mds messenger november 9, 2012

Candle Lighting Time - 4:25 PM

Volume 12, Issue 6 November 9, 2012 פרשת חיי שרה בס"ד

And the Winners Are... By Nitzan Cohen, [email protected], Ally Cooper, [email protected], and Yona Glass, [email protected]

It is undeniable that the country has been charged up with the excitement about the Presidential Election. This excitement has not escaped the attention of some of the youngest MDS citizens. Over the past couple of weeks the children have been discussing the presidential candidates with their parents and families, classmates and friends, and have even been attentive to the changes in the city around them. The students were able to understand the role of a leader based on the leaders they experi-ence in their daily lives: Mom and Dad are the leaders at home, the morah is the lead-er in the classroom, Rabbi Besser is the leader at school. In the Nursery 4 classrooms the students began by focusing on the roles of the President of the United States of America. The children participated in multiple discussions about the important char-acteristics of a president and what the job of the president entails. Books, such as My Teacher for President, by Kay Winters and Duck for President, by Doreen Walton, were read aloud to give the children a closer look at the campaign and voting process.

The election greatly lends itself to language development by building vocab-ulary to include new words such as ballot, election, vote, and candidate. It also provides the children with the opportunity to build their understanding of the environment and community they live in and on a broader scale to demonstrate the impact that a single individual or small group can have on the entire country.

Finally as a culmination activity, the children cast their vote for Barack Obama or Mitt Romney. After naming the candi-dates, the children discussed who these two men are. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney were familiar names for most of the children and the classes discussed how Barack Obama could be president for four more years or Mitt Romney could become president if he won the election. Each child received a ballot with both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney on it and a check box for each. The chil-dren were each given the opportunity to privately fill in their ballot and cast their vote. Creating an “in class election” and casting ballots provided the children with the opportunity to graph, compile, and review the results of a vote. They were able to complete their individual ballot and then compare theirs to those of their classmates. The children created a graph representing the votes cast for each candidate and were able to activate their knowledge of graphing to determine the results. Each class came to a different con-clusion and in one class it was too close to call! This only made the results of the U.S. election all the more exciting. The children couldn’t wait to come to school the on Wednesday to discover and discuss who would be our next president of the United States of America!

Volume 12, Issue 6 November 9, 2012 פרשת חיי שרה


MDS Students Vote! By Holly Tanz, [email protected], and Rebecca Gotlib, [email protected]

The candidates running for student government presented their speeches to grades 5-8 on Monday, and we offer congratula-tions to all the candidates and winners:

Presidents: Hannah Hudes and Alexander Wildes Vice Presidents: Sophie Samuels and Jacob Feit-Mann Grade 6 Class Representatives: Jeremy Ascher and Lauren Elmann Grade 5 Class Representatives: Charlotte Steinblatt and David Feit-Mann Later, the 8th Grade under the direction of Ms. Susan Kurnit prepared a magnificent Election Day program. The students

highlighted the candidates’ views on major issues. Then, on Election Day, students in grades 5-8 cast their votes on computers for both student government and Federal Government. The students engaged in discussions sharing their views with one another. We have also been busy writing letters to soldiers for Veterans Day. With this past week being centered around all things political in our discussions of student government, letters to the veterans, and our expressed desire over what can be done to help those affected by the storm, we have been very busy, indeed. In our class, we have focused on learning about the issues involved in the election pro-cess, tying our personal opinions about important needs in our school and our country in with the Presidential election. We are study-ing those basic ideas that help to govern our country, our school, and ourselves, while we are determining the best way to help all those in need. We have come together to learn, understand, and remain strong in persevering through difficult situations.

REMINDER:

Due to Faculty In-Service Workshops,

there will be no school on Monday, November 12th.



Voice of the Students By Messenger Staff

Thank you to Ms. Susan Kurnit for organizing an outstanding Election Day program featuring the seniors engaged in a de-bate about the critical issues of the campaign. Thank you to Mrs. Leora Berkowitz Sulimanoff and Rabbi Jeremy Litton for organiz-ing a wonderful student council campaign.



On the Campaign Trail with Mitt Romney By Estee (8G) and Hanna (5G) Gerber

It was a freezing cold night just after Shabbat last week, and we were being rushed off to Ohio. Why to Ohio? Don’t they only sell corn and feed cows there? Why would we rush off to who-knows- land where all they do is eat corn? We were puzzled by these very questions as we flew into Ohio. The WHOLE plane ride there my dad was explaining exactly why we were going there. It had something to do with the fact that Ohio was a swing state, meaning that Ohio could go either Democratic or Republican, and their votes count a lot. If Ohio is won, the election is basically decided.

We were going to knock on doors for Romney, telling people the great things Romney will do for us. However all these plans changed as soon as we got to my dad’s friend’s house who was hosting us. My dad’s friend, Josh Mandel, was running for Sen-ator for Ohio (he was presently Treasurer of Ohio) and he had invited us to hear him and Bayner and some other Republicans speak. How could we pass that up that opportunity? So late the next morning we headed off to a shopping district, ready to help the cam-paign. We met a lot of famous Republicans like John Boehner, current Speaker of the House of Representatives, and we actually rode on his bus which was pretty cool. We also met some other candidates who were running for various positions in the government.

Right after Josh Mandel had spoken, we quickly rushed back into the car and followed Josh and his crew to the IX Center where we were going to meet Mitt Romney! Because we were with Josh, we went backstage to wait with Josh and his family. Final-ly, Mitt Romney came and we all rushed to greet him. Romney, who has met my dad a lot, said, “Hey, Sander, how’s my favorite New Yorker doing?” It was pretty cool and we all got a picture with him. We finally had to go on stage but we didn’t have to sit in the bleachers, we stood right around the stage next to the Romney bus. We met more Republicans like Mitt Romney’s camgain managers Spencer and Beth Myers and Mitt Romney’s brother and some Secret Service agents… Finally, we had to go or we were going to miss the flight! We made the flight, and as we were sitting down, we thought of how Ohioans did not just grow corn all day.



MDS Reaches Out to Hurricane Sandy Victims By Aviva Yablok, Early Childhood Department Director, [email protected]

Manhattan Day School parents and children came through for our Lower East Side community. We were told that as a result of Hurricane Sandy, the store shelves downtown were empty and food was scarce. One e- mail was sent to our MDS Family and donations began pouring in. We collected, milk, yogurt, cheese, bread, chicken, gefilte fish, meat, eggs, and so much more. Eve-rything was loaded onto the Lower East Side bus and sent downtown. The notes and emails expressing thanks were numerous and heartfelt. We received the following email from a recipient: “I am one of the people who benefited from your food packages. I just want to tell you how much you helped us. My 4-year-old has PDD and can be very difficult at times. His diet consists of mostly bread and cheese. We went to relatives in Brooklyn during the blackout and came back Sunday afternoon. After cleaning out my fridge and freezer, I went to the local supermarkets to restock. None of the stores had any bread or kosher cheese. My son went to bed without supper Sunday night because he didn’t like anything we had. He still wouldn’t eat on Monday and couldn’t go to school because there was no school bus. At some point during the day, I took him to the pizza shop and ordered him a bagel with American cheese just so he wouldn’t starve. Late afternoon, I received your package, containing a 3 pounds of American cheese, a package of string cheese, 2 containers of cream cheese, and a loaf of bread. My son was so happy to have food he likes for supper. Thank you.” We received the following email from former MDS parents and Lower East Side residents Arlene and Ephraim Arfe: “As parents of former MDS students, we want to thank the students, parents, and faculty of MDS for reaching out to the Lower East Side community with your food drive after Hurricane Sandy. It was a wonderful gesture of solidarity with fellow Jews in need. Kol HaKavod to you for this act of Chesed which you undertook.” We received the following email from current MDS parents and Lower East Side residents Chana and Avi Zomberg: “As a Lower East Side family, we just want to say thank you for thinking of us. Baruch HaShem we are not in need of anything but it means a lot to be thought of.” We were amazed that we did not merely receive thank you notes from the recipients, but also from the givers! We received the following email from MDS parent Yaffa Sauer: “I saw an e-mail that MDS sent out from fellow parent Staci Segal asking for food for people on the Lower East side. I live in Kew Gardens Hills (Queens) and we Baruch Hashem were minimally affected by the storm and have plenty of food in our stores. I sent out an e-mail on Midreshet Adina a local chesed e-mail list at 6pm Monday night requesting perishable food (that's what the e-mail asked for). I encouraged everyone to participate in this mitzvah at any level explaining that this was a great way to include our children. I said even one pack of cheese (a requested item)($3 or $4) would be help-ful. Many people in our community want to help but don't have space to house people or the means to write significant checks, but this was a way that everyone could be involved. I myself took my children to the supermarket (we had to walk be-cause we had no gas) gave them a few dollars to choose some yogurts (another requested item) and they paid for it themselves so that they were actual-ly a part of the mitzvah. I later heard several fami-lies also did this. I had planned on sending the food with my son Dovi (7B) on the bus in the morning. As the packages arrived from people in our community, Dovi helped carry and load the items into the basement fridge. By 10:30 pm, both my fridges and freezer were full! There was no way the food would fit on the bus. A very kind neighbor, Shaindy Glaser, offered to drive the food directly to the Lower East Side the next day. She only had a half a tank of gas left but felt that a for a mitzvah she would use it (in Kew Garden Hills there is limited gas and huge lines of over two hours, but in the city she found a station with gas and “only” had to wait an hour. Hashem just wants us to make the effort and He will provide for us.) MDS Parent Mr. Nachum Segal met us by his apartment and unloaded the boxes and later in the day his wife Staci distributed the food items. Mitzvah gorreres mitzvah, may we always be zocheh to be involved in the wheel of doing good.” [Continued next page]



MDS Reaches Out to Hurricane Sandy Victims By Aviva Yablok, Early Childhood Department Director, [email protected]

We also received the following email from MDS Parent Sarah Kloepfer: “As soon as my husband and I received the email about the food drive for the Lower East Side, we both felt that this would be a wonderful chesed opportunity for our son, Joshua. I was picking him up at school that day and I had an hour after picking up Joshua before we had to get our older son, Jonathan. The minute I found Joshua at dismissal, I explained to him what our chesed project would be and gave him the list of food items that were requested. We trotted off to Fairway and discussed how Hurricane Sandy had left so many people in need. I told Joshua that this was his project and his mitzvah; I was simply there to help out. As we walked into Fairway, Joshua looked around and told me that fruit was very important for people who did not have food. He looked at the oranges and tangerines, and filled two bags. He then decided that apples and pears would also be helpful. Next, we passed the dairy section. I immediately suggested a package of American Cheese. Joshua told me that my selection was fine. However, he felt that if he did not have food, he would want Muenster cheese. Muenster cheese was added to our groceries. Joshua then saw meat on the list, so he led me to the kosher meat section. He looked at me earnestly and told me that if he did not have meat, he would want a steak. He promptly selected two London broils. Joshua then said that chickens would certainly be wel-come. I handed him a chicken and he told me that he wanted to send two; after all, there were lots of hungry people to feed. Joshua was empathizing with the victims of Hurricane Sandy! We checked out of Fairway and Joshua proudly carried a large portion of his grocery donation back to MDS. He truly felt that he made a difference in people’s lives. As he became engaged in his chesed project, he put himself in a less fortunate person’s shoes. As parents, Curtis and I shepped so much nachas from watching our son develop an appreciation for the need to support and sustain those who have less.” In addition to our Lower East Side food drive, which has now ended, we also participated in an initiative by Lincoln Square Synagogue to donate clothing items to displaced individuals in shelters. We received the following email from Rebbetzin Sarah Rob-inson of Lincoln Square Synagogue in response to the MDS donations: “I wanted to thank all at MDS for the wonderful response to the youth initiated clothing drive at Lin-coln Square Syna-gogue last week. A large amount of clothing, toys and books were collected, and we are delighted to report that much was delivered to two shelters in the city. We know that the clothing and other items were very well received, and wanted to pass on the appre-ciation to all of the MDS family. Ap-peals for particular items continue and sadly people will be in need for some time; I know the JCC and many synagogues continue to collect necessary items. Thank you so very much for your help.” The MDS community is an ex-ample of chesed. We live it and we teach it to our chil-dren. Tizku Lemitz-vot.



Reflections on Hurricane Sandy By Julie Averbuch, Reading Coordinator, [email protected]

The students of afterschool Reader’s-Writer’s Café took time to reflect upon the difficul-ties we faced during Hurricane Sandy and recognize the many acts of chessed they experienced. Gilad Shadian (1A): “I had no power in my building. I walked down 40 floors to the lobby. When I got to the lobby, I saw water flowing. I had to remove my shoes. We had to stay at my friend’s house. I learned that we have to help one another. Rafaela Torrosian (2C): “ My mom invited her best friend Yanna to charge her phone and com-puter. She had no electricity. I learned that you should always think about other people.” Sandy Yedid (1C): “I lost power and I went to my grandma’s house in Brooklyn. I stayed there for four days. I am thankful for my family.” Ava Eden (3A): “We brushed our teeth and drank from bottled water. Since we didn’t lose power, we watched the news and saw that many people’s homes were damaged. We donated clothing to people that needed them. I learned to be thankful and to be willing to give.” Jordana Broome (2A): “I had power in my home. Two people came to my house and stayed with us for two days. I learned that you should be nice to your guests.” Ella Shwirtz (3A): “We were very lucky because we didn’t lose power. My mommy invited her friend to stay over with her dog Lilly. I learned from Hurricane Sandy that you should be very thankful and always help others.” Madeline Dolfman (1C): “My cousins and my mom’s family lost power so seven people stayed in my house. Everyone helped to make food.” Leah Roth (3A): “The hurricane was terrible. After the storm, my mom made a big pot of chilly and we gave it to the Red Hook Ini-tiative. Two days later we wanted to volunteer. The line of people wanting to volunteer was huge. I learned that you should always care about your community. You should always care and make sure everybody has whatever they need. You should also try to vol-unteer and donate items you don’t need anymore. Now I will always try to look out for people I don’t know.” Chaya Friedman (1A): “We didn’t lose power in my apart-ment building. I felt very lucky because some people did lose power.” Gabi Mero (1A): “I did not lose power in my house. I heard a tree fall down near my house. My Aunt came to run in the Marathon but it was can-celled. She stayed with us during the hurricane. After the storm, my aunt opened the door and a cat came in and ran under the sofa. We took care of the cat until the owner came knocking on the door. I learned from Hurricane Sandy that animals need help just like humans.”

Reader’s - Writer’s Cafe



Join MDS in Helping the Long Beach Community

This Sunday, November 11th, MDS will be participating in relief efforts to assist the Long Beach Community. As you may know, the Long Beach Community was affected by Hurricane Sandy and experienced significant damage.

Schedule (subject to change):

9:45 AM Meet at The Jewish Center, 131 West 86th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus.

Buses leave promptly at 10 AM

11:15-11:30 AM Buses escorted by Rabbi Goodman for a quick tour of the havoc brought to the Long Beach community

11:30-1:30 PM Groups disperse to different parts of the community to assist with the clean-up and deliveries

1:30-2:30 PM Lunch generously provided by My Most Favorite Food will be served to volunteers and residents of the community.

2:30 PM Mincha

2:45 PM Words of thanks

3:00 PM Buses leave Long Beach promptly

4:00 PM Buses arrive at Jewish Center

Note that the volunteers will be meeting at 9:45AM, and the buses will leave promptly at 10 AM.

We looks forward to your participation. RSVP to [email protected].

Suggestion of helpful items to bring/donate: Cleaning supplies, flashlights with extra batteries, diapers & wipes, formula, canned foods, canned soup, fresh apples, 24

hour candles and 3 day candles (ideally in glass), activity books for kids, underwear (new), socks for kids and adults (new), chocolate bars, sugar, instant coffee, balls for kids/games, boots. Your support will be deeply appreciated.

mailto:[email protected]�



Our Classroom Store By Stephanie Bronstein, [email protected]

In third and fourth grade math, we have been learning all about money, including adding and subtracting it and looking at different types of coins. We have enjoyed experimenting with our “play” money and counting how much we have including making change. We love using the money that we have to buy different items around the classroom. We hope the skills that we have learned with money will help us in our everyday lives!

Rabbi Besser Presents at Torah Umesorah By Messenger Staff

This past Sunday, Rabbi Besser was one of the leaders of the Torah Umesorah Principals’ Professional Development Day in Chicago. The major part program included leadership expert Jim Eck of Mcrel speaking about the Balanced Leadership Framework Program.



My Visit to Argentina By Ariella Kaplan, 2C

My name is Ariella Kaplan and I just came back from Buenos Aires, Ar-gentina. I traveled to Argentina for my uncle’s wedding. In Argentina they speak Spanish and since I speak to my mother in Spanish, I knew what everyone was say-ing. I have lots of family in Argentina and at my uncle’s wedding I was a flower girl with my cousins. The wedding started in the morning and went on until late at night. At the wedding there was a lot of dancing. I had a great time at wedding and I also finally met my new aunt, Tama-ra, who is a beautiful bride. In Argentina there is a Kosher McDonald’s in a big shopping mall and right next to it there is an amusement park. My sister and I had a lot of fun go-ing on the rides. The pizza in Argentina is very different, every slice of pizza has an olive on top and the cheese is different too. In Argentina the taxis are half black and half yellow. In the city of Buenos Aires it never snows and now it is Spring there but it feels like Summer. My cous-ins, aunts, and uncles speak a lot of Hebrew. There are a lot of Jewish people in Buenos Aires and there are many Kosher restaurants and stores that sell cloth and materials. There are many candy stores, one on each corner, some are even outdoors and have shelves full of candy. I love Argentina!!!!

Preparing for Chagigat HaChumash By Nelly Brody, [email protected]

The second graders are getting ready to receive their chu-mashim! Our actors, actresses, singers, and dancers are rehearsing for our upcoming “Off Broadway” production. Most importantly, our students are acquiring tools and skills which will enable them to break down and decipher the words of a passuk in chumash. We are currently working on shorashim- root words and prefixes, which will help our students transition smoothly into learning chumash so they can ulti-mately be-come inde-pendent Torah learn-ers. We are enjoying the path to this important and exciting milestone of receiving our chu-mashim!



Our MDS Surrealists By Linda Kastner, [email protected]

“Uninhibited minds, unreal spaces, fanta-sy depicted realistically, whimsical creatures, bizarre and unrelated objects in dream-like settings.” All of these describe the surrealis-tic movement’s artwork of the early 20th century. Art-ists such as Miro, Dali, Tan-guy, Chagall, Ernst, and DeChirico set out to explore the unconscious mind though their art and in doing so, created an art movement that was highly imaginative, and a bit eerie. Most people enjoy looking at surrealist paintings as it can remove your from reality and put you into a new and different time and space.

After learning about this exciting art movement and looking at the paintings done by the artists that created this style, our 7th grade boys came up with their own dream-like settings filled with imagina-tive creatures, juxtaposi-tions, and unreal space. Using acrylic paint to mix unusual color combinations, students worked on extra-large large canvases to ac-commodate their extra-large free-spirited imaginations. They attacked their canvas-es with confidence - fear-lessly adding, changing and manipulating images until they were pleased with their results. It was all very ex-hilarating. In fact the paintings are so exciting, we put them on display in our main gallery located outside the cafeteria. Check out this wonderful surrealist exhibit by our 7th grade boys.



Snapshots of the Shema By Mrs. Bethany Strulowitz, [email protected]

The students in Mrs. Strulowitz’s 8G Chu-mash class spent some time recently to explore the deeper meaning of the Shema as it appears in Parshat VaEtchanan. They began their study by carefully examining the psukim and then created stunning col-lages which they felt illustrated the words and sym-bolism of the tefillah (prayer). Through this project, the students also had an opportunity to sharpen their spatial thinking skills as they determined how to best lay out their pictures in a visually appealing way! We are so proud of our original snapshots of the She-ma, and we hope to use our collages to gain a deeper awareness of the beauty of tefillah!

Estee Gerber: In Chumash we were told to design a collage with the aspects of “Shma” glued on. I glued on a Tzadaka box because in Shma it said how we should use our hands to do Mitzvot. I placed a Mezu-za because it says we should have a Mezuza on our doorpost. I put on a number 1 because Hashem is number one. I put on teeth because it says we use our teeth to do Mitzvot. I put on a house to represent our houses where we should be doing Mitzvot. I placed a family because you should teach your kids the Mitz-vot. I put on a diamond to show possession. I put on Tiffilin because in Shma it says we should wear Tifillin. I put on a Torah because in Shma it says we should observer and follow the Torah. I put on a heart to symbolize our hearts, and we should love Hashem in our hearts. I put on a baby to represent love because who doesn’t love babies? I put on an ear because we need to hear and listen to Hashem. I put on a sign meaning we should choose the right path. And I put on a sun with fields surrounding it to symbolize Hashem and all he can do for us. Rachelli Zomberg: All of the eighth grade girls made a collage that had to represent shema. In my collage, I put an ear for “Shema” which means to listen. I put a heart because in the pasuk it says ” על“לבבך which means today upon your heart. And I put

men wearing tefillin because it says ” והיו לטטפת בין“עינך which translates to blind them as a sign upon

your arm and let them be tefillin between your eyes.



Snapshots of the Shema Submitted by Mrs. Bethany Strulowitz, [email protected]

Devora Goldstein: I chose to put images of tefillin and a boy wearing tefillin because the mitsva of tefillin is mentioned in the Shema. I put pictures of various different possessions one might have because you should love Hashem with all of them. I placed a heart because the shema states you should love Hashem with all your heart. I also put a picture of an ear and a stethoscope for shema Yisrael – hear/listen Israel. I put a number one because Hashem is one.

Alissa Mackey: In Chumash we made shema collages. In my shema collage, I put a clock symbolizing that when the time for shema arrives we must excitedly visit the world of G-D, and da-ven for what we want and need. I also put an ear, because we listen and hear shema which tells us all that Hashem expects from his children. I put lips because we must mouth the holy words so they fill us with even more kavana. I also put a trail and a car, because even when we are on our ways, far from home, we are still obligated to say shema. I put a diamond because in the she-ma we are commanded to serve and love Hashem with all our possessions, even our most special and dear ones. I put a heart symbolizing that no matter where or when we are we must al-ways love Hashem sincerely. I put a big, and prominent number one showing that Hashem is our only G-D, and soon they whole world will realize this. I put a picture of teffilin because we are commanded to follow this mitzvah in the shema.



8G Devar Torah Project: Chayyei Sarah Submitted by Bethany Strulowitz, [email protected]; Devar Torah written by Helena Dweck, 8G

Joe burst open the door and exclaimed “You could have it at half price!” Morris said, “I want to pay the full price. “ Joe insisted, “but we’re good friends.” Morris refused to take it unless it was full price. Joe screamed, “Okay, okay, the full price is one hundred thousand dollars.” Morris quickly took out his checkbook and wrote him a check for the full amount. Parashat Chayei Sarah begins by letting us know that Sarah passes away at one hundred and twenty seven years old in Kiryat Arba. The passuk says that she passed away at “one hundred years and twenty years and seven years.” Rashi asked why the word “years” needs to be repeated after each number. He then explains that it corresponds to the different periods in Sarah’s life. At one hundred years old, she had no sins just like a twenty year old because until age twenty, a person’s sins are not counted in the Beit Din shel Ma’aleh. At age twenty, Sarah still had the beauty of a seven year old. After Sarah’s death, Avraham eulogized his wife and then decided to purchase a burial plot for his wife from the people of Chet. The people of Chet said that he could have the burial site for free. However, Avraham said that he wanted to pay full price for המכפלה Avraham argued with Efron, and he insisted that he wanted to pay the full price of theמערת. field. Efron finally mentioned that it was four hundred silver shekels. Avraham paid the price and Sarah was buried there. Avraham let his servant Eliezer know that it is time to find a wife for his son, Yitzchak. Avraham did not want Eliezer to find one from the girls of Canaan; rather he wanted Eliezer to look for a wife in the land where he was born. Eliezer was worried that a girl might not want to come back to Canaan, but Avraham assured him that it would all be okay. Eliezer took ten camels and he started traveling to Aram Naharayim. Eliezer made a sign with Hashem that, if a woman walks by, he would request water from her. If she gives him and his camels’ water, then Eliezer would know that she was the right woman. And Rivkah did exactly that! Eliezer gave her the jewelry that he brought for Yitzchak’s new wife; afterwards he asked her what fam-ily she was from. Rashi asks how could he make her the wife of Yitzchak without knowing what family she was from? Rashi answers that he was convinced that Rivkah was from Avraham’s family once he saw her good midot. The passukim describe Rivkah as very beautiful, and Rashi explains that she was pure in every way. A meaningful lesson can be learned from this. You should always be prepared at any time to do mitzvot; they bring you closer to Hashem in several ways. You should do them quickly without hesitation known as .זריזותFor example when your mother or father ask you to do something you usually say “later” and push it off to the side. This teaches you to do it immediately and show respect towards others by listening right away. At her father’s house, Eliezer gave Rivkah the jewelry that he brought her. Eliezer met Lavan, Rivkah’s brother, and told him his plan to bring Rivkah back to Yitzchak as a wife. Lavan requested that Rivkah remain at home for another year. But Eliezer said that he would rather her come back now. They decided to let Rivkah make the decision and the Passuk says “ותאמר אלך”- Rivkah said that she would go. So Rivkah left with Eliezer on the camels. Back in Canaan, Yitzchak went out to the field to have a conversation before the even-ing time just as the camels were arriving. The mefarshim ask what does בשדה לשוחmean? Rashi and the Kli Yakar answer that it is a La-shon of Tefillah, specifically Tefillat Mincha, which is said before the evening time. When Rivkah saw Yitzchak, she fell off the camel. Yitzchak then went to meet his wife and Yitzchak brought her to his mother’s tent, and they were married. Avraham married a wife named ,קטורהand had many children. Avraham gave all that he had to Yitzchak, and then passed away at one hundred and seventy five years old. He was bur-ied in המכפלה מערתwith his wife, Sarah. The Parasha ends describing the descendants of Yishmael, and tells us that Yishmael died at one hundred and thirty seven years old.



Parents Council Used Book Fair a Success! By Alexandra Klein

This year, the Parents Coun-cil decided to hold their first-ever annual used book fair, with 100% of the proceeds going to MDS...and it was a resounding success! We re-ceived countless donations and had a wide variety of children’s books, adult books, seforim, and Judaica. Book Fair co-chairpeople Shari Friedman (Mia, 1C; Reese, N4C; Jordyn, T1), Pooneh Kaplan (Megan, N3) and Alexandra Klein (Regina, 2A) organized the event—collecting and arranging donated books, setting up the fair and recruiting volunteers to help with the sales. The event raised money to fund Parents Council programs and was also a great re-source for updating classroom librar-ies. Book that were left unsold were donated to HousingWorks, where they will be sold to raise money for Hurricane Sandy victims. Many thanks to all the volunteers for their help: Zohar Taragin, Karen Tamir, Marcy Salwen, Julie Ackerman, Renata Muzis, Limor Gutkind, Shoshana Dachs, Jill Wildes, Ludmila Korchnoy, Zhanna Torossian, Lenore Ades, and Meira Harris Rechtshaffen. And to everyone who purchased books for supporting a great cause. We look forward to making this an annual event at MDS!

Parents Council School Uniform Program By Parents Council Presidium

As soon as we announced our School Uniform Program, our drop-off box began filling up. For a week and a half, parents dropped off their kids’ outgrown school uni-forms (pants, skirts and sweaters, plus white and blue shirts) which were collected by co-Chairpeople Pia Ru-bin (Tova, 6G), Rachel Solomons (Avichai, 7B; Aaron, 5B; Tova, 2A) and Riva Atik (Galia, 4G; Avi, N4B). The team spent time sorting through uniforms to choose those that were fit to give away and creating a beautiful display in our lower lobby. This week, parents stopped by to choose uniforms for their kids. Says MDS mom Renata Kadoe, “I think it is a great idea - very practical and eco-friendly.” Most of the uniforms found new homes in new closets and the remaining items will be put away for another uniform swap later in the year. Thanks to those who contributed uniforms and to all parents who shopped the racks!



PT Conference Sign Up Now OPEN

Conference Sign Up is now open.

Conference Sign Up will close on Wednesday, November 14th, at 11:59 pm.

Conferences will take place on Sunday, November 18th.

Start / End Times: Early Childhood Department Conferences will take place from 9 am— 3:30 pm

Special Education Conferences will take place from 9 am— 3:30 pm Grades 1-4 Conferences will take place from 9 am— 6 pm Grades 5-8 Conferences will take place from 9 am—5 pm

Conference Length:

Early Childhood Department Conferences will be 15 minutes each. Special Education Conferences for grades 1 - 6 will be 20 minutes each. Special Education Conferences for grades 7 - 8 will be 10 minutes each.

Conferences for grades 1 - 8 will be 10 minutes each. If you have children in multiple divisions, the system will prevent you from creating scheduling conflicts.

How to sign up:

Log into ParentLocker. Remember to type your entire email address (including @____.com) in the username section. If you have never activated your account, please contact Atara, [email protected], to request an activation code.

On the left side of your screen, select PT Conferences. Then choose your conferences! You will be able to print out and email this list. If you have any questions about this process, please contact Atara, [email protected] or Yehudit, [email protected].

Childcare: To save you the hassle of having to arrange a babysitter for your conferences, childcare for kids of all ages will be available in the

school library all day for a cost of $8 per child. This service is only available for the duration of your conference times. Please email Dori Shwirtz, [email protected], to sign up in advance.

mailto:[email protected],�



ECD Toy Drive, 11/12-26

Manhattan Day School Early Childhood Department CHANUKAH TOY DRIVE

Toys will be distributed to children at Chanukah parties held by organizations such as Jewish Family Service, Tomchei Shabbos, Ohel Children’s Home, Bikur

Cholim, Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, OTSAR, Emunah, and Chai Life-line.

We ask and hope that you contribute one (or more), UNWRAPPED, NEW toys.

Boxes for the toy collections will be on the second floor and in the lobby, through Monday, November 26.

Let’s continue to teach our children how to be involved in acts of chesed through-out the year.

*While this is called a “toy” drive, please remember that some of the recipients are older children. Ideas for this age group include sports equipment, tapes and CDs (Hebrew music is especially appreciated), books,

diaries and journals, radios, watches etc.



ECD Thanksgiving Day Parade, 11/21

EARLY CHILDHOOD ANNUAL

THANKSGIVING PARADE

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2012

9:30 A.M. BEGINS AT 310 WEST 75TH

PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS, BABIES…..

EVERYONE IS WELCOME !!!

* RAIN DATE, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26



Grade 8 Yachad Shabbaton, 11/10

Please make a tax-deductible donation:

___ $ 100 (Bronze Sponsor) ___ $ 180 (Sliver Sponsor) ___ $ 250 (Gold Sponsor) ___ $ 500 (Platinum Sponsor) ___ Other ____________

Please make checks to MDS and write Yachad in the memo. Please bring the checks to Rachel in the Business Office. It is

also possible to donate on our website. If you have any questions, please contact Jamie Bunin at [email protected].

Thank you for helping to make this Shabbaton a success!

Yachad is an organiza on dedicated to individuals with special needs. The main goal of Yachad is to integrate Yachad members with individu‐als in communi es. One division of Yachad deals with children. On No‐vember 10th, the eighth graders at MDS will be joining the junior divi‐sion of Yachad for a Shabbaton at MDS. We invite all members of the MDS family to please help the eighth graders par cipate in this amazing

MDS

8th Grade

Yachad Shabbaton

mailto:[email protected]�



MDS Parents Council Thank Yous

MDS PARENTS COUNCIL WANTS TO THANK YOU!!!

Thank you to Shari Friedman (Mia, 1C; Reese, N4C; Jordyn, T1) Pooneh Kaplan (Megan, N3) and Alex Klein (Regina, 2A), co-chairs of the First Annual MDS Used Book Fair for doing an incredible job. Many thanks to all the volunteers:

Zohar Taragin, Karen Tamir, Marcy Salwen, Julie Ackerman, Renata Muzis, Limor Gutkind, Shoshana Dachs, Jill Wildes, Ludmila Korchnoy, Zhanna Torossian, Lenore

Ades, Meira Harris Rechtshaffen. And thank you to everyone who donated their books for such a good cause!! Not only did we raise money for MDS Parent Council but all books that weren’t sold were donated to Hurricane Sandy victims, Housing Works,

teachers’ classroom collections and the (Rabbi Yablok’s) organization. Thank you!!!!

Thank you to Pia Rubin (Tova, 6G), Riva Atlas (Galia, 4G; Robert, N4B) and Rachel Solomons (Avichai, 7B; Aaron, 5B; Tova, 2A) for running the School

Uniform Program. The uniforms were available in the lower lobby all week for par-ents to take at no charge. Thank you to everyone who donated their gently-used uni-

forms—you will be happy to know they were put to good use!

Thank you to Lisa Staiman (Zachary, N4B) for organizing a great Family Fun Day--the Knicks vs 76’ers basketball game at Madison Square Garden. The event was sold

out and everyone had a blast!



MDS Umbrellas Now On Sale!

MDS UMBRELLAS NOW ON SALE!!!

In the Business Office $10 EACH

Let your school spirit shine…even when it’s raining!



Chanukah Boutique 12/1

Help your class win an ice cream party!

Submit your box tops to Sharon Newman In a bag with your name and class on it!

The contest is on…

Which class will win?



Share the News About MDS!

Recruitment for 2013-14 is underway!!

If you are aware of a family interested in a Torah-based,

developmentally appropriate Early Childhood Program for their 2-5 year old, please encourage them to contact

Cindy Sherman, Director of Admissions, [email protected], to arrange a tour.



Manhattan Day School 310 West 75th Street New York, New York

Tel: 212-376-6800 Fax: 212-376-6389

www.mdsweb.org

Tel: 212-376-6800 Fax: 212-376-6389

Email all articles and graphics to Yehudit Robinson,

Director of Educational Technology, [email protected]

…

Thank you for keeping our school a nut-aware environment.

Please join our daily parent tehillim group which meets in the library at 8:15 AM.

Shabbat Shalom! By Messenger Staff

In the MDS Family… Mazal tov

to Leora and Nati Sulimanoff and Yitzy (N3) and Chana on the birth of a baby boy (pictured right).

Mazal tov

to Sharon Newman on the bris of her grandson Isaiah Al-exander born to Dr. Jacob and Celia Newman and Mazal tov to Sharon Newman on the birth of a grandson to Joseph and Melissa Newman.

The family of Herbert Lauer greatly appreciates your kindness during this very dif-

ficult time. Your calls, emails, letters, donations and support have given us strength and have added to our wonderful memories of a special man. With thanks and appreciation, Morah Eileen, Neil, and Rachel.

mds messenger november 9, 2012

Documents

class election

mitt romney

barack obama

presidential election

individual ballot

pm mds students

pm page

candle lighting time