| HEADMASTER'S MESSAGE | |
 In this week's Torah portion of Tazria, we learn about a skin disease called tzara'at. The Torah discusses this condition in detail and explains how the people afflicted with the ailment would become tamei, or ritually impure. In many English translations the disease is referred to as leprosy; however, the Rabbis of the Talmud disagree with this assertion. They understood tzara'at to be a physical manifestation of a spiritual malady. The root cause of the problem, according to the Oral Tradition, was spreading gossip and slander. This is indicated by the Hebrew word used to describe a person who contracted the disease. He or she is called a metzora which, on a simple level, merely refers to someone with tzara'at. But the Sages pointed out that this word may also be read as a contraction of motzi rah, which means "to bring out evil." This is exactly what the tale-bearer is attempting to do. He wishes to uncover and spread negative information about other people, be it true or false, accurate or baseless. The Rabbis say that tzara'at is no longer with us. Unfortunately, slander and gossip are alive and well. Our challenge is to rise above these ever-popular pastimes and be neither a bearer of, or listener to, negative and hurtful words.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Kahn
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WHAT A WEEK WE HAVE PLANNED!
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March 30-April 3 is a week of EVENING celebrations, connections and opportunities in the CTA community! Don't miss these upcoming events:
Sunday, March 30: PTO presents Singers & Songwriters at 7 pm at the home of Michael and Patty Schiff. This women's only event will be an enjoying and relaxing evening celebrating and exploring music. For further information, please contact Rachel Metz at [email protected].
Monday, March 31: Writer's Workshop Sharing Night at 7 pm at CTA. Highlights from the 2nd and 5th grader's Writer-in-Residence with Amy Greenberg. Students will present their writings. Open to the community. For further details, please contact the school office.
Tuesday, April 1: Annual Giving Advanced Gifts Event at 7:00 pm at the home of Seth and Leslie Hoffman. For more information, please contact Shari Herszage.
Wednesday and Thursday, April 2 & 3: CTA High School presents Twelve Angry Jurors at 7:30 pm both nights. Tickets are $5 per person and free for senior citizens.
Thanks in advance to all the organizers and volunteers who are preparing for a great week at CTA!
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Monday, March 31: Macaroni & Cheese
Writer's Workshop Sharing Night, Grades 2 & 5, 7pm, Shul
Tuesday, April 1: Tacos-Volunteer: L. Hoffman
CTA Twirlers, 4-5pm
Annual Giving Event, 7pm, Hoffman's home
Wednesday, April 2: Lasagna-Volunteer: A. Kohn
Lower School Student Council, 4-5pm
HS Play, Twelve Angry Jurors, 7:30pm
Thursday, April 3: Meatball Subs-Volunteer: O. Gerberg
HS Play, Twelve Angry Jurors, 7:30pm
Friday, April 4: Tuna-Volunteer: C. Wolt
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March 24-April 4: Food Drive
Monday, April 7: Executive Board Meeting
April 14-23: Passover Break - NO SCHOOL
Friday, April 25: 4:00 p.m. Friday Dismissal Schedule Resumes
May 5-9: Ohio Achievement Assessments, Grades 3-6
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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-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.
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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!
Help CTA to Win a Wireless Lab from Discovery Education and CDW-G. Enter daily until May 1. Go to:
http://cdwg.discoveryeducation.com/wawl/enter/index.cfm
and be entered to receive daily reminders. The more times you enter, the more times we have the chance to win!
iGive: Do you and your family make a lot of purchases on the internet? Have you registered for iGive? More than 1400 stores are connected through iGive and when registered, a percentage of your purchases will benefit CTA. We have been registered since 2011 and have earned close to $1000. However, we only have 62 registered members. Are you one of them? To get connected, go to http://www.igive.com/HS49PpM and register today!
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NEWS FROM THE LOWER SCHOOL JUDAIC STUDIES DEPART.
By Dror Karavani, Lower School Judaic Studies Coordinator
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 In our school, being able to understand the meanings of the tefillah (prayer) is a very central and necessary tool to enable the students to bring this knowledge to their hearts. In addition to the variety of activities which happen during tefillah time, we are proud and excited to present a new "iyun tefillah" program this year. It's a spiral curriculum starting in third grade through sixth grade. These workbooks contain a rainbow of questions, thoughtful skills which incorporate discussions, and new information about the facts of tefillah. Thank you to our Judaic teachers for being enthusiastic about implementing this series. Besides sending the workbooks home after a unit is completed, this full program will be on display at the Achievement Fair in May. 
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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 |
March Madness 
If you are an Upper School student, it's possible that March Madness is on your mind. If you are Mrs. Claman, you are hoping the prophet Hoshea is on the students' minds. A disconnect? Au contraire! Mrs. Claman and her Jr. High Navi class utilized the context they could relate to as a way to connect to the more sublime. Under Mrs. Claman's lead, 7th and 8th grade boys used the NCAA March Madness concept as a template to process the prophet Hoshea's message about returning to Hashem.
The project had lay-ups; 2 events that promote teshuva (repentance), 3 pointers; 3 benefits of teshuva, the final 4 steps of the teshuva process, etc. Challenging their skills and knowledge in an enjoyable way, this was a winning bracket.
The Post Game:
"Having a visual helped me solidify the ideas" - Neil Kalef
"Using a basketball court as a map helped me understand the process" - Marc Abelman
Table Talk: Parshat HaChodesh, the final of the 4 special parshiot, is read this Shabbat. It marks our very first mitzvah as a nation; declaring the month of Nissan as the beginning of the calendar year...but isn't Rosh Hashana our New Year? How are there two different New Years in Judaism? Can you connect this to why this is specifically the first mitzva we were ever given?
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| CONDOLENCES TO: |
Jeff and Tobi Siegel on the loss of Jeff's mother, and Chanan Siegel (Class of '01) and Sarah Siegel (Class of '07) on the loss of their grandmother, Pearl Siegel
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| ANNUAL MEETING |
The Annual Meeting will take place on Monday, May 12, at 7:30 p.m. Board elections will take place. All parents and donors in good standing are invited to attend. And, if you or someone you know would be interested in serving on one of the Executive Board committees for the 2014-2015 school year, please submit names in writing to Norma at school.
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| MAGAZINE SALE BEGINS |
 The 7th graders have kicked off the annual 8th grade Magazine Subscription Drive! Please help them raise money for the 2014 8th grade Washington trip. The subscription drive will run through the end of the year.
Please see any 7th grader OR go on-line to www.gaschoolstore.com. In the upper right hand corner, enter CTA's code, #2522449. Thanks for you support!
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| GIVE & GET VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES |
 Please remember that each family has a $2000 Give & Get Family Commitment. As we move into Spring, there are some signature CTA events that need LOTS of volunteers and leadership. Spring Fling Family Festival will be held on Sunday, May 18 at CTA. Welcoming close to 1000 members of the community onto our campus requires fine attention to detail, lots of organization and lots of help.
 The CBI - Columbus Baseball Invitational will begin Sunday night, May 18 through May 20 at the JCC on College Avenue. Teams from across the country will embark on our community for a one of a kind tournament. More than 200 athletes! Help is needed with First Aid, Concessions, Housing, Transportation and more.
Contact Shari, Jon Hartstein or Bob Lane to offer your help and leadership.
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| COLE ESSAY CONTEST ANNOUNCED |
The Columbus Jewish Federation has announced the 2014 David and Irene Cole Essay Contest. The contest is open to any Columbus area Jewish high school senior who will be graduating in June 2014. Submissions should answer the question "How Will I Perpetuate My Jewish Knowledge and Practice as a College Freshman, and Why?" in a 1,000 to a maximum 1,500 word essay that envisions life as a college freshman and maintaining Jewish identity. The deadline is Friday, April 25 at 1:00 pm. For more information and an application, go to www.columbusjewishfoundation.org. Sponsors Marilyn and Stuart Cole will award $1,000 as the top prize.
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| 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:
Mr. & Mrs. Stuart Cole in honor or the birth of a son to Rabbi &
Mrs. Avrohom Drandoff
Bob, Patti, Josh, and Rachel Wolf in honor of Sara Shatz
The Annual Giving Fund:
Roman and Brett Komanovsky in memory of Mrs. Bella Komanovsky
Todd and Eliza Delman in memory of Bobbette Lew and in honor of Bob
Goldstein's generosity
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| CTA PRESENTS: TWELVE ANGRY JURORS | |
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| GALRON CHOIR |
The Galron Ensemble from Kfar Saba, Israel will be visiting Columbus beginning next week. The Choir has enjoyed a strong relationship with Columbus since their first visit more than 10 years ago and their visit will be a highlight of that relationship with lovers of music and song. The choir will perform for audiences all over the city, collaborate with the Bexley High School Choirs, synagogues, retirement facilities, at Gallery Hop, and even will sing the National Anthem for the home ballgame of the Columbus Clippers. They will spend time in our lower grades and will perform at a FREE community-wide concert on April 8, at 7:30 pm at Temple Israel where some CTA students will participate. For more information, contact Lior Abarbanel, Community Shaliach- [email protected].
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| RECIPES REMEMBERED: A CELEBRATION OF SURVIVAL | |
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1. If the kohen intentionally or unintentionally pronounces a tamei person "tahor," what is that person's status?
a. He remains tamei.
2. What signs of mourning must a metzora display?
a. He must tear his garments, let his hair grow wild, and cover his lips with his garment.
3. Why must a metzora call out, "Tamei! Tamei!?"
a. So people will know to keep away from him.
4. Where must a metzora dwell?
a. Outside the camp in isolation.
5. Why is a metzora commanded to dwell in isolation?
a. Since tzara'at is a punishment for lashon hara (evil speech), which creates a rift between people, the Torah punishes measure for measure by placing a division between him and others.
6. What sign denotes tzara'at in a garment?
a. A dark green or dark red discoloration.
7. What must be done to a garment that has tzara'at?
a. It must be burned.
8. If after washing a garment the signs of tzara'at disappear entirely, how is the garment purified?
a. Through immersion in a mikveh.
(Parsha Tazria Quiz appeared on the Ohr Somayach website)
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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?
The winner of last week's riddle is Mina Schulman.
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.
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