Sylvia Burian <[email protected]> Chadashot 3.30.12 test [email protected] <[email protected]> Fri, Mar 30, 2012 at 12:02 PM To: [email protected], [email protected] March 30, 2012 7 Nisan 5772 Parshat Tzav Candle Lighting: 7:02pm Shabbat HaGadol Havdallah: 8:05pm Click here for a pdf version of Chadashot Mazal Tov A Message from Rabbi Krauss To Morah Shari ( N3) and Uri Kanovsky on the birth of a son. Dear Parents: To Tamar (5th grade) and Yehudah Buchweitz on the birth of a It has been wonderful to watch our kids actively daughter. involved in preparing for Pesach: learning about the Matzah baking process in the ELC, third graders viewing the magnificent Haggadah collection of the grandfather of one of their classmates, Junior High students learning gemara sugyot related to Pesach, and so many other creative projects throughout the building. I hope that they will have a chance to share some of these things with you on this Shabbat Hagadol, and in the week leading up to Seder night. As with everything, the more we prepare for the Seder by focusing on the meaning of what we do, the more meaningful the Pesach on the meaning of what we do, the more meaningful the Pesach experience will be for all of us. Most importantly, as Pesach focuses on the theme of questions, I hope that we will continue encouraging our children to ask, and succeed in engaging them in the conversation that continues from generation to generation. Shabbat Shalom and Chag Kasher V'sameach. Rabbi Binyamin Krauss QUESTION OF THE WEEK : "Ma Nishtana Haseder Shelcha Mikol Hasedarim?" What makes your seder unique? (see quotes throughout) “We sing Ma Nishtana in Arabic.” -Liat Katz 8X Academy News 6x Pilots Reusable Plate Program on "Dairy Days" A lesson on renewable energy became an inspiring moment for class 6X. Mrs. Glassberg was teaching her class about renewable energy which is energy that comes from natural resources. A class discussion about recycling followed. One of the issues that the students raised was the use of styrofoam plates in the SAR lunchroom. The students wanted to do something and decided to make a change. They went online with Mrs. Glassberg and found some inexpensive plastic plates at Target. The students are now using their plates on dairy days and thanks to Eran and his staff—they are washed and saved for the students. Kol Hakavod to our sixth graders –trying to save the environment one plate at a time! Names, Not Numbers By: Allison Herstic 8Y The feeling of accomplishment is incomparable to any other positive sensation. Participation in the SAR Eighth Grade Elective, “Names Not Numbers”, led by Mrs. Steffa Hasson, provided each student with such Eighth Grade Elective, “Names Not Numbers”, led by Mrs. Steffa Hasson, provided each student with such a feeling of accomplishment and sincere gratitude, unsurpassed by much else. Each student interviewed and filmed a testimony of Holocaust survivors’ accounts of their personal experiences. Each Survivor had a unique and heart wrenching story to tell, of love, loss and moving on. They each prospered through hardships and prejudice, unfathomable to us. Yet they maintained a sense of hope, rebuilt their lives, created homes and were willing to open up to us about their struggle. By interviewing these individuals we have accomplished the goal of making sure that this tragedy is never forgotten. This group of students realizes that they are the last generation who will hear these live accounts from those who lived through the Holocaust. The first day of class we accepted the great responsibility to continue to remind the world that this did happen, and those who it affected will never be forgotten. The important message we took away was that no matter what happened to these individuals, they continued to prosper, and share their stories. The extreme amount of Emunah that these Survivors were able to maintain is fascinating and inspirational. In keeping with the spirit of the theme of the year Arvut , we accept the responsibility to remember those who perished, and make sure their voices are never silenced. Thank you to the 8th graders who participated; Allison Herstic, Danielle Plaue, Abigail Shay, Elisheva May, Jonathan Lederman, Rachel Ordan, Benny Wieser, Rafi Kubersky, Yaira Kobrin, Talia Askowitz and Rebecca Gorodisher. To Mrs. Hasson for her guidance and to the Surviviors for sharing their stories with us. Pesach Preparations in the ELC The Kindergarten classes got a head start on Pesach this week by holding model seders. The children, dressed in blue and white, read through the Haggadot they created with the help of their teachers and parents. They made Kiddush, ate the karpas and told the story of Yitziat Mitzraim. Click here to see the K- 2's model seder. Meanwhile, in Morah Rita Rivka’s class the children are designing truly creative pillowcases to be used at the seder. The teachers are painting the children’s feet and then letting the children walk on their pillowcase. The children leave their footprints and make the connection of Bnei Yisrael going from slavery to freedom – "Meavdut Lecherut" . freedom – "Meavdut Lecherut" . Under the Sea The fourth grade science classes have been learning about the science of the ocean. From the differences between the different oceans to salinity and density—the fourth graders have become experts in figuring out which sea animals can live in and survive in which ocean zones. Then, each student was assigned an ocean animal to research. Questions the students needed to address in their research included; What is the animal’s scientific name? How does it survive? What is its prey? Who are its predators? The results are beautifully displayed outside of the Shul. Come take a look! The fourth graders were lucky enough to get a pet—a pet shark! Mr. Stern, an SAR parent who sells salt water fish, brought the fourth grade a tank and some shark eggs. The students will be able to track the development of their brown banded bamboo shark until it hatches. As of printing this edition of chadashot, the students were still trying to agree on a name While the fourth graders were busy underwater, the third graders have been learning about the animals on the Earth. They are learning about natural habitats and animal adaptations. Did you know that the penguin black and white body colors are an adaptation to its environment? The students are so excited and engaged in learning science! SAR is Glee-ful! After their break-out performance at the SAR dinner, what could be next for the Glee Club but a recording deal?! Well, maybe not a recording deal, but the members of the Glee Club, along with director Shim Craimer, had the opportunity to go to a recording studio in Westchester last week and recorded some songs. Everyone had a chance to sing in small groups. Some sang in English, some in Hebrew and the engineer was able to enhance the sound depending on what the director required. The kids had a great time and we look forward to “hearing” from them again soon. Holy Haggadahs! Mr. Bentsion Cohen, grandfather of Avi and Jake in third grade, has a private collection of over 5,000 Haggadot. He visited Avi and Jake's classes and shared some of his extraordinary Haggadot. Mr. Cohen showed the students a Haggadah that he designed which has the text in five languages, a Braille Haggadah, and a Haggadah from the 1800's that he found in a box of Jewish papers while visiting Rumania. Mr. Cohen has a variety of Haggadot from Israel-one written on Libyan aerogrammes by an Israeli soldier and one from a kibbutz with a 5th question to the Ma Nishtanah-"On all other nights we sleep in the Children's House, on this night we sleep in our parent's home?" Mr. Cohen has just completed work on a digital Haggadah for the ipad. He displayed this incredibly interactive version of the Haggadah to third graders even though it won’t be available to the public until next week! The students were amazed by how many different types of Haggadot have been published throughout the generations and by the fact that new ones are continued to be published each year. We thank Mr. Cohen for coming to visit and sharing his amazing collection with us. The Matzah Factory comes to SAR The "Matzah Factory" came to SAR on Thursday to teach the children in the ELC and first grade about how to bake Matzah. The children were thrilled to put on their Matzah Baking hats and get started! First, they learned that the flour we use to make Matzah comes from wheat and got a chance to see the wheat and how you use a special machine to grind it into flour. Next, the children watched the flour mix with water and turn into Matzah dough. The mini bakers had a fantastic time rolling out water and turn into Matzah dough. The mini bakers had a fantastic time rolling out their dough and poking holes to make it very flat in order to ensure a quick cooking time. Chaim from the Matzah factory baked our Matzah in less than 18 minutes and the children enjoyed eating it for a snack. Our little bakers are now expert Matzah makers! Sixth Grade Girls Learn At Drisha By: Naama Kobrin 6Z This week the sixth grade girls took a trip to Drisha in Manhattan. When we got there the wonderful staff talked to us about their program for girls who are Bat Mitzvah and they also told us about an interesting learning program for high school girls.