of '03) on the birth of a son

CONDOLENCES TO:

Shaul Weisband on the passing of his grandmother, Ruthe Weisband

   Fireman

Todd Blank (8th Grade Class of '78), Greggory Blank (8th Grade Class of

   '80), Alison (Blank) Forche (8th Grade Class of '82), and Jennifer (Blank)

   Lee (8th Grade Class of '85) on the loss of their grandmother, Dorothy

   Blank Kahn

David Fishman (8th Grade Class of '72) on the loss of his father, Sanford

   Fishman

THANK YOU TO:

Rabbi Ben and Rachel Berger, Ari Berger and Naomi Brenner, Chad and Mara Friedman, Jonathan and Elana Gisser, and Bob and Betsey Lane for sponsoring this month's delicious Rosh Chodesh Faculty and Staff Appreciation Lunch.

CTA BLOOD DRIVE

BLOOD DRIVE

Columbus Torah Academy High School

 

Thursday, January 23, 2014

8:00 AM to 2:30 PM

CTA Gym

 

To schedule an appointment call 1-800-RED CROSS

 

If you donated on or before 11/28, you may be eligible to donate.

 

Come to donate and enter to win FREE Kroger groceries for a year!

PTO DIRECTORY

Please make the following change to your copy of the Parent Directory:

     ADDRESS CHANGE:  Rabbi Benjamin and Ahuva Weinschneider, 1288 Medford Rd.

BASKETBALL NIGHT AT THE GAMES

Attention kindergarteners and first graders: if you attended your Grade Night At The Game, remember to come to another game this season to get your FREE box of popcorn!  Check the Dateline calendar for game nights and times, Second and Third Grade Nights are this week and this is DO NOT MISS fun for the entire family!

KINDERGARTEN PREVIEW DAY

CTA is accepting applications for new students, both kindergarten and older.  Kindergarten Preview Day will be held this coming Tuesday, January 14 from 9:30 am - 12 noon.  Spaces are limited and spots must be reserved in advance.

 

Preview Day is an opportunity for potential kindergartners for Fall 2014 to spend the morning in a kindergarten classroom shadowing "veteran" kindergartners and participating in readiness activities. 

 

"By January, the preschoolers are hearing a lot from parents, older siblings and friends about kindergarten and we like to invite them for Preview Day to have a chance to experience it first-hand", explained Patty Sapp, Lower School Principal at CTA. "Preview Day is also a great opportunity for our teachers to meet the potential students."

 

If you would like to reserve a spot for your incoming kindergartener or if you know of a friend who might be interested, please contact Shari Herszage at 864-0299, ext 118 or [email protected]  Incoming kindergarteners must be five by August 15, 2014 to be eligible for Kindergarten.

PARENT BREAKFAST

 

SHAWARMA NIGHT

 

PJ LIBRARY COMMUNITY DAY

 

COMMUNITY NEWS

This summer your teen could experience Europe and Israel with CYCLE FOR UNITY. "The Ride of My Life" is an innovative summer program for Jewish teens that combines leadership, fitness and philanthropy. "The Ride of My Life," is a month-long transformative athletic adventure through Prague, Vienna, Budapest and Israel.  Riders will visit significant Jewish heritage sites, take part in varied service learning projects and receive on-going leadership training - all while raising funds for the charities of their choice with every mile they ride. Led by Rabbi Ari Solomont, all CFU programs are fully supported, kosher and pre-ride training is provided. "The Ride Of My Life" is not the standard summer experience! For additional details and registration information go to:  www.cycleforunity.org.

 

Want great women's wear, at an even greater price? SELBRAND, the shop for designer, gently used clothing for the discerning shopper is having a sale on Sunday, January 19, from 12:00-6:00 pm, at Ahavas Shalom, 2568 E. Broad St. Great styles, brand names, beautiful gently used apparel at shockingly low prices. CALL SARAH DEITSCH for more information at 614-378-6217.

 

JCC SUMMER CAMPS:  Sign-up for 2014 Summer Camp January 13-18 and receive: 6-month Payment Plan, Discount for Siblings and one week of FREE lunch. For more information, check out http://columbusjcc.org/summer-camps/. Register on-line at www.columbusjcc.org or to receive a hard copy registration form, stop by the JCC, or call 559-6251.

TZEDAKAH

It has been a time-honored Jewish tradition to give tzedakah in recognition of important events. Todah Rabah to the following for their donation:

 

To the Scholarship Fund:

Steven and Smadar Import sending congratulations to Shari and Dotan Herszage and Eli and Dina Cieplinski

PARSHA BESHALACH QUIZ

1.   What percentage of the Jewish People died during the plague of darkness?

      a.   Eighty percent (four-fifths).

 

2.    Why did the oath that Yosef administered to his brothers apply to Moshe's generation?

      a.   Yosef made his brothers swear that they would make their children swear.

 

3.   Why did the Egyptians want to pursue the Jewish People?

      a.   To regain their wealth.

 

4.   Where did the Egyptians get animals to pull their chariots?

      a.  From those Egyptians who feared the word of G-d and kept their animals inside during the plagues.

 

5.   What does it mean that the Jewish People "took hold of their fathers' craft" (tafsu umnut avotam)?

     a.  They cried out to G-d.

 

6.  How did G-d cause the wheels of the Egyptian chariots to fall off?

     a.  He melted them with fire.

 

7. Why were the dead Egyptians cast out of the sea?

     a.  So that the Jewish People would see the destruction of the Egyptians and be assured of no further pursuit.

 

8.  To what future time is the verse hinting when it uses the future tense of "Then Moshe and Bnei Yisrael will sing"?

     a.  Resurrection of the dead during the time of mashiach. 

 

9.  Why are the Egyptians compared to stone, lead, and straw?
     a.  The wickedest ones floated like straw, dying slowly. the average ones suffered less, sinking like stones. Those still more righteous sunk like lead, dying immediately.

 

10.  The princes of Edom and Moav had nothing to fear from the Jewish People. Why, then, were they "confused and gripped with trebling"?

      a.  They felt horrible seeing Israel in a state of glory. 

 

 (Parsha Beshalach Quiz appeared on the Ohr Somayach website)

A RIDDLE FROM ISRAEL

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. You will find the answer there.

  

 

Moreh Dror Karavani will collect all of the submitted answers, put them in a box, and save them for the big raffle! You will hear more about this very soon. Keep your answers coming. 

I hope you enjoy the electronic version of our Dateline. Please check out our website at www.torahacademy.org.