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DVAR TORAH
By Elana Katz
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 In the aftermath of the sin of the golden calf, Moshe pleaded on behalf of the nation that Hashem spare their lives. Hashem accepted Moshe's prayer and instead of wiping out the entire nation, He decided only to punish those who actually worshipped the golden calf as a god. Nonetheless, Hashem explains:
"...but on the day that I make an accounting, I will bring their sin to account against them." (Shemos: Chapter 32: Verse 34)
Rashi explains this confusing statement as follows:
"Now I have listened to you not to destroy them all at once, but always, always, when I take an accounting of their sins, I will also account a little of this sin with the other sins. This means that no punishment befalls Israel in which there is not a part of the punishment for the sin of the golden calf."
While Hashem decided not to fully punish the nation at once, He incrementally spread out their punishment when punishing them for other sins. Upon analyzing Rashi's comment, I began to wonder why all future sins would also bear punishment from the sin of the golden calf. What was so horrible about this sin that the consequences would reach far into the future of the Jewish nation?
The sin of the golden calf took place right after the nation received the Torah. We were given a set of rules, rewards and consequences, but no one had yet broken a rule. When Bnei Yisroel observed that Moshe returned later than expected, they panicked and turned to Aharon to find a replacement for Moshe. For some members of the nation, the calf was only meant to as a replacement for Moshe, while for others, it was idol worship. Hashem decreed that He would wipe out the entire nation and start a new nation from Moshe. This too, is hard to understand. Why would the entire nation be held accountable? Yet, Moshe davened and Hashem accepted his prayer.
I would like to suggest that, through our first sin, we learned as a nation that Hashem has mercy on us. We witnessed that Hashem will contain His anger and will pity us. Consequences will not always be immediate. The experience of being forgiven for the golden calf enabled us to continue to sin because we learned that Hashem would not punish us immediately. Therefore, Hashem explained that all future punishments would contain an element of punishment left over from this sin. Had we never sinned, we may have never learned of Hashem's mercy and may have been too intimidated to witness what consequences would follow our mistakes. Instead, we quickly erred. This could be why Hashem suggested that the entire nation be wiped out and a new nation be created. For once we are no longer intimidated by sinning. it is very challenging for us toregain that level of fear of G-d.
This lesson can also be applied throughout our daily lives. Once we get comfortable acting a certain way, it becomes easier and easier for us to behave in that manner. It is of utmost importance that we keep our standards high and hold ourselves to high expectations, because once we get accustomed to acting any other way, it becomes very challenging to reinstate those standards.
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PREVIEW OF THE WEEK
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Sunday, March 8: Daylight Savings Time; turn clocks ahead 1 hour
Monday, March 9: Pizza Bagels
Tuesday, March 10: Tacos-Volunteer: R. Fineberg
Wednesday, March 11: Pizza-Volunteer: P. Wolf
Thursday, March 12: Sloppy Joes-Volunteer: B. Martin
Friday, March 13: Fish Sticks-Volunteer: K. Abelman
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Monday, March 16: Miss Chocolate Sale Ends
March 16-20: OGT Exam, Grade 10
Friday, March 20: End of 3rd Quarter
Lower School Dress Down Day
PSAS Financial Assistance Forms Due
Monday, March 30: Executive Board Meeting, 7:30pm
Wednesday, April 1: Model Seders; 2:00pm Dismissal
April 2-10: Passover Break - NO SCHOOL
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SCRIP UPDATE - PLACES TO PURCHASE SCRIP
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CTA Scrip Office, 864-0299 ext. 212
Monday-Thursday: 7:30am-4pm
Friday: 7:30am-2pm
There are limited quantities of gift cards in stock that can be purchased! Below is a list of what we have on-hand and in what denominations. 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.
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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: Max Perks card 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.
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!
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NEWS FROM THE LOWER SCHOOL JUDAIC STUDIES DEPARTMENT
By Dror Karavani, Lower School Judaic Studies Coordinator
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Purim in Our School... It seems like it never ends. On Thursday, we had our Purim celebration. Since this year we were privileged to celebrate together on the actual day of Purim, all the children were able to complete the four mitzvot of Purim together. The day began with Megillah reading for all of the grades. The students brought Matanot L'evyonim (tzedakah for the poor). They designed and made mishloach manot to exchange with each other and they enjoyed a special lunch around decorated tables in the lunchroom. In addition there were many festivities including a parade in which students marched around and then had their costumes  judged. The students baked hamentashen. A magician entertained us with wonderful tricks and juggling which kept the children on the edge of their seats. The carnival, organized by the Seventh Graders was a hit, as always, and a fun time was had by all. We concluded the day with a megillah play performed by the Sixth Graders that left us smiling. The students carried that simcha (joy) into the next day, Shushan Purim, which they celebrated with Silly Hat Day. Shabbat Shalom!
 A special guest from Persia at CTA: To bring the story of the megillah alive, we welcomed a special guest all of the way from Persia (oh well, maybe from just Berwick). With pictures and unique items, Mrs. Jaqui Keri gave us a taste of Judaism in Iran. She told us about the community there and fascinating stories about the tombs of Mordechai and Queen Esther. She taught us songs and the alphabet in Farsi. That was an exciting and new view of the background of the Purim story.
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MAZAL TOV TO:
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Michelle (Szames) O'Donnel (8th Grade Class of '97) on the birth of a son
and to the grandparents, Dr. Steve and Linda Szames and the great
grandparents Dr. Maynard and Miriam Goldmeier and Irv and Francine
Szames
Oleg Gelfand (Class of '02) on the birth of a son and to the grandparents
Ella and Leonid Gelfand
Sarah Weinerman Cheses (Class of '02) on the birth of a daughter and to
the grandparents, Drs. Julia and Philip Weinerman
Rabbi Henoch and Chaya Morris upon the Bat Mitzvah of their daughter
Rachel
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CONDOLENCES TO:
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Alexander Szatmary (8th Grade Class of '98), Marvin and Debi Szatmary and family on the passing of Michelle Szatmary.
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JUMP TEAM HEADED TO NYC FOR THE BOARD ROOM
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 The CTA JUMP team gets a huge Mazel TOV! They were selected as one of the 5 final teams to go to the final round of the competition. On Monday March 16th the team along with their advisors, Rabbi Drandoff and Mrs. Savage will travel to the Goldman Sachs board room in New York City! JUMP is a national competition and stands for Jewish Unity Mentoring Program (JUMP) and includes Jewish day school high schools across the United States to promote leadership and advocacy. This year each team was required to do complete initiatives and make a complete report to be considered for Board Room presentations. The initiatives included a texting and driving campaign, develop a way to help impoverished community members, an Israel education advocacy project and a fundraiser. Pictured above are photos of some of the events. Great job JUMP team! We are proud of you and look forward to hearing about your success in NY.
 
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 The subzero weather we've been having this winter didn't dampen the spirits of the 1st grade Iditarod teams and their fans who cheered on the teams at last Friday's race. Of course this year, the track was throughout the school instead of OUTSIDE the school. The same level of excitement continued for the teams as they raced their sleds and completed tasks at the different checkpoints. Kudos to the Lightening Huskies, the Pirate Winners, the Fast Huskie Riders and The Awesome Mushers. A special thank you to Miss Tanenbaum for all of her hard work and to the parent and teacher volunteers who helped to make the day such a success.
 The official Alaskan Iditarod kicks off on March 7 and the 1st graders will be checking the progress of their favorite teams. The students have learned about the importance of safety as well as fore the care and well being of the dogs that is expected of each team and have adopted "Akiak", their own stuffed Husky for their classroom.
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PURIM FESTIVITIES GALORE
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What a fun Thursday as the whole school, the whole community and the whole Jewish world celebrated Purim! Here at CTA, the day was filled with Megillah readings, outrageous costumes, Purim carnival, and treats to eat. The Upper School ended the day with a Faculty/Varsity Basketball game and the Lower School enjoyed the 6th grade Purim Play.
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APPLICATIONS ARE BEING ACCEPTED
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 Pictured is Eliana who has completed her enrollment agreements for entering kindergarten and will be starting at CTA this Fall, 2015. She is pictured with a big smile next to the bean she planted at our recent Kindergarten Preview Day. My has it grown! And so will Eliana as a student at Columbus Torah Academy. Congratulations to her parents and grandparents for having the wisdom to provide Eliana with the gift of a comprehensive education in both Judaic and General Studies.
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MISS CHOCOLATE SALE - ONLINE ORDERING
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The MISS CHOCOLATE sale is going strong! You still have time sell a lot more chocolates! Orders can also be made at www.misschocolate.com with the school code: 703241. Money should be turned it in with your orders. All checks should be payable to CTA! Thank you for your continued support of our amazing school! If you have any questions, Please call or email Shana Hazan at 614-377-0974 or [email protected].
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PSAS TUITION ASSISTANCE FORMS DUE MARCH 20
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Reminder, PSAS Financial Assistance forms are due Friday, March 20.
If you would like to apply for ANY level of financial assistance, you must complete the appropriate PSAS (Private School Aid Service). All deadlines must be adhered to. Forms are available online at www.torahacademy.org or you can apply and submit all information online at www.psas.org/4944.
Please note, PSAS will assess a $30 late fee for all applications received after March 20. CTA will assess a $500 late fee for all non-kindergarten applications received after March 20.
The financial assistance form and documentation should be mailed, faxed or uploaded directly to PSAS along with a copy of your 2014 W-2's and 2014 1099's and, if available, 2014 tax return for their analysis. The results will be evaluated by the CTA Scholarship Committee.
If you have any questions about Financial Assistance or Payment Plans, contact Norman Leist at [email protected] or 864-0299, ext. 200.
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ARE YOU ELIGIBLE? EDCHOICE AND EXPANSION SCHOLARSHIPS
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All information and forms for the 2015-2016 school year regarding the EdChoice Scholarships can be found on the CTA Website at www.torahacademy.org under Downloadable Documents or the EdChoice website at http://edchoice.ohio.gov. Forms are due to Norma by March 20.
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TZEDAKAH
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It has been a time-honored Jewish tradition to give tzedakah in recognition of important events. Todah Rabah to:
Ray and Nancy Warren who have recently designated Columbus Torah Academy in a Legacy Gift Plan with the Cincinnati Jewish Federation. The Warrens are the parents of three alumnae of CTA: Sarah (Class of '03), Ariel (Class of '05) and Jacob (Class of'07). The Warrens continue to be generous supporters of our school.
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JEWISH WOMEN'S RENAISSANCE PROJECT
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COMMUNITY NEWS
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Gallery Players at the JCC presents Les Miserables with CTA students Rosie Kalef and Yaakov Newman, CTA parent Rick Cohen, and CTA alum Aaron Shatz. Performance dates are: Saturday, March 14, 21 & 28, Sundays, March 15, 22 and 29 and Thursday, March 18 and 25. If you would like to come for a discounted rate of $15.00 on Sunday, March 22, at 2:30 p.m., please contact Norma Whitmyre at [email protected]. Tickets for other performances can be purchased by calling the JCC at 614.231.2731 or by visiting www.jccgalleryplayers.org.
 Bunk Connect: Think of a website like Expedia or Hotels.com, but instead of using it to find vacation deals you use it to connect kids to Jewish camps.The Foundation for Jewish Camp in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Columbus is offering a new program offering first-time campers from middle- and lower-income families camp sessions at prices that are 40-80 percent below the camps' standard rates.The BunkConnect program has made available discounted slots at many known camps around Ohio and its discounts are available to kids who attend day school. BunkConnect is only available to children who have not previously attended a Jewish overnight camp are eligible. Those interested in searching for discounts can do so at: bunkconnect.org.
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ADVERTISE IN DATELINE
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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.
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PARSHAT KI TISA QUIZ
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1) How many "geira" are in a shekel?
a) Twenty.
2) What was the minimum age of military service in the Jewish army?
a) Twenty.
3) What were the three different types of terumah donated?
a) For the adanim (sockets), for the purchase of communal sacrifices, and for the building of the Mishkan.
4) The Jews were counted after Yom Kippur and again after Pesach. Both times they numbered the same amount. How can this be? Didn't some 19-year olds turn 20 during that six month period?
a) Their ages were calculated based on Rosh Hashana, not based on their individual birthdays.
5) How many ingredients comprise the incense of the Mishkan?
a) Eleven ingredients were used to make the incense.
6) According to Rashi, why are sailors called "malachim?"
a) Because they stir (malach) the water with their oars.
7) What is the difference between chochma (wisdom), bina (understanding), and da'at (knowledge)?
a) Chochma is knowledge acquired from others. Bina is the deduction of new knowledge from what one has already learned. Da'at is holy inspiration.
8) Shabbat is a "sign." What does it signify?
a) It is a sign between G-d and the Jewish People that He has chosen them and a sign to the nations of the world that He has sanctified the Jewish People. It testifies to G-d being the Creator of the world and also tells of the Exodus from Egypt that indicates that G-d continues to be involved with the destiny of the Jewish people as well as all of humankind.
(Parsha Ki Tisa Quiz originally appeared on the
Ohr Somayach website, www.ohr.edu)
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A RIDDLE FROM ISRAEL
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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 30, Verse 13. You will find the answer there.
 The winner of last week's riddle: Ariel Weisband
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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I hope you enjoy the electronic version of our Dateline. Please check out our website at www.torahacademy.org.
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