בס''ד
TORAS EMES ACADEMY OF MIAMI NOVEMBER 11, 2011
TEAM Spirit STAR STUDENTS
פרשת וירא CANDLE LIGHTING 5:15 pm
Boaz Abramson – S.S. Daniel Akrish – S.S. Yoseph Baroukh – T.S. Eliezer Gold – S.S. Avraham Homnick – T.S. Meir Liberman – S.S. Yehuda Pomper – S.S. Zohar Reboh – T.S. Kalmi Rosenberg – T.S. Reuven Shaffren – T.S. Shelomo Sutton – S.S.
Leehee Akrish – S.S. Naomi Bursztyn – T.S. Gabriella Chattah – T.S. Sarah Cohen – S.S. Shira Goldenberg – S.S. Zissel Goldsmith – T.S. Adina Kon – T.S. Kayla Lefkowitz – T.S. Tziporah Pam – S.S. Yasmin Reboh – S.S. Rivky Sapirman – S.S. Adina Schwartz – T.S. Rivky Stern – T.S.
YTC/TEAM ANNUAL JOURNAL DINNER Our Million Dollar Campaign Is Up and Running! The excitement is mounting as we B"H close in on the first $100,000 of our 27th Annual Dinner and Journal Campaign! Ad blanks will be in the mail shortly. Your prompt and generous response will be greatly appreciated. Please see the attached flyer in appreciation of our Harbotzas HaTorah Awardees - Rabbi and Mrs. Dovid and Shifra Sharfman, and be sure to stay tuned each week for new and exciting details!
TEAM PLAYERS Miriam Balgley Penina Bergida Tehila Cohen Batsheva Druin Shaina Druin Shira Feldman Simcha Leonoff Noga Libson Debbie Nash Esti Newman Chaviva Pam Sara Seltzer Elisheva Sharfman Aliza Turner
Boaz Abramson Daniel Akrish Daniel Chattah Ephraim Dudovitz Zev Eisenberger Asher Goldenberg Avrumi Gruenstein Shea Rosenberg Yossi Rosenberg Shelomo Sutton
PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES
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he first marking period of the school year ends this coming Friday. Progress reports will be mailed home the following week and Parent-Teacher Conferences take place Sunday morning, November 27 and Tuesday evening, November 29. Conferences are 10 minutes in length. In order to meet with your child(ren)’s teachers, please be sure to make an appointment by following our online instructions (sent to you via e-mail and hard copy on Friday) or by calling Mrs. Tamir in the boys’ office at 305-948-3338.
ASSEMBLIES
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ur November assemblies, which took place on Tuesday, were a huge success as all the students enjoyed the delightful, entertaining performances for both the boys and the girls. Mrs. Palgon and Miss Mandel’s fifth grade girls’ presented “The Pretzel Lady” based on a true story about a woman who sold pretzels on the Lower East Side in the 1960’s. The lessons learned were being happy with what you have and that Hashem shows compassion to those who show compassion to others. The performers enjoyed fresh, hot pretzels after the play! Mrs. Swartz’s fourth grade boys entertained the audience with a presentation in honor of Veterans Day. Our thanks to Rabbi E. Palgon and Rabbi N. Grossman for their inspiring Divrei Torah. We were excited to hear from our second grade boys who shared an educational song from
YEDIOS HATORAH 5772 IS UNDERWAY!
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he newly redesigned Jewish knowledge contest began this week and will continue through the school year until Shavuos. All students received their grade appropriate learning booklet for MarCheshvan and are confidently eyeing the calendar for November 29, which will be the first testing date. B’Hatzlacha!
the new L’Havin U’LHaskil Chumash Program and the second grade girls who sang a song in honor of Rachel Imeinu. We are proud of the many classes who recited their poems with clarity and enthusiasm. A hearty Yasher Koach to all the students who received their Sukkos Hasmoda Certificates and Summer Review Certificates!
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TEAM Spirit
MAZEL TOV
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o Mr. and Mrs. Josh Jacobs and family on the birth of a daughter.
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o Mr. and Mrs. Michael Kantor and family on the birth of a daughter.
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o Rabbi and Mrs. Mechoel Sheinkopf and family on the engagement of their daughter, our alumna, Rachel to Levi Yitzchak Yudkin of Brooklyn.
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o Rabbi and Mrs. Yaakov Homnick and family on the engagement of their son, our alumnus, Chaim to Yael Ratner of Far Rockaway.
KIDS FOR KOSHER FOOD BANK
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or the month of November the specific requests are oil, toys (brand new, not wrapped for ages infant to 18), chocolate coins, Chanukah candles, and dreidels. Keep in mind that all the food must be either OU, Chaf-K, O-K, or Star-K certified, making it suitable for any family. Thank you for your continued help. Yasher Koach!
PUSHKA REMINDER
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ew pushkas were distributed to all our Toras Emes families. You are urged to send in your old ones to the school office. Tizku Le Mitzvos!
NICHUM AVEILIM
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o Dr. Sol Lerer and family on the loss of his sister.
YAHRZEIT OF MRS. JEANETTE LEVINE A”H
REFUAH SHELAIMA Ruchama Aliza Sara Chana bas Esther Liba
Yosef Shalom ben Chaya Musha
Bracha Elka bas Maryasha Rivka
(Rav Eliyashiv, Shlitta)
Zev Meir ben Yael Sara
Asher ben Gittel
Rivka bas Sarah Raizel
Chaim Zev ben Faiga Toiba
Yosef Simcha ben Zaka Basya
Hadassah Leah bas Shoshana
Yehuda Pinchas ben Osna
Zev Zelig ben Chasa Rochel
Leah Golda bas Esther Frimet
Yitzchak ben Blima
Ephraim Yankel ben Gnesha
Dovid ben Ita Riva
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he Levine families invite the community to commemorate the 2nd yahrtzeit of our beloved, Jeanette Levine A”H, Monday November 21st - 8:00pm at Aish Hatorah in Hollywood. Rabbi Zvi Nightingale and members of the Levine family will speak. Refreshments will be served.
FAIRCHILD TROPICAL CHALLENGE
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airchild Tropical Botanic Gardens has a program that provides a menu of challenges for elementary age students which appeal to their senses of play and creativity. At the same time, the challenges are educational and address some local and global environmental issues.
PARSHA WITH THE PRINCIPAL
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abbi Baumann’s weekly Parashas HaShavua class takes place every Thursday, 8:45-9:30 AM in the main office. All are welcome to attend.
Toras Emes has embarked on Fairchild Challenge #1. Many classes have been creating animal masks with an emphasis on recycling. The students have researched different animals, their habitats, and how the animals interact with plants. We will be setting up a “Mask Museum” for the viewing of masks. If you are able to volunteer and help with the set up on this Wednesday morning, November 16, at 8:30 am, please call the Toras Emes office. We look forward to ending Challenge #1 with this special event and a nice, creative set up can make all the difference! See next week’s TEAM Spirit for pictures!
SWEATER WEATHER
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ith the cooler weather now upon us, we would like to remind you to please cooperate with our uniform policy regarding sweatshirts and sweaters: CHILDREN MAY WEAR ONLY SOLID NAVY, WHITE OR HUNTER GREEN SWEATERS OR SWEATSHIRTS (NO HOODS) WHILE IN SCHOOL. We appreciate your full cooperation in conforming with our policies. PLEASE BE SURE TO LABEL YOUR CHILDREN’S SWEATERS.
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e are looking for mothers (or fathers) who can serve as a vital link in the chain of communication between school and home, teachers and parents. If you are available to act as a liason for your child(ren)’s class, please call Mrs. Esta Rosenberg at 305.651.0115.
Erev Shabbos Parashas Vayera 5772 Dear Parents, The events of this week’s Parsha unfold in the plains of Mamre. Who was Mamre? The Midrash Rabba (Bereishis 42:8) tells us he was an associate of Avrohom Avinu, who gave him good advice about the Bris Milah that Hashem commanded Avrohom to perform. The obvious question is why would Avrohom ask advice about whether or not to follow Hashem’s command? He didn’t consult about whether to follow Hashem’s order to go to Eretz Canaan or to perform the Akeidah on his son! The Taz on the Torah (quoted in Sefer Chiddushei HaLev p.64) explained that in truth, Hashem’s instruction to Avrohom about the circumcision was not a Mitzva, an absolute command but a Reshus, an option, a good idea that would benefit mankind. As Jews and as parents we face many decisions. When it is a question of Torah law or practice, there is undoubtedly only one address for our questions – an halachic authority. But, most of our issues are in the realm of Reshus – option. Here too, it would benefit us to go to the highest Torah authority available. However, that is not always practical, and many times others might prove even more beneficial. We learn this as well from Avrohom. Rav Zev Leff has suggested that the reason Avrohom sought counsel from Mamre, and not Shem and Ever who were the highest authorities of the day was because Avrohom was seeking creative angles and inspiration with which to perform the directive in the best way possible. As to why he sought counsel from those not as great as he, that was possibly learned from Hashem himself, Who consulted with mere angels when creating man. Furthermore, in Pirkei Avos (1:6) we’re told to “acquire a friend…” - not necessarily one who is on a higher level, but one in whom you can place your trust, and will give objective advice, because as a good friend, he has your best interests in mind. The need for advice is to access an objective opinion - someone outside of oneself, who is not subject to personal bias. The critical point in seeking and getting advice is seeing your situation from an objective point of view. No person can achieve that by himself – we are all biased to see things in accordance with our self-interests and desires, to a greater or lesser degree. This applies to any situation. It is especially relevant in relationships and in raising children.
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page 2 At every stage and phase of a child’s development there are questions and issues that arise, requiring a decision that will hopefully steer the child along the best path for his or her future success. All too often a parent, guardian or teacher will not act in the child’s best interests, because their decision is clouded by their own needs and feelings. For example, a parent may allow a child to hang out with certain (not so desirable) friends because they’re afraid of losing the child’s love if they say no. Parents allow themselves to be pressured by their children into buying all manner of digital gadgetry, (without really investigating the potential damage they could be causing), without even realizing that they themselves want to `keep up’ with their friends and neighbors. A teacher may design academic work at too low a level thinking they’re helping their students succeed while subconsciously they want to be known as a teacher whose students all get high grades. As mentioned above, not everyone has easy access to a Rabbi, mentor or even a wise older person to guide them through life’s innumerable issues. There is no one, however, who cannot find a friend, who may not have all the answers, but is able to be objective about their friend’s issues. Their qualifications are they need to be sincere, they want what’s best for you and/or your children, and they won’t flatter you by always agreeing with your point of view. Mamre gave good advice to Avrohom Avinu, because he imagined, if I were Avrohom, what would I do. He had Avrohom’s interests in mind, without the subjective bias that Avrohom might have had. Avrohom could follow his advice with confidence. With the proper friend, we can confidently guide and direct our children to ensure the future we hope and pray they achieve. Have a friendly, well-guided Shabbos,
Rabbi Kalman Baumann Principal
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e would like to thank the parent who forwarded the following New York Times article about children and sleep. It is an appropriate follow-up to Rabbi Baumann’s letter about focusing on basics when helping our children.
A VISIT FROM THE VETERANS!
The 4th and 5th grade boys and girls were honored with a visit from two veterans who shared their stories in honor of Veterans Day. Our thanks to Dr. Sheldon Zane, (Major, U.S. Army, retired) & Mr. Sy Shweky, (Sergeant, U.S. Air Force, retired) for taking time to enlighten us. We salute you!!!
