CALL THE CHDS PARSHA HOTLINE! WIN A $10 Kinneret Gift Certificate!

Congratulations to last week’s winner, Devory Mayteles of Brooklyn, NY. Winners can pick up their prize from

Rabbi Goldstein. (We will mail them out of state…)

This week’s question:

QUESTION: Why did Yaakov Avinu compare Yissaschar to a donkey? (See Rashi)

Call 513-202-6172 and leave a message with your answer. Anyone can play. Parents/siblings can help someone find

the answer. 1 person per call, drawing Sunday at 1:00. Hatzlacha!!

**SAY YOUR NAME, THEN YOUR ANSWER SO WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE…**

בס"ד

13 Teves 5779 | Friday, 12/21 2018| Shabbos Parshas Vayechi| Candle lighting 4:58pm (20 minutes)

www.chdsonline.org

MARK YOUR CALENDAR 12/25 Judaic Only Day, 12PM dismissal. NO LUNCH EVENT AT THE PIN DECK 2-5pm RAFFLE 3:30 12/30 No Sunday school, staff professional development 1/1 No School 1/11 10 AM start (staff professional development) 1/18-27 Winter Break 2/3 CHDS ART EXPERIENCE Mazel Tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Heinemann on the birth of a girl. Got a Mazel Tov to share? Please email chds@chdsonline.org. LUNCH NEWS Please watch for an email about our new lunch ordering system upgrade. We are using this system for monthly lunch ordering starting with January. 12/24-- Mac and Cheese 12/25-- No Lunch. 12 p.m dismissal 12/26--Twice Baked Potato 12/27--Hot dog, WG Bun 12/28--Veggie Cutlets 12/31 Baked Ziti All lunches starting 1/1 must be ordered on the new system.

To Rabbi Travis and to the Development Office staff for all of your efforts in preparing for next week’s event.

Value

In his blessing to Yehudah in this week’s Parsha, Yaakov states, “A lion cub is Yehudah; from the

prey, my son, you elevated yourself…” (49:9) The mefarshim explain that, in his blessings to Yehudah,

Yaakov praised his son for being the driving force behind Yosef’s rescue.

Rav Yochanan Zweig is troubled here by a basic question. Although in retrospect Yehudah’s actions

saved Yosef’s life, from the account in the pesukim it seems Yehudah acted with ulterior motives.

After the brothers agreed to kill Yosef, Yehudah stated “mah betzah…” – “what profit is there in

killing our brother…Come let’s sell him to the Yishmaelites.” On the surface, financial gain seems to

have been the motivating factor behind Yehudah’s suggestion. If Yehudah’s concern was simply

Yosef’s salvation, why didn’t he just give Yosef to the Yishmaelim?

Rav Zweig answers by pointing out a basic truth in human nature. Yehudah, the progenitor of

malchus (kingship) in Klal Yisroel and our namesake as Jews, was not motivated by personal gain.

Rather, he understood that if a person is given an item gratis, he will not treasure it as much as if he

has to pay for it. Yehudah wanted to ensure that Yosef would be treated well as a slave. Had Yosef

been given away for free, his loss or mistreatment would not have concerned his new master.

Therefore Yehudah pushed that they attach a price to Yosef’s sale, ensuring that his buyer would

appreciate that he was a commodity of value. It was this wisdom of Yehudah that Yaakov deemed

worthy of praise.

We all know that a Jewish education is a treasure that is priceless. Dedicating our financial

resources (and encouraging others to do so as well) in support of our children’s chinuch at CHDS

allows us to take this recognition to a whole new level. May we all again take this message to heart

as we enter these final, crucial days before the end of our winter campaign.

Good Shabbos,

Rabbi Binyamin Travis

Kindergarten– Morah Yocheved and Mrs. Toron Morah Yocheved, Mrs. Toron and the Kindergarten class are getting ready for a big Aleph Beis Siyum celebration this Monday! Our class has worked hard on mastering all the aleph beis letters and sounds and we are finally ready to begin learning Nekudos and how to read! We are all so excited and are looking forward to celebrating this great milestone! Mazel tov!

Early Childhood From the Development Office

Thank you to the following families who have

participated in the raffle so far.

Alt, Avtzon, Barry, Bashari, Bidnick,

Brotsky, Edelman, Edelstein, Fischer, M.

Fishman, T. Fishman, N. Freedman, S.

Freedman, Fuss, Gold, Goldberg,

Goldstein, Heinemann, Holzer,

Katzman, Mandel, Mann, Manory,

Maravilla, Mayers, Meissner, Minster,

Morrison, Motzen, Newmark,

Ottensoser, Pfeffer, Polsky, Pressman,

Roland, Roodman, Rosenbaum, Scherer,

Siegal, L. Simpson, Sollofe, D. Spetner, J.

Spetner, Stettin, Teitelbaum, Travis,

Tropp, Weinrib, Zoimen

Pre-Yeshiva Shabbaton This past Shabbos, 8th grade had an exciting Friday night at Rabbi and Mrs. Freedman’s house. It started with a Shabbos seudah, followed by an oneg with Kollel Rabbis Epstein, Crystal, and Zeffren who gave practical advice on how to succeed in Yeshiva. Some very valuable tips were shared, from “how to be a good roommate” to “nothing good happens in the dorm after 12:00am.” We laughed together as they reminisced about their failures and successes in their yeshiva years. The sleepover carried through the night with games and ping pong tournaments. The excitement of starting yeshiva was felt by all.

After learning about Birchas Kohanim in Chumash, the 6th graders chose creative ways to depict the Pesukim and Rashis that were learned. There were games, clay figures, and posters, all of which were a beautiful way to present an incredible amount of content.

Birina Yiktzoru

This year we introduced to the MSB a new Chazara program called "Birina Yiktzoru.” The program has two parts: The first part is to review all the Gemara learned that week in class 5X. The second part is for boys to memorize the Shakla V'Tarya (give and take) of the Gemara learned in class, and to get tested. This week was the first "benchmark", and all boys who were "up-to-date"

having been successfully tested on all the Gemara learned in class enjoyed lunch at Kinneret Grill this week. Third Grade– Rabbi Fishman Rabbi Fishman made a beautiful siyum with his third grade on finishing parshas Chayei Sarah. Rabbi Kaufman shared words of Bracha and then the boys had some lebidike dancing with refreshments and a special song made by Rabbi Fishman about Torah holding up the world. Fifth Grade-Rabbi Scherer Rabbi Scherer and the fifth grade celebrated a siyum on

mishnayos Rosh Hashana and parshas Shemos. He surprised the boys with their first Gemara as well as a surprise video from each of their grandparents. To end the evening he had Rabbi Efrayim Shapiro give a bracha over the phone to the 12 boys (he called them the 12 Shevatim). Thank you Rabbi Scherer for orchestrating an evening that they will never forget!

SEE MORE PICTURES ON BACK COVER

Asara B’Teves On Asara b’Teves, the boys watched a moving presentation entitled "Strike on Heaven: the third Reich's war on yiddshkeit". It demonstrated that no matter how hard the Nazis tried to destroy yiddishkeit the Jewish people continue to thrive against all odds.

Asara B'Teves at the GM building: 2nd Grade: In the second grade we spoke about the significance of the day, how it was the beginning of the churban. We spoke about how we don't have a Beis Hamikdash now, and how much we really really are waiting for it to be rebuilt. We brainstormed ways we can bring about the geulah. We made bricks of mitzvos that we can do and we learned the classic song "The Little Bird is Calling" and its meaning. 3rd Grade: We each decorated a picture of a girl standing by the Kosel in our room and wrote a speech bubble with some ideas of what we can do to bring the Bais Hamikdash closer. Additionally, we collaborated and created a compliment box, where classmates can leave positive compliments for each other to encourage Bein Adam L'Chaveiro and help bring the geulah. Middle School: The middle school watched a special production designed by Torah U'Mesorah specifically for middle school students on Asara B'Teves. The video included inspirational interviews with Holocaust survivors. Their message was uplifting and provided insight in how a Yid deals with difficult situations by raising himself through acts of mesiras nefesh and kiddush Hashem. Students left with a pride of being part of klal yisroel. Fourth Grade News In Mrs. Steely’s science classes, the fourth grade boys and girls are studying life science. This week the students used forceps and hand lenses to examine owl pellets. They measured the length of the pellets, separated and classified the contents, and recorded their observations in a chart. They analyzed their findings and made conclusions about the diet of owls.

Amberley Campus News Golf Manor Campus Highlight