תשע״ד / Purim Edition 2014 , , TIFERES BAIS YAAKOV WEBSITE LAUNCH By Rabbi Yitzchak Feigenbaum e “Tiferes Bais Yaakov Educational Experience” – how many times have you wondered what that means? Now, thanks to our new enhanced website, you will be able to discover fi rst- hand the world of Tiferes Bais Yaakov and our unique system of The entire extended Chinuch. If you are one of our many world-wide alumnae, you TBY family wishes now have the ability to come home, reconnect and rejuvenate Dr. Peter Salmon yourself with the same vision and spirit that educated you years a Refuah Shleimah ago. Whether you are a prospective parent researching options, Zev Yisrael Ben Esther זאב ישראל בן אסתר a current parent keeping abreast of the latest innovations in TBY, or a member of the community who appreciates quality A thank you to all Torah Chinuch, please explore our new website. Feel free to leave staff , alumnae and students who have your comments, questions and suggestions. At Tiferes, we are provided him with always open to new ideas and welcome your feedback. Enjoy! a steady stream of www.tiferesbaisyaakov.com visitors. About TBY Admissions Academics Student Life Alumnae Support TBY Multimedia Prospective Parents Current Parents Future Students Current Students The school that brought you THE TEALESS TEA, THE GOLFLESS GOLF & THE DINNERLESS DINNER now brings you the: “Guiltless Gelt for Purim” PLEASE SEE THE ENCLOSED INVITATION TBY. GROWING. CHANGING. & STAYING THE SAME “But TBY is not the same” is the mantra parents may have heard from their daughters this year. And there is truth to that. Class periods are longer to allow for innovative and varied instructional styles of teaching and learning. Assessment and evaluation practices have been improved and the use of technology has been enhanced. Smartboards, data projectors and computers are now part of our daily instruction. But that is not change! “If that is not change – what is it?” Good question. And in TBY we love good questions because they spur us to deeper understandings. Sometimes changes are made just in order to be able to say “we have changed.” Sometimes changes are made to simply fall in line with the passing societal innovation. But in this case, changes were made in order to keep Tiferes the same! The core concept of Tiferes is giving every girl the ability to maximize her potential, discover her true self, and create a very personal and real connection to the Shechina, Yiddishkeit, and her role as a Bas Yisroel. As the world of education advances, and new techniques, strategies, styles and technologies are developed, it is our obligation to research them, and see what can be appropriately co-opted to Torah Chinuch. One does not buy desks with inkwells simply because that is what our grandmothers used. But of course, one does not dive head-first into every fad without proper research, evaluation and investigation in order to determine whether it will really enhance the core of our TBY Torah Chinuch, and whether it is in consonance with our values and Torah structure. So it is true that things in TBY have changed – but it was in order to make the “TBY educational experience” even more Tiferes! Many thanks to all those who gave of their time, expertise and resources so that we could raise the bar of Chinuch excellence for our daughters. TESTIMONIALS Dear Rabbi Feigenbaum, ...Aer two full days in the hospital trying As someone who supports your school to juggle the responsibilities of taking care because of its Torah values, I was pleasantly of a three year old in the PICU, and ...a surprised by your recent mailing. e humour little baby, we realized we needed help. is your enclosed invitation exhibited would do is where TBY came in.....[TBY] arranged justice to a musical comedy and be a welcome for girls to come down in two hour shis asset in any classroom lesson. As a former for as long as we needed, to take care teacher, now retired, what struck me was the of our baby. Words can not express the sound educational philosophy espoused by gratitude and relief we felt once we saw the your enclosed brochure. May your school cheerful and competent help we received continue to realize its vast potential with the so willingly from your [TBY] girls... help of Hashem, your teachers and students. Parents of baby Shloimie and his big brother Respectfully, Mr. S. Soban I wanted to thank you very much for ...Bikur Cholim distributed apples and honey your Shavuot CD. It greatly enhanced the gi bags to hospitals prior to Rosh Hashana.... spirituality of my Shavuot and I learned Bikur Cholim could not accomplish this life-long lessons. It was very inspiring...It is without the yearly assistance of your very important that we present the Torah students who deliver these gi bags in the as sweet, not as a burden. I think your most organized and dedicated way! A special Mashal of Torah as an exercise manual, thanks to the Tiferes Bais Yaakov staff who and G-d as the trainer was very insightful. always respond to our request for assistance May Hashem continue to give you the in a most timely and efficient manner! Strength and Insight to teach our children. Bikur Cholim of Toronto Mrs. Leslie Selevan, parent of TBY students T IFERES B AIS Y AAKOV D VAR T ORAH PURIM &BITACHON BY: RABBI CHAIM DOVID KULIK season, I am reminded of one of my favourite ‘vertlach’ explanations on the פורים s we approach the .פורים To me, this seemingly simple ‘vort’ brings out the essence of the day of .מגילהA ”.and it was in the days of Achashveirosh“ – ויהי בימי אחשורוש ,starts off with the statement מגילה e comments, it was Achashveirosh who killed his wife because of his friend; and he was the מדרש e same Achashveirosh, who killed his friend because of his wife. It is a cute line, but to what is it referring? due to the counsel of his ושתי killed his wife אחשורוש ,story פורים As we know, in the beginning of the Hence .אסתר ,because of his wife המן hanged his friend אחשורוש ,In the end of the story .ממוכן friend .was an unpredictable personality whose behaviour would swing to opposite extremes אחשורוש is teaching us that מגילה the is teaching us. What do we have to learn from מדרש Although this is an interesting contrast, it’s hard to understand what the must tell it to us in the very מגילה s eccentric behaviour? Furthermore, why is this message so important to us that the’אחשורוש .message פורים If this is the opening of the story, then it must somehow encapsulate the essence of the !?פסוק fi r s t :gives a brilliant answer to the questions ר‘ משה אלשיך story and thought, that as soon as a Jewish woman was chosen as queen, the miracle was done פורים One may have read the and the story was basically over. From here on in, whatever may happen, there is nothing to fear. We have someone in the right can loosen up because we now have the right political connections ה‘ place that can overcome any obstacles. Our reliance on and have maneuvered ourselves into a win-win situation. We can feel secure that we have everything under control. .is unpredictable אחשורוש !immediately comes to dispel this thought. We never have everything under our control מגילה e Doing away with his queen is not an abnormal behaviour for him. Just as he killed his wife because of his friend in the could have just as easily אחשורוש !מגילה beginning of the story, he could have done the exact same thing at the end of the .can never let up ה‘ is teaching us that our reliance on מגילה e hanged his next queen to appease his friend. When”!בטחון only when we have nothing else to lean on. “When all else fails-have ה‘ Many times in life we tend to rely on we have a natural reason to feel secure, we put our trust there. e truth is, however, we can never rely on the benevolence of .ה‘ in בטחון e only real security is humans or any other natural circumstances. story, they had to constantly look to heaven for their salvation, so too in our daily lives we must constantly פורים Just as in the .ה‘ focus on that bedrock concept that there is never a time that we can feel secure in anyone or anything but S PECIAL E DITION Y OMIM T OVIM CD’ S BY OUR MENAHEL RABBI YITZCHAK FEIGENBAUM We would like to extend our appreciation to the Toronto community for your enthusiastic responses to our Rosh Hashana, Succos, Chanukah, Pesach and Shavuos CD campaigns, as many of you commented to us about the superior content and professional sound quality. The Rosh Hashana CD entitled, “How to Put Life into Your Request for Life” discusses various tips to help energize you as you prepare for the Yomim Noraim. The Succos CD entitled, “The Best Things in Life...are not Things!” gives and to the Torah concept of Succah and what it represents. The ”זמן שמחתנו“ new insight into Chanukah CD entitled, “It’s All Greek To Me - Chanukah Sensitivities In an Insensitive World” helps us to properly understand the depth of the Chanukah message. The Pesach CD entitled, “Pesach: The Freedom to be Yourself” explains the anomaly of how Pesach cleaning and intricate laws are actually integral to the concept of freedom. The Shavuos CD entitled, “Kabolas HaTorah: The Yoke’s On You” enlightens us with why we are happy to carry the “burden” of Torah.