Maimonides Community

BH. Shvat

23, 5778 / February 8, 2018

‫ב“ה‬

Candle-Lighting: Community Newsletter of the Maimonides Hebrew Day School of the Capital District 5:01 404 Partridge Street Albany NY 12208 (518) 453-9363/3434 www.maimonidesschool.org Shabbat Ends: produced by Rabbi Mendel Rubin & students in the TNT (Torah ‘n Technology) Program 6:04 Maimonides is accredited by the NYS Board of Regents & is a beneficiary of UJF-NENY

MAZAL TOV KUDANS Mazal Tov MHDS alumnus Rabbi Zalmy and Shterna Kudan on the upcoming Bar-Mitzvah of their son Mendel in S. Barbara CA, just before Purim. Mazal Tov to the Kudan grandparents. Much continued Nachas!

maimonidesschool@gmail.com

MAIMONIDES 404 Partridge Street Albany NY 12208

MAZAL TOV HECHTS Mazal Tov to Rabbi Yitzchak & Leah Hecht of Kingston on the birth of a daughter Esther Rivka. Mazal Tov to all her siblings at MHDS!

OUR SCHOOL’S CHIDON REPS Our highest scoring Chidon students (based on three standardized tests administered at school) will be representing our school on stage at the Intl Chidon in Brooklyn: Nachman M., Tziporah K., Jacob G., Chaiky R. and Mendel CP. In addition a number of their classmates will be joining them, participating at the big Chidon Shabbaton. Everyone in grades 4-8 who studied the Yahadus curriculum benefitted tremendously (Chidon Shabbaton or not) with a breadth of Jewish knowledge spanning many areas of Jewish life and learning.

NUN STANDS FOR NIMALAH ...and Nimalah is Hebrew for ant. These cute black ants were made of painted egg cartons, accented with googley-eyes and adorned with pipecleaner legs and a little red pipe-cleaner mouth. That’s the Nimalah in Kindergarten.

HS School students learned “Lech el HaNimalah” in Mishlei (Proverbs) where the verse tells us to go and learn from an ant: its incredibly active industriousness, organized teamwork, and outsized output despite it’s own small size.

ROBBER BARONS OR CAPTAINS OF INDUSTRY? High School students are writing essays arguing for or against the titling of the likes of Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, JP Morgan and Andrew Carnegie as either robber barons who took unfair and cruel advantage of others to build their wealth, or were they industry captains who shepherded the growth of the economy for the benefit of the public? Or both? Similar questions could be asked today about (the CEO’s of) popular modern companies like Amazon or Apple.

LEARNING ABOUT/FROM CNIDARIANS Speaking of Mishlei’s learning from ants (see left) we can & should learn about & learn lessons from all of G-d’s creations, including cnidarians which are 10,000+ species of brilliantly colorful (some very dangerous) aquatic life including jellyfish, coral and anemones. 7th grade science learned about the structure of these sea creatures, how they differ from sponges, how they breathe (without respiratory organs), what & how they eat, how they move about and how they interact and affect their greater ecosystem.

This MC is dedicated in memory of

Ella Saul

Life-long Jewishly observant Albany couple with her husband Bernie Saul

Yartzeit: Friday, Shvat 24

START UP FOR PURIM PRUNCH This year’s Purim Prunch theme at the school on Purim Day will be Israeli startups & high-tech innovation: “The 70 Wonders of Modern Israel”. What’s your favorite Israeli technological wonder?

Please send your favorite company or innovation to maimonidesschool@gmail.com.

Thanks to Morah Rivi for working with our students on the art end of this project. Rabbi Yossi is working with Israeli startup companies to get some of the equipment and educational tools for our upgraded Science Lab and new JSTEAM Room Makerspace.

SHLOMO ADLER’S MEMOIRS Remember the Israeli Holocaust survivor with whom HS girls & Morah Rivi corresponded with last year? Last week he sent us his four books of Hebrew memoirs for our school.

MEMOIRS IN HIGH SCHOOL HS English is now learning about the genre of memoir. Mrs. M. gave them a dozen memoirs to choose from to read and write about. They are quite interested in these stories of real-life experiences through a personal lens.

TALL TALES & FABLES Speaking of writing genres, second graders with Mrs. Mattice read two frog stories in their reader; one a tall tale, the other a fable. And did an illustration of both.

GOBLINS 2nd graders enjoyed reading the “Herschel and Chanukah Goblins” story so Mrs. Mattice made these fun threading and tying Goblins with them.

GEOMETRIC CITY PROJECTS

MEM IS THE WORD! Nursery has been learning the letter Mem this week, perfect for Parsha Mishpatim that also begins with Mem. While they learned Mem words like Mezuzah and Mayim (water) and Melech (king), what they were most excited about was the many Hebrew first names that begin with Mem: Moshe, Miriam, Meira, Menachem & Mendel, Meir, Moussia, Malka, Menucha, Mushka, Maayan, Maor, Michael, Meital, Mordechai, and Mattisyahu...

AH, FOUND IT! After completing their work these first graders enjoyed this I-Spy-type finding book.

ASERES HADIBROT BY HEART 2nd graders with Morah DL memorized the headers and key phrases (in order!) of the Ten Commandments in last week’s Parsha.

RE: TEN COMMANDMENTS 7th grade Chumash class just learned it with Rabbi Mathless, with the Rashis, and are now reviewing it for a test. They were learning it just in time for Parshas Yisro last week. It’s always a thrill when the Parsha and their studies connect!

7th grade math students with Ms. Coffey are finishing up their geometric city designs. They could design their city however they wished, in either 2D or 3D form as long as it met the assignment requirements: certain institutions & public space needed to be in certain shapes, it needed to have streets that were parallel, perpendicular and at certain angles to each other, among other things. They worked off their first (more vague and abstract) drafts to better measure & develop their finished work.

DAVID AND GOLIATH This story is so famous, it’s become an English expression! 7th graders are now learning it in Navi in original text & classic commentary.

CORRUPTION CHARGES This headline is in the news all the time, but 5th graders are learning it in the Navi (Book of Samuel) with the two sons of Eli: Chafni & Pinchas. It appears to be a very old problem.

FLEXIGON PAPER MATH FUN MAYIM-MELECH PAINTING In fitting with the Mem-theme, Nursery kids painted a king (Melech) using Water (Mayim)color paints.

AUDIO RECORDING HISTORY Rabbi Yossi’s STEAM class explored a birdseye view of the last 70 years of audio recording history, and the change from analog to digital: 1948: Vinyl Records 1963: Magnetic Cassette Tapes 1990: Compact Disks—CD’s 1997: DVDs Later MP3’s, online files, iPods, iPhones etc…

They learned that analog comes from the word analogy (because there is an actual physical representation of that sound on the record or tape) and digital comes from digits or numbers because the sound information is changed into numbers and then changed back into sounds when read by the computer or device.

6-7 grade girls did a paper activity with Rabbi Yossi in STEAM class. They folded doublesided printed paper into squares and triangles in a way that more than 2 sets of images can be shown depending on the fold. It’s an origami of sorts, but illustrates magical angles to mathematical angles!

BLUE & RED OVEN MITTS To illustrate the Kosher laws of meat & milk in this week’s Parsha, Nursery students made milk and red paper “oven mitts” and pasted pictures of dairy products on the blue & meat on the red. It’s not a finished product yet, as they will be stitching them closed.

Y. EMDEN VS. Y. EYBESHITZ Rabbi Kellman’s Jewish history class learned about one of the bitterest arguments and communal controversies between two Rabbis: Yaakov Emden and Yonasan Eybeshitz, back in the early 1700’s. This was a intense personal dispute with claims and accusations about Kabbalah and Sabbateanism, that even involved the governing powers at the time.

The trouble is that both these Rabbis were and remain greatly respected for their scholarship!

Rabbi Kellman explained how certain modern understandings of human behavior and psychology could explain some of why Rabbi Emden was so upset. Problem was that it was such an interesting class but they ran out of time, and they left off on a cliffhanger!

PLANT TROPISM No, this has nothing to do with Torah reading (trope) but it does have lessons for human development! Mrs. Maher’s science class learned how external stimuli (water, IF SICK PLEASE STAY HOME sunlight, good soil etc) can cause a plant to Parents! Please remember to keep kids home if grow or bend in that direction. Now, think they are running a fever and best to keep how this can relate to people: We often gravitate towards where we are most nurtured. home until 24 hours after the fever has passed. Thankfully, it seems we’ve gone through the wave at school but less kids might HEADS-UP GAME Morah Chana’le played a game (to discuss and have gotten sick if more students stayed home. review their learning) with 7th grade girls that’s a combination of Headbanz, Taboo, and Charades. It was fun!

FUN TUNNELING IN SNOW The Gordons sent in this photo of their kids hanging out by a snow pile burrowed through with a tunnel they had fun digging on the snow day this Wednesday.

TALMUD FAIR HOMEWORK...

ROBOT WALKING

School is planning a possible Talmud Fair for the Wednesday after Purim, March 7th, on Salo Steper’s first yartzeit. There will be some time to work on this in school, but over this extended weekend we ask all of our Gemorah NOW A BIG KERESH TO SCALE classes (3rd to HS) to think of a visual project What’s a “Keresh”? It’s one of the wallor presentation (poster, diagram, activity, etc) segments of the Mishkan (next week’s Torah they could make of any piece of Gemorah they portion of Terumah) that were designed Lego- learned this year… More brainstorming in like with protruding and recessed portion to school next week! allow for easy assembly and disassembly. This time they decided to build a larger one to PURIM COSTUMES?? scale! It took learning, measuring and sawing. This Shabbos we bless the new month of Adar Hands-on active learning at Maimonides! and Rosh Chodesh is next week and Purim is

Do you see that little device taking a stroll on the floor on the bottom right of picture?

That’s “Jeff” (according to the 7th graders who built him and named him) a simple robot who has battery powered gears that move its legs upwards and forwards to mimic a walking movement. Another class first built him as a caterpillar (with the gears moving horizontally) but as it turns out it was slower moving that way and moves much faster with the vertical forward movement. Rabbi Yossi asked the students if a robot does damage to someone’s property, who is responsible? He showed them Isaac Azimov’s three rules of robotics from his science-fiction books that are now becoming real moral questions. He asked them to support their answers with selections HOMEMADE PLAYDOUGH Continuing with that hands-on and Do-Itfrom this week’s Parsha Mishpatim Yourself theme: Nursery students made their which deals with damages. own playdough and then played with it and shaped it in all kinds of ways.

CHILD LABOR, PROTECTIONS

7th grade Social Studies with Mrs. Ramsay is learning about the very difficult working conditions in factories & sweatshops and tragic events like the conditions that led to the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire in NYC that led to public outcry and the establishment of workers unions and the much-needed awareness and changes to the labor laws, including child labor laws.

FORGIVENESS ISN’T SO EASY That’s the theme 7th grade is exploring in the “The Trouble with Lemons” a story about two friends in a love-hate relationship, there’s some real negatives to deal with and to overcome…

LOOK FOR NEW ESPISODE!!! tinyurl.com/TorahTimesNewsPlaylist

two weeks after that, so its coming up quick.

Now is the time to start planning your costumes and Mishloach Manot!

WINTER CLOTHES It felt warm for a while, but now winter is back! Kindergarten’s Hebrew winter clothes bulletin board (colored and lettered by the kids—using stencils) is very timely! Be sure to dress warm when coming to school…

GET THIS NEWSLETTER TO YOUR EMAIL INBOX Keep learning along with us, and keep in touch about community news and Albany Jewish events, even from afar! Email maimonidesschool@gmail.com to be added to our weekly email list with this newsletter delivered to your inbox in PDF.

at Maimonides and in the Community 2/8: LAST DAY TO REGISTER FOR... 2/12: MISHMAR ON MONDAY Comedy Shabbat Dinner with Jessica Schechter at CBAJ on Feb 16th. See CBAJ.org for details, costs & info and to reserve if you wish, as today 2/8 is the last day to register for it.

2/9-2/12: EXTENDED WKND OFF

3:30-4:15 for boys & girls grades 2+.

Suggested $2 per child for supplies. Younger childcare $2 per.

2/12: MONDAY WOMENS CLASS

Parents please note this school schedule: No School on Friday 2/9. 9:30am late start on Monday 2/12.

Morah Rochel’s Monday night women’s class resumed, this time studying and discussing Tanya.

8:30pm at her home, 122 South Main.

2/9: MUSIC MAKERS AT LIBRARY

2/15-16: ROSH CHODESH ADAR

10:30-11:30am at Pine Hills Library on Western Ave for kids under 5 years. Learn rhythm and get a feel of various instruments. Info? (518) 482-7911

Two days of Rosh Chodesh, Thursday and Friday.

Minyan at Maimonides, 8am on Thursday.

2/9: FREE SKATES AND SKATING The Empire Plaza Skating Rink (in the shadow of the NYS Capitol) has free skating everyday 11am8pm, but on Fridays the skate rentals are free, too, thanks to Hannaford Supermarkets.

2/10: MISHPATIM & SHEKALIM This Shabbos we bless the new month of Adar and read the Torah Parsha of Mishpatim, we also read Shekalim, the first of four seasonal Maftirs about the half-shekels contributed to the Temple.

2/11: TIMES UNION HOME SHOW

2/28: FAST OF ESTHER The fast begins in this area at 5:04am at dawn, and ends 6:13pm (or after the Megillah reading).

2/28: PURIM NIGHT (WED)

You wouldn’t expect this at Chabad. But Myron Sugarman will tell his own story about Jewish mob connections, 7pm at Bethlehem Chabad, 393 Delaware Ave, just past the Four Corners.

Hard to believe but Purim is in February this year!

It falls Wednesday night into Thursday, stay tuned for a listing of communal events and celebrations (in addition to synagogue Megillah readings).  Purim under the Sea 6pm at Saratoga Chabad  Purim Carnival for college students in UAlbany’s Campus Center Ballroom

2/16: CBAJ COMEDY SHABBAT

3/1: PURIM DAY (THURS)

2/15: JEWS AND THE MOB

CBAJ hosts comedian Jessica Schechter at a 6:15pm Shabbat Dinner (prayers 5:15pm). Rabbi Feldman will interview her Register online at: www.cbaj.org/comedy-shabbat/

2/18: MURDER MYSTERY IN TROY

 Purim morning “Israeli Startup Prunch” at

Maimonides. Megillah, light foods, Mishloach Manot swap with school & community families.  Emoji Purim Clifton Park, 4:30, Megillah 5:15  Black & White Purim Bethlehem Chabad, 5pm  Albany JCC Purim Carnival 5:30-8pm

Beth Tephilah is hosting “The Mysterious Megillah More Purim listings to be updated next week!

10am-5pm (new location!) at the all-new Albany Robbery” & dinner 5:30pm. $10pp. RSVP by 2/13 Capital Center, on Eagle Street, down the street to get your character: EventsAtBTS@gmail.com or 3/7: TALMUD FAIR & LUNCHEON from the Capitol and across the Empire State Plaza. call: 518-894-3490.

Stay tuned for a Talmud Fair and Luncheon $10pp, kids under 14 free. Vendors & exhibits all program commemorating the first yartzeit of Salo about home improvement and construction.

2/19: PRESIDENTS DAY Steper, who loved and promoted Talmud study and No School. Enjoy the extended weekend. was a dear friend and supporter of Maimonides.

2/11: ANNUAL ANTIQUE SHOW

60 antique vendors 10am-4pm at this 42nd annual show at Shenendehowa High School East in Clifton Park. $3pp, kids under 12 are free.

2/11: FEISTY FISHERS @PINEBUSH 1pm-2:30pm. Learn about this feisty animal indoors, followed by a 1-mile walk into the Pine Bush looking for signs of it. $3pp or $5 per family.

2/11: GIL TAMARY, ISRAEL TALK Jewish Federation Joint Society event at Ohav Shalom. Gil is Washington DC bureau chief for Israel's Channel 10 News.

2/11: LAKE GEORGE WINTER FEST Programs and events all Sundays in February. See www.LakeGeorgeWinterCarnival.com for each weekend’s details and schedule.

2/19: FREE DAY AT ALBANY INST. Albany Institute of History & Art is admission free on Presidents Day.

2/28: UALBANY SHABBAT 360

3/10: PIZZA NIGHT AT MHDS Is this the last Sat Night Pizza Night of the season?

Be sure to come out and enjoy eat-in or take-out and support our High School’s extra-curricular programming while you are at it!

Now in its 3rd year, this mega Shabbat dinner will be in the Campus Center Ballroom, is sponsored by all the Jewish UAlbany organizations, and is open to all area college students. Use this form for tshirt signup: tinyurl.com/ualbanyShabbat360tshirt

2/26: MISHMAR ON MONDAY 3:30-4:15 for boys and girls grades 2+. Suggested $2 per child for supplies. Younger childcare $2 per.

LOCAL KOSHER DINING Back from break & can use the communal support!

UAlbany’s Kosher Kitchen in the Indian Quad (not Dutch anymore!) Dining Hall is open for lunch and dinner and is under Vaad Supervision. Visitor parking is located just outside Indian Quad (which is the southeastern of the four towers, the closest one towards the Jewish community area). Call 518442-2668 for info, menu and cost.

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!”