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SOS NEWS &

SHMOOZE Volume 1, Issue 4 A project of AfterSchool and the 7th grade class Adar Aleph Letter from the Editor... Edition Hey everyone! INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Because there are 2 Adars this month, the Adar Aleph edition is regu- lar, and the Adar Beis one which is Picture of the 2 coming out in a couple weeks, will be month a very special Purim Edition. After a Shabbaton and 3 newsletter meeting we recently had, Moshiach Thought we have many new columns in the Birthday Minhag #3: newsletter! Dr. Dassi, who will solve Serialized Story 4 Say your new Kapitel on your birthday. all your problems; Interviews; Guess Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, the Tzemach Graduation Trip 5-6 who, and much more! Tzedek’s wife said Tehillim all day. But, sadly, I hope you like this edition of the she mispronounced many words. She once Class Highlights 7 newsletter and look out for the Purim asked her son: “Why can’t I memorize Tehil- Edition! lim if I say it all the time?” Her son told her: Life as a Shlucha 8 Questions or comments? Email SOS- “Each time you say it, you say it with a differ- ent mistake.” Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka was Refuah Shelaima 9 [email protected]. very disturbed. She asked her husband if she should stop saying Tehillim. Her husband 9 A Peek at Next told her not to. Later, he told his son: “The Month Sincerely, only reason I was successful on my mission in Leah Denebeim St. Petersburg was because of your mother's Month in Review: Editor Tehilim.” Hey Everyone! Hashem accepts all Tefillos! He understands It‟s Chavi the computer here again! Wow, what a smashing month!! I everything! don't even know where to start from.... from the beginning of course! The Tzemach Tzedek used to say if we knew First of all... lets give it to the GO girls; Esti Z, Mushkie W, and Shaina L! the power of Tehilim, we would say it all the What an awesome Shvat Assembly!! The stuff about and how time. we have Hiskashrus with the Rebbe almost made me go into over- On your birthday, you say you’re old Kapital, drive!! By Yud Shvat we memorized Basi L‟gani, wow! After we had a and your new one. Think about anyone that needs a Refua Shilema or Yeshua. Further on two part smashing program for Yud Shvat, where we did the many Min- in this newsletter there is a Tehillim list. hagim of a Yartzeit. We lit a Yartzeit candle, said Rebbe stories, and did a workshop on Shlichus. We also had a Tu B‟shvat program, and the older So…Say Tehilim and have a Happy Birthday! girls got to do fruit carving. For Yud Gimmel Shvat, we learned all about If you send us in your birthday and Rebbetzin Shterna Sara. Hachalata to Then came the DAY OF CELEBRATION!! What an AMAZING day! [email protected], expect Everybody got to see their teachers and classmates in REAL life! Many for a birthday present back in the mail! the first time!! And then of course there was the Kinus.... I bet it was truly When someone’s birthday is in inspirational to all you girls all over the world and come back ready and Adar and they were born in a regu- rejuvenated to learn! lar year, their birthday is in Adar I need to go now.... my batteries running out! Bais. So we don't have any I‟ll update you more later!! birthdays this month :( 1 Chavi the computer PICTURE OF THE MONTH B”H

Seventh graders students, meet at the Day of Esti Alperowitz, G2, decorates these mugs while Celebration. having a friend over.

Girls from round the world joined for a day of celebration at a lunch for the students of the Shluchim Online School.

A Day of Celebration lunch was held at the hall of the Crown Condos for the students of the Shluchim Online School. Despite canceled flights and weather disruptions, over 170 mothers, daughters, sisters and friends attended the program. The students met their classmates and teachers, many for the very first time. Rabbi Gedalia Shemtov, the founder of the Shluchim office, spoke about the importance of Chof Bais Shvat and had one student from each class light a Yartzeit candle, as per the Rebbe's Yartzeit Minhagim. “My husband had to be sent away at a young age; I couldn’t do that to my kids. Now there is the Shluchim Online School for that,” said Mrs. Laufer, of Warwick, Rhode Island, the Master of Ceremonies of the event. “My daughter wants to be a future Online School teacher.” “We are here to celebrate the school,” said Rabbi Moshe Shemtov, the director of the Shluchim Online School. “But what’s there to cele- brate if we don’t grow? What’s there to celebrate if we don’t take the past five years' growth and utilize it to grow in this one year as much as the five previous years? And this has already begun.” Hearing from the parents and students, we know this has definitely begun. “Five years ago there was phone school. Then came Online School but with no webcams. Then came webcams. Then came an old class- room where different computers made a delay. Then came the awesome new classrooms we have this year,” said Pessi Fischer, of Au- gusta, Georgia. We also had a cake made by Devorah Freundlich of China, who was the hero to raise $5,000 for her classmate’s plane tickets to come to the Day of Celebration. The delicious lunch was capped with a beautiful slideshow and class performances. The rest of the day was filled with the excitement of a bowling trip, mementos and CD with Lubavitch songs, some recorded by the Shluchim Online School 9th grade class! The 6th grade class was treated to a special evening in which they celebrated a “Grand Bas Mitzvah Celebration.” Each student received a special gift as the Celebration was celebrating every girls’ bas mitzvah. They gave Dvar Torahs and decorated cookies with Sima Silverstein.

Did YOU get your mouse pad, CD and certificate at the Day of Celebration? If not, email us at: [email protected] 2 B”H

MOSHIACH THOUGHT OF THE MONTH When Moshiach comes, the other nations will ask „How did you merit such miracles and wonders?‟ And we‟ll answer: Because of our Simcha! Happy Adar!

3 B”H AwayAway inin LondonLondon THETHE MIRACULOUSMIRACULOUSChapterChapter fourfourCURECURE

You‟re going where?” Mrs. Glick asked Zeesy for the third time. They were a free loan company, but she did know Zeesy quite well.

“Well, I‟d like to go to London. My daughter has been there for a while, as well as my husband who I haven‟t seen in…five years, it‟s a long story. And I‟d like to go visit her with my eldest daughter Mimi.” Zeesy replied. “Mimi‟s get- ting married in a month in a half, and you want to travel to London with her?” Mrs. Glick didn‟t understand.

“Listen Mrs. Glick, there is a lot of information here that you don‟t know and I don‟t have the time to talk about now. All I‟m asking of you is a loan for me to be able to travel with my daughter Mimi to see my Aviva‟le...And my husband, but that‟s a detail that I ask you to keep low.” Zeesy said, almost pleadingly.

Mrs. Glick looked at her friend in wonder, “Zeesy, are you sure? I mean, Mimi is getting married in a month in a half, I repeat. And, traveling to London isn‟t necessarily an hour flight, you know.” Mrs. Glick said, very puzzled.

“Thank you Mrs. Glick, I take your answer to my request for a loan as a no. I hope to see you at the wedding, have a good day now!” Zeesy cried.

“Wait, Zeesy!” Mrs. Glick called. Zeesy turned around, and Mrs. Glick handed here a package, “You don‟t have to re- turn the money, Zeesy. Please accept it as my wedding gift to Mimi.” Mrs. Glick whispered. Zeesy warmly thanked her and put the package into her purse.

Zeesy walked slowly home, thinking. Inside, she was dancing for joy…

Zeesy took Mimi inside the house and told her. “We‟re going to London.” She said. Mimi looked at her mother in sur- prise. “Where in the world did you get the money from, Ima?” Mimi asked. Zeesy didn‟t answer, instead she pulled a calendar down from the kitchen shelf.

,Zeesy opened up the calendar.

She opened to two weeks later, January 11th.

“Ima! We‟re going before the wedding?” Mimi cried, again Zeesy offered no response. “Ima, are you sure? I know, it would be nice for abba and Aviva to be at the wedding. But don‟t you think it‟s kind of crazy? I mean, really…?”

Still, Zeesy didn‟t respond. Instead, she kept frantically searching the drawers in the kitchen.

Mimi realized that nothing would help, she realized, that she had no choice but to travel with her mother in two weeks to London. What would be with the wedding? What if it didn‟t help that they came to get him, would the wed- ding have to take place in London…What if….?

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted as Zeesy found what she was looking for, triumphantly she took a black marker out of the drawer –

- And marked the date on the calendar with a big black circle. 4

To be continued…

B”H GRADUATION TRIP POEM By: Esti Zirkind, 8th grade

Graduation trip finally came at last, I gotta say, "it was really a blast!" From the back seat of the squishy van, To the driver we had, I didn't become a hangman! Even though we were supposed to see planes at the Imax, We made it to Futime America, with time to relax, Mushkie and Mirelle so fun "Yahoo!" really know how to make everything exciting through and through, I was so sad to see everything go boohoo! Slowly but surely we made it to the Weinsteins in Philadelphia For a delicious supper, I might hafta call it "gala" Then to bowling and finally 7-11 Slurpies on a cold night, "oh how heaven!" Back to the Weinsteins we did go, To sleep in their basement, i fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. It snowed that night, When I woke up the next morning, "oh, what a sight" We went snow tubing in the Poconos As I went down the slide once, I lost my glasses, soon I heard a bunch of "oh no!"s Lunch and snack, we were pampered galore Although unfortunately nearby there was no bookstore... As soon as we had finished our tubing Soon, back to New York we were heading By Mushkie Junik's house we dropped off our suitcases, With a skip and a hop three houses down, supper at Mrs. Rosenfeld, I met a bunch of new faces! A bunch of funny stories we did hear, I laughed so hard I almost fell off my chair, After that, we walked a couple of blocks to Morah Sheina G. I hafta say, "the really inspired me!" Sprinkles was the next place we went, "if you've never been to sprinkles, you've never been to New York" was the comment. The ice cream over there was the best,

I'm sure after us, those men needed a rest. Back to mushkie to sleep we did go, But yay we had showers, good to go! Sleep at three in the morning, I really was tired after all that driving. Wednesday morning to the subway we headed, Some of us fell, or slipped and sledded, It really was cool for all of us, As we had never been on a subway before, maybe only a bus Ripley's in manhattan was totally awesome, Some of us let out shrieks but definitely not a tantrum, for lunch J2 pizza was on the menu, Not a steak or a stew. Back to crown heights we did go, To pack our bags and write a memo - she‟s not real, just a thing in museum! We were really sad to see everyone leave, So we almost cried on each other's sleeve! With the knowledge that we would be seeing each other over the weekend, 5 It helped soften the blow of leaving our friends! B”H GRADUATION TRIP By Mushka Rivkin and the 8th grade class

I just arrived home last night, exhausted from an amazing and busy trip to New York! The trip was the most outstanding graduation trip! I woke up early on Monday morning, rushing to get to the Shluchim Office on time so that the trip could begin! When I got there, I lugged my baggage up the stairs and into the conference room-waoh! That‟s a lot of luggage for twelve girls! You should have seen the pile in the corner of the room! How would that all fit in the van? I finally got to meet all of my classmates, and of course Mushkie Junik! Everyone sure looks different over the webcam! I could barely recognize some of the girls! The trip was a blast!

What was your favorite part of Grad Trip? (poll for G8)

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6 B”H Life as a Shlucha in TEXAS!!! By: Chaya Mushka Marrus :)

Yee-haw!!!!! Welcome to S. Antonio, Texas! My name is Chaya Mushka Marrus and I live here. I have six siblings and am a proud Shlucha! Hold on to your cowgirl hats as I take you on a tour throughout S. Antonio.

THE CITY The city of S. Antonio is the 7th largest city in the United States. We are located in Southern Texas about three hours away from the beach (Gulf of Mexico). The houses are big and we don’t have basements like northern cities do. Our house is five minutes away from the House so it’s a good location. There are 10,000 Jews in S. Antonio which makes it a rather large community, compared to some, but most people do not go to Shul and if they do, they go to a reform or conservative temple.

EDUCATION There is a community day school which caters to the Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox. We have an Orthodox track with frum teachers for Judaic Studies. Of course, it’s not a frum school which is always hard. There are only two hours of Limudei Kodesh and everything else is English studies. I left the school because I was outgrowing it and needed to be in Chasidishe environment so… I WENT TO THE BEST SCHOOL IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD- SHLUCHIM ONLINE SCHOOL!!!!!!! J Chabad also runs a preschool, Hebrew School and camp.

FOOD AND KASHRUS No, we don’t have any restaurants but we do have something called “The Marrus restaurant” where we have an average 15 people every Shabbos night dinner. The local grocery store currently has gotten more kosher products so b’’h. My fa- ther does hashkacha in many factories and visits many food companies as well as a local bakery.

PROGRAMS & ACTIVITES In our , we do many programs from “Purim Italiano” to Camp Gan Yisroel. We have a very successful adult education program and JLI classes. We also have a Hebrew school for Jewish kids that don’t have a Jewish education. Although our Chabad House is currently very small, we plan im’yh to break ground on a new building very soon.

If you ever happen to be in S. Antonio, please stop by! 13422 La Vista Dr. San Antonio, Texas 78216

I don’t know about you but I love being on Shlichus and I feel that it’s a great zchus!

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REFUAH SHELAIMA LIST B”H HaRav Ya’akov Immanuel ben Sara Sosha If you unfortunately have any names to Chonoch Hendel ben Shterna Sara add to this list, please email it to us at [email protected] Chaim Eliezer Lipman and write “Refuah Shelaima” in the sub- ben Devorah Leah ject.

Thank you to the 7th grade Raizel bas Chana class for writing, compiling, and publishing this newslet- Sofia bas Mania ter, and keeping us “in the

loop!” Tina bas Sara

Miriam Hush bas Tova

If you have any feedback, Yehudis bas Esther Vadora you can email it to us at SOSMonthlyNewslet- Freida Zisel bas Chaya [email protected] and write Sara “Letters to the Editor” in the subject. Shulamis bas Helen

See our newsletter at: Tzipporah bas Chaviva www.shluchimonlineschool.com U’l’Chol Cholai Amo Yisroel A PEEK AT NEXT MONTH LETTER TOTHE EDITOR Dear Editor, I noticed that the story was titled “Chapter one” even though it was “chapter three.” Just pointing it out! Yashar Koach for all you do! ~Leah

Dear Leah, You are right! Thank you for pointing that out! ~Editors

Dear Travelers, Welcome to Finland!! Stay tuned for details! Looking forward! 9 Your SOS AIRLINES pilots