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Friday, December 18, 2009
1 Tevet (Rosh Hodesh) 5770
Erev Chanukah – Eighth Night of Chanukah. Chag Sameach!
Shabbat Miketz
Candle lighting on Friday, 4:15 PM.
Havdallah on Shabbat, 5:02 PM
Tues. Dec. 22 3rd Grade Torah Play - Encore Performance.
9:35 AM. All grades. Parents and guests warmly
welcome.
Dec. 23 Last Day of School
Dec. 24 – Jan 3 WINTER BREAK – NO SCHOOL
Mon. Jan. 4 CLASSES RESUME
Blue and White Week Kick-Off
Wed. Jan 6 Picture Retake Day
Fri. Jan. 8 Kabbalat Shabbat with special guests Rabbi Buechler
and Cantor Bear, Dix Hills Jewish Center. 8:15 AM,
parents always welcome.
Sun. Jan. 10 Blue and White Week “Schechter Cup Finals”
Culminating Event @ the Glen Cove Campus, 3:00
PM – 5:00 PM. Gan through 8th grade.
Mon. Jan. 11 Tolerance Week Kick-Off
Wed. Jan. 13 PA Sponsored Parenting Workshop – Led by Dr.
Susan Bartell (Please note the change of date.)
Fri. Jan. 15 Kabbalat Shabbat with special guest Cantor Carol
Chesler, Huntington Jewish Center. 8:15 AM, parents
welcome.
Mon. Jan. 18 Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday – NO SCHOOL
Wed. Jan. 20 PA Sponsored Israeli Folk Dancing
Thurs. Jan 21 Principal’s Breakfast. 8:30 AM. RSVP to
kniebling@ssdsnassau.org.
Fri. Jan. 22 Kabbalat Shabbat with special guests Rabbi
Huberman and Cantor Gitlin, Tifereth Israel of Glen
Cove.
Fri. Jan. 29 2nd Grade Tu B’Shvat Play
School Cancellation Procedures in Case of SNOW – Please find attached the snow closing letter outlining the Solomon Schechter School closing procedures. Thank you in advance for taking the time to go over these procedures. Click HERE for information.
Ramah Campership Incentive Money Available to Day School Children - for a limited time only. Through a joint program of National Ramah (entitled RISHON) together with the Foundation for Jewish Camp, Camp Ramah Berkshires can offer $1,000 incentive grants for DAY SCHOOL STUDENTS, WHO WERE PREVIOUSLY INELIGIBLE. How do families access the money? Contact Rabbi Amy Roth, Assistant Director of Camp Ramah Berkshires (aroth@ramahberkshires.org 201-871-7262). See flyer below.
SSDS Teachers team up with FEGS – The teachers in the elementary school recently teamed up with FEGS to offer support to a local family in need during the holiday season. Organized by Mrs. Teri Fields, our elementary school art teacher, the teachers collected $275 and purchased outer wear and a full toiletry set for each member of the family.
A Million Thanks to the PA for Making Chanukah So Special! - the elementary school was hopping all week, thanks to the generosity, kindness, and hard work of the Parents Association. Todah Rabbah to Debbie Gubin, for shopping for and packing the Gelt-and-Draydel Bags. Todah Rabbah to Leslie Browne and Jessica Braginsky for organizing the Ventriloquist Show, “Maccabee Mishegoss.” Todah Rabbah to Debbie Gubin and Francine Young for purchasing and distributing the delicious Sufganiyot. Todah Rabbah to the many parents who helped to organize and serve the Teacher Appreciation Luncheon and to those who organized the roller skating party. Todah Rabbah to Dalia Lisker and her team of volunteers for organizing the Chanukah Boutique. And organizing it all, a huge thanks to the PA co-presidents, Jan Rogers and Beth Kohler, and the entire PA board. What an amazing team, and they all made Chanukah so much fun!
Read-a-Thon – If you have not already done so, please send in your child’s reading log and donations by Monday morning, Dec. 21st. If the children collectively met the reading challenge, there will be a random drawing on Monday morning, and one lucky child will win 2 tickets to the Circus.
_____________________________
Happy Birthday, A.J.
Love, Mom, Dad, Brooke, Alex and Adam
Dear Parents and Friends of the Solomon Schechter Elementary School,
As you can see from the million thanks to the Parent Association listed above, this has been a joyous week at Schechter, as the children have celebrated Chanukah, by day and by night. Admittedly, many of the children have been a bit more tired than usual, with all the special celebrations disrupting their usual bedtimes, but that is in part what holidays and celebrations are all about.
I think that for many of us who have made the choice to send our children to a Jewish day school, Chanukah is somewhere near the core of our decision. For those of us who attended public school, sustaining Jewish identity was challenged each year by the overwhelming emphasis on Christmas in our schools and in the society that we live in. For children who attend Jewish day school, it is just different. How can I describe it? There is no feeling of competing cultures, no sense of “Christmas envy” that I definitely remember from my childhood. The children in our school are simply immersed in Jewish culture. For example, all week long, we began the day with a school-wide “Shira B’Tzibur,” or “Chanukah sing-a-long” featuring different Chanukah songs led by different classes each day. On Tuesday, we also enjoyed a wonderful school-wide assembly featuring “Maccabee Mishegoss,” a ventriloquist show with the very talented Jonathan Geffner. The parent association gave out delicious treats and draydels, and served the teachers a beautiful luncheon. It was truly a week of Chanukah immersion, while of course, regular academic learning continued to hum along. There is no “December Dilemma” at Schechter.
When we return from the winter vacation in early January, we will be immediately kicking off a new event in our school…the first annual “Blue and White Week.” All of the students in kindergarten through 8th grade will be divided into two teams, the blue team and the white team, and throughout the week of January 4-10, students will be accumulating points for their team. There will be athletic challenges and academic challenges sprinkled throughout the week, both in Physical Education and in regular classes. This event will be taking place at both the Jericho and Glen Cove campuses, and coordinated by the athletics directors at both schools. Coach Brent, the director of athletics for the elementary school, and Coach Inguagiato, athletics director for the middle school, will be communicating daily, giving updates to students at both campuses.
The culminating event will be the “Blue and White Week - Schechter Cup Finals” on Sunday, January 10th at the Glen Cove campus, from 3:00 to 5:00 PM. There will be games and competitions, both academic and athletic, for all students and their parents from grades K-8, with lots of help from the Solomon Schechter High School students in organizing the day. There will be snacks and raffles and a silent auction of sport memorabilia. This festive culmination of Blue and White Week is a family event and will be such a nice way to come together as a whole school community.
Though the winter vacation has not yet begun, we are already looking forward to getting everyone together for Blue and White Week!
The last day of school before the break is Wednesday, December 23rd. There will be no “Friday Letter” for the next two weeks. For those who will be travelling over the Winter Vacation, have a safe journey, “nesiya tova,” and come back safe and sound.
Remember to light the Chanukah candles first, then the Shabbat candles tonight.
Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom,
Dr. Cindy Dolgin
Elementary School Principal
Dvar Torah
Parashat Miketz
In this torah portion we read about another story of dreams and the subsequent interpretation of them [Genesis 41: 25-36]. When reading the portion this week, one might wonder why does Pharaoh listen to Joseph’s dream interpretation and not those of the Egyptians?
While we do not have any words in the text to tell us what the Egyptian magicians were thinking or saying, we do have Joseph’s words. The JPS commentary, citing the commentator Shadal, offers one answer. Joseph touched Pharaoh’s heart and Joseph’s words rang true. Joseph speaks of years and of a broad program to sustain Egypt over even the most difficult of times. One can only imagine that the Egyptian magicians spoke only about the present and perhaps the immediate future. Joseph, in his brilliance, gives Pharaoh a new way of looking at the dreams. It is clear this resonates with Pharaoh as our text teaches us [41:37] “the plan pleased Pharaoh and all his courtiers.”
The early 16th century Italian commentator Sforno, interpreting the same verse, adds the following: The thing (interpretation of the dream) was pleasing; and what was this? “Aytzat Yosef U’deracheha” Joseph’s advice and its ways (vision). The root of the word deracheha means way/direction (derech). In other words, Joseph gave Pharaoh not only a specific interpretation, but also a vision, a direction to take. By agreeing with Joseph, Pharaoh was conveying a message that Joseph was a true leader because he had a vision and a plan for how to act on it. This isn’t to suggest that the details are not important, or to suggest that the Torah means to tell us that Joseph had everything worked out in advance. I believe the message here is that details have to flow from a carefully crafted message; from a clear mission and vision that has been articulated to the people and specifically to the leadership, in this case to Pharaoh and his advisors. Joseph recognized this and enunciated a vision for all of Egypt.
Our challenge is to keep the long-range vision in mind. In doing so, we can find a balance between details and totalities; between what has to be done right now and what we would like to accomplish in the future. If we don’t, we will be overwhelmed by the day-to-day details which can immobilize us.
Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi Moshe
PDF files
Chesed Corner
Ramah Campership Incentive
SSDS Art Auction
Tuition Raffle
