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

November 7, 2014

         7 Cheshvan 5775

Vayera
  Candlelighting 5:04 p.m.
This Week on E-Dateline
Dvar Torah by Rabbi Yosef Hauser
Preview of the Week
Dates to Remember
Scrip Update
Give & Get
Mazal Tov To
Condolences To
Scholarship Dinner Corner
Scholarship Dinner-Sunday, November 23, 2014
JUMP Team Goes to New York For Training
Kindergarten Invites Guests to Their Tent
World Renown Cardiologist Speaks to 10th Grade Chemistry
Tzedakah
News from the Upper School Judaic Studies Coordinator
Learning About Yitzhak Rabin
Hebrew Storytime
Advertise in Dateline
Parshat Vayera Quiz
A Riddle From Israel
Join Our Mailing List
DVAR TORAH
By Rabbi Yosef Hauser

What do you remember from your elementary school days?  That is a question I like to pose to my previous students when I meet them years later. From their answers, I know that good teaching is a combination of passing on Torah knowledge to the next generation in addition to how we treat them. We make an impact on students' lives through acts of chesed, and they remember these things we did for them.

 

The parashiyot that we are learning right now tells the story of Avraham who was the founder of Judaism.  Hashem chose the stories that we are to remember about Avraham's long and complex life.  Hashem did not choose to include in His narrative about the theology that Avraham discovered and began to teach. We learn nothing of the curriculum he taught his students. Hashem includes only the acts of chesed that Avraham did and the events that tested Avraham's faith.  Hashem teaches us as teachers and parents what really makes an impact on our children. It is not what we say but what we do that makes a difference.  Hashem wants us to remember what Avraham did in his life to bring his faith into reality rather than the theology he developed. He knew that actions speak louder than words when it comes to the future.  Thus, we learn about Avraham inviting guests, Avraham arguing to save Sodom and Amorah, and Avraham bringing his son Yitzchok as a korban. We do not see Avraham teaching about the nature of G-d or learning Torah even though he did these things. Avraham's impact on us is more one of action rather than one of talking. 

 

When we interact with our children as parents and as teachers we must always be aware of this lesson. Our children learn from what they see us do more than what they hear from us. Our children's future Jewish life depends on the Mitzvot and acts of chesed they see us do. 

 

Shabbat Sholom

PREVIEW OF THE WEEK 
Sunday, November 9:  Steak Dinner, Beth Jacob, 6-8pm
Monday, November 10: Pizza Bagels
Scholastic Book Fair all week
Tuesday, November 11: Hamburgers-Volunteer: R. Fineberg
Wednesday, November 12: Parent-Teacher Conferences - NO SCHOOL
Thursday, November 13: Cold Cuts-Volunteer: B. Martin
Friday, November 14: Tuna-Volunteer: K. Abelman
2:00pm Dismissal 
DATES TO REMEMBER 

November 16-20:  8th Grade Washington Trip

All of November: Scholastic Book Fair On-Line

Sunday, November 23: CTA Scholarship Dinner, Hilton Downtown, 5:30pm

Tuesday, November 25: Thanksgiving Show, Grades K-4, 9:30am

Wednesday, November 26:  2:00 p.m. Dismissal

November 27-28:  Thanksgiving Vacation - NO SCHOOL

SCRIP UPDATE - PLACES TO PURCHASE SCRIP
CTA Scrip Office, 864-0299 ext. 212
Monday-Friday- 7:30am-4pm

There are remaining gift cards in stock that can be purchased!  Below is a list of what we have on-hand and in what denominations.  There are limited quantities.  Email your order request to: [email protected].



We are still able to place special orders, just email or call in your specifics.  We will give you an approximate expectation for the order to arrive.  

GIVE & GET 

Looking to help raise money for CTA?  Here are a few ways to do it that will cost you NOTHING:

 

Kroger Rewards Card:  Go to www.kroger.com/communityrewards and register your rewards card.  Kroger will donated up to 1% of your Kroger or Turkey Hill stores.  

OFFICE MAX:  Do you shop at Office Max?  Help CTA earn money off of your purchases by using our Max Perks card number during your purchase.  The number is:  207285005 

Target RED Card: Go to https://rcam.target.com/ to manage your red card and enroll your card in the Take Charge of Education program to choose CTA.  Target will donate up to 1% of your REDcard purchases at Target stores in the U.S and at Target.com. 

Amazon Smile:  Go to smile.amazon.com and register to benefit CTA.  When you make a purchase, CTA will receive 1% of that purchase as a donation to our school.  Always shop through smile.amazon.com to benefit CTA. 

iGive:  Register with iGive at www.igive.com and your Amazon purchases and online purchases at close to 1500 retailers will give a kickback to CTA.  To date we have raised over $1000.  

Apples for Students at Giant Eagle:  If you are a Giant Eagle shopper, go to www.GiantEagle.com/AFTS to register for their donation program.  You will need your Giant Eagle Advantage Card number and the CTA School Code which is #4389. 

 

If you have trouble with any of these, contact Shari or come visit her in her office and she will walk you through it!

MAZAL TOV TO:

Rabbi Samuel and Breindel Levine on the birth of a grandson

Tal (Marocco) Felson (8th Grade Class of '85) and Avi Marocco (8th Grade

   Class of '86) on the marriage of their sister Aliza to Leor Joudai

Nathan Lever (8th Grade Class of '98) and Rebecca (Lever) Ribakow (8th

   Grade Class of '00) on the engagement of their sister, Kayla Lever to

   Yehuda Shugarman

Marni (Rosen) Saltzman (Class of '01) on the birth of a daughter

CONDOLENCES TO:

Naomi Dershowitz (Class of '06) on the passing of her grandmother, Hope

   Goldstein Dershowitz

Esther Kaltmann on the passing of her grandmother

SCHOLARSHIP DINNER CORNER

RSVP & AD BOOK DEADLINE NEARS:  The deadline for RSVP and Ad Book submissions is this Monday, November 10.  Please go to www.torahacademy.org to download forms or contact [email protected] with your RSVP and donation.

 

WAY TO GO:  A special shout out to the following families who have been working very hard on the ad book -Drandoff, Hartstein, Leeman/Liebesman, Topolosky.  Our hope is that every family will solicit one FULL page ($360).  Families who raise $2000 or more in new ads receive two free tickets to the dinner.  If you have ideas or need help, contact Shari.

 

SILENT & STUDENT ART AUCTION:  Looking to win some unique student made items or to win some awesome sports and event tickets?  Great gift certificates from local beauty establishments and more.  Watch your email for updates coming next week and plan to bid, bid, bid at the auction!

SCHOLARSHIP DINNER - SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2014


 

JUMP TEAM GOES TO NEW YORK FOR TRAINING
CTA's JUMP team attended a leadership conference in New York this past Sunday and Monday.  JUMP is NCSY's Jewish Unity Mentoring Program National Leadership Seminar.  This is the second year that CTA students were selected to participate in the JUMP program. The group is advised by Rabbi Drandoff and Mrs. Savage.

 

JUMP will engage CTA's students in opportunities to become leaders who will make positive changes in their community.  JUMP participants are challenged to use acquired leadership skills and a broadening understanding of global issues that face to Jewish people to plan and complete a series of community wide projects.

 

Jewish day school students from across the country participated in the comprehensive two-day leadership seminar where they heard from influential members of the Jewish world who play significant roles in various prominent organizations and institutions.

 

Pictured is the JUMP Team who participated in the conference which was held in Long Island, New York.

KINDERGARTEN INVITES GUESTS TO THEIR TENT

This week the kindergartners learned about the story of our forefather and foremother Abraham and Sarah who welcomed guests to their tent.  Their reputation for Hachnasat Orchimn, welcoming guests, was a concept that the students were eager to act out.  The students created invitations and distributed them to potential guests in the school building.  On Thursday afternoon, they opened up their tent and invited guests for refreshments and kindness.  Pictured are some of the students with guests in attendance - Mrs. Sapp, Rabbi Levine and Nurse Michelle. 

WORLD RENOWN CARDIOLOGIST SPEAKS TO 10TH GRADE CHEMISTRY

Students in 10th grade Chemistry were fortunate to have world renown cardiologist, Dr. Sami Viskin, from the Sachler School of Medicine in Tel Aviv visit their class this week and speak about his career, knowledge and passion. Dr. Viskin is a specialist in electrocardiograms and his recent innovation is the creation of a test which can identify irregularities in heart beat that can be treated to prevent sudden cardiac arrest and other heart ailments. Dr. Viskin's extensive knowledge was interesting for the students and his advice to work hard at what you enjoy and to work hard and what you don't enjoy was good advice for young students thinking about their future.  Dr. Viskin's visit to Columbus was initiated by the Heart Hope Foundation whose mission is to educate on heredity heart diseases. For more information, go to www.hearthopefoundation.org  Pictured is (l-r), student Leilah Abelman, Ben Weisbuch, Heart Hope Foundation, Eliza Delman, Principal, Dr. Viskin, and Dr. Kennedy, 10th Grade Chemistry teacher.

 

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:

 

To The Scholarship Fund by:

Larry and Robin Garvin in honor of Ariel Ilin's 10th birthday

Gary Liebesman and Stacy Leeman in honor of Ariel Ilin's birthday

Ericka Schneiderman and family in memory of Judah Stein's grandma

ON THE UP & UP
NEWS FROM THE UPPER SCHOOL JUDAIC STUDIES COORDINATOR
By Rabbi Zecharia Weitz

Weitz

 Independence

Our goal in Upper School Judaic Studies is to empower students with the ability to learn on their own and the desire to do so. There is something surreal about seeing the students who, in 7th grade, were only beginning Gemara and still using training wheels for Chumash, learning Torah independently in 12th grade.

 

 

Allow me to share a special moment with you that occurred yesterday. I stopped in to observe Rabbi Drandoff's H.S. Gemara class only to find Rabbi Drandoff sitting down while Avi Kahn and David Polster taught the class! As I soon found out, Avi and David, in their chavruta (learning group), read the Gemara ahead of the class. When Rabbi Drandoff offered them the opportunity to teach the next section to the class, they eagerly acquiesced. But wait - it gets better! In the middle of their delivery, David Wolfson asked a penetrating question on the Gemara which resulted in a class-wide dispute, and answer found in a latter commentary and a truly deep understanding of the Gemara.

 

Food For Thought: The merit of Avraham's willingness to sacrifice Yitzchak had a transforming impact on what would become the Jewish People and keeps us in good standing with Hashem, so to speak, until today. There were many people, however, who actually did lose their children for the sake of Heaven. What made Akeidat Yitzchak (the Binding of Isaac) so unique that only it was established as the bedrock of our Nation?

LEARNING ABOUT YITZHAK RABIN - by Kelly Adar
Prime Minister (1922-1995)

Yitzhak Rabin was a Nobel Peace Prize-winning political leader who served as Prime Minister of Israel during the mid-1970s and mid-'90s. Born on March 1, 1922, in Jerusalem, Israel, Yitzhak Rabin served as Israel's military Chief of Staff before becoming the country's first native-born Prime Minister in 1974. He reclaimed the post in the 1992 elections, and then became known for his historic peace negotiations with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994. Rabin was killed by an extremist on November 4, 1995, in Tel Aviv.When we mourn the loss of a private individual, we seek to process the event, to soften its impression and to recover from it so that we can continue living a normal life. This is the way of the world. But the murder of a public figure - the Prime Minister of Israel - carries a much broader significance, which we must not forget in order to continue living "a normal life." Moreover, when it comes to public mourning, as opposed to private grief, the remembrance is of particular significance for the future generations, for those "who didn't know Yitzhak."

 

On Thursday, the high school students had the opportunity to hear about Yitzhak Rabin from our new young Shlicha, Lihi Shmueli. Lihi led an inspiring session on Yitzhak Rabin's life and legacy. The students had the opportunity to raise questions and reflect on Israeli politics. May his memory be a blessing!  For more on Yitzhak Rabin, you can visit:  http://www.biography.com/people/yitzhak-rabin-37246#synopsis.

HEBREW STORYTIME


 

 

ADVERTISE IN DATELINE

By demand, the E-Dateline will now be offering advertising space in its weekly newsletter.  Space is limited and rates are weekly as follows:

 

Weekly Dateline Sponsorship $150 (includes tribute line at top of newsletter)

 

Full Weekly E-Dateline Sponsorship:  $150 - Name at top

Full Size Submission:  $75 - size is 780 x 432 pixels/10 x 6"

Half Size Submission:  $50 - size is 390x 216 pixels/5.4 x 3"

1/3 Size Submission:  $30 - size is 260 x 144 pixels/3.6 x 2"

 

Rates are weekly and all submissions must be received by Wednesday at noon.  At this time advertising is only available in the e-Dateline, not paper version.  Advertising submissions are subject to content review. Contact [email protected] for more information. 

PARSHAT VAYERA QUIZ
1.  Why did G-d appear to Avraham after the brit mila?
a.  Avraham was sick, so G-d came to "visit" him.

2.  Why was Avraham sitting at the entrance to his tent?
a.  He was looking for guests.

3.  Why did Avraham ask specifically Yishmael, and not someone else, to prepare food for the guests?
a.  To announce Yitzchak's birth, to heal Avraham and to destroy Sodom.

4.   Why did Avraham ask specifically Yishmael, and not someone else, to prepare food for the guests?

a.   To train him in the performance of mitzvot.

 

5.   Why did the angels ask Avraham where Sarah was?

a.   To call attention to Sarah's modesty, so as to endear her to her husband.

 

6.   When G-d related Sarah's thoughts to Avraham, He did not relate them precisely.  Why?

a.   For the sake of peace.

 

7.   What "cry" from Sodom came before G-d?

a.   The cry of a girl who was executed for giving food to the poor.

 

8.   How many angels went to Sodom?

a.   Two; one to destroy the city and one to save Lot.

 

 

(Parsha Vayera Quiz originally appeared on the Ohr Somayach

 website, www.ohr.edu)

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 18, Verse 4. You will find the answer there.

 


 


 

The winner of last week's riddle is: Philip Garvin

 

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.

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