Friday Letter
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Friday Letter Alerts
May 30, 2008
25 Iyar 5768
Candle Lighting 7:55 pm
Havdalah 9:12 pm
Parashat Bamidbar
Dear Schechter Parents and Guardians,
With the Learning to Look Program’s Met field trips behind us and with the fifth grade New York City field trips past, this week focused on the fourth grade’s field trip to Camp Ramah! What a delightful time was had by all. The weather basically cooperated. Students made new friends with other students from the Solomon Schechter Day Schools of Bergen, Malboro, and Manhattan. Students participated in all types of sports, including rock climbing, boating, hiking and playing kickball. They had Israeli dance, sang Hebrew songs and prayers, engaged in dramatic play and scurried around during an Israel related scavenger hunt. All came back tired, but more importantly all came back happy as they took a positive life time school memory with them from the campgrounds.
Worthy of Mention
Sunday, June 1st, our school is looking forward to celebrating the Salute to Israel Parade. The SSDS Step-Off Location is East 54th Street (between Fifth and Madison Avenues). Departure time from the Jericho Campus is at 11:30 am. The Assembly time is at 1:30 pm with a projected Step-Off Time of 2:00 pm. For further information please call Ms. Lisa Hadar at 516-606-9022 or Rabbi Moshe Schwartz at 516-656-5500 ext.150.
Wednesday, June 4th our third grade students and families will be sharing in their Family Program. It will begin at 7 pm and be an interactive endeavor. There should be a DJ and a special instructor or two who will help us move to new musical heights!
Hooray! The long awaited taping of the God Squad which was done in February will be aired on Monday, June 9th at 8:00 am on Channel 55 (Channel 10 on Long Island) and at 8:00 pm on Channel 29. The show will be repeated on Tuesday, June 10th at 1:00 pm on Channel 29. Be sure to tune in to see and hear the God Squad’s responses to our students’ thoughtful questions.
Congratulations to Hannah and Sarah Baumgarten for donating their hair to Locks of Love!
Todah Rabbah
A “todah rabbah” is extended to Ms. Jessica Braginsky and Ms. Leslie Browne for coordinating the Second Grade Family Evening Program. Once again these ladies provided an entertaining and educational evening for parents and their children. Please know that the materials used at these events come from the PA budget. Do join even at this late date if you have not done so already and make the commitment to join again next year.
Also, please check out the attached flyer. It is an invitation to attend a dinner honoring Beth Lerman. Ms. Lerman has been one of the co-chairs of the PA for the last two years. Of course, our thanks extend to Ms. Dalia Lisker as well. Both ladies have given tirelessly for our children. We thank them for their constant help.
A “toddah rabbah” is extended to Ms. Zarnighian, Sarina and Bianca Zarnighian's mother, for speaking with the fifth grade students on Wednesday, May 28th. Students heard about Ms. Zarnighian's challenging experiences in leaving Iran. They gained greater appreciation of daily freedoms that exist within their own lives and saw, again, the importance of sustaining our Jewish heritage.
Thursday, May 29th our fifth grade students continued to learn a great deal about our Jewish history. Arianna and Eve Marks’ grandmother, Ms. Polosky, and Alexander and Ben Taub’s, mother, Ms. Genia Taub spoke of their experiences with the Holocaust. Ms. Polosky shared recollections of being held captive during the Holocaust. Ms. Taub, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, offered her perspective and memories of her mother who lived through these tragic times. The speakers quietly and movingly told our students how one survived. Students, touched by hearing these oral accounts, became further rooted to their own Jewish history.
Shabbat Shalom and kol tuv,
Meisha Leibson
Parashat Bamidbar
By Rabbi Moshe Schwartz, Director of Jewish Life
A quick overview of the Book of Numbers provides us with ample evidence of negative and troublesome experiences for the Israelies, specifically Moses and Aaron.
The negative report of the spies; the generation of Israelites who left Egypt and are condemned to die in the desert; the rebellion led by Korach; the protest by the Levites against Aaron as they were upset with their share in the tribal division of responsibility, land and fortune; Moses striking the rock;
And since I am keeping this short, I didn’t even mention Balak and Bilaam.
In general, we see a sentiment amongst the Israelites that things were better off in Egypt.
As we begin reading the fourth book of the Torah, one could make the case that everything in the desert is falling apart and that we have had a complete 180 from the triumphant Song at the Sea just a few months ago. Therefore, we might be tempted to wax nostalgic about the good ‘ol days or to reminisce about “those Canaan days, we used to know, where have they gone, where did they go?” [Andrew Lloyd Webber from Joseph]
Yet, amidst all the trials and tribulation, there emerges at least one very positive outcome from this entire “Midbar experience” [i.e. the ~40 years wandering the desert].
The Israelites become a stronger nation. They emerge as a unique people with a shared commitment toward entering the Promised Land and working toward fulfilling God’s promise. In essence, they find and preserve community.
This week, I marked my first year as a Rabbi and I reflected a bit [admittedly momentarily, late at night, since it is a most hectic week!] on my first full-year in the Rabbinate and at Schechter. As I graduated the Jewish Theological Seminary, there was a part of me that longed for a return to the classroom. Last spring, it was easy to feel a bit uneasy because I knew what I was leaving behind. I was comfortable in my environment and enjoyed my daily routine. I also recognized that the early years of my rabbinate (and likely my entire career) would be filled with many challenges and wide-ranging obstacles, both personal and professional. At times, I wondered if Aviva and I could even afford to move to Long Island, about the many challenges of new homeownership and whether our son, Elie, would enjoy day care. There were moments when I doubted if my five full-time years of study (not to mention all that money!) was truly enough to hone my skills and knowledge to prepare me to educate others. These thoughts were overwhelming and overshadowed my first months in the rabbinate.
Just as the Israelites wandered for many years and faced many challenges in the desert, I believe that each of us must travel through our own midbar at least once, if not, many times during our life. It is precisely this struggle for survival and the overcoming of challenges along the journey that provides the sustenance and the strength to move forward and reach our own Promised Land. It is my belief that such sustenance (and I use this term broadly) is most easily attained directly from the communities that we create and that we are a part of. We find it in our colleagues, in the partnerships we form with our lay and professional leadership and in those with whom we interact daily. I have been truly blessed to find such meaning and growth from our students and from the greater Schechter community.
I hope and pray that each of us has the ability to recognize the challenges before us and to use the ultimate success of our ancestors in the desert as motivation and guidance to ultimately lead each of us to our own Promised Land.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Moshe
Rabbi Moshe Schwartz
Director of Jewish Life and SREL Rabbinic Fellow
Solomon Schechter Day School of Nassau County
Solomon Schechter High School of Long Island
(W) 516-656-5500 x150
(C) 917-587-2269
www.ssdsnassau.org
Celebrating 40 Years of Educational Excellence
PDF files
Chesed Corner
5th Grade Food Drive
God Squad TV Presentation
2008 Calendar Ad and Form
PA Thank You
