SIHA Weekly for April 9, 2021

by admin | Apr 9, 2021 | Newsletter

Dvar Torah

Parashat Shmini
The Dr. turned to one patient and his family and said “Eat whatever you like. No diet restrictions”!
The Dr. then turned to the other patient and told him and his family “follow a very strict diet! Do not eat …”

Parashat Shmini delineates the list of which animals, fish, and birds we, as Jews may eat and which animals , birds and fish we may not eat.
When describing the animals the Torah states Zot Hachaya, literally meaning “this is the live one” . In Hebrew the word Chaya often means “wild animal”. Rashi explains that this term here is not referring to a wild animal, but to us, the Jews! The Torah is telling us that we are Chaya, a living one. Since we the Jews are destined to live a true life of Torah in this world and to merit an eternal life in Olam Haba the world to come. It is imperative that we eat “healthy foods” – kosher food. This will keep us properly sustained in this world and help us merit the world to come. The Midrash explains this with a parable;
A Dr. came into a hospital room where there were two sickly patients, laying there surrounded by family members. The Dr. examined the first patient and told the family “he may eat whatever he wants. No restrictions at all”. The Dr. then went to the other side of the room to where the second patient lay in his bed. After examining him, the Dr. told his family “it is very important for him to follow a strict diet! None of this or that may be eaten!”.
The family of the second patient became very alarmed and nervously asked “why the strict diet for our relative and for the other fellow, no restrictions at all?”
The Dr. looked at them very seriously and explained “the other patient is not going to live anyway. He may as well eat whatever he wants, but your relative is going to live, he therefore needs to be careful and follow the strict diet”.
The other nations were offered the Torah, but rejected it. We Jews accepted it! We are destined to “live”, therefore we must follow the diet and eat only kosher. It is not a punishment, but a remedy for life, in this world and the next.

One day, when we were learning the laws of what a Jew is expected/obligated to do every morning upon waking up; saying “modeh ani” washing 3 times with a cup on each hand, [boys] put on Tzitzit and a Kipah etc. a wonderful student A.L. commented “we have so many restrictions”. After Learning the above lesson we can see that there is a very good reason. The Torah says about us Jews that we are “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” . We are the King of all kings’ children. We are princes and princesses. Princes and princesses don’t go to a public school and study with the populace. They have private tutors who teach them. They are trained in acting royally. They are trained how to dress and how to eat. They are taught about their royal blood and heritage.
It is the same with us Jews. We can say/complain that we have “so many restrictions”, or we can realize that it is because we are G-d’s people, His chosen nation destined to live. As such, we must act, dress and eat differently than the rest of the populace.
After Hashem takes us out of Mitzrayim, from 86 years of being the victims of barbaric torture, murder and slavery, we are commanded to keep His Mitzvot. Hashem says “it was worth it to take you out and do all the miracles even if you just keep kosher!
Let’s try.
Shabbat Shalom

Special Announcement

Happy Birthday to Alivia Clift in 3rd Grade, Sarit Iunger in 2nd Grave, and Gabriella Fishman in 6th grade!

A message from Gabby’s Classmates:

Happy birthday Gabby!
You are the bestest friend! You are very kind and generous.
— from Madi, Eva and Mia

Students took advantage of the nice weather:

Parsha outside with ‘Morah Rebecca’

Congratulations to THIRD grade upon winning the Adar contest, the winners smiled at their friends and families and did many acts of kindness. Third grade received very cute smiley bracelets .

Thursday April 8, is “Yom Hashoah”.
In SIHA, every class learned a little about the life of a young child who was ruthlessly murdered by the Nazis and other Jew haters.
Each class took upon themselves to do Mitzvot in the Zchut/merit of the murdered Jewish child. We, our bodies, are not eternal, but our souls are. We are given a body and a life in this world to perform Mitzvot and serve Hashem, thereby “feeding” our souls with everlasting sustenance. The lives of these young Jews were snuffed out by Nazis and other Jew haters, thereby “starving” their souls of everlasting sustenance.
We hope that with the gifts, the merits that the students have done and will do for these children, that they will feel satiated in the Olam Ha’emet, in heaven.
Rabbi Kuritsky

Programming News

Dear parents.
I hope you are all doing well and had a beautiful Pesach holiday.
We had a wonderful (short) week, thank G-d!
Upcoming Contest:
As we count the Omer, we are working to do an act of kindness a day (or more!)
The students will receive their charts on Tuesday. Please encourage this at home as well.
Thank you very much!
Best regards,
Miss Dershowitz

Dear Parents,

April 8th is Yom Hashoa, The Holocaust Remembrance Day. On this very sad day we remember more than six million Jewish lives that were taken from us by Nazi Germany under Hitler. People were taken from their homes which they thought were a safe place. People’s families were torn apart and many people never saw their family members after World War II was over .

Today Miss. Weitzner and Miss. Dershowitz gave each class a poster board for one child who was tragically murdered in the holocaust. The teachers read their class a summary of the child’s life and how they were arrested and sent to the nazi camps. Because these children can not do any mitzvot now that they are not alive, the students will be putting a sticker on their poster board when they do a mitzvah ( a good deed ) in remembrance of this child.

Ms. Weitzner / Ms. Dershowitz

Judaics

Kindergarten and First Grade
We had such a great week this week in Kindergarten and First Grade Judaics! It was so great to be back in school and see all our delicious, smiling friends!

This week in Kindergarten we finished learning the Aleph Bet by learning the letters Taf and Saf! We had a special ice cream party to celbrate! Morah is so proud of how hard all the children are working to know their aleph bet!

This week in First Grade we began reading Tehillim! We know that Tehillim (Psalms) are special prayers we can say whenever we want. Each word is like an arrow going straight up to Hashem, bring our prayers to Him. To celebrate we had a surprise ice cream party! We are so proud!!

This week we learnt about Sefira. Sefira is the time period from the second day of Pesach until Shavuot. Just like someone who is waiting for something to happen counts how many days until the special event, like a birthday; we count 49 days from Pesach until we got the biggest, bestest, most amazing present ever! The Torah! On Shavuot!!. We learnt how during this time we especially work on being kind to others. The children had great examples of how we can be kind to others. We are looking forward to starting our Honorable Mentschen, good Middot (character traits) program next week!

This week we also began a new Gedolim unit. We learnt how the Gedolim are big tzaddikim who learn so much Torah and do lots of mitzvot. We can learn so much from the Gedolim and we hope one day to be like them too. This week we learnt about Rav Aharon Kotler, and heard many stories about this great tzaddik.

Second Grade

We had a busy week zooming away in 2nd grade. The children are working hard at preparing their Haggadahs and enjoyed watching some clips of Passover songs and stories.  They can’t wait to ask you the Ma Nishtana (4 Questions G-d willing next week at your family Seder. Shabbat Shalom

Third Grade
It was so nice to come back to school and see all the students after such a long break. I would like to welcome Joshua Applebaum to our class.
we learned so much this short week. Starting with the new Shorashim curriculum and this week’s Parsha Shemini which teaches us about all the different types of Kosher animals.

Shabbat Shalom
Mrs Ivry
Fourth Grade

5th and 6th Girls
Dear parents.
Thank G-d, we had a wonderful short week in Judaics.
I’m so proud of all the girls who kept the Pesach contest, keeping many Mitzvot of Pesach and cleaning their room and backpacks for Pesach.
We will be celebrating with slurpee fun to reward all those who kept the contest???
We began learning the Shemoneh Esrei prayer in depth. We went on a trip around the school, imagining how we were getting closer to the throne room, where we had a private audience with the king. Throughout our Davening, it is the most amazing opportunity to talk to the king of all kings, Hashem. When we get up to Shemoneh Esrei, we are having a private audience with Him in His throne room. What a special opportunity, let’s use it out! We started learning the first blessing of Shemoneh Esrei in depth.
We learned about this week’s Parsha, Parshat Shemini which talks about the Mishkan (Temporary house of G-d in this world where the Jews served Him in the desert.) and which animals are kosher, etc.
We learned in Pirkei Avot about what it means to be a good friend to others, as well as understanding that every person has their own unique good qualities and deficiencies. We want to be truly kind people who are wonderful to be around. We are all going to work toward that goal throughout the rest of the year in Pirkei Avot.
Happy Bat Mitzvah to Gabi Fishman!
We had a beautiful Bat Mitzvah party in school to celebrate.
We began learning all about what it means to be a Jewish Woman – a Bat Mitzvah.
Have a wonderful Shabbat and an enjoyable relaxing weekend!
Best regards,
Miss Dershowitz

5th and 6th Boys
Welcome Back!
Despite having a short week, we dived right into the laws and Ideas of the Omer, as well as beginning the Book of Ruth in preparation for Shavuot.
We also discussed Yom Hashoa, and how every single human being can make an positive impact on society.
Looking forward to next Week.
Shabbat Shalom!

7th and 8th Girls

As reported by Ariella Shindelman and Eliana Volfson:

This week was the first week back from Pesach break! Mora Tobah made it very fun for us to return to our studies. We learned about the signs that Hashem gave Moshe to take the Jews out of Mitzrayim.
We had an ‘open mic’ class in which Rachel talked about how Torah is not a history book. We also played 7up, which was a lot of fun, and on Friday we had a Shabbat party!
Morah Toba brought in caramel popcorn and BBQ chips.

The 7th and 8th girls are very grateful to Morah Toba for teaching them and making Judaics as fun as possible!

7th and 8th Boys

This week we began with laws of Sfirat Ha’omer .We discussed this “fairly easy” Mitzva to count the 49 days , daily from the 2nd night of Pesach until the night prior to Shavuot.
We did something really weird , The Rabbi/Judaics study teacher asked the boys/the students to choose the curriculum.
Shai asked to learn about the “giants” that fell from heaven in the time of Noach.
Amiel asked to learn about the laws of “a husband dying and his widow remarrying”.
Noah asked to learn “stories about the Parashah”
Michael asked to learn the “Aleph Bet”.
Rabbi Kuritsky is working on “making everyone happy”.
We began intricate laws on what body parts are necessary to identify the deceased husband. How much time may elapse after death. Are specific marks on the body sufficient. Is clothing sufficient evidence.
We also discussed a real “live” story of Rabbi Bauman who jumped into the Atlantic ocean to save one of his students. He was successful in saving his student but then went missing, only to have his body found floating five days later.
Was/is his wife permitted to remarry?

Elementary School

Kindergarten
This week kindergarten had a lot of fun learning how to read long vowel words with Bossy E at the end of the word. They continued to work on their writing skills and wrote about how to give a pig a bath and what they see outside in the spring. They loved reading this week’s story which was about a dinosaur named Flip. They also practiced spelling blends with the letter l. In math they continued to learn about 3D shapes. They experimented with 3D shapes to learn if they can stack, slide, or roll and they played a scavenger hunt game to find the different shapes. They also learned how to add within 20 by counting on. In science they sorted pictures of objects based on if they are living or nonliving. They also made a book about the 4 things all animals need to survive. In social studies they finished their unit on community helpers by learning to sing and dance to a fun song about what community helper they can be when they grow up.
First Grade
Our first graders had a very interesting week. In reading they made inferences about two friends. They did research to help compare butterflies and bees. Students also continue to add and subtract two-digit numbers in Math.

In Science we made observations about the sky. We discovered that we can see stars, moon, planets, and comets in the night sky. However, the sun is the only bright star we can see during the day. Students also enjoyed experimenting with light to see how the sky changes as the earth rotates!

Second Grade
The second graders has had a busy week! In ELA, the second grade has been working on analogies and cause and effect. They have also been hard at work drafting their first paragraph of a research report. In math, the second graders have been learning about different ways to represent data. They’ve been creating pictographs, bar graphs, and line plots. In social studies, the students have been learning all about the 13 colonies and why the colonists declared independence from Britain. On Wednesday, April 7th, we celebrated Sarit Iunger’s 8th birthday. Happy birthday Sarit!

In Science, second graders were so excited to present their project on the Solar System.
Discussions about planets during science class were surprising.
More projects are going to be presented in the following week.

This week grade three came back from the break ready to learn from day one. To refresh our memories after the holidays, we spent most of the week reviewing our past topics. During our Grammar lessons, we used our new spelling words to create and analyze complete sentences. Students dissected each sentence into different parts of speech such as nouns, adjectives, and verbs of all sorts. They also found the prepositions, conjunctions, the simple and complete subjects and predicates too. During our Reading lessons we continued to learn about how authors set the mood or atmosphere within a piece of writing. We also began reading our new class novel, James and the Giant Peach, which allowed students to see first hand the use of imagery, vivid words, and setting as means to set the mood. During our Social Studies lessons, we reviewed what we had learned about the Aztecs thus far and students took a quiz with the concentration on the development and fall of their great Tenochtitlan City. During the Computer lesson, students reviewed the format and elements of an e-mail. In Math, we reviewed topics like solving multiple step word problems with multiplication and division, locating the area and and the perimeter of shapes, and reading and labeling the analog clock. In Russian class, students were introduced to vocabulary using the letter З, while also reviewing our past vocabulary.

This week we also had the pleasure of welcoming a new student. Joshua has joined our class and we were all very impressed with his ability to speak both Russian and Hebrew, as well as with how he has been able to participate so well in our class activities.

In science, students learned the causes of fast changes on Earth’s surface; how a volcano is formed and the causes of a volcano. Facts and researches on natural disasters and damages that they caused were assigned to the students.

Miss Sasha

In science, students learned and understood the role of the Sun’s energy on Earth. Discuss the role of the Sun’s gravity in the solar system. Students described and compared the planets in our Solar System.

4B
4B had a busy week! With 7 children in person and 6 on zoom, it was a very interesting classroom dynamic. In ELA we reviewed our grammar unit on adjectives, in preparation for a test next week. In math we continued to learn about decimals. We learned how to change decimals into fractions, and vice versa. We also learned how to add and subtract decimals, and round them. When we weren’t learning, we were taking advantage of the beautiful weather and new playground!

In science, the students gave a “Be a Meteorologist” presentation: Students were able to present their weather map using the data they collected.

Fifth Grade

In ELA we practiced making subject pronouns and verbs agree with each other. We practiced identifying compound subject pronouns and compound object pronouns as well.
In writing, we practiced identifying the structure of poems and plays and how the structure of a poem/drama affects our understanding of it.
We also continued to read our class novel, Moon Over Manifest.

In social studies we learned about the Toltec civilization of Mesoamerica and we began learning about the Inca.

In science students learned the importance of physical properties ; they understood the ways to measure the volume and density of an object.

Middle School

Middle School ELA and Social Studies

6th Grade

Sixth graders were very excited to be back in school and with their friends!
In ELA, we started reading a new novel: Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli. This novel is set during the time of the Holocaust, and students showed great curiosity about the novel’s protagonist and setting. In grammar, we learned about present and past participles, and in writing, we practiced writing about point of view.
This week, we had the pleasure of meeting Naomi, virtually! All the 6th graders are very excited about their new classmate. Welcome!

In social studies we finished off our Ancient China unit by making paper. The 6th graders had a blast!
We also began learning about ancient Greece. The class seems very interested in ancient Greece as a whole and I look forward to our journey through this ancient civilization.

7th Grade
This week was all about the upcoming state test! We reviewed how to annotate for fiction and nonfiction, and practiced on multiple choice texts of great variety. We also wrapped up our novel study of Farewell to Manzanar by writing an editorial. Mrs. Hazen would like to commend Noah on his hard work!
In Social Studies, we learned about the Industrial Revolution in America. Students had a great time playing an interactive game in which they learned about the changes in working life during the 19th century.

8th Grade
This was a busy week for the 8th grade! Students came back from the break ready to go, and started working on their speeches! We read and analyzed famous speeches, such as Elie Weisel’s ‘Perils of Indifference’ and JFK’s Inaugural address. Students also outlined their speech, and are ready to practice this coming week.
8th graders also finished their novel study of the Outsiders with an art project. Everyone did an amazing job, but Mrs. Hazen would like to commend Taylor on all her hard work!

In Social Studies, we started learning about the Great Depression. We covered the causes and events that started everything, and read primary source material from the era. Mrs. Hazen would like to commend Yehuda for being amazing during class discussion!

Middle School Math

8th honors finished chapter 6 and reviewed concepts in chapters 3 to 5.
8th reviewed graphing and previous topics taught earlier.
7th honors reviewed graphing and slope while preparing for the state test exam.
7th reviewed concepts for the state test.
6th review percent and proportions.
5th grade reviewed operations with decimals.

Middle School Science

6th graders
This week 6th graders connect science and math calculating and comparing the density of different objects using math formulas.
Thank you Ms. O ?!

7th Grade

Over the next couple of weeks students will be learning how our body systems function to maintain homeostasis. Students just finished up the Immune System and they all did well on their test. This week we are discovering the benefits and necessity of our skin. Students will be able to distinguish between the epidermis and the dermis, identify the functions of the skin and the role it plays to protect us from various pathogens and environmental toxins.

8th Grade Students

8th Grade will be investigating how humans are complex organisms that maintain a narrow set of internal conditions through a system of feedback and communication mechanisms between multiple organ systems. In this unit, students will explore how body systems interact to effectively monitor and respond to both internal and external environmental changes. Students complete both Making Connections (a NY State required lab) and a human thermoregulation laboratory, both of which focus on skills of experimental design.

SIHA Newsletter: Special Passover Edition!

by admin | Mar 26, 2021 | Newsletter

Dvar Torah

As the holiday of Pesach is almost upon us, I think about how lucky we are to be in school together learning about our Freedom. The halls and zoom classrooms are filled with ideas and songs as our devoted Rebbeim and Morot prepare our talmidim for the upcoming Yom Tov.

In the Hagadah there are many times that we thank Hashem for all that He has done for us and continues to do to this day. The language of the Hagadah and the mitzva of bikurim (first fruits) is similar and intertwined. There is a medresh in Sefer Berashit that states that the world was created for 3 things: Bnei Israel, The Torah, and for the Bikurim. The obvious question is how can the mitzva of Bikurim be compared in importance to the entire nation of Israel and our Holy Torah?

The Commentary of the Alshich explains that the mitzva of Bikurim contains within it something that is fundamental to being a human being – the obligation for people to express their gratitude. Showing gratitude is so basic that the whole world was created just for this mitzva, which teaches us and trains us in the attribute of appreciation. Adam wouldn’t have been kicked out of Gan Eden (garden of Eden) if he didn’t complain about Chava. Someone who is ungrateful to the people around him eventually will be ungrateful to G-d.

I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to Hashem for allowing me this unbelievable opportunity of being involved in the holiest work imaginable, making a home away from home for our precious children. Especially grateful to Him for giving us the majority of the year of in-person instruction. There is nothing like learning and growing when we do it together, in person. I too would like to express my deep thanks to our tireless and dedicated administrators; Rabbi Kuritsky, Ilanit, Ety, Yana, Ms. Ortiz, Mrs. Adams, and Tara. To our talented teachers, your commitment and devotion to reach our goal in touching every pure and young soul is completely outstanding and awe inspiring. To our dear parents, our partners in this holy endeavor, working with you is a true privilege and pleasure!

So as we prepare for Pesach let us shower Hashem with praise and thankfulness for all the good He does for us all the time. For, no matter what the state of our life is, we are so indebted to the Creator of the World for life itself.
Chag Kosher V’Someach.
Dr. Chana Uzhansky
Chana Uzhansky Ed.D
Head of School
SIHA

Special Announcement!

Mazal Tov to Noah, Zachary, Sloane Garber and the entire Garber family upon the occasion of Noah’s Bar Mitzvah!

Abigail Azaraev (sister of Ethan) is the winner of a brand new חלה דעקעל aka Chalah cover. We had a school wide raffle for this beautiful Chalah cover. Of course it can be used to cover מצה Matzoh as well

Happy Birthdays!

Happy Birthday to:

• Asher Hecht – 6th Grade
• Mark Mihelson – 6th Grade
• Ari Levient – 1st Grade
• Tyler Nieves – 7th Grade
• Ethan Badalov – 4A
• Alivia Clift – 3rd Grade
• Benjamin Portman – 2nd Grade
• Max Schneider – Kindergarten

Programming News

Dear parents.
Wow, what an exciting week we had at Siha!
On Tuesday, we had a beautiful model seder in every classroom. We had a great time, going through the Pesach Seder and learning about what to do throughout the first 2 nights of Pesach (the Seder nights.)
Reminder:
Pesach Cleaning Contest – Due Thursday night!!
Every student received a Pesach cleaning checklist with the guidelines for how to clean their rooms for the Pesach holiday. Please email me a picture of your child’s checklist so they can receive a very exciting prize upon their return to school after Pesach break. Please send them to rdershowitz16@sihebrewacademy.com.
We hope you enjoy the Siha Pesach package. Thank you to our wonderful 7th and 8th grade girls, who assisted in putting them together??
Have a beautiful, happy and kosher holiday of Pesach!
Best regards,
Miss Dershowitz
Ms Esti

Judaics

Kindergarten and First Grade

We had a zooming week in Kindergarten and First Grade Judaics! This week we learnt about the different parts of the seder and hagaddah. We colored, jumped, and drew as we learnt about Pesach! We are getting really good at singing the mah nishtana and we even have motions! We are looking forward to being in school next week and making all our Pesach projects like an afikomen bag and pesach pillow for leaning! Shabbat Shalom!

Second Grade

It was wondeful being back to in person learning this week. We completed our Haggdahs and all enjoyed the model Seder on Tuesday. Shout out to Ben for hiding the afikomon and to Amit for finding it. Have a wonderful, happy Passover. Chag Kosher V’somaiach!

Morah Chaya

Fourth Grade

4A
Hope all of you will have a beautiful chag!
We learned so much about Pesach, and the children did a great job leaning and decorating their own Hagadda.
Chag Sameiach!

4th:
We had such a great Pesach- spirited half week. It was short, but so full. We enjoyed the hands- on seder, watching all the things that we’ve been discussing “come to life”. We know that the idea of discussing our redemption from Egypt is supposed to strengthen our trust muscle, it’s supposed to show us how Hashem can save us from just anything, with His “strong hand”. One student brought up a good point, she said that she’s sure He can get us out of Coved too! The Seder ends, we discussed, by us saying that next year we should merit celebrating Pesach in Jerusalem! Thank you for sharing your treasures with me. Have a wonderful Chag!
Morah Toba

5th and 6th Girls

Dear parents.
Wow, we had an amazing and exciting week learning all about Pesach!
We really enjoyed decorating and stuffing Seder pillows. Great job, girls?
We had a great time at our mock Pesach seder, learning all about what to do at our Pesach Seder at home. We didn’t get to sing Hallel or Nirtza, but we all know that at the end of the Pesach Seder, we sing Hallel, praise to Hashem for taking us out of our bondage in Egypt and for choosing us as His treasured nation. We also then pray that next year we should celebrate Pesach in Jerusalem!
We learned a beautiful song about how all the nations of the world tried to kill us throughout the ages, until today (anti-semitism.) In Egypt, the Purim story, the Greeks (Chanukah), the crusades, the holocaust (etc. etc.!) But Hashem promised that if we stay connected with the Torah, He will save us. Despite every odd, the Jewish nation is still alive, vast and vibrant! That is the miracle we talk about in the Haggadah at Vehi She’amdah.
Have a wonderful happy kosher Pesach! Enjoy your weekend!
Best regards,
Miss Dershowitz

7th and 8th Girls
7th/8th:
We had a wonderful half week, wrapping up our Hagada lessons and getting into the Pesach spirit. Our practice Seder was great fun and informative too. At the point where we had the Matzah, a thought provoking question was presented- why does Matzah symbolize freedom rather than a fancier kind of bread like a bouget or a sour dough loaf? Because in Judaism freedom means: free to serve Hashem and we left Egypt in order to receive the Torah! We spent the last few minutes together before Chag dancing to some great Pesach music. I will miss my amazing girls so much. Have a wonderful Chag!
Morah Toba

7th and 8th Boys

Schoolwide Raffle
Rabbi Kuritsky raffled off a beautiful Chalah cover in honor of Pesach. all were excited. The proud winner is Abigail Azaraev, in third grade [sister of Ethan, in 8th grade]

Great Question!
Tali [aka Sofia] Sandler presented Rabbi Kuritsky with a real important question about the upcoming Pesach. Usually on erev Pesach [day preceding Pesach] we stop eating and have our homes cleaned of all Chometz. This year Erev Pesach comes on Shabbat, when we are obligated to eat bread.
What shall we do?
Our homes are clean?
As Tali put it “if one crumb falls it is all over?!”
Great thinking Tali!
The answer is; 1 eat carefully on a table cloth and throw the crumbs outside. The Rabbi said we can rely on birds and insects to take care of the crumbs that are outside but in our property. 2 collect the crumbs and flush them down the t….

7th 8th grade boys
We discussed in detail, and wrote about each section of the Haggadah.
We discussed different Minhagim customs regarding Kiddush, i.e. standing or sitting when reciting Kiddush. Maror, Gary Shamay says his family eats onions. Rabbi Kuritsky’s family eats Romaine lettuce. Some use horseradish.
Each boy took home a beautiful “father and son” Haggadah with each boy’s name printed in Hebrew.

Model Seder
On Tuesday, we had a model Seder in school with all boys present [some watched on zoom, although we couldn’t share the food with them].
We had EVERYTHING that we needed for a real seder. We had wine [grape juice], real round hand made Matzo [provided by Rabbi Kuritsky, for the whole school] , Charoset, celery for karpas, horseradish for maror, chocolate leaves [kosher for Passover] for the meal Shulchan Orech], Afikomen [without bargaining for prizes.
The four questions
Questions asked during our model seder;
1 Can we drink the wine [grape juice]?
2 When can we eat the matzo?
3 When can we eat the celery dipped in salt water?
4 Can we have doubles of EVERYTHING
5 [yeah 5, why not?] Do we really have to eat the maror?
6 Can we drink a few more cups of wine [grape juice]
[disclaimer, not all questions were really asked, but they definitely were implied].
The boys were terrific. We had a great time.

Each boy is coming home with a “Pesach challenge”. Parents signature required . The challenge is to;clean properly, do the Pesach Mitzvot properly and to pray daily. Each Boy who brings back the chart, properly filled out and signed by a parent will be rewarded after Pesach vacation.

One of our favorite dogs who will decide whether something is חמץ or not

Boys practicing and praying beautifully. שי הצדיק Shai Koldin proudly wearing his ציצית Tzitzit.

Model Seder. Boys enjoying the first cup of wine (really grape juice) קדש right after שי ניסים קולג’ים Shai said קידוש Kiddush beautifully.

Boys enjoying the כורך sandwich of מצה ומרור the Matzoh and maror (dipped in חרוסת charoset)

Doron Eliyahu דורון אליהו Glickman saying קידוש Kiddush at our modelסדר Seder

SIHA Weekly for March 19, 2021

by admin | Mar 19, 2021 | Newsletter

Dvar Torah

Dvar Torah Parashat Vayikra
This week’s Parasha follows the building of the Mishkan with the details of the sacrifices that are to be brought to the Mishkan.There are many types of sacrifices;
Chatat if someone sinned inadvertently
Asham for certain sins
Olah for not fulfilling positive commandments
Sh’lamim [peace offerings] usually donated just for the sake of donating a sacrifice to G-d
Todah a sacrifice of thanks if someone crossed an ocean, got out of jail, was healed from a debilitating sickness, one who passed safely through a desert.
etc.
When the Torah introduces the idea of bringing a sacrifice, it begins with the sentence “Ish ki yakriv mikem” a man who will offer “from you”. Rashi comments that “from you” means that it can not be stolen.
The question is; what kind of a Mitzva would it be, any Mitzva, if it was stolen? What is the big news here that it can not be stolen?!
I heard from Rabbi Lopianski a Rosh Yeshiva in Silver Springs MAryland, a few years ago an answer with a real life parable. One time there was a wealthy diamond jeweler visiting Rabbi Lopianski from Belgium. In that duration, a young man also came and stopped by the Rabbi’s house for some guidance. They began chatting. The young man commented to the wealthy diamond jeweler “it is probably no big deal for you to make your wife happy. You just give her a piece of jewelry worth a few hundred or a few thousand dollars and she will be happy. The wealthy diamond dealer explained to the young man that that is not so at all. The wife wants to see that “you GAVE of YOURSELF”. For me a piece of jewelry worth a few hundred or even a few thousand dollars would not accomplish that at all! I would have to give her a piece of jewelry worth at least $50,000.00 to accomplish her seeing that I GAVE of MYSELF.
Explains Rabbi Lopianski, this is what the Torah is telling us about the sacrifice when it states that it can not be stolen. Perhaps the stolen [animal]m sacrifice is large meaty and fatty, but it will not accomplish the goal/purpose. The idea of a sacrifice is that G-d wants us to give of OURSELVES. If someone gives a stolen animal as a sacrifice he has given anything of himself.
Hashem does not NEED our Korban-our sacrifice. He wants us to recognize that what we have is from Him, and to “give back a little”-to show some appreciation. No matter how much or how little we think we have, we must show appreciation to Hashem and give of ourselves to Hashem. Whatever it may be, finances to charity, money to the poor or to a Torah institution, or visiting/helping the sick, we need to go a little out of our “comfort zone”. Let’s do a little for Him. He does so much for us.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Y.S. Kuritsky

Programming News!

Dear parents.
We all had a wonderful week learning all about the Pesach (Passover) Seder and the Haggadah, remotely. We definitely wish it could’ve been in class, but thankfully we can at least learn on Zoom!
Upcoming events:
We are looking forward to every class having their own exciting Mock Seder this Tuesday. Please try your best to send your child to in-school learning that day, so they can participate in this amazing and educational Pesach Seder program. White shirts are recommended for all students to further the festive Pesach Seder atmosphere.
The annual Pesach Cleaning Contest is coming up!!
Every student will receive a Pesach Cleaning Checklist on Monday with the guidelines for cleaning and removing all Chometz from their rooms. Any student who follows the cleaning guidelines and emails in a picture of her room, ready for the holiday of Passover, will receive a special prize.
You can send in your child’s picture to rdershowitz16@sihebrewacademy.com.
Have a wonderful Shabbat and an enjoyable weekend!
Best regards,
Miss Dershowitz
Ms Esti

Judaics

Kindergarten and First Grade

We had a zooming week in Kindergarten and First Grade Judaics! This week we learnt about the different parts of the seder and haggadah. We colored, jumped, and drew as we learnt about Pesach! We are getting really good at singing the mah nishtana and we even have motions! We are looking forward to being in school next week and making all our Pesach projects like an afikomen bag and pesach pillow for leaning! Shabbat Shalom!

Second Grade
We had a busy week zooming away in 2nd grade. The children are working hard at preparing their Haggadahs and enjoyed watching some clips of Passover songs and stories. They can’t wait to ask you the Ma Nishtana (4 Questions G-d willing next week at your family Seder. Shabbat Shalom

Third Grade

Third grade is ready to greet the special holiday of Pesach. This week they learned all the details of the Pesach seder. They completed their Haggadah and are ready to help lead a meaningful seder. The class especially recalls looking for and finding the Afikoman which is the unanimous favorite part of the seder! They also enjoy singing all the Pesach songs like the 15 steps of the seder, the ma nishtana, avadim ayinu and the 10 makkot.
Shabbat Shalom
Morah Chaya

Fourth Grade
4b
Thank you Hashem for an amazing virtual week! And thank you, dear parents, for your involvement in making it all happen! We are knee deep in preparing our minds and hearts for the two grand events that are coming up next week- the Pesach Sedarim. We know the first few steps of how to run the Seder and in detail. We know that the most vital aspects of the Seder is the speaking of our wondrous redemption of Egypt, with all that that involves. Of course, we are spending the most time in Maggid, which is the section of the Haggadah that discusses these events. We want to be just like the great group of Rabbis that are mentioned in the beginning of Maggid who were so engrossed in talk of our redemption all night, they were surprised to notice that it was already morning! We summarize each Hebrew paragraph, and our becoming pros at note- taking even though its being virtual presents a bigger challenge. Our daily prayers have been beautiful, special shout out to Ariana Guz and Josh Nikolayevskiy for following along so diligently!

Shabbat Shalom!

Morah Toba

4a
Wow this week was totally focused on the upcoming Chag of Pesach.
We learned and reviewed the 4 names of Pesach, the date of Pesach, what we can and what we can not eat.
We began working inside of our Hagadda. We learned the 6 things on the Seder Plate (Kaara) and the reason for them.
We started from Kaddeish and we got all the way through the 4 kinds of children in Maggid.
We learned two new hebrew words of עבדות and חרות. Morah acted out the meaning of an eved and then showed the opposite cheirus – freedom like kings, and Morah dressed up like that as well. ( to the best of what can be done on zoom…)
These two words are the theme of Ma Nishtana – we are doing such opposite things on Seder Night in some ways we act like slaves עבד (Eating Matzo and Marror) and in some ways we act like kings – freedom חרות (dipping two times and leaning…)
We explained the answer to Ma Nishtana is עבדים היינו . In one night we went from being slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt to becoming the Price Nation among all nations to ה’! Hashem made this miracle!
The children have beautiful stickers to decorate their Haggadahs with!
Round of applause to all the children who joined us on zoom everyday, on time, and the whole time!

Shabbat Shalom,
Morah Bistritz

5th and 6th Girls
Dear parents.
Thank G-d, we had a wonderful week, learning all about Pesach (Passover) remotely. We’ve learned lots of the Haggadah and we are continuing to learn more and more.
Cleaning and readying our homes for Pesach (Passover), the 4 cups, Matzah, the importance of talking about Yetziat Mitzrayim (The Jewish nation’s miraculous exodus from Egypt). We are really enjoying learning all about the holiday.
We all practiced the Ma Nishtana, which are the 4 questions we ask our father at the Seder, to which there is an answer in the Haggadah. We enjoyed taking turns being the child and the father, singing the Ma Nishtana and answering the 4 questions. Make sure to have your children sing you the Ma Nishtana at the Seder – they’ll do a great job!
Next week will be a very exciting pre-Pesach week. Please try your best to have your children with us in the classroom, so they do not miss out on the many enjoyable and educational Pesach activities, which they will be unable to participate in remotely.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Shabbat Shalom!
Best regards,
Miss Dershowitz

5th and 6th Boys
This week we zoomed high and low.
Through the Haggadah,The laws of Pesach,Through the first Mishna Of the 3rd Perek Of Sukkah.
The boys really learned well, despite the challenges.
Looking forward to resuming in person!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Levy

7th and 8th Girls
We had another wonderful week here, thank you Hashem. We are knee deep in preparing our minds and hearts for the two grand events that are coming up next week- the Pesach Sedarim. We refreshed our memories on how to go through the steps of the Seder (reciting Kiddush, washing our hands, dipping vegetables into salt water, etc.) Most of our energy is spent on really understanding the deep meanings and symbols of various quotes and words that are found in the Haggadah. We see that the Haggadah contains worlds and worlds of meaning, inspiration and guidance. In one of the paragraphs regarding Hashem’s giving us the Torah, we learnt, Hashem is referred to as “Hamakom” – “the place”. This comes to show that Hashem is “the place in which all other things exist”. There is no centimeter of the universe that does not contain Hashem’s presence. The goal, we know, of the Seder is to strengthen our “Bitachon/ trust” muscle! We do make sure to each take a moment each day to express a specific thing that we are thankful to Hashem for. This is always a great activity, but especially during Pesach season or “Bitachon muscle” season, as thanking Hashem is a sure way of acknowledging all that He gives us, and this builds trust. Thank you to all of you who made the trip to school to get your daughter’s Haggadah, you get some merits of our learning.

Shabbat Shalom!

Morah Toba

7th and 8th Boys
7th and 8th grade Boys Judaics
Wow, what a week!
In the beginning it was slow moving, but then it began to “zoom”!
We covered some Laws of Lashon Hara. Laws of B’rachot. We learned about the Seder of Pesach night. Rabbi Kuritsky printed an outline and we discussed each part of the Seder and boys took notes. Some boys were even prudent enough to email their progress back to me to show me their work. Gary Shamay even typed his answers!
We discussed the Parasha, as well.
We had a really involved discussion regarding the different Minhagim [customs] of all of our families regarding which vegetable we use for Karpas, and Maror.
Not only are the boys involved, but even their pets!
Pets? yes!
We learned that Chometz is only a problem if it is fitting to be eaten by a dog!
If the food is so stale/moldy/rotten/spoiled that even a dog will not eat it, it is not a problem of.Chometz.
We now have “Rabbi Chewy” , “Rabbi Kai” “Rabbi Milo” Rabbi Goldie” etc.[boy’s pets who will decide whether or not a food item is still forbidden on Pesach.

Rebbie “C” [Rabbi Cohen from Chicago, Rabbi Kuritsky’s friend], visits our classroom [on zoom].

Rabbi Yosef {Robert] Cohen, a Rebbie in the 8th grade in Chicago’s Arie Crown Hebrew Day School, joined our zoom class on Monday. He shared a story with us that recently happened to him while visiting Texas. As he was going through security in the airport, the “TSA” questioned him about his “strings” hanging out of his shirt . The TSA said “Tzitzit?!
Rabbi Cohen responded “yes”. Then Rebbie C asked if the TSA was Jewish.
He responded negatively.The TSA then commented “two in the front and two in the back” [meaning that, that is the correct way to wear Tzitzit]. Again Rebbie C asked “are you Jewish” [he seemed to know such intricate, yet basic, Halachot]? He again responded negatively.
The lesson of the story “we Jews are not living in a “bubble” . We are living in a fish bowl! Yes! The gentiles are always watching to see how we are acting. We always must behave as proper Jew.
Even more amazing is the coincidence [we know there are no coincidences. Hashem is running the world and “pulling the strings’ ‘] that the 7th and 8th grade boys’ class are in the midst of learning Hilchot Tzitzit and in the middle of a “Tzitzit Challenge”!
Rabbi Kuritsky came into Staten Island [from Lakewood N.J., even though we were on zoom] and went from house to house to drop off beautiful Haggadahs for the boys to learn from and use at the Pesach Seder. Each Haggadah has the Jewish name of each student printed on the cover.
We look forward to learning more about the Seder in person, this coming week and enjoying a “model Seder”.

Elementary School

Kindergarten
This week kindergarten learned all about how to write a How-To. They wrote how to make pizza and donuts. They listened to nonfiction and fiction stories with examples of a How-To. They also played games to practice their sight words. In math they learned all about 3D shapes. They went on scavenger hunts, played games, and watched videos all about 3D shapes. They also reviewed addition and subtraction. In science they learned all about living and nonliving things. They discovered that all living things must do specific things in order to be classified as living. In social studies they reviewed what a community is, the types of places in their community, and they discussed the different types of community helpers.

First Grade
Our first graders were dynamic during our Distance Learning week. We completed our observation of water evaporation. We learned about adding and subtracting two-digit numbers. We read a story about a seal pup being rescued, and put all of the events in order. However, the highlight of the week was the making of students’ timelines. The first graders learned about the past, present, and future. They even created timelines about themselves! While the drawings are quite cute, I think we all agree that these students have bright futures ahead of them.

Third Grade
This week Grade 3 students finished their class novel. They are all excited to begin our new book after the holiday break, but have also requested the follow up books with Fudge’s many fiascoes to be added to our class library. During our math lessons, students worked on methods to solve word problems using money that involved multiplication. They also continued to develop ways to locate the perimeter and area of a shape. This week they concentrated on locating the area of irregular shapes through multiplication and arrays. They are even able to solve for areas using whole and half square units. During Grammar lessons, students reviewed multiple parts of speech with the focus on modifying action verbs into their present tense form. During our Russian lessons, students demonstrated their vocabulary skills by being victorious in the vocabulary jam. During our Social Studies lessons, students learned how the Aztecs were able to protect the City of Tenochtitlan with moats and drawbridges and grow food on mini islands made of plants.
Miss Sasha

Fourth Grade
4A

This week we continued to prepare for the ELA and Math state exams. In math we worked on adding, subtracting, estimating decimals and solved multi step word problems with decimals. We also started a new chapter The Tale of Despereaux. Kids are really enjoying this book.

4B

Zoom zoom zoom! Covid can’t stop 4B, as we take our learning virtual! During this week of zoom we have been focusing on test prep. In ELA, we prepare for the state test by completing released state test questions from previous years. We are also finishing up our unit on adjectives in grammar. In math, we are also doing state test prep by completing released questions from previous years, while also learning about decimals.
Fifth Grade

5th Grade
Greetings and salutations!
This week in ELA has been all about writing an argumentative essay. I am very happy to say that the 5th grade is doing a wonderful job composing their essays!
They also learned about subject pronouns, object pronouns, hyphens, and colons.

In social studies, the class rounded off their dive into the ancient Maya civilization. I am happy to say that there has been quite a few good discussions over what was learned.

This week I would like to commend Josh and Alec for their amazing work!

Middle School

Middle School ELA and Social Studies

6th graders had a busy week!
We continued our novel study of Bud, not Buddy. We also worked hard on revising our argumentative essays and turning them into finished products.

This week in social studies the 6th graders learned about the mighty Han dynasty. They were able to learn about many of the inventions of the Han dynasty such as the watermill and how paper was made.
I am happy to say that there have been some amazing class discussions this week!

This week I would like to commend Ethan and Lily for amazing participation in class.

7th Grade
This week has been all about our Argumentative Essay!
Students were reviewed revision, and revised our essays. We also continued our novel study of Farewell to Manzanar.

In Social Studies, students started learning about the trails to the west: Oregon, Stanta Fe, and Mormon trails! Students learned about the reasons why people moved out west. We also learned about the Texas Revolution and read primary sources of the era!

8th Grade
The 8th grade had a busy week!
In ELA, we continued our novel study of The Outsiders. We also reviewed revision, and revised our persuasive essays.

In Social Studies, we continued learning about the 1920s and then 1930s. We discussed the Prohibition, and talked about the beginning of the Great Depression. Students also read and analyzed primary sources from the era!

Middle School Math

8th grade learned how to make an equation from a chart.
8th grade honors finished chapter 6 on operations with polynomials.
7th grade honors learned how to determine if relationships are proportional or non proportional based on a chart, graph, and equation.
7th grade started the unit on statistics and have learned about biased questions.
6th grade learned how to solve one step equations.
5th grade started the unit on ratios and rates.

Middle School Science

7th Grade

Over the next couple of weeks students will be learning how our body systems function to maintain homeostasis. Students just finished up the Immune System and they all did well on their test. This week we are discovering the benefits and necessity of our skin. Students will be able to distinguish between the epidermis and the dermis, identify the functions of the skin and the role it plays to protect us from various pathogens and environmental toxins.

8th Grade Students

8th Grade will be investigating how humans are complex organisms that maintain a narrow set of internal conditions through a system of feedback and communication mechanisms between multiple organ systems. In this unit, students will explore how body systems interact to effectively monitor and respond to both internal and external environmental changes. Students complete both Making Connections (a NY State required lab) and a human thermoregulation laboratory, both of which focus on skills of experimental design.

Jewish History

7th grade learned about the sin of the Golden Calf, why the Jews sinned and how we are all responsible for our actions.
8th grade is busy as we figure out what caused the destruction of the second temple.

SIHA Weekly for March 12, 2021

by admin | Mar 12, 2021 | Newsletter

Dvar Torah

This Shabbat, not only has TWO Parashot, [which happens often when there are not 2 months of Adar to accommodate all the Parashot, and when Holidays occur on Shabbat during the year, so we can not read the regular Parsha on that Shabbat], Vayakhel and Pekudei, but is also referred to as Parashat Hachodesh-Parsha of “the month”.

I will write a little about each.

Parashat Vayakhel

Parashat Vayakhel is the 4th Parasha discussing the Mishkan where Hashem positioned His presence for 40 years in the Midbar [wilderness], its furniture and the clothing of the Kohanim.
Each required tremendous skill and detail to create.
The craftsman with the most skill and in charge of all the work creating the Mishkan was B’tzalel. [The Gmara tells us that he was only 13 years old!]
Every time the Torah mentions B’tzalel it describes him as “B’tzalel son of Uri son of Chur”. [as an aside, Chur was the son of Miriam]
Why does the Torah always mention “Chur”?
The answer is; that when the Erev Rav [remember them from last week?] caused the Jews to sin with Egel Hazahav the golden Calf, a form of idolatry, very soon after Matan Torah, Chur stood up to the populace. He risked his life for Hashem’s honor, but was murdered by a mob while doing so!
Hashem promised that He would “reward” Chur for giving his life for the honor of Hashem. The reward was having a grandson who would design the Mishkan!
The question is; why didn’t Chur get rewarded with a son that would design the Mishkan, why did it “skip a generation”, why was it a “recessive gene”?
The message to us is an important one, a timely lifelong lesson.
We can not always have “instant gratification”.
We must trust in Hashem that if we do His will, He will repay us, but not immediately, necessarily. We do not understand Hashem’s infinite wisdom in His calculations. We who were born in the “5700’s” came in the middle of a story, so to speak. Sometimes we may see, for example: a wonderful child born to “not such wonderful people ” or vice versa. This idea of not seeing immediate reward and with the same understanding, immediate punishment helps us maintain our resolve to be faithful to Hashem and His Torah!
{adapted from Rabbi Yissoschor Frand on the Parasha with commentaries quoted from the Chofetz Chaim}.

Parashat Pikudei

At the culmination of FIVE Parashot describing the Mishkan the Torah says “the people brought the Mishkan to Moshe ”.
The Midrash says that from these words we learn the importance of “preserving the peace”.
How?
Maharal Diskin explains;Moshe could have gone around collecting gold, silver, etc for the Mishkan, but someone may have been insulted and wondered; “why did Moshe go to the other fellow first, before me?” etc.
Therefore Moshe had the people “bring the Mishkan to him” [to bring their donations to him] to avoid the above scenario.
When a Jewish couple get married, there is someone, usually a great Rabbi who officiates. This is called “Mesader Kiddushin”. There are great Chasidish Rebbes [Hasidic rabbis] who are sought after to officiate. Some have a rule; if you want him to officiate, the wedding must take place in his court/courtyard.
Why? The Rebbes are concerned that if they would travel for one and not [further] for another, that second person may be offended. [quoted from Shemen Hatov]
We learn from this seemingly insignificant act of Moshe Rabbeinu, not to collect materials necessary for the Mishkan, rather have people bring them to him, lest someone be insulted that Moshe collected from his peer before him!

Parashat Hachodesh

This Shabbat is called Parashat Hachodesh, because we read a special part of the Torah, besides the Parashot of the week, about the month of Nisan.
Sunday is Rosh Chodesh Nisan, the month in which Pesach occurs and is celebrated. The month of Geulah [redemption] from Egypt 3,333 years ago and the month [which we look forward to happening very soon] which we will be redeemed by Moshiach-the Messiah from this Galut-exile.
We read about the commandment of the original Korban Pesach taken in Egypt and the laws that will follow for all of destiny.
Hashem tells us about Makat B’chorot [plague of the first born] and that we will soon leave Egypt!
Hashem gives us the Commandments regarding eating Matza and not eating Chometz during Pesach.

May we all merit the coming of Moshiach Messiah and the final redemption “speedily in our days”
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Y.S. Kuritsky

Special Announcement

The eighth graders were visited by Mr. Stuart Waldman of Waldman properties, who spoke to the children about how to carve your way out in the business world. Thank you to Mr. Waldman for his time and wisdom! The 8th graders learned a lot!

Programming News

Dear parents.
Thank G-d, we had a wonderful week!
This was the last week of our Adar – spreading joy – contest. As soon as we come back to school, we will announce which class earned the prize for the most stickers on their class’s smiley face. Looking forward to seeing which class is going to win the really exciting prize..
On Sunday is Rosh Chodesh Nissan! The upcoming monthly contest is to…. clean our rooms of all Chometz for Pesach (Passover.)
Checklists for cleaning our rooms will be given out closer to Pesach, as well as emailed to the parents.
Any student who follows the guidelines for removing all Chometz from their bedrooms and cleaning it for Pesach will receive an exciting prize!
Have a wonderful Shabbat and an enjoyable restful weekend!
Best regards,
Miss Dershowitz

KRIAH ( aleph bet tutoring )

This week in Kriah with Ariella from third grade we practiced reading some of the Hebrew months while practicing the letters and nikoodot. Miss Weitzner is so proud of Ariella for doing a super job on this!!

– Miss.Weitzner

Judaics

Kindergarten and First Grade
We had a great week in Kindergarten and First Grade Judaics! This week we began to learn about Pesach! We know that on Pesach we cannot eat any flour except for in matzah or ground up matzah, because if flour and water are mixed together for more than 18 minutes it becomes chametz! We really enjoyed tasting Pesach cookies, made from potato flour, and watching videos of a matzah factory. We can’t wait to learn more about Pesach next week! Shabbat Shalom!

Second Grade
We had another wonderful week in 2nd grade. We learned why we celebrate Pesach and why the holiday is called Passover. We know we cannot have own any chometz for the 8 days of Passover.
Friday night as we would normally do since we are celebrating Shabbat, therefore the search is conducted Thursday night this year. We know that this Shabbat we complete the Book of Exodus-Sefer Shimot the second of the 5 Books of the Torah. We reviewed the whole Sefer Shimot this week as we read a sentence and drew a picture of the theme of all the Parshiot in Sefer Shimot. In the synagogue this Shabbat we read Parshat V’ykhail and Parshat Pikudei. We made a project depicting an aerial view of the Mishkon- the temporary shul the Jews were commanded to construct while in the desert after leaving Egypt. Shabbat Shalom!

Third Grade
Third graders started working on their Pesach Haggadah this week. While learning about each step of the Pesach preparations and the Seder night, they fill in and decorate each page of their Haggadah. The Haggadah contains all the specific details in each of the 15 steps plus some of the main parts that should be recited. The Haggadah are kept away from any source of Chametz so they can be used at the Pesach table.
They also continued practicing the correct spelling, order and translation of each of the 10 makkot.

Shabbat Shalom
Ms. Chaya

5th and 6th Girls
Dear parents.
We had a wonderful week, BH!
We started our Haggadahs and learned about Pesach. All the girls decorated their Haggadah covers beautifully!! I’m really looking forward to all of them truly knowing the Haggadah and all about the Pesach Seder.
We watched a great video about why bad things happen. You can ask your daughters why bad things happen and they can definitely tell you!
We learned about this week’s Parsha, (a double Parsha) Vayakhel and Pekudei, which is all about the building of the Mishkan.
Have a wonderful Shabbat!
Best regards,
Miss Dershowitz

5th and 6th Boys
This week we made a siyum on the 2nd chapter in Mishnayot Sukkah!
The boys worked hard , and we are looking forward to celebrating together.
We also began learning the Haggadah in earnest,
so we can be prepared for the Seder.
Shabbat Shalom!

7th and 8th Boys

This week the 7th and 8th grade boys took a test on Hilchot Tztzit and scored well. We also had our weekly Parashah test on the previous week’s Parsha. The boys scored well on the test on Parashat Ki TIsa as well!
The 7th grade boys, who were here in person {noah,Doron and Yisroel], took turns practicing the 19 B’rachot in Sh’mone Esre. They really were impressive.
Rabbi Kuritsky was out for a couple of days due to medical reasons. Thank G-d the test results were good.

Tzitzit Tzitzit Tzitzit

Not only are we learning, studying and scoring well on Hilchot [laws of]Tzitzit, but some boys are actually wearing them!
Yisroel Friedman, daily. Shai Koldin is not only wearing them, but keeping the Tzitzit [strings/fringes] out , proudly for all to see the Mitzvot of Hashem!
Rabbi Kuritsky brought in a beautiful book with pictures of the MIshkan,its furniture and clothing worn by the Kohanim, as a visual to to the Parasha, [not actual pictures, as we are not in possession of them since the destruction of the Beit Hamikdosh, over 2,000 years ago].
Rabbi Kuritsky and the boys also enjoyed looking at and studied a “timeline” book. The book has major events since 5,781 years ago when the world was created by Hashem.
We found this fascinating. We are now on zoom, but hope next week to meet in school in person and learn about Pesach!
Shabbat Shalom

Elementary School

Kindergarten

This week kindergarten practiced writing a letter. They worked on identifying the literary elements of a story and how to summarize a story. They also reviewed how to spell words that begin and end with blends. In math they reviewed addition and subtraction. They created a mini book to review all the different strategies that they can use to subtract. In science they continued to learn about magnets and they realized that the material an object is made of determines if it is magnetic. In social studies they continued to learn about community helpers. They also learned how they can help their community.

First Grade
Our first graders are learning so much this week. We are now adding and subtracting with two-digit numbers in Math. In Grammar we practiced using antonyms to compare animals. We read Eric Carle’s “A Tiny Seed” to discuss sequence of events through the life cycle of plants. In Science, we explored the idea of weather and clouds. Students identified how the cumulus, stratus, and cirrus clouds tell us about the weather. We also conducted a scientific experiment to see how water evaporates into the air! It has been a great week.

Second Grade
This week in ELA, the second graders have been mastering verbs and their irregular past tense forms. They also have been reading The BFG and using character traits to support their opinions about the best character. In math, the students have been practicing telling time to the nearest five minutes. They have also been working on understanding and using phrases such as “half past,” “quarter to,” and “quarter past.” This Saturday is Benjamin Portman’s eighth birthday. Happy birthday Ben!

Third Grade

This week Grade 3 students continued their journey into Mexico’s past. They explored the City of Tenochtitlan and and the early history of the Aztec people. During our Math lessons, students continued to work on their multiplication skills, were introduced to division, were able to connect grid mapping skills they learned in social studies to the construction of arrays, as well as discovering the ability to find the area of a shape using their multiplication skills. During our Grammar lessons, students practiced modifying verbs into their present tense form in order to achieve subject-verb agreement. They were also able to analyze the writing process of explanatory writing in order to help them strengthen their first drafts. During the Russian lessons, students learned letter Я vocabulary. They were also able to construct complete sentences using past vocabulary and the pronoun Я.

4B

4B has been focusing on test prep. We are preparing for our ELA and Math state tests. In math we finally finished fractions! We are now starting a new unit on decimals. In social studies we continue to learn about the Midwestern region of the United States. In some more exciting news, we had two birthdays to celebrate this week! Ari Usubov and Lila Havia, our newest student! We enjoyed goodies and sang happy birthday!

Fifth Grade
Greetings and salutations,

This week has been very busy for the 5th graders. In ELA they learned about pronouns and prefixes/suffixes. They practiced argumentative writing in preparation for the argumentative essay next week.
In social studies they continued learning about the Maya civilization. They even practiced doing math in the Maya way!

Middle School

Middle School ELA and Social Studies

6th Grade
This week has been all about our Argumentative Essay! Students were assigned topics, and did their research. Everyone wrote wonderful outlines! Mrs. Hazen would really like to commend Noah, Eva, and Madi for their diligence and attention to detail.
Later on in the week, we turned those outlines into our first drafts. We also took notes on effective introductions, practiced identifying strategies used in examples, and then wrote our own introductions.

In Social Studies, the 6th grade had a blast learning about the Qin Dynasty. They were particularly interested in the famous Terracotta Warriors.

7th Grade
This week has been all about our Argumentative Essay!
Students were divided into teams, and each team was assigned a topic and a position. Students got a chance to work together on researching their topic, and writing strong claims supported by relevant evidence. We reviewed how to make an outline, and created wonderful outlines that we then turned into our first draft. We also discussed effective ways to start our essays, looked at some examples, and wrote our introductions. Mrs. Hazen would really like to commend Gary and Tyler for being very hard-working!

In Social Studies, students wrapped up their study of the Age of Jackson with a study into Transcendentalism. We defined what it was, looked at some examples of transcendentalist writing, and then completed a nature-appreciation project. Everyone did a great job! Mrs. Hazen would really like to commend Ariella, Noah, and Yisroel for their awesome work!

In Social Studies, we wrapped up our lesson on the 1920s with a discussion of how the car changed American economy and way of life. Students took notes, had a great discussion on the economic boom of the 1920s, and took a quiz.

Middle School Math

5th grade started the unit on mixed operations with fractions and decimals.
6th grade reviewed how to determine if algebraic expressions are equal and practiced using the distributive property.
7th grade reviewed surface area and how to calculate it when there are overlapping sections in a prism.
7th grade honors learned about proportionality and slope.
8th grade reviewed how to graph equations given slope and y-intercept.
8th honors started the unit on operations with polynomials.

Middle School Science

7th Grade

Over the next couple of weeks students will be learning how our body systems function to maintain homeostasis. Students just finished up the Immune System and they all did well on their test. This week we are discovering the benefits and necessity of our skin. Students will be able to distinguish between the epidermis and the dermis, identify the functions of the skin and the role it plays to protect us from various pathogens and environmental toxins.

8th Grade Students

8th Grade will be investigating how humans are complex organisms that maintain a narrow set of internal conditions through a system of feedback and communication mechanisms between multiple organ systems. In this unit, students will explore how body systems interact to effectively monitor and respond to both internal and external environmental changes. Students complete both Making Connections (a NY State required lab) and a human thermoregulation laboratory, both of which focus on skills of experimental design.

SIHA Weekly for March 5, 2020

by admin | Mar 5, 2021 | Newsletter

Dvar Torah

Parashat Ki Tisa
This week’s Parsha talks about the terrible sin of the Eigel Hazahav, the Golden calf.
Moshe Rabbeinu went up to Heaven to receive the Luhot and learn the Torah with Hashem, G-d Himself.
Moshe told Klal yisrael that he would return in 40 days.He meant 40 complete days, besides the day that he went up. Klal yisrael made a mistake in calculation and included the day he went up.
When Moshe did not come down from heaven “on time” [according to their calculations] the Satan made it look like Moshe was “flying” in a bed in heaven, as if to signify that he was no longer alive. The, “Eirev Rav”, Egyptian converts who came out of Egypt with the Jews were instigating and demanding a new leader to replace Moshe. They came up with a plan to collect gold and toss it in a fire.The Satan helped things along and let a golden calf, “alive and kicking” come out of the fire. They proclaimed “this is your god who took you out of Egypt!” [referring to the golden calf]
This incited Hashem.
Avoda Zara , idol worship is a “slap in the face” to Hashem, a real living G-d.
Hashem told Moshe that He will not “go” with us, Bnei Yisrael anymore.

He described us Jews as “Am K’shei Oref” A stiff necked nation.

Later,the Jews do T’shuva and Moshe asks for forgiveness for us, Moshe requests that Hashem, once again “go” with us, using the fact that we are Am K’shei Oref, a stiff necked nation as a reason to go with us.

This is seemingly slightly contradictory. Hashem said earlier that because the Jews are stiff necked, that is why He will NOT continue to “go” with us. Now Moshe is using that exact character trait to convince Hashem to “go” with us?!

Reb Avigdor Miller Zecher Tzadik Livracha explains this seemingly strange phenomenon in the name of the Alter of Slabodka as follows;
Yes, the nature of a Jew is to be stiff necked, but this can be a positive attribute. We know that many Jews behind the iron curtain were “refuseniks”, not bending to the communists when it came to our religion. We Jews are intelligent people and are not easily swayed by the outside “forces”.
We are not easily impressionable like butter, but stiff like a rock.
It is easy to make an impression in butter, but it will not last. It is difficult to make an impression in a rock, but when it is impressed, it stays.
If we are shown with clear proof of what is right, then the impression stays.

Let us continue to be “a stiff necked nation” and not allow ourselves to be influenced by the outside world. Let us be influenced and convinced by real proofs of the truth of our Holy Torah, and religion.

Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Y.S. Kuritsky

Thank you!

A great, big, thank you to the Rabbi Uzhansky, Miss Ilanit, and everyone who donated to our Charidy drive! Without your help and good will, SIHA would not be what it is. 

Let’s keep standing together! 

Special Announcement

Happy birthday to:

• Yehuda Mirocznik in 8th grade!
• Hanna Kimerling in 4B!
• Anna Gershkovich in 7th Grade!
• Amiel Lavy in 8th grade!
• Diane Ashraf in 4A!
• Joseph Sulaymanov in Kindergarten!

Kriah

This week in Kriah We reviewed our aleph bet and nikudot. Great job to Liam and Ben from second grade for doing amazingly on their home work and for doing an amazing job on knowing the difficult aleph bet letters.

Miss Esti would like to congratulate Sarina from third grade for doing an excellent job on her yellow reader , she is trying so hard and is doing a great job with three letter hebrew words !! Wow we are so proud of her !
-Miss Esti

Programming News:

Dear parents,
We had a great week this week, thank G-d!
We are still trying to make others happy and spread joy all around us. Every class’s smiley face sign is overflowing with stickers. There is one more week to go – let’s keep it up!
We are all really looking forward to Pesach which will be on Sunday, March 28th. All of our classes are starting to learn about Pesach and creating their own beautiful Haggadahs. We will learn all about what to do at the Pesach Seder and every class will even have their own practice Seder in school before Pesach!!
We are really excited!
Have a wonderful Shabbat and enjoy your weekend!
Best regards,
Miss Dershowitz and Ms Esti

Shabbos contest
Miss Esti is so proud of the 2 girls who helped their parents prepare for Shabbat! Leah Yacobson and Diane Ashraf did a wonderful job! 

Judaics

Kindergarten and First Grade
Come check out our beautiful Kindergarten and First Grade classrooms! We have a new beautiful Pesach bulletin board and are jumping right in to begin learning about Pesach. This week we learnt about why we have pesach, and what we do special on Pesach, we know we do not eat chametz! Our first graders have already finished all their nekudot and are reading beautifully! In Kindergarten we learnt about the letter tzadik and enda tzadik. We now know all the enda letters, and know all the matches of letters and enda letters! We made a special letter-enda letter puzzle game and enjoyed playing it at home! Shabbat Shalom!

Second Grade
Passover is in the air in 2nd grade. The children are learning the Ma Nishtana (4 Questions) to be asked by the younger children at the Seder Table. We are working on decorating our beautiful Haggdahs which we can’t wait to show you as we prepare for Pesach. We enjoyed the project we made at the beginning of the week depicting the Jews working hard as slaves in Egypt. We are working on our Kriya skills and learning the weekly Parsha as well. Shabbat Shalom

Third Grade
What a special week this is for the 3rd graders! After greeting 2 of their zoom classmates in the classroom last week, this week, they greeted a new student!! Welcome to Mathew Kipnis! What a great way to start a week in Siha right on time for the Pesach story!
The 3rd graders were transported in time as the Pesach story came alive out of the Giant Pesach Book. WIth only a few weeks ahead before pesach, 3rd graders will be very busy getting ready for this special holiday over the next 3 weeks.
They are also learning to spell the 10 Makkot in Hebrew and translate them in the correct order.
The students also worked hard on their Aleph Champ reading and workbooks. Some of them were able to move on to the next color and they are all looking forward to move on next week as well.
Shabbat Shalom
Morah Chaya

Fourth Grade
4A

Yediot Klalliot
Everyday we review all that we learned.
3 fathers, 4 mothers, 4 couples buried in מערת המכפלה, the gematria for all the alef bet, 10 מכות and its meaning, the 12 Jewish months, the days of the week in Hebrew. What Hashem created on each day of the week. In addition the children can follow along with our Luach which we do daily. We sing the Parshiot in Berishet, Shmot, and this week we added Sefer Vayikra.

Yahadut
Purim was over, and we began with Pesach right away.
There is so much to learn and tell over. We learned what constitutes chometz, different halachos regarding chometz , for example, selling chometz with the Rabbi, one may not eat chometz or find chometz. We discussed that on Pesach Bnei Yisroel left Mitzrayim in the year 2448, and we are celebrating this neis 3333 years later. We became the great Jewish nation with the Torah as a result of Hashem freeing us to become His chosen nation. We also mentioned that it is a Mitzva to tell over the neis of Yeitzias Mitzrayim, and the more one discusses it the more praisworthy he is. To understand this concept Morah said over a Mashal ( parable) of a man who was saved from a drowning boat ride. This man came home and shared with his family over and over what it was like to experience this miracle. The fact that he kept on discussing in detail over and over shows how much he cared and appreciated the fact that he survived!

Halacha / Brachot
This week we learned in detail the rules for making a Haetz, Haadama, and Shehakol. The children wrote down the notes in their Halacha notebook, and they did overall very beatufilly on their Halacha quiz.

Chumash
We reviewed our Shorashim and we keep on singing the prefixes Otiot Brosh Mila.
In addition we are almost done Booklet #2 on Chumash. The children drew (HW) the chumash hebrew words on index cards, and IYH it will be hung up in the classroom.

Looking forward to another wonderful week!
Shabbat Shalom

4B
What a week, thank You Hashem. We are so lucky because Lila Havia joined our class and she adds such a wonderful Lila spirit! We are getting into the Pesach/ Passover spirit. We discuss spring cleaning, and why that would be necessary, according to the laws of which foods we are allowed to have in our house over Pesach. Our morning Shachrit is slowly advancing as we get more familiar with the words. A prayer that we began learning and our super proud of, and for good reason, is the silent Shemoneh Esrei at the end. We have been careful to wash the morning Netilat Yedayim too. Those who have not already washed at home, first thing upon arising(which is the prime time to practice this) go one by one to the bathroom to do this special mitzvah.Of Course we do the Mitzvah with that “fire in our heart” and like devoted servants to Hashem, with true loyalty. That’s why, we review the halchot/laws of how to wash, for example, the right hand has to go first. Our penmanship skills are picking up as we work to familiarize ourselves with the Aleph Bet. Parshah class has us finishing up our discussion of the holy appliances that were kept in the Bet Hamikdash, like this when Mashiach finally comes we will be familiar with the going- ons inside the Bet Hamikdash! Ofcourse, we are continuously working on our caring and giving, as well as not speaking Loshon Hora, in order to do our part to being Mashiach.

We began working on pre-chumash skills too. We are familiarizing ourselves with some hebrew (one letter) prefixes, shorashim/ three letter roots of words, and sight words that will be coming up in the Chumash that we’ll be learning shortly.
Shabbat Shalom
Morah Toba

5th and 6th Girls
Dear parents,
We had a wonderful week at Judaics class, Boruch Hashem!
Firstly, we get congratulations! Our class earned 475 marbles for great behavior and celebrated with an exciting waffle bar party! With lots of sprinkles, whipped cream and cookie dough ice cream, we enjoyed our delicious waffles together with our individual chocolate milk bottles. Yum??
Thank you to Ziva and Madi for all your help with warming up the waffles!
We learned about why it is so important to remember Yetziat Mitzrayim – the miraculous exodus of the Jewish people from their bondage in Egypt. We do so many Mitzvot in order to remember it and we wanted to know why.
The answer is in order to teach us that not only did G-d create the world, but He is involved and running each detail every single second! We see the miracles of splitting of the red sea, the ten plagues, the drowning of the Egyptians in the red sea and it teaches us how Hashem is involved and running the world each second. He created nature and He continuously recreates nature each second, and therefore can change nature any second – like during the exodus of the Jews from Egypt! We now see what an important lesson Yetziat Mitzrayim is for us in our lives. We truly must recognize Hashem’s hand in the world every moment! We learn this idea from all the miracles that G-d did for the Jewish people in Egypt.
Now that we know the importance of learning and knowing about Yetziat Mitzrayim, we can start learning all about Pesach (Passover) and the Haggadah. We’re looking forward!
We also continued in Perek Bet in Shemot, learning about the birth of Moshe Rabbeinu and how much he felt for the pain of every Jew, although he was living in Pharoah’s palace.
We learned all about this week’s Parsha, Parshat Ki Tisa.
We are all very much looking forward to speaking to a Rabbi in class on Monday to ask all of our many questions. If you’d like to submit any questions to ask him, you can email them to me or give them to your daughters to ask him themselves. Of course, questions are always welcome at any time:)
Have a wonderful Shabbat and an enjoyable weekend!
Looking forward to seeing all of your wonderful daughters next week!
Best regards,
Miss Dershowitz

7th and 8th Girls

Congratulations to us upon having completed our third Perek/ Chapter in Chumash this year! We can translate the phrases, recognize the three letter root of the words, explain the phrases according to how Rashi explains it and of course we can depict the story line. The life lessons that we gain from the storylines are exceptional. For example, we learnt a big lesson on humility by Moshe’s response to being chosen as the Jewish leader. We enjoyed our review games that we played prior to the test as well as the test itself, as it’s a good feeling to see how much info we have absorbed!We enjoyed our well deserved outing as a reward for our hard work. We also managed to find time to review the translations of some prayers that we say in our daily Shachrit by playing a really lively game of around the world (sorry about the noise level, Mrs U!). We also continued our discussion of the holy appliances that were kept in the Bet Hamikdash so that when Mashiach comes we’ll be familiar with them all. Thank you Hashem for setting us up all together in this beautiful, growth oriented setting! Shabbat Shalom!

Morah Toba

Elementary School

Kindergarten
This week kindergarten was very excited to begin reading from a new reader. They learned how to write a friendly letter. Kindergarten had so much fun celebrating Read Across America Day. They listened to many books, made fun crafts related to the stories, made a rhyming book, made a hat with rhyming words on it, they watched The Cat in the Hat, and they decorated cupcakes. In math they began reading and solving subtraction word problems. They learned a cool subtraction trick and played games to practice subtraction. In science they learned about magnets. They did a fun experiment to find out which items in the classroom were magnetic and which items were not magnetic. In social studies they learned about the community helpers that help people or animals that are sick or hurt.

Second Grade
This week in ELA, the second graders learned about irregular verbs and practiced how to write them in present tense and past tense. In math, the students have been hard at work telling time to the nearest five minutes. They also have been doing a great job reviewing concepts from the beginning of the year. In social studies, the second-graders have been using maps and map scales to find out the distance between two places.

Third Grade
This week grade three students welcomed Matthew to our class. We have been waiting for over a month and are so excited for him to learn alongside us this year. During our Grammar lessons students focused on explanatory writing. They learned the correct structure by analyzing strong pieces of writing and have completed their first draft. They also reviewed identifying the tense of an action verb with the concentration on the present tense verb with a singular and plural subject. During our Math lessons, they continued their unit review, but also began to work with analog and digital clocks. During Social Studies, students explored how Mexico City has changed from a small island on a lake to the huge capital it is today. They are now learning of the ways the Aztecs and the Spanish had changed the land over its long history. In Russian class, students reviewed what we have learned so far and are eager to explore new vocabulary and phrases we can use in class, at home, and in the future as we meet new friends.
Miss Sasha

4B
Test prep, test prep, test prep! 4B, with the help of our wonderful Mrs. Rosskamm, has been doing lots of test prep in order to prepare for the state test. We are learning how to properly annotate literature, structure our paragraphs, and find and sequence details from passages. In math, we are reviewing all of the operations with fractions. We can add fractions, subtract fractions, simplify fractions, multiply fractions with whole numbers, and answer word problems involving fractions. We are also reading a very interesting book called “Inside Out & Back Again,” about a young girl who lived in Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

Fifth Grade

Greetings and salutations!

This week has been quite busy. In ELA the students did a week long review for the unit test in grammar. They began their new novel, Moon over Manifest. 

In social studies they finished their Olmec heads project and began learning about the Maya civilization.

Middle School

Middle School ELA and Social Studies

6th grade
This week has been all about Argumentative Writing! We learned what argumentative writing is, and the different parts of an argument. Then, we practiced identifying claims and evidence, as well as writing claims and evidence of our own. We also had a lot of fun being detectives in an argumentative writing mystery game! Mrs. Hazen wants to commend Ilan, Eva, Madi, and Gabby for being the only students to correctly identify the culprit!

In social studies the 6th graders learned about three major Chinese philosophies. We had quite a few rather interesting class discussions!

In Social Studies, we wrapped up the Age of Jackson. We learned about Andrew Jackson’s presidency, the expansion of voting rights, and the Indian Removal Act. Students wrote an opinion piece about Andrew Jackson’s Legacy.

8th Grade
This week has been all about persuasive writing! We started with a review of what an argument is, and how to write effective claims and use supporting evidence. Then, we reviewed the three different rhetorical appeals: pathos, ethos, and logos. Students practiced identifying these appeals in writing, and wrote their own paragraphs using them!

In Social Studies, we wrapped up the end of World War I by learning about the Russian Revolution. We also learned about the three economic theories: Capitalism, Socialism, and Communism. Students discussed what these theories are, and how they would work in practice. Finally, students read primary documents about these three theories and had a great time in class discussing them!

Middle School Math

5th Grade – Finished the unit on integers, absolute value, GCF, LCM, and rational numbers.
6th Grade – reviewed percents, finished the unit on equivalent algebraic expressions
7th Grade – learned surface area and finished the unit on Geometry
7th Honors – learned square roots, exponents, scientific notation and finished that unit
8th Grade – how to graphically and algebraically solve for both intercepts and slope
8th Honors – finished chapter 5 on solving systems of linear equations, graphically, by elimination and substitutions
Everyone has a test on Tuesday

Middle School Science

7th Grade

Over the next couple of weeks students will be learning how our body systems function to maintain homeostasis. Students just finished up the Immune System and they all did well on their test. This week we are discovering the benefits and necessity of our skin. Students will be able to distinguish between the epidermis and the dermis, identify the functions of the skin and the role it plays to protect us from various pathogens and environmental toxins.

8th Grade Students

8th Grade will be investigating how humans are complex organisms that maintain a narrow set of internal conditions through a system of feedback and communication mechanisms between multiple organ systems. In this unit, students will explore how body systems interact to effectively monitor and respond to both internal and external environmental changes. Students complete both Making Connections (a NY State required lab) and a human thermoregulation laboratory, both of which focus on skills of experimental design.

Jewish History

7th grade learned about how Hashem took care of the Jewish people in the desert and examined pictures of what those miracles could have looked like if they would have taken place today.

8th grade learned about the fall of the Seleucid Greek Empire and the Rise of Rome and how that affected the Jewish people.