BT World Issue 4

June 5, 2013

Volume 1 , Issue 4

S I X T H G R A D E M I T Z VA H W E E K A T B T INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

GIRLS’ ACTIVITIES

Girls’ Softball

2

MS Band Trip

2

BT World’s First Year

2

Israel and China Deal

3

Author Visits BT

3

Michael Cavanaugh

4

Don’t Give Up

4

drawn on it. Then to make all the glass melt together and By: Hailey G.’19 and look nice, the artist took them Gabrielle G. ‘19 back to his studio to fire them Do you know what a in a kiln. He shared with us mitzvah is? A mitzvah is a that he would put the Hebrew good deed that you do for letter “shin” on them in gold someone else, or for Hashem. for us.

From May 1st to May 7th, the properly and not get tangled.

The next day, May 2nd, 6th grade girls and boys did They looked a little like neckwe learned about making ink separate mitzvah projects. laces with charms hanging and Torah scrolls.

The parchWhile the boys spent the week down the middle of them. ment you write on has to come making tefillin, the girls particiThen, we began to dip the from a kosher animal.

When pated in a wide variety of mitzstring into red and blue hot writing on this special parchvah activities. We learned wax. After dipping it in six ment, the ink must be shiny many important things that a times for both colors, we took and black. The scribe who Jewish girl should know that them off the hangers and meld- writes the Torah isn’t allowed were new to us by making ed and twisted them into one to make any mistakes, and if beautiful Judaic items and beautiful candle that we will he does and doesn’t realize his delicious food! have forever. mistake, the entire Torah is The first thing we did was We also had the opporunkosher. The rabbi who make our very own Havdallah tunity to make mezuzah cases. taught us this brought us candles. We put string on We glued glass tiles to a paper parchment that we were able to hangers and a weight on the with a rectangular shape (cont. on page 3) string so it would hang down

TEFILLIN MAKING AT BETH TFILOH

and arm, painted them with special black paint, and imprinted the Hebrew letter Shin By: Joseph L. ‘19 (‫ )ש‬on the box that only goes on your head.

When you put on your tefillin every The third day we finished folding up the rest day, do you think about the process and the of the boxes and put in the ‫פרשיות‬, the amount of work that was put into them? chapters of the Torah that explain to us Well, from Wednesday, May 1st to May what tefillin are and how they should be 8th, Rabbi Noah Greenberg gave the boys in used. During the fourth day, we made the the 6th grade at Beth Tfiloh Dahan Commuknots to make the Hebrew letters Dalet nity Day School a firsthand experience by and yud and the leather straps that we teaching us how to make our own tefillin. put on our head and on our arms and sewed The process of making tefillin is harder the boxes shut with a piece of leather. When than it looks! Over the course of a week you write the letters (pronounced sh(with the exclusion of the Sabbath and Sunad-i),you make one of G-d's names in day) the boys at Beth Tfiloh made their very Hebrew. On the last and final day, we own pair. On the first day we learned about finished our own pairs of tefillin and put the tefillin and the process of making them. them on (without a blessing) for the first The second day we folded up the leather time! ‫( בתים‬the boxes) that we put on our head

Reviews of the activity by boys in our class were very positive. “It was a lot of fun,” said Max G. “We learned a lot from Rabbi Greenberg.” Evyatar S. added that his (cont. on page 3)

O U R F I R S T Y E A R WA S G R E AT !

By: Mr. Stevens, Faculty Advisor I would like to take the opportunity to thank EVERYONE who was involved with BT World this year. The editors are listed here in alphabetical order: Gabrielle G. ‘19 - Special Features Editor Jeremy G. ‘19 - Sports Editor Hailey G. ‘19 - News Editor Joseph L. ‘19 - Copy Editor All of the editors worked very hard to put out our paper. We have received many compliments from people both inside and outside the school about the professional look to the paper and the fact that it is very well done.

In addition, many students have written articles or otherwise appeared in our paper this year. They are (once again in alphabetical

order): Jacob B. ‘19, Hailey G. ‘19, Jeremy G. ‘19, Yael K. ‘20, Joseph L. ‘19, Leah M. ‘20, Alyse M. ‘17, Emma P. ‘20, Renee R. ‘17, Adi S. ‘17, Shira S. ‘20, Yael S. ‘19, Tyler S. ‘20 and Zach V. ‘19. Thank you also to Mrs. Rina Goloskov, Sr. Communications Associate.

I am VERY proud of everything that you all have done this year and look forward to a great 2013-14 publishing year. Have a good summer!

G I R L S ’ S O F T BA L L By: Gabrielle G. ‘19 The girls’ softball team had a great season this year! At tryouts, we met our coach, Coach Terry. We had eleven players, six of whom were 5th graders: Ava C., Leah M., Illanit A., Arden Z., Rebecca C., and Elyana F. There were two 6th graders: Meira K., and Gabrielle G. And to complete our team, we had two 8th graders, Renee R. and Adi S. Our first game was against Friends on April 11th.

Adi was our pitcher, and we had many great strike outs of other teams because of her. Unfortunately, we did not win any games, but we played really well in our last game of the season against Krieger Shechter.

It was very rainy that day so into the first inning the umpire said we had to stop because there was lightning. The whole team gratefully went into the gym to dry off and wait out the storm because it was pouring and we were getting soaked. After about twenty minutes, the umpire said we could continue playing!

However, we realized when we went outside

that even though the lightning had stopped, it was still raining really hard.

We could catch some dry moments though when we were waiting to bat and we could all stand under an umbrella waiting.

The game was very close. We got more runs than we had ever gotten which was awesome for us! The game came to a conclusion with Beth Tfiloh with eleven runs and Shechter with sixteen runs. They were all extremely happy because they had their first win against us. But we didn’t care because we were all so happy with the way we played and the score didn’t matter to us in the end.

The softball team had a very good season, and improved a lot with each game.

Some people who had never even played softball ever in their lives got to play. And even though we didn’t win any games, it was a really fun experience for all of us!

MIDDLE SCHOOL BAND TRIP By: Zachary V. ‘19 Before the 6th, 7th and 8th grade band members headed over to Six Flags, we went and did the more important part: the band competition, which is called The Trills and Thrills Music Festival. The competition was held in a school called Henry A. Wise Jr. High School, which is in Largo, Maryland. Many other bands competed against us. All of the other bands were much bigger, with many more instrumentalists. Several other schools had over 50 people in their band! But that didn’t matter because our band, with only 15 people, got the 2nd place medal!

First off, a lot of thanks goes to Mr. Kirk, our band teacher. Without him, I don’t know where we would be! I would also like to give credit to the 7th and 8th graders in the band, who guided the 6th graders when they got lost.

The three music pieces that we played in the competition were “El Marinero,” by Mike Hannickel; Rain,” by Brian Balmages; and “Mystic Legacy,” by Larry Clark.

There were a few instrumental solos throughout these pieces. Good job to those who bravely took on those solos. Everyone played really well, and everyone made great contributions to the rest of the band, and that is what won us the 2nd place medal. We hope to win the 1st place medal in next year’s competition!

T RY T H I S !

By: Shira S. ‘20

B AD J OKE FOR THE END OF THE YEAR! By: Zachary V. ‘19

Two ants are having a conversation. Now that’s what I call small talk!

Volume 1 , Issue 4

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S I X T H G R A D E M I T Z VA H W E E K A T B T, C O N T .

GIRLS ACTIVITIES write our Hebrew names on with a feather and ink.

Next, we made outstanding and delicious challah with Morah Friedman. She made us great recipe books, so that we could follow the recipe in it while making it in school and so we can make it on our own at home. In school we made the dough ourselves from scratch and braided it into challah. We let the challah rise for ten minutes, then let them refrigerate throughout the rest of the day. Then we got to take them home, bake them, and eat them!

On Friday, we went to Morah Slavaticki’s house. She also made us recipe books to teach us how to make a Shabbat dinner in an hour. We made apple cranberry crumble, shushi, and deli rolls. Our favorite was making and eating the scrumptious cupcakes. We brought the food home to our families for us all to enjoy.

The next Monday, we put grapes into a winepress to make grape juice. First, we put the grapes into a cheese cloth and put them into the wine press. Then, we turned the lever and the grapes were pressed down into liquid. We didn’t get to drink it though. We made Kiddush cups on the same day. We glued on tissue paper so that when it dried it would look a little like stained glass. In addi-

I S R A E L A N D C H I NA $400M TRADE DEAL

By: Zachary V. ‘19 Not too many days ago, Israel and China signed a $400 million trade agreement, which brings these two countries’ financial relationship up to over $2 billion.

This deal was agreed upon soon after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived on a 5-day trip to China, which called for closer trade ties between Israel and China. tion to that, we got to make our own unique “Our two peochallah covers with Morah Friedman. ples are two ancient Tuesday was sadly the last day of our peoples with a glorifun and educational mitzvah week. All the girls got to learn Krav Maga, which is Israeli ous past, a difficult self-defense. It was exhilarating to learn how in-between period, to get out of a choke hold and to learn how to and then soaring into the future,” get away from someone attacking you. We Netanyahu told learned the proper stances for fighting, and Chinese Prime we learned about how being in the army requires lots of discipline. In addition to learn- Minister Li Keqiang.

“I think that Israel can be the perfect ing Krav Maga, we got to paint our own elejunior partner for China in its pursuit of gant candlesticks and plate in the art room. economic excellence and competitive Each one was special to everyone in their advantage by offering our technological own unique way. capabilities,” Netanyahu said.

This week was a wonderful experience “This is a very important agreement for for all the sixth grade girls at Beth Tfiloh expanding bilateral cooperation. China is a Dahan Community School. We learned so much and are very thankful to everyone who vast market. If we even slightly increase our contributed to setting up this program for us! market share here, it will significantly help the Israeli economy.”

Netanyahu also said that Israel-Chinese TEFILLIN MAKING AT BETH TFILOH trade amounts to around $8 billion every favorite part of the activity was “putting the tefillin on year, and the two countries are constantly for the first time. We worked 16 hours on the project, working to increase that number. and it felt very good to wear what we had worked so “The potential for bilateral trade is hard on!” vast,” he said.

Making our own pair of tefillin was a lifeAccording to the Prime Minister’s Ofchanging experience that I'm sure all the boys in BT’s fice, Israel has exported over $700 million 6th grade will remember forever. “We had the opporworth of goods and services to China since tunity to make something very few Jews in the world have ever had the opportunity to the trading deal was made. make,” said BT student Jeremy G. (Mitzvah Week photos by Mrs. Debbie Disney)

AU T H O R V I S I T S 6 T H G R A D E By: Hailey G. ‘19 Have you ever been able to say you met the author of the book you are reading? It's not something you can say often. The 6th grade at Beth Tfiloh had an amazing opportunity to meet Rosemary Zibart, the author of Forced Journey, a book we are reading. We are reading this book in class because it fits with the school curriculum and is about Jewish kids like us.

When she came to speak to us, not only was she talking, she was making connections to us with what she was saying. She was able to speak about challenges in a 12 year old’s life and got every child in the room thinking. She explained that she chose to write Volume 1 , Issue 4

about children around the age of 12 because that is when things in their lives are changing. She shared that life becomes different and these 12 year old children need to learn how to make big decisions.

Gabrielle G. 19, and I got to interview her. She was very friendly and shared many amazing things about her life. Ms. Zibart travels to talk about everything she has done with her writing career. She shared that she wrote plays and scripts for television shows. I hope everyone will continue reading stories and more by Rosemary Zibart.

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S P O T L I G H T 2 0 1 3 : M I C H A E L C AVA NAU G H By: Gabrielle G. ‘19 For Spotlight 2013, Michael Cavanaugh is performing at Beth Tfiloh!

Spotlight is a huge event of the year where all the money from the tickets goes toward a scholarship fund for Beth Tfiloh students.

Last year, they raised close to a million dollars!

Along with Hailey G., ‘19, I had the amazing opportunity to actually interview Michael Cavanaugh. Some of you might think that someone who is a celebrity is some unusual person, who doesn’t really interact with anyone else not famous. I learned today that that is totally wrong.

Michael is really a very normal person, with parents who run to his concerts as often as possible with his two brothers. He also has two kids: a daughter who is nine years old, and a son who is sixteen and getting his license soon.

Mr. Cavanaugh grew up in Cleveland, Ohio as a child. Being a typical boy, when he was in third and fourth grade during baseball season, he wanted to be a baseball player, and in football season, a football player. He probably didn’t know what fame would be his when he got older. Mr. Cavanaugh started singing when he was four years old and received his first snare drum at age five. At age seven, Michael started playing the piano, and got his first

guitar at eleven years old. He doesn’t play any wind instruments except the saxophone.

In his fifth grade talent show, Michael sang for the first time in front of people who clapped wildly for him.

He said that was the first time people were actually screaming for him to sing more. That was a big night for him because he finally realized what he wanted to do with his life.

By twelve years old, Mr. Cavanaugh was singing at nightclubs and at weddings! If you are in sixth grade, can you picture yourself already performing at weddings? I certainly could never sing in public like that!

Have you heard of a singer called Billy Joel? He had a song called the “Piano Man,” which was made into a Broadway show. Mr. Cavanaugh made his big break when Billy Joel selected him to play the character of the “Piano Man.” Michael stated that for a week before he sang in front of Billy Joel he could not sleep at all!

Imagine being with one of your favorite singers, let alone singing in front of him, and having him picking you to be in his show! Mr. Cavanaugh said that he was

nervous, ecstatic and happy all at once when he was picked.

I asked Michael if he gets nervous when he sings in front of live audiences.

After considering the question for a little while, he said that he has made all the mistakes possible in front of people, so there is nothing left to mess up!

Mr. Cavanaugh also gave us some advice for anyone who wants to go into the singing business when they are older. “Put yourself out there, and don’t be afraid to mess up!”

DON’T GIVE UP! By: Jeremy G. ‘19 Josh Ruchotzke is 18 and lives in Illinois. He loves to play baseball and is one of the better hitters on his high school’s team.

One day in 2008, when he was 13 years old, he started feeling sick. He got his temperature checked and he had a temperature of 105 degrees. His mom thought he had the flu, but it turned out he had a streptococci bacteria in his blood stream that was practically eating him alive. His organs were shutting down and blood flow to his extremities had stopped. The doctor told them that he had a 5% chance to live through it.

The doctor gave them five minutes, and then they took Josh in to amputate. They took both legs below his knees, all of his left hand, all of his fingers on his right hand but bits of three fingers, and most of his thumb on his right hand.

Did all of these amputations stop Josh Ruchotzke from playing the game that he Volume 1 , Issue 4

loved? Not even close. He planned to go all the way to the major leagues as a player and then eventually become a manager. When he woke up after the amputations, his plans didn’t change.

“Mom,” Josh said to his mother, “no matter what happens, I HAVE to play baseball again.”

First, he had to learn to walk again, which took two months. Then, he had to learn how to close his hand again, which took four months. After that, he had to learn to run with prosthetic legs, catch with a custom-made glove that was made for him, hit with something on his wrist that would be strapped to his arm, and he had to make the team again.

His coach tested him over and over again to make sure he could do everything.

He could still do everything really well as if he had never had any amputations, even

though it was different. He could still catch and hit.

It wasn’t just a miracle that he survived the problem that threatened him so much.

Remember, he only had a 5% chance to live according to the doctor. It was also a miracle that the boys who played with and against him played like they always did, as if he wasn’t missing his legs, his left hand and most of his fingers on his right hand. It was a miracle that the coaches didn’t get annoyed about a player hitting without any real left hand, hitting without most of his fingers on his right hand, and running to first base with his bat strapped to his wrist.

Josh never let what happened to him crush his dreams. He stayed strong through the whole process and never gave up on himself. Just like Josh, anyone who is going through a tough situation should not get down and should stay strong.

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