LOOK WHO SANDY BLEW IN... On Monday this week, a government delegation from Beit-Shemesh, Israel came to the minyan at Shomray Torah, so Rabbi Rubin asked them to come and speak to our students at school. They

were in America for a fire-fighting conference (Israel had a serious issue with fires recently) in Ramapo (Monsey) NY which is a sister-city with Beit-Shemesh, but many of the firefighters were away helping victims of Hurricane Sandy and couldn’t make the conference as planned. So the delegation (including a deputy mayor and the director of international relations) was up in Albany. They asked our students what they knew of Beit-Shemesh in Tanach (the city gets about 20 historical mentions), and Mendel V. and some other kids remembered the story (in Shmuel I) when the Jews got the Aron (Ark) back, after the Plishtim (Philistines) stole it in a war. They first sighted the returning Aron while standing in the wheat-fields in Beit-Shemesh, but unfortunately didn’t treat it with the proper respect it deserved. The kids also remembered that it was called “a border city”

at that time (it is midway between Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem). He said that David’s fight with Goliath was in a nearby valley. There’s also a strategic lookout point from there to the land of the Plishtim. The

visitors told us a little about the modern city as well. It has about 80,000 people, from very diverse backgrounds. There are Chassidic, Litvish, Mizrachi, Ethiopians, Yemenites and Russians and many Americans, too. The unfortunate religious tensions between groups there made headlines in recent years.

BIG NEWS ON ELECTION DAY This election was a very tight one (the popular vote was within two percentage points apart!) , and the

country faces many challenges. We wish newly re-elected President Barack Obama much success in leading this country and all of its citizens forward, in the four years ahead. CONDLENCES TO BERGERS Mrs. Debi Berger is sitting Shiva, Friday until this Monday at her home in Miami) after the passing of her mother, Geraldine Peretz of Los Angeles. Our best to her and her husband Rabbi Moshe, and the Berger family.

TIME TO THINK OF COSTUMES Goldie K. asked her friends if they thought of Purim costumes yet. They replied, “Purim!? It’s not even Chanukah yet!” So Goldie explained that after this time of year (after Halloween) is a great time to think ahead and buy costumes on sale. Check out the big costume selection at The Party Warehouse on Fuller Road.

RIVKA LOSICE YARTZEIT Pictured above is the display for Rivka Losice’s Yartzeit in the lunchroom on Tuesday. The wooden “well” says “Be’er Rivka” for this week’s Torah portion about Rivka’s kindness to Eliezer and his weary camels, the tablecloth was the one Rivka Losice used in her home for Shabbos, and Morah Rochel spoke to the students about her personal dignity and refinement of character. The night before, by Mincha/Maariv at Shomray Torah, Rabbi Rubin learned a Mishna beginning with the letter “Reish” (for Rivka) from the start of the 2nd chapter of Pirkei Avos which reflects

Community Newsletter of the Maimonides Hebrew Day School of the Capital District 404 Partridge Street Albany NY 12208 (518) 453-9363/3434 www.maimonidesschool.org produced by Rabbi Mendel & students in the TNT (Torah ‘n Technology) Program

Maimonides is accredited by the NYS Board of Regents & is a beneficiary of UJF-NENY maimonidesschool@gmail.com

BH Thurs, Cheshvan 23, 5773 / Nov 8, 2012

Candle-Lighting:

4:20 Shabbos Ends:

5:21

MAIMONIDES 404 Partridge Street Albany NY 12208

This newsletter is dedicated

in loving memory of

Mrs. Rivka Losice - Rivka bas R’ Moshe -

on occasion of her first yartzeit

this past Tuesday: Cheshvan 21

Rivka’s proper blend and balance, and how it fit her well, and also the second part of the Mishna about being careful and accounted for with Mitzvos for she was a calculated and measured person with “Yiras Shomayim” (fear or awe of heaven) to remain dedicated and observant all her years in Albany. R’ Moshe Losice spoke of 4 levels of “Yiras Shomayim” that we find by Avraham Avinu: (a) he was not ashamed or intimidated and reached out with his faith to others (b) he was willing to put his money down for it, he generously fed strangers to glorify G-d’s name (c) he put his life on the line in the fiery Ur Kasdim furnace, and (d) he was even ready to sacrifice his future, his ony child at the Akeida. R’ Moshe also told the memory of the first Friday Night Kiddush he made for Rivka (of 52 years of Kiddush every single Shabbos together) in their Warren Street apartment, using the Kiddush cup they got as a wedding present from the Koznitzer Rebbe who lived across from Rivka’s family on President Street in Crown Heights.

GUEST DANCE TEACHER Morah Eve Cameron, our amazing dance teacher introduced an enthusiastic West Coast Israeli dance instructor named Cici to the girls. Cici is in town for a special conference for Israeli dance instructor (from around the country) at Temple Israel.

JEWELRY BEADING Devorah Leah of Kindergarten is proud to display her beaded jewelry in connection with the bracelets and other jewelry that Eliezer gave Rivka in this week’s Parsha. The Nursery kids made their own jewelry, too!

FOIL BOATS IN SCIENCE 7/8 students are learning about buoyancy in science with Dr. Sahay. They were each given one meter length of foil, 4 foam craft sticks, 4 wooden toothpicks and 2 plastic straws, and 30 centimeters of tape, to design a floating boat. Then they would each place pennies inside, one at a time, to see how many pennies their boats can handle before sinking. There are a few factors that play into this: including surface area and weight distribution etc…

POSTCARDS IN SECOND GRADE 2nd graders with Ms. Livingston made tourist postcards about various types of geographic places and the unique qualities of that place..

“ACROSS FIVE APRILS” BOOK 6th graders are reading this classic story about the Civil War from the perspective of Jethro, a young boy on a farm in Illinois, whose older brothers join the Union Army, and one

brother joins the Confederacy. THE PLAGUE OF “AROV” 6th grade is learning about wild-animals, the 4th plague in Egypt. The word “Arov” literally means mixtures and is used here because there was a mixture of animals let loose in Egypt. NAVI CHUMASH CONNECTIONS 5th grade is nearing the end of the book of Joshua, where speaks to the Jewish people near the end of his life. One of the things he tells them is about Yosef and his brothers which is what 5th grade is learning in Chumash now.

OPINION STATEMENTS HS is about to read "To Kill a Mockingbird" so Mrs. Gray gave them a list of controversial statements and they each had to write a short response to each statement, including: All people are created equally. Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me. The justice system we have is fair for all. Can people be classified as good and bad?

Is all bad language offensive? Does literate equal stupid? Are leaders born that way? Students had strong opinions on some of these statements. They’re going to have a class discussion on it before beginning the book. They also watched “The Sneetches” cartoon by Dr. Seuss about tolerance and differences. MORE BOOKS 4 ESTY LIBRARY Thank you to Rabbi and Mrs. Yisroel Rubin for sponsoring books to the new library in honor of: (1) the birth of Avraham Meir Hecht (2) the birth of Asher Yitzchak Wolfe (3) the birthday of Esther Aidel Rubin of Clifton Park (4) the birthday of Esther Miriam Rubin (SH).

RICH WITHOUT MONEY 6th graders read “The Gold Coin” and then thought of many ways to feel rich that are not money-related. We reported on this last time, but now we have the picture of their whiteboard brainstorming. IN MIDDLE OF A MEAL... … at a pizza-shop, part of the group jumps up and runs out to celebrate at a wedding passing by outside. What happens when they come back bentsching-wise? 6th graders are learning this issue in Gemorah class.

EARLY FRIDAY SCHEDULE 2:15pm dismissal after we change back the clocks. All short Friday classes are abridged slightly by 5 minutes. Davening ends at 8:35 (instead of 8:40), first period ends 9:20, 2nd period ends 10am. There is no morning recess on short Fridays (aside for pre-school and primary grades). At 11:20 we break for a shorter 20-minute recess, with lunch at 11:40am. General Studies begins 11:55am.

COLOR MIXES AND SHADING 5th grade is now doing their art segment with Mrs.Levin. They’ve been working on blending colors from light to dark (or dark to light). With only one base-color, you make many different shades by mixing it with other colors. They first drew a picture of a vase that Mrs. Levin set up on a table from the their viewing angle, and then colored it in with paint from the vials they mixed. HELPING THE MAZAL SCHOOL Through the PEJE network our school is partnering to help the Mazal School in Brighton Beach recover from flooding caused by Hurricane Sandy. Their school is similar to our size, and they’re asking for books (both

Jewish and general) and school supplies that were ruined by the flooding. We will find out more specific details this coming week. SUPPLIES FOR SANDY VICTIMS

The Rosenblum Companies (based at the Great Oaks Office Park) already sent two trucks down full of supplies to Staten Island and areas hard hit by the storm, and they plan to send another truck down soon, filled with much needed supplies donated by individuals. See the updated list for what’s needed. TOUR OF THE SCIENCE LAB 6th graders were excited to get their first tour of the Dr. O’Brien Science Lab with Dr. Sahay who showed them various pieces of equipment and how they would be used. They look forward to using the lab for experiments!

WAYSIDE SCHOOL SERIES Mrs. Maher has three books in the silly and humorous Wayside School series: “Sideways Stories,” “Falling Down” (which they are reading now) and the third book: “Wayside School gets a little Stranger” (which they look forward to reading next!) RAFFLE-AUCTION READY... It’s back from the printer, already in the mail and also available in the school office. We will send it out over email as well, please feel free to forward or mail to friends and family. This is an important annual school fundraiser!

GOODBYE BUNNY RABBIT It was a great experience having the bunny at school, but the limited enclosure and the fact that no one is around all evening and at night wasn’t so suitable for the energetic little guy, so Morah Dini found a new wonderful home for him, with a grandfather whose grandkids love rabbits and already have one of their own to keep our rabbit company. We’ll miss him but we’re glad he’ll be more comfortable in his new home. He did enjoy our singing while at Maimonides. You could see him perk up when we started to sing the Bentsching!

“TORAH-TIMES” SPECIAL GIVEAWAYS Enjoy Rabbi Rubin’s “Bentscher” from Avraham and Sara’s Eishel, and “The Mincha (Maariv)” from Yitzchak and Rivka’s wedding in this week’s Parsha.

at Maimonides and in the Community

11/9-10: MINYAN HELP NEEDED Several families will be away for Simchas and the annual Chabad Shluchim Convention, plus this week davening is much earlier than usual on Friday, so whoever can help make Minyans at Shomray Torah this weekend would be very appreciated. 11/10: RABBI REISMAN ON T.C.N. Rabbi Reisman’s Navi lecture is screened all over, including right here at the CBAJ Luchins Media Center, 7:30pm (thru the end of January). Rabbi Frand gives a Thursday Parsha class, also screened at CBAJ - that lecture time is constant at 9pm. 11/11: T.L.C. CLUB AT THE MASSRY The Teen Leadership Club and Bnos Chaya High (MHDS) will be back at the Massry this Sunday 3-5pm for jewelry-making with the residents. 11/11: KINUS BANQUET LIVE Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, former Chief Rabbi of Israel, Holocaust survivor and noted speaker will address the annual banquet of the Chabad Shluchim Conference (Kinus) on Sunday evening. It will be streamed live on Chabad.org (also see TorahCafe.com and Jewish.TV). 11/12: NO SCHOOL VETERANS DAY Nearly every year the school holds Parent-Teacher conferences (on individual student progress) on Veterans Day, but the calendar listed it as no-school so we’re keeping it that way for this year, but will return next year to the conferences on this day. 11/12: WRITING CONTEST EXT. The writing contest about favorite Capital Region places has been extended until Nolvember 12th, see for info: www.teachingthehudsonvalley.org/Grants/Grants/STUDENT-CONTEST.html 11/14: WOMENS TORAH & YOGA Wednesdays thru 11/28 1:30-2:30 at MHDS with Amanda Toll, open to community women. Cost: $36 for 6 weeks. info? 495-0779. Babysitting available. The group will not meet next week on 11/21 before Thanksgiving. 11/14: THE RESCUERS SCREENING Free admission, 7pm, screening at UAlbany’s downtown Page Hall, 135 Western Ave. This documentary highlights Holocaust rescue efforts by non-Jewish diplomats. The event is sponsored by Holocaust Survivors and Friends Education Center, Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation & UAlbany’s Center for Judaic Studies.

11/16: CBAJ NEW MEMBER DINNER Family Shabbat dinner at CBAJ. Cost for existing members, free for new members, contact synagogue office for reservations and details. 11/17: FIRST PIZZA-NITE Save the date for the first MHDS Sat Night Pizza night of the season! 11/18: TASTE-OF-YESHIVA DAY 11:30am-1pm with a brunch at Shabbos House. Men and women from the community are very welcome. Depending on student attendance we will either pair up with students or with fellow community members to study a prepared Torah text curriculum chavrusa-style followed by a short class. Call 438-4227 for more info/RSVP. 11/18: GLOBAL LEARNING DAY Federation is hosting a global Jewish learning day with the morning programs at The Massry and afternoon events (and the Mifgash Bazaar) at Ohav Shalom. Contact Federation for more details. 11/18: 2 SHOPPING BAZAARS (a) Mifgash brings vendors and artisans (and some kids activities) for an annual pre-Chanukah Bazaar, held this year at Cong. Ohav Shalom, proceeds benefit the communal after-school high school. (b) Beth Emeth Religious School hosts a “Winter Shopping Land” with vendors open from 9am-3pm to benefit their school.

11/27: ART VIEW OF HOLOCAUST Mr. Tibor Spitz of Kingston, 7pm at the Clifton-Park-Halfmoon Library on Moe Road, is a Holocaust survivor who expresses his experience through art (painting, sculpting, ceramics, wood-carving etc), and has a remarkable story of his escape from Communism. Not intended for children. Call 495-0772/9 for more info. 12/1: YUD-TES KISLEV WEEKEND The actual date is Sunday night-Monday. Yeshiva Bochurim will be up for this Shabbos at Shomray Torah for added flavor and warmth, and a communal Melava Malka (with kids program) will be that Sat Night. Details coming soon. 12/11: MHDS CHANUKAH 4TH NITE

“MIDWAY” AUCTION & DINNER Raffle-Auction is now printed, look for it in your mailbox this coming week, if you don’t get it please call the school office… this year it’s on the 4th night, so look for a “Midway” themed evening! 1/13/13: SPA FOR BODY & SOUL Save the date for this annual womens communal event, with an inspiring speaker, delicious luncheon and hands-on workshops, held once again in Clifton Park. Call Leah 495-0772 or Clara 439-8280 for more information or to volunteer.

MAIMONIDES SCHOOL (Nursery / Elementary / High School) & COMMUNITY

404 Partridge Street Albany NY 12208 (518) 453-9363/3434

maimonidesschool@gmail.com

Founded in 1980, Maimonides is chartered by the NYS Board of Regents and

is a JF-NENY Beneficiary “A Beautiful Blend: Torah & Worldly Experience!”