Maimonides Community

BH. Sivan

2, 5775 / May 20, 2015

Candle-Lighting: Community Newsletter of the Maimonides Hebrew Day School of the Capital District 8:00 404 Partridge Street Albany NY 12208 (518) 453-9363/3434 www.maimonidesschool.org Shabbos Ends: produced by Rabbi Mendel & students in the TNT (Torah ‘n Technology) Program 9:09 then YomTov Maimonides is accredited by the NYS Board of Regents & is a beneficiary of UJF-NENY

maimonidesschool@gmail.com

This MC Newsletter is sponsored in loving memory of

Yetta Leifer THANK A TEACHER!

Yartzeit on Shavuos

Look up Target’s #ThanksaBillion! to write a and her association with Chabad’s quick thanks to a teacher (140 characters or (former) Flowers in the Hospitals less) choose a school via zipcode (Maimonides is in 12208) and that school gets $25 for your first thanks! Takes under 5 minutes. That’s it.

Target still has Maimonides listed on Academy ALL AROUND THE MOUNTAIN Road (we haven’t been there since 2000 or so) Rosh Chodesh Minyan was at Maimonides, but it’s the same 12208 zipcode, so no worries. and one of our guests was an observant Jew who lives for several years now on a mountain about an hour’s drive from here. Perfect timing for Rosh Chodesh Sivan when “all the Jews camped around the mountain.”

THE KESUBOS KESUBAH Rosh Chodesh Minyan at Maimonides got a

AREA SYNAGOGUE EVOLUTION sneak preview at the creative Kesubah that Dr. Harvey Strum of Sage College spoke to our High School students twice about local Jewish history in Albany, Schenectady and Troy. He told them how local synagogues evolved based on their different rituals and demographics; which shuls merged and which broke away. He also gave examples of generational change in terms of occupations, social status, religious observance and political affiliations. One local family was very Socialist when first coming to this area years ago, but generations later their FAREWELL MR. D. Last Friday was Mr. D’s last day. He accepted a grandchildren are leading wealthy Capitalists.

(BTW, why is almost everyone wearing blue job teaching music at Sage College. He was shirts in this photo? Isn’t that interesting! To surprised at lunchtime with a delicious cake see this pictures in color you have to get this from Mt Pleasant Bakery, chocolate with MC newsletter via email.) vanilla pudding filling, iced with: “We will miss you Mr. D!” and was presented with 3 MAIMONIDES photos framed: The All-School Photo, his 404 Partridge Street Drum Corps Boys on Lag B’Omer, and of Albany NY 12208 course, a picture of his 3/4 grade class that he taught all this year. His students each wrote a card of interesting things they learned from him, including magic tricks, backgammon, WWI & WWII history, getting them into fun books, looking for clues in Encyclopedia Brown, even Yiddish expressions and a recipe from Eleanor Roosevelt. He taught them never to give up! We look forward to Mr. D. coming back to teach music at Maimonides next year.

Rabbi Rubin wrote for the Daf Yomi Kesubos Siyum this Shavuos. The cutest part? v’Kaninah refers to the purchase of Siyum refreshments!

Siyum will be on the 2nd Day of Shavuot at an expanded Seudah Shlishit at Shomray Torah.

ROCKWOOD INTERVIEW Our HS girls interviewed this year’s Dr. Berger Memorial Award honorees Dr. Bill and Adrienne Rockwood about their memories growing up in Albany. Look for interesting tidbits from this interview in the Journal/Yearbook.

VEGETABLE CART UPDATE

HUMOROUS FICTION

The boys have a job to dismantle the decaying vegetable cart at the back of the school’s northern parking lot. Instead of just being destructive, Dr. Joe, their new science teacher is turning into an educational experience.

They learned how various types of materials decay, how materials are treated with paints and chemicals. They established a perimeter and controlled environment for safety, learned about forces that once in play aren’t easily controlled - like gravity. They even looked into why squirrels seemed to chew at the wood.

More updates in next MC.

Tom Sawyer’s whitewashing (by Mark Twain), Homer Price’s doughnut machine (by Robert McCloskey), and the lady who put salt in her coffee (by Lucretia Hale) were among the stories Mrs. Maher’s 5/6 read as part of humorous fiction. They didn’t find all these classic stories so funny, but perhaps its due to the times and setting, and humor isn’t just a joke, its dealing with ridiculous situations and unexpected twists and crazy problems, with lightness and a little joy. The students will soon write their own humorous fiction.

MORE PLANTS GROWING… Mrs. Carroll and her students aren’t giving up!

Many more plants are now in containers, from tomatoes to beans to flowers. From dark dirt to bright sunlight, from the tiny seed to the flowering and fruitful plant, there’s so much to learn from the planting process!

PLAYGROUND MATERIALS In their discussion about types of materials, Dr. Joe’s class looked at how choice materials for public playgrounds have switched (in recent memory) from treated wood to plastics, and now back to metal. Even in the past 10-15 years people have seen school and park playgrounds switch once, or even twice, between these types, at great cost!

“RUTH” COMES TO THE STAGE

RRR=REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE all these R’s about maximizing our Resources.

Mrs. Maher’s 5/6 students are learning about RRR and will be making their own paper next week when they return from the holiday. Other simple steps to help reduce unnecessary use of resources and cost is to shut lights when not in use (if leaving for a while), unplugging unused appliances and devices, taking out the charger once the device is charged, and making sure faucets are closed tight and don’t MT SINAI BULLETIN BOARD leak. BTW, BTW, Mrs. Carroll’s students are 7th graders decorated this bulletin board with a tissue-paper flowery Mt Sinai, topped with learning about the prefix RE now, too.

Luchot and surrounded by “people” at the ISRAELI GOVT base. The crisp lettering atop reads “Like one Morah Rivi’s 7th grade person with one heart” from the Rashi about the Jews encampment at Mt Sinai (they made Hebrew class is now learning terms for Israeli government officials the crisp black letters using a stencil!) and offices, types of political parties and the voting process. Here are some samples: Ezrach = citizen, Kol(ot) = votes/voices, L’hatzbiah = to vote, Tekes = ceremony, Chozeh = a vision or platform, Shagrir = ambassador, Miflagah = political party, etc.

WHY PLANTS DIDN’T BLOSSOM Mrs. Carroll’s students planted flowers for Mothers Day, but for some reason those plants didn’t blossom yet. Instead of being upset and disappointed, Mrs. Carroll used this as an opportunity for discussion: what happened?

Morah Aviva’s Kindergarten students made their own puppet show stages (puppets, too!) to depict the story of Ruth or the story of Sinai on Shavuos. They are very happy here to display them featuring their own faces!

PAPER & FOAM FLOWERS First graders made these pretty flower bouquet centerpieces for their family’s Shavuot tables.

ANOTHER SHABBAT GRADUATION STORY A Houston Law School graduate couldn’t go to his graduation on Shabbat. Guess what? The Law School made him a separate full blown graduation with regalia, ceremony and all! That’s Maimonides School spirit. One kid is worth it!

DAIRY FOODS FOR SHAVUOS MAIN DISHES: There are all kinds of pastas (in all shapes and sizes) from mac & cheese to ziti or lasagna (think of the layers of Torah!), with red sauce or white.

Fettucine Alfredo is a good white sauce pasta. You can even make pizza on YomTov or eggplant parm.

TOUR GUIDES TO NY STATE One of their last projects in Mr. D’s Social Studies class, the 3/4 graders each made their own tourism pamphlet for famous attractions in NYS. They did it on the school computers.

STAGES OF GROWTH Morah Rivka’s Nursery students colored these stages of growth in spring-time: from rain and sun to plants sprouting and flowering.

FATHER-IN-LAWS

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SIDE DISHES: Quiches can be a different twist on dairy. One family likes to make a spinach cheese pie called Spanokopita.

Blintzes are a favorite Shavuot food because they are wrapped like a Torah scroll. Crepes are a fancy cousin of the Blintzes. You can do a cheese assortment with crackers. Some families make a hot dairy sweet noodle kugel. Nachos is a yummy and simple snack, just drizzle cheese on tortilla chips and bake it up. Cheese latkes are like cottage cheese pancakes, that are quite good. A Yogurt Bar can be a good idea, with all kinds of granola and berry toppings.

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SOUPS & SALADS: Some soups are great with some cheese or sour cream inside, like onion soup or certain veggie soups. Greek Salad with feta cheese is a big favorite, or you can make a yogurt dressing for all kinds of salads. Kale with veggies and cottage cheese is quite good. One family makes a great dipping hot cheese dip. They also make their own yogurt!

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DESSERTS: Cheesecake of course, all kinds, with graham crusts or crushed cookie, either plain or covered with chocolate or fruit. Have you ever had a Milchik Rugeleh? Ice Cream (or frozen yogurt) is always a big treat, all kinds of flavors, and toppings from sprinkles to crumbles, to chocolate syrup even a root beer float!

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BEVERAGES: Milk goes great with cookies, Chocolate milk is always a hit with kids. Flavored coffees can be a treat. English people like milk in their tea, too. One way to make YomTov smoothies is to a take a half-frozen slushy bottle of milk, add icecream and stuff and shake it all up.

7th grade happened to be learning about two famous biblical father-in-laws at the same time: Yitro, who had a positive relationship with his son-in-law Moshe, and Shaul who had a bitter and rocky relationship (even dangerous at

times) with his son-in-law David.

SHAVUOS FLOWER VASES Morah DL’s 2nd graders used modge-podge, glitter and more to decorate their own flower vases for their homes on Shavuos. Chana L. of the HS loved crafting and stopped by to help.

W.O.D. - WORD OF THE DAY Mrs. Duberry, the new teacher for 3/4 grade (we hope to introduce her in the next MC) assigns her students a daily word to research, understand, explore and use.

I’m going bananas, I tell my bananas before leaving.

The judge told the defendant: “I told you I never wanted to see you in here again.” The defendant replied: “That’s what I told the officer but he wouldn’t listen.”

What’s the difference between a fancy lawyer and a herd of buffalo? The lawyer charges more!

A music store was robbed last week. The thieves made off with the lute.

PIRKEI AVOT PROJECTS 7th graders each took a Mishna of Pirkei Avot and made a project about it. This was the first one up (more next week) and it reflects a very beautiful and relevant commentary of the Baal Shem Tov (his yartzeit is also on Shavuos) on this hard-to-relate-to Mishna, that makes all the meaning pivot on ONE word!

TORAHS & COVERS Morah Rivka and the Nursery students made their own little play Torahs. They colored Alef-Bais for the scrolls inside and the decorated velvet covers using glue and buttons and glitter to spell Torah.

They also made harps made of cardboards and rubber bands to remember King David who passed away on Shavuot.

CAMP GAN ISRAEL FORMS Morah Devorah Leah Mathless is this year’s Camp Gan Israel director, with help from Morah Dini. Israeli staff is coming for the summer! And we’re looking add some new exciting programming. Contact Devorah Leah with questions or for forms: 518-698-1836. Registration forms available! Please submit as soon as possible.

at Maimonides and in the Community 5/21: STAR OF DAVID CUPS Thursday morning HS Boys craft project with Parkview seniors in “Better Together” program.

2nd Day of Shavuos at Shomray Torah. A creative Kesuba is written for the occasion based on R’ Najar who composed Kah Ribon Olam.

5/22: BUTTERFLIES & RAPTORS

6/1: MAIMONIDES DINNER

No School on Friday, maybe try one of these:  11am at Pine Bush Preserve on Route 155, a mile hike with staff to see the Karner Blue Butterfly. $3pp. Registration is required.  1pm at Bethlehem Library, Joyce Perry of Whispering Willow Wild Care will bring in some of her rescued raptor birds and discuss their rescue, treatment and ultimate release.

This year’s Dr. Morton Berger Memorial Award recipients will be Dr. William “Bill” and Adrianne Rockwood, and the school’s involvement and our partners in the “Better Together” teen-seniors program will also be recognized and highlighted.

Call office for info, invite or journal info. Thanks!

SCHOLARSHIP TRIBUTE?

Why is the annual Maimonides Dinner (this year June 1st) called a “Scholarship Tribute”? Good question. It’s actually not a tribute to scholarship 6/2: TERRA RIBBON-CUTTING (which might be another very good idea) instead 11am. Call Terra for more info: 463-5600. its called that because the proceeds of the dinner 5/23: WOMENS SHABBOS SHIUR each year goes towards the school’s scholarship 6/7: PEDDLERS @ BETH TEPHILAH fund which helps families who can’t pay full This week’s Womens Shiur will be given by Mrs. Chaya Bracha Rubin at the home of Mrs. Debbie History comes alive again, 1:30 at Beth Tephilah tuition or who have multiple children in school.

Stark, 233 South Main Ave, at 4:45pm. in Troy! Go back to the days of Jewish peddlers There is a large gap between tuition and the who worked hard to earn a living in Troy and school’s budget each year, and fundraisers and Cohoes, and were a common interface between 5/22&26: EVE & POST SHAVUOS communal support like the school’s dinner help Jews and non-Jews.

This event will also remember MHDS families: No School on Friday before the bridge that gap. And tribute? Every year since Harry Pearlberg, a Jewish peddler who was killed Shavuos/Memorial Day Weekend, and a 9am in Cohoes for no other reason than being a Jew. 1989, the school honors men and women in the start on Tuesday morning the day after Shavuos.

Event includes light luncheon. $5pp, free for community who exemplify the values and legacy members, open to all, ages 12+. RSVP: 894-3491. of Dr. Morton Berger. In past years we also had 5/24-25: SHAVUOS HOLIDAY group honorees such as Educators for Rashi 900, 3-day YomTov this year, beginning with Shabbos on May 23. And it’s on Memorial Day Weekend. 6/8-11: YEAR-END TRIP DATES the Zahir awards, and the Partridge Street Oral Stay tuned for specifics on this year’s end of year History Project, and individual awards such as the 5/26: LAST CHANCE FOR JOURNAL school trip. We’re looking at one of the days in Bezalel Award, Eitz Chayim Award, Community the second week of June.

The day after Shavuot is the last day to squeeze Service Award and Educator Award. This year’s your ad/greeting into the Yearbook/Journal, by dinner presents the Dr. Berger Memorial Award 6/18: MOVING UP DAY email only: maimonidesschool@gmail.com This is the last day of school, with AM Moving-Up to Bill and Adrienne Rockwood and recognizes the BetterTogether program which was a major ceremonies for all grades. Dismissal is at the end 5/23: BREAKFAST FOR DINNER highlight at school this year. of the program. Maimonides is already planning Call CBAJ 489-5819 or CBAJ.org to RSVP for eve for and looking forward to next year! of Shavuot breakfast dinner and all night learning.

NCSY advisors will be visiting to add to learning.

6/18: 8TH GRADE GRADUATION

5/23: TIKKUN AT MIDNIGHT Tikkun Leil Shavuot study begins midnight at Shomray Torah after all end their YomTov meal.

5/24: ICE-CREAM & CHEESECAKE

8th grade graduates & families, teachers, friends &community are welcome back on Thurs evening, the last day of school, for graduation ceremonies.

6/25-7/19: JGR DATES

DO YOU KNOW THE FOUR NAMES OF SHAVUOT?

Matan Torah is for the Giving of the Torah, Chag HaKatzir 7/6-8/14: CAMP GAN ISRAEL DATES is about the Day Camp located at Maimonides: 698-1836. harvest, Chag Many activities, trips planned.

Israeli & local staff!

5/25: LECTURE & BBQ KIDDUSH Bikurim is for at CBAJ on Memorial Day, Shavuos Day II. Rabbi the first fruits, Lehrfield on “Failure of the 10 Commandments” and Shavuot (its best known name) is for the build-up of weeks 5/25: DAF YOMI SIYUM KESUBOS (7 to be exact) leading up to this holiday from The Siyum celebration of tractate Kesubos will be Pesach. This is hanging in the primary grades. at an early Mincha & Shalosh Seudos near end of Ice-Cream at Shomray Torah for all kids (and young at heart) who come to Shul to hear the 10 Commandments, followed by cheesecakes at Kiddush for Avremi Backman’s birthday.

This year at a scenic boarding school in Hoosick.

More info? nechama@JewishGirlsRetreat.net

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