Dvar Torah
Parashat Emor
Parashat Emor is the largest Parashah in the Sefer-Book of Vayikra!
It discusses the Holidays and the laws of Kohanim.
Who is a kohen allowed to marry and to whom a Kohen may not marry.
A kohen may not marry a divorced woman, for example. A kohen may not marry a woman born from a union of a kohen and a woman he was not allowed to marry. A kohen may not marry a convert.
A kohen is on a higher level than another Jew and therefore is held accountable on a higher plateau.
Similarly, Jews are held accountable on a higher plateau than a non Jew.
Shall we complain about this?? No! A king wears a crown, as does a queen. A crown is not necessarily the most comfortable hat, a king/queen proudly wears his/her crown nonetheless. It is a sign of their royalty.
We, as Jews wear the crown of Judaism on “our heads”. Just as queen Elizabeth eats delicately, dresses “Tzniut” modestly, because she is a queen and her actions and dress, must be measured and highly respectable, so too are we Jews, kings and queens and must act the part. It may not always be comfortable to dress a certain way, but as queens/kings we must remember that he must hold the banner high and be proud. We are created more delicately than a non Jew, and therefore are not able to “tolerate” certain foods,i.e. ham/bacon and kosher animals not slaughtered and “koshered” properly. It is not always “convenient” to wear a kipa on our head, but it is the Jewish man’s crown!
Let’s try to always remember who we are and what we represent to the world.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Y.S. Kuritsky
Special Announcement
Dear parents.
Thank G-d, we had a wonderful week in Programming!
We are continuing to work on doing acts of kindness each day, as we count the omer toward getting the Torah on Shavuot. The students are filling out many cards about their acts of kindness.
Congratulations to this week’s winners who’ve won the raffle for the kindness cards!
Sofia Sandler from 5th grade!
Olivia Abramov from second grade!
We are so proud of you!!
Let’s keep up our wonderful acts of kindness!
Today, in honor of Lag Ba’omer, Rabbi Motty Katz from JEP (Jewish Education Program) joined us with his musician and we had a beautiful musical performance, along with his spectacular storytelling.
All of the students enjoyed s’mores that we made on the grill and delicious ice pops!
Happy Lag Ba’omer!
Have a wonderful Shabbat!
All the best,
Miss Dershowitz and Miss Weitzner
Judaics
Kindergarten and First Grade
We had a great week in Kindergarten and First Grade Judaics. We spent a lot of time learning about Lag Baomer and making projects. We learnt the story of Rabbi Akiva and of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, and now understand the reason of Lag Baomer. We also now know how important it is to act kindly to each other, like we learnt from the story of Rabbi Akiva. Shabbat Shalom!
Second Grade
We had an exciting week in 2nd grade as there were two important days we celebrated this week. Monday was Pesach Shainei, during the exodus of Egypt there were some people who were not able to bring the Passover offering as they were busy taking Joseph’s remains out of Egypt (as Joseph had requested) These people felt sad that they were unable to partake of the special mitzva of bringing the Passover offering therefore, they were given a second opportunity to bring the offering on the 14th day of Iyar. Today many people eat matzo on Pesach Shainei. The 2nd graders were all given a piece of matzo in honor of the day. Friday we celebrate Lag B’omer, the 33rd day of the Omer. Ask your child why we celebrate this special day. This weeks Parsha Emor discusses sanctifying Hashems name.We discussed various ways we could make A Kiddush Hashem-making Hashem proud by sanctifying his name. The children thought of various ways of bringing honor to Hashem’s name such as standing up and offering their seat to an older person or as Liam said “If you are in line at the supermarket with many purchases, and the lady behind you only has one item if you choose to tell the lady to go in front of you, you are bringing honor to Hashem and to the Jewish nation. Shabbat Shalom
Third Grade
This week’s highlights was learning about Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai in preparation for the Holiday of Lag Baomer.
The students are happy to practice their Kriah in small groups or individually. They are all eager to move on to brown level to be ready to read from the Torah next year. Everyone is making steady progress in accuracy and speed.
Shabbat Shalom and happy lag Baomer
Mrs Ivry
Fourth Grade
Happy Lag Bamoer, a celebration of the light of Torah. This is certainly a theme we can relate to here in 4B, being knee deep in preparing for our Chumash Mesibah. The excitement and enthusiasm in the air is tangible and we can’t wait to show you what we’ve got! Parshah class had us going through some Mitzvot, for example, the Mitzvah of honoring parents properly. Contradicting, we discussed in depth, would be an example of disrespect. Our Chumash sight words are becoming a part of us by now, thank you, dear parents, for your cooperation. Shabbat Shalom and thankyou for sharing your actors (well, narrators) ,singers and scholars with me!
Morah Toba
5th and 6th Girls
5th and 6th Boys
Dear parents,
This week Lag Baomer was in the air!
We reviewed the story of how Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai survived, despite being in a cave and running away from the Romans, who wanted to take his life.
We discussed the implications for every Jew, about the importance of being loyal to Hashem under all circumstances
We also discussed the importance of being grateful to Hashem for all the goodness in our lives, focusing on the human eye.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Levy
7th and 8th Girls
Parshat Shemot really came alive this week as the girls acted out various scenes that took place in it! We spoke all about unity, how the Torah can only be given over when there’s together-nes. We know that Lag Baomer is the celebration of the Torah that Rabbi Shimon gave over on the day he died. He only survived the death plague that so many of his peers were wiped out in because he was always careful to be respectful of everyone at all times and live in unity. Parshah class had us discussing the respect that is owed to anyone who is a descendant of Ahron, Moshe’s brother, and is therefore a Kohan. When Mashiach comes, it will be them who will do the holy work in the Beit Hamikdash. Shabbat Shalom and thank you for sharing your precious treasures who are overflowing with wisdom and good cheer!
Morah Toba
7th and 8th Boys
This week the boys studied, prayed and wore their T’filin really well.
Elementary School
Kindergarten
This week kindergarten practiced reading and spelling words with r blends. They independently wrote their own how to. They picked unique writing topics such as how to ride a bike, how to play soccer, and even how to take care of a unicorn! They learned how to identify the author’s purpose of nonfiction stories. In math they had a lot of fun playing games to figure out which ordinal numbers and positional words they can use to correctly describe which place their friend’s toys were in. They made a race track with animals and labeled their animals with ordinal numbers to show which one was winning the race. In science they learned about Earth Day, how to take care of the Earth, and what could happen if they do not take care of the Earth. They made really cool marble paintings of the Earth and they made Earth people. Then, they attached to their paintings a sentence about how they would help the Earth. In social studies they learned about the Liberty Bell, the Bald Eagle, and why they are symbols of the United States.
First Grade
The first graders continue to be amazing! This week we completed the Social Studies Unit on Life Ling Ago. Students learned how to make summaries while reading about a Super Crocodile fossil discovered in Africa. The best part of the week was the book report presentation. The first graders did an awesome job sharing their research about plants and flowers. Overall, it was a great week.
Second Grade
This week, the second graders finished their unit on fractions. They all did amazing on their tests! They started learning about multiplication and have been doing a great job at learning the 2 times table. In ELA, the students were spectacular actors and read a play about saving money. They’ve also have been learning about adverbs and have continued to read The BFG. In social studies, the second graders finished their unit on America’s Past.
In science, 2nd graders shouted when they finally made a delicious fruit and vegetables salad. While they’re cutting fruits and vegetables they learned what a mixture is and how each of the cut pieces kept their physical properties.
Third Grade
This week Grade 3 students spent time developing their word problem solving skills that included multiple steps and all four operations. Students also practiced locating the estimated and exact product in vertical form. During both Math and E.L.A. lessons, students continued to practice solving S.A.T. questions in preparations for their upcoming exams. Having missed their chance last year due to Covid, students are very excited to take it this year. During their Grammar lessons, students practiced combining sentences and using the comma correctly within dates and places. They also analyzed non-fiction summaries to help them develop their ability to focus their writing. During their Social Studies lessons, students continued to learn about the Navajo culture of the past generations as well as how it is kept alive today. During their Russian lessons, students reviewed their letters and began blending sounds.
In science, Students learned how temperature, air pressure and wind speed can be measured. 3rd graders were able to draw and explain a weather map.
Miss Sasha
Fourth Grade
4A
This week our class focused on math state test preparation and continued our geometry unit. Students measured angles and identified them as acute , obtuse or right angles. Calculated reflex angles and identified perpendicular and parallel lines.
In Reading students wrote and present their book reports to one of our favorite class chapter books, The Tale of Despereaux.
In Social Studies students did great on their test on chapter 9 Exploring the West.
In science, Students learned tools to measure mass and length, and understood how mass and volume can be measured. A mini-lab on how to measure the volume of an object was performed by the students during science lab.
4B
4B had a very exciting week! In ELA we are learning about pronouns, and how to properly use quotation marks. In math, we are learning how to do the 4 operations with decimals. We are also learning geometry, and preparing for the state test next week! On Thursday we celebrated Ethan Shenkman’s birthday! We also enjoyed the beautiful weather and the new playground, when we weren’t hard at work.
Fifth Grade
Fifth grade had a busy week! In grammar, they reviewed for their grammar unit test. Everyone worked really hard! In reading, students continued their novel study of The Westing Game. Students took notes for their case files, and discussed their reading in class. In writing, students started working on their literary analysis essay by making an outline and taking notes.
In social studies, the fifth graders continued their unit on the ancient Aztec civilization. Students discussed pictures of artifacts, and took notes on the Aztec society.
In math, 5th grade learned how to apply unit rates to word problems.
In science, students identified a compound as a combination of two or more elements.
Middle School
Middle School ELA and Social Studies
6th Grade
6th Grade had a busy week!
In Grammar, we reviewed verbals and had a quiz on gerunds, participles, and infinitives. We also practiced using adverbs and adjectives in our writing! In writing, we also wrote compare and contrast paragraphs, and discussed author’s point of view. Students wrote a long response and everyone did a phenomenal job. Mrs. Hazen is particularly impressed with Madi’s writing! In reading, we continued our novel study of Milkweed.
In social studies, the students continued their unit on Ancient Greece. Students also took a quiz on Sparta and Athens, and everyone did a great job!
7th Grade
7th grade had a great week!
In grammar, we started our unit on adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions. Students did a great job writing descriptive paragraphs. In reading, we continued our novel study of Chasing Lincoln’s Killer. Students enjoyed visiting a virtual Ford’s Theater where President Lincoln was assassinated!
In social studies, students wrapped up our unit on the rise of Cotton as the major cash crop in the Antebellum South. Students also learned about slavery in America, and visited a virtual Plantation.
8th Grade
8th grade had a great week! In grammar, we reviewed gerunds, identified them in sentences and wrote our own paragraphs. In writing, today was all about writing excellent summaries and including key details. In reading, we continued our novel study of Animal Farm! We discussed narrative point of view, and the allegorical meaning of different characters.
In social studies,
8th graders started our unit on World War II. We discussed the rise of fascism in Italy and Germany. We also talked about Japan’s expansionism and the conquest of Manchuria. Students saw photographs and read primary sources!
Middle School Math
6th grade finished the unit on inequalities and equations.
7th grade practiced for the state test.
8th grade continued to review graphing linear inequalities.
8th honors learned how to factor trinomials using different methods
Middle School Science
Students learned and reviewed what a chemical formula reveals about a molecule. They were so excited to learn about the Periodic Table.
As you all know, the 7th grade has been discovering how our body works. The past couple of weeks, we have been diligently working to learn how our body obtains the nutrients from the things that we eat. In addition, we have been learning exactly what happens to our food once we take the first bite of a piece of food. Come and see what we have learned!
Ariella_Digestion Doron_Digestion Gary_Digestion Leam_Digestion Noah_Digestion Yaffa_Digestion Yisroel_Digesttion
I would like to give a special shout out to the seventh grade. Seventh grade had an in class project to do and they have made me exceptionally proud. All students did a fantastic job incorporating information that they have learned into technology via a PowerPoint presentation. Students were required to take a journey through the digestive system as a piece of food they had specific requirements to meet within this presentation or students met the requirements superbly. Excellent job, seventh grade!
In this unit the eighth graders have been investigating the impact that an invasive species can have on an ecosystem. Students learned what it takes for an ecosystem to be balanced. Through investigation by way of articles data and videos they were able to make connections and discover the negative affects that zebra mussels have had on both abiotic and biotic factors within the Hudson River.
Shout out to Sarit for all of her support with 8th grade concession.
Special thanks to Shai and Michael for taking the lead on concession. Always willing to help and fulfill the responsibilities of the Department Lead. Thank you boys!
Mrs. Belli wants to mention Orian Cohen and Ethan Azaraev for excellent participation during the science lesson and a very good score on the assignments.
Jewish History
7th grade finished the unit and is up to their final unit for the year! I am very proud of their progress.
8th grade just completed learning about the destruction and why it happened and is beginning to learn the lessons of the exile.