c’’q a Kolenu eplew Volume XIX, Number 31 23 Iyar 5777 News and Views of Academy May 19, 2017

Behar-Bechukosai Hadlokas Neros 8:20 p.m.

Our Truck Fair was FUN!

Upcoming Dates! Found Lost Items Friday, May 19-NO SLP BUS HOME Black frame glasses Sunday, May 21-Sunday Morning Program Trip Many gray & Thursday, May 25-Yedios Kloliyos Trip a few burgundy uniform sweatshirts. May 28-29-No School Stop in the school office to Tuesday, May 30-Early Dismissal at 1:30 p.m., No Bus reclaim your items! May 31-June1-Shavuos-No School Friday, June 2-Late Start at 9:00 a.m. Shabbos, June 10-Mechanchim Kiddush Thank you for supporting Sunday morning, June 11- Kindergarten Graduation Monday evening, June 12- Eilu Metzios Siyum Torah Academy!

2800 Joppa Avenue South · St. Louis Park, MN 55416 Telephone [952] 920-6630 · Fax [952] 922-7844 · [email protected] A partner agency with the Minneapolis Jewish Federation Kolenu News and Views of Torah Academy Volume XIX, Number 31 2 May 19, 2017 A Torah Thought from Idstein... The verses enumerate many blessings of success and prosperity in reward for following the Torah and keeping the mitzvos. Among the listed benefits, the Torah pledges, “I will place My Sanctuary among you and My spirit will not detest you”. Many meforshim, commentators, wonder why the posuk concludes with the assurance that HaShem will not detest us. If we merit to have HaShem’s Presence residing amidst us in His Sanctuary, certainly there is no cause for Him to have an aversion to us! Perhaps we can understand this posuk by examining the one which immediately follows it: “I will walk among you and be for you a G-d, and you will be a nation to Me”. Rashi explains the words “I will walk among you” as describing a G-d who forges a close and intimate relationship with Man, as if He were strolling among us. We are all familiar with the maxims “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” and “Familiarity breeds contempt.” These aphorisms, however, describe a purely human phenomenon, as we grow weary of each other and discern fault and blemish. In contrast, the Torah relates, meriting HaShem’s Presence among us will lead to only more closeness and greater intimacy. Contempt is simply not an option despite the familiarity that His closeness creates! Fortunate are we that HaShem above desires the love and intimacy of His children below. Fortunate are we that HaShem and his love know no absence to make the heart grow fonder! Have a wonderful Shabbos, Rabbi Idstein, Menahel From the Principal’s Desk We are quickly winding up the school year. We still have almost a month of learning where students can use the time to maintain and/or improve their grades. It is important that students stay focused, even when the warm weather and inviting sunshine tend to be distractions. Recently, we asked your child’s teachers to contact you if they had any concerns about your child’s academic progress. If you were contacted, please work with your child’s teacher to help your son or daughter finish the year out well. If you were not contacted, it means that your son or daughter is doing fine academically. However, don’t hesitate to check in with your child’s teacher to ensure that all missing assignments are completed in a timely fashion. Together, we can ensure that your child reaches his or her maximum potential. Sincerely, Mr. Ford, General Studies Principal Q: Does your child have spring allergies? A: Please send in tissues for runny noses and watery eyes! Yedios Klolyios Trip Update! 160+ students will be going on the trip! Trip is THIS COMING THURSDAY, May 25th! We are still in need of underwriting. The suggested amount per child for the trip is $25. Please send a check to the office as soon as possible. Write YK in the Memo line. School starts with davening at 7:45 AM for students going on the trip. children should be on their way by 8:45 AM Students should pack a lunch! Metropolis does not allow sandwiches to be brought in to the park from other sources including HOME! They will be providing us with an outdoor area to all eat together. Typical school rules for lunches and allergies should be adhered to! Please send snacks in moderation & don’t send sticky and messy snacks, popcorn, or drinks. water bottles & fruit will be available for the children throughout the day. Middle school moros have discussed (or will discuss) tznius parameters for the girls in the waterpark. please make sure that the girls adhere to these parameters. Permission Slips will go home on FRIDAY, May 19th. Please return them to the office as soon as possible. No student will be allowed to go without a permission slip! Students should bring bathing suits and other swimming needs in a separate bag. Students will change in the locker rooms. Students should not wear their bathing suits under their clothing. Metropolis will provide towels. outside of the waterpark, school uniforms must be worn. Please make sure that students adhere to this. no electronic games, MP3 Players, cell phones, smart phones, or any other electronic devices should be brought. we will be providing videos on the bus ride. We will send a group text and an email when we leave to keep you updated. We expect it to be back at Torah Academy at approximately 6 PM. It should not be necessary to send additional spending money. However there are some concessions and some arcade games that are not covered by our package. Please send additional spending money as per your discretion. Suggested amount is $5. We will be traveling with three coach buses and one van (if needed). The Girls will be doing the water Park first and the Action Park second. The Boys will have an inverted schedule. If you need to contact someone at the park during the day – please contact the school office and we will get them the message. For emergencies ONLY, please call Rabbi Prero at 952-237-0396. We are looking forward to an amazing trip! Special thanks to Rabbi Prero for his herculean effort in making this a reality! Kolenu News and Views of Torah Academy Volume XIX, Number 31 4 May 19, 2017 Mazel Tov to Mr. and Mrs. Meir and Lilach Mazel Tov to Mr. and Mrs. Chad and Neely Chodos on the engagement of their daughter Silverman on the bar mitzvah of their son Ostnat to Akiva Brand of Chicago. May the Asher. May they see much nachas from all their wedding take place b’shaah tovah u’mutzlachas. children.

We apologize if we inadvertently omitted your simcha or gotten the details wrong! To share news with the editor please call 952-285-8603 or email [email protected]

Camp Ruach Registration Forms Due May 26! Registrations at the special “early bird” price are due by Friday, May 26, 2017. Camp Ruach slots are filling up quickly, so don’t wait! Mrs. Shayna B. Ebstein, Registrar -- 952-285-8624 -- [email protected]

You can sponsor Rosh Chodesh treats for the month of Sivan in honor of a simcha or in memory of a loved one for a sponsorship fee of $36. Contact the Torah Academy Parents Connection Group at [email protected].

Winners of the Jill Singer is available for summer tutoring. Shteigo game for the middah of Please call 952-927-4803, or send being a mentch: an email to [email protected]. Julian Berenberg Reuven Berezovsky Want to keep your child’s Yael Ghermazian Kriyah skills strong Avromi Greenberg over the summer? Sarah Greenberg • Flexible hours Yehuda Heisler • Fun Kriyah games Akiva Kvasnik • Experienced Kriyah specialist Sendy Lowinger Please call or text Mrs. Bonny Wexler Heather Nussbaum for summer tutoring @ 952-270-6798 Eli Sharon

Rabbi Idstein’s Inspirational Morning Quotations • For every 1 minute of anger you lose 60 seconds of happiness! • So many things are impossible until you actually do them! • Do something today that your future self will be real proud of! Kolenu News and Views of Torah Academy Volume XIX, Number 31 5 May 19, 2017 “Classroom Close-ups” A detailed description of the exciting happenings in each grade at Torah Academy 7G Judaic Studies~Mrs. Engelson 7th Grade Girls—Where every student is a champion! We spend a bit more than two hours a day working out. We cherish every part of our team time together. During that time, we daven, practice , learn Chumash, Navi and/or dikduk. Through the efforts, good work, and participation of a student, she feels like a champion. Through the fascinating lessons about gedolim and leaders like   and  , we all feel like champions. Watching how a group of seventh grade girls has blossomed into a thoughtful, maturing group of young ladies makes their coach really proud! Chumash: As we learned Parshiyos Shelach and Korach, we decoded pesukim, paired and shared with a classmate, worked on review questions, completed Rashi notebook assignments, and got into interesting discussions. “7up used their kup” in more than one way while they reviewed the many Rashis that we learned. Navi: In   , we get a real close up of what a true Melech Yisrael is. We go through each perek, topic by topic, learning   and  . We answer review questions and complete a perek summary that includes how we saw  as a king and as an Eved HaShem. Kriah: Perhaps kriah was our most important subject. With daily kriah practice from  , the class has made huge strides in fluency and accuracy. It was a worthwhile investment! Dikduk: We began our year with basic rules and concepts like   and  . As we continued along we were exposed to Binyan Kal and Binyan Nifal. With correct answers, each girls earns colorful “dik picks”. No one knows until prize day just how much each pick is worth. Friday is a special day. We either continued learning our song of generations and leaders or we learned one of the 13  . We will  culminate the lessons of  in an upcoming end of the year class performance. Special thank you goes to Miss Mandelbaum who helped facilitate the success of so many students by working one on one and in group settings. continued on page 5 Kolenu News and Views of Torah Academy Volume XIX, Number 31 6 May 19, 2017

“Classroom Close-ups” (continued) 7G Judaic Studies~Miss Mandelbaum Kolenu – Classroom Closeup Any 7th grader could tell you Miss. Mandelbaum’s famous last heard saying is, “Apply! Apply! Apply! Everything ,bulletin board keeps us on our toes "כי הם חיינו ואורך ימינו" you are learning must be applied to your life. Our writing down the lessons we’ve learned and how we have applied them to our lives. For example, after we in Parsha class, we started a Tehillim exchange; each girl recites one perek of "כל המתפלל בעד חבירו..." learned Tehillim a day for her partner. We have already completed the entire Sefer Tehillim! Speaking of Tefillah, we begin each day with our HP (Hashgacha Pratis) journals. We have a moment to write down a brief story/thought of a time when we felt the Hashgachas Hashem that day. We’re always on the “watch” to see how we’re being “watched!” During Yimei Sefirah, we started a Bein Adam La’Chaveiro initiative where we listen to a short thought on ways to improve our Bein Adam La’Chaveiro and we take turns writing the “exercise of the day” on index cards used for a count”up” to Shavuous – We don’t want to just count the days, but rather to make each day count!” And now we are ready to begin class... Mondays tend to be the hardest day of the week for everyone to get out of bed and come to class with a smile. "עבדו את ה' בשמחה" But in 7G, we want to kickstart every morning with laughter, smiles, and excitement. Our raffle is drawn and the three lucky winners “unlock” their treasure with their “key”p smiling tickets. Everyone ends up with a smile on her face after the joke is read and the mini performance is presented. And everyone is happy that her friend has earned a slurpee gift card. One of the best ways to remember information is to put it to a tune. We start our mornings with singing. Monday/Wednesday/Friday is reserved for Pirkei Avos songs and Tuesday/Thursday are for Inyanei HaParsha songs. that match משניות from various פתגמים On Mondays, we divide into our Pirkei Avos groups and look up specific and they are פתגם to the riddle/hint on our worksheet. Afterwards, we go over the Hebrew and English of each each elaborated on with stories, examples, or games. This helps us build our Hebrew comprehension skills by .and pick out only the relevant information משנה having to look inside a Tuesdays and Thursdays we learn Yahadus. We learn the pertinent Halachos, Minhagim, Tefillos and Inyanim for each Yom Tov. We do this through guided notetaking in Hebrew! Wednesdays, we focus on three middos from that week’s Perek of Pirkei Avos. We have charts that are divided into “Tov” and “Ra” sections and we fill in stories, examples, and points into their appropriate sections. This really helps us build our note- taking skills. We work on incorporating abbreviations, summarizing stories and writing in “point form”. (Also, come check out our Middos bulletin board – our wardrobe is having quite the “Middos Makeover”.) to a scenario and have a fill in section for פתגם Fridays, we take our weekly Pirkei Avos quiz; we match each .that we memorized from that week’s Perek משנה the .פרשת השבוע on the דבר תורה we get to enjoy a ,"אחרון אחרון חביב" And As we approach the end of the year, it’s time to look back and see how everything we touch “turns into gold” – עבודה + רצון + אהבה = – we’ll let you in on our secret that we’ve worked on since the beginning of the year .הצלחה Keep up your fabulous work 7G! Or is it 8G at this point? :) *Other units we have covered throughout the year include: Halacha - Lamed Tes Melachos, Bi’ur Tefillah – Kerias Shema, and Parsha* Kolenu News and Views of Torah Academy Volume XIX, Number 31 7 May 19, 2017 Lunch Menu Changes for Last Week of School Due to the many special end-of-year programs, the last week’s menu has been revised as follows:

• Monday, June 12: Hot Dogs on bun • Tuesday, June 13: Grilled Chicken on Bun • Wednesday, June 14: Italian Dunkers • Thursday, June 15: Pizza

Since there are no refunds from the lunch program, if your child originally ordered Macaroni and Cheese for the last week of school, please call Mrs. Ebstein at 952-285-8624 to say which lunch your child would like instead.

If your child ordered Pizza, Italian Dunkers, or Hot Dogs for the last week of school, we assume they will eat that same food, just on the new day of the week (listed above). Thank you for your understanding. Around Torah Academy Brief snippets of what is going on in the classroom from the teachers Torah Tot 16-Month Olds are learning about Shavous including some songs We had so much fun at the Truck Fair on Monday. about the Torah and Har Sinai. We love to hear them We loved touching the wheels, pressing the horns, practice. ...”What’s mine is mine what’s mine is mine and “driving” the cars! etc.” Our alef bais siyum with treats and a project ON Tuesday, we began learning the Alef-Beis! was very special. The Morahs are so proud of the Yay! kinderlach! Mrs. B. Weinberg & Miss Weinberg Mrs. Fishman, Miss Segal, Mrs. Kaplan & Mrs. Torah Tot Two Year Olds Chodos Come and check out our nature center in our classroom: Beans sprouting on the window, flowers continued on page 5 changing colors, grass seed growing on the window sill, and our favorite caterpillars just getting ready to build their cocoons. Ask us to say “metamorphosis;” we know how! Thank your Mrs. Altman for joining us and helping out at our Truck Show. We loved the truck show! We could not get enough. Gut Shabbos. Mrs. Goldberger, Mrs. Skapino, Mrs. Gepner, & Mrs. Rotkin Torah Tot Three Year Olds We loved learning about bugs and we made bug posters so we can share what we learned. We Torah Tot Caterpillars Kolenu News and Views of Torah Academy Volume XIX, Number 31 8 May 19, 2017

Pre-Kindergarten First Grade Mazel Tov! We learned the last letter of the Alef- We finished Yom Riviei in Parshas Breishes! Ask Beis this week! We are looking forward to our Alef- any first grader and they will be more than happy to Beis Siyum after Shavuos. We are so busy getting tell you about it! We also made family trees in Ivrit to ready! reinforce out family unit! Believe it or not shavuos is This week we make a Torah for  and Har Sinai around the corner and we started our unit on Rus and and flowers. Shavuos! Mrs. Heisler & Mrs. Rapoport Have a great Shabbos! Kindergarten Mrs. Herron & Mrs. Botnick After learning so much about Rabbi Akiva and On Monday the first graders went on a field trip Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the Kindergarten students to Westwood Nature Center. We studied aquatic continued on to Megillas Rus. invertebrates. After learning about the different In Kriah, the class is reading three-syllable words “critters” living in Westwood Lake, the students smoothly. Of course… the excitement is building as collected the bugs and put the samples in ice cube we practice songs for our Siddur Party/Graduation on trays. Finally, the naturalists showed us the critters Sunday, June 11. using a video microscope. It was such a fun and Mrs. C.R. Weinberg & Mrs. Smith educational trip! Thank you to Rabbi Lichtman and The kindergarteners were busy learning the Noa Singer for helping out on our trip. difference between living and non-living objects Mrs. Singer this week, and what living things need to survive. Second Grade The Kinder Construction Zone is so much fun! The This week in Superkids the second graders children love creating things and building structures. worked on long e vowel variants, adjectives with In math we finished our unit on time and began a unit irregular comparatives, suffixes, and homonyms. In on measurement. This has been a great week. Super Magazine we read articles about Niagara Falls, Ms. Haase & Ms. Strand camels, and why popcorn pops. In math we completed Kolenu News and Views of Torah Academy Volume XIX, Number 31 9 May 19, 2017 the chapter on counting money and telling time. We beautiful country. began working on 3-digit addition and subtraction Have a great week! with and without regrouping. In social studies we are Mrs. Halek learning about the three branches of government. Fourth Grade Mrs. Singer Mazel Tov to the fourth grade girls on finishing Third Grade Parshas Mikeitz! We all enjoyed our slurpee and game   siyum!!    Mrs. Idstein Pirkei Avos 4:1 This week we studied three Brachos given by What we learn from other people: Yaakov Avinu, all in the same parsha. We say dozens Adina: I learn from my sister Halachos about of Brachos daily, even 100 or more! How can we bless Shabbos that I didn’t know before. HaShem? What is the meaning of   ? Avigail: I can learn Parsha from my Daddy Ask our students for some answers. Bracha: Learn from my mother never to forget to Rabbi Waxman say Shema I look at her when she says it and then I Fifth Grade say it! It’s been a wonderful week in 5th Grade. We Chaya Sara: I can learn from my brother to be have visited our last country in Around the World, careful about making brachos. Canada, and it’s hard to believe we’ve finished! We Daphne: I learn from my sister to be a nice sister are all looking forward to next week, when we will and to be very nice. have our Around the World celebration, with each Guita: I can learn from my Zaidy a”h to do Kibud student representing a country of her choice. Everyone av Va’aim! is almost expert in our 27 Target Words, and we are Rena Chana: I can learn from my sister not to hurt wrapping up Vocabulary with a test on Friday. In other people’s feelings. Math, Perimeter and Area are becoming the focus, Morah Prero: I can learn from my students how to while in Science we have begun our new Unit on Skin, work things out with my friends and to speak nicely to Hair and Nails. In History, we have begun learning them. about our amazing Constitution and the Bill of Rights Have a wonderful Shabbos! (ask us how many words are in our Constitution!). As Mrs. Prero Diamond of Darkhold comes closer to the end, we are A huge mazel tov to the third graders upon beginning letters to Jeanne DuPrau (the author), and completing Parshas Vayeitzei! We celebrated this hoping for a response! Have a wonderful Shabbos! week by receiving cucumbers from Rabbi Idstein! Mrs. Gross Stay tuned for a more elaborate siyum in the near continued on page 10 future. We are all eagerly anticipating the Yedios Keloliyos trip this coming week, and Baruch Hashem 100% of the third graders will be participating. Have a great Shabbos. Rabbi Friedler The third graders finished up their math chapter on geometry with area and volume. (See picture.) We are working with division again, practicing our facts and learning how to do long division with two digit dividends. Most of the third graders have finished their AR goals, and Mrs. Singer and I are planning a picnic for the children who make these goals. Please ask your child how he or she is doing with this. In social studies, we are reading about how the Statue of Liberty came to be. We have been enjoying Adina tackles and defeats the 3rd grade non-fiction selections as we learn more about our bonus math problem. Kolenu News and Views of Torah Academy Volume XIX, Number 31 10 May 19, 2017 Sixth Grade Seventh Grade Science- we are working on climate and climate change    in the book and will be studying the planets next. We finished Parshas Korach! Hatzacha studying for the In Social Studies, the class is studying the 50s and 60s upcoming test on Tuesday. and how Minnesota fit into the mix. We did discuss the Mrs. Engelson cold war and the nuclear threat that existed and still exists. Eighth Grade Language Arts- we finished the book, “The Boy Who The eighth graders are really cramming as we try to Saved Baseball,” and will soon start our last book, “Tuck squeeze in so much in these last few weeks. In Gemorah we Everlasting.” In addition to book study, we are practicing are moving ahead full throttle, as well as Chumash and all descriptive writing and how to add detail and imagery to other areas. It was beautiful to see all of the talent, ruach, one’s writing. We still do vocabulary and grammar too! and achdus which went into Color War last week! You Math- both classes are working hard, group A just all gave me nachas by expressing your talent in so many finished the chapter on percents and will work on data and different ways! graphs as well as some geometry until the end of the year. Have a great Shabbos. Group B is working on proportions and ratios. Rabbi Friedler Mr. Tiemann First Grade went to Westwood Nature Center Kolenu News and Views of Torah Academy Volume XIX, Number 31 11 May 19, 2017

Color War 5777 Kolenu News and Views of Torah Academy Volume XIX, Number 31 12 May 19, 2017

BS”D The Kolenu Parsha Page (Please use to enhance your Shabbos Meal) Who Am I? (Guess who I am from the following clues; often the answer is Parsha related) 1. Seven sevens define me, 1. You learn me in school, 2. For me you blow a Shofar, 2. If you listen to me you will be blessed, 3. “Forever” is until me, 3. To “walk in me” means to be involved, 4. I am referred to on the Liberty 4. I was given in a week and half! Bell! Answers can be found below the Inspirational Story! Torah Riddle What is the similarity between the beginning of Behar and the end of Bechukosai? Answer can be found below the Inspirational Story! Inspirational Story of the Week – Rav Chaim Brim z”l related the following incident. “during the beginning of WW II, I went to visit the Chazon Ish. As I neared his home, I could hear uncontrollable crying. When I arrived, I could hear the wailing was coming from the Chazon Ish’s room. I entered the house and asked what had happened. They told me that the news of the passing of the Kaminetzer Rosh , Reb , had just arrived. Upon hearing the news, the Chazon Ish ripped his garments, began crying uncontrollably, and nobody was able to comfort him. “I waited outside the room, hoping to gain understanding of this unique mourning. When the wailing eased up, I hesitantly entered. Red eyed from crying, tha Chazon Ish told me, “It has been many years since the wicked man has risen to power in Germany. His anti-semitic plans are spelled out in a book he has written. Until now I was certain that he would have no power to harm the Bnai Yisroel. However, Rav has recently passed away, and now Rav Boruch Ber has passed on. Who will protect European Jewry? Unfortunately, The Chazon Ish was correct. A short while later the fury of the Nazi regime fell upon Klal Yisroel.

______Answers – Who Am I? Yovel (Left side) Torah (Right side) Torah Riddle – Both have a posuk that describes HaShem giving a mitzvah at Har Sinai