V'ahavta... ?ЕЮДАЗ? ?Stellar Education for Every Jewish Child? Jan. 9, 2015 Tevet 18, 5775 Local Mutual Funds Expert Visits Mr. Lewis?s Class ╥ Guest Speaker Visit 1 ╥ Give or Get Pgm. 2 ╥ Chanukah Carnival 3 ╥ PEP Schedule 5 ╥ Mishloach Manot Information 7 ╥ After School Pgm. 10 ╥ Art at RTA 11 ╥ Photo Ops Info 13 ╥ Parsha 14 Mr. Eric Shoenfeld, the Senior Vice President of Investments at The Mutual Fund Store in Richmond, spoke to Mr. Lewis's Economics class this past Tuesday. Mr. Shoenfeld, whose daughter Phoebe will enter RTA in the autumn of 2015, spoke to the 7th and 8th graders about (You guessed it!) Mutual Funds, and answered a broad array of questions from a roomful of 12-14 year olds eager to hear about Mutual Funds, investment instruments designed to lower risk through broad portfolio diversification. Candle Lighting Friday, Jan. 9 4:51 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 10 Shabbat ends 5:55 p.m. (continued on next page . . .) Saturday, Jan. 10 NO PCL Program Monday, Jan. 12 RTA @ Veritas 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 13 Kindergarten PEP 6:30 - 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14 Boys Basketball Practice 3:45 - 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15 Chess Club 3:40 - 5:00 p.m. Parent?Teacher Conferences are Monday, January 26th. Reservations for Parent Teacher Conferences, on Monday, January 26th, will be taken starting on Monday, January 12th. Please call Mrs. Klosenberg at 353-1110 or email [email protected] with your requests. Parents are encouraged to sign-up early to be able to schedule desired times. The deadline to sign-up is Thursday, January 22nd. The 8th Grade will be offering babysitting services for RTA conference day during the times of your appointments. The weekly newsletter of the Rudlin Torah Academy - Richmond Hebrew Day School V?ahavta Page 2 Our condolences to Mrs. Luda Cahana on the loss of her father, Mr. Yitzchak Frimkis. Our condolences to the Lanyi family on the passing of Mrs. Rikki Lanyi. May the families be comforted amongst the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem. Thank you to Mrs. Hilary Bender for donating art supplies. Give or Get Program Reminder PARENTS - Please make sure to track and turn in your completed Give or Get points! You can submit your Give or Get points as you earn them, on the RTA website. Click on Giving, followed by Give or Get. Have any questions about the Give or Get program? Please e-mail us at [email protected] Thank you for helping our school be the best it can be!! Local Mutual Funds Expert Visits Mr. Lewis?s Class (. . .continued from page 1) Mr. Shoenfeld introduced the topic of mutual funds by explaining how, when given some shares of stock for his Bar Mitzvah, his interest in the stock market began. He spoke about the importance of listening to clients, the added value of active management of fund components, and the fiduciary responsibility he has to his clients. He touched upon his belief that charging his clients a fee instead of a commission builds their trust. For the next 75 minutes, students peppered Mr. Shoenfeld with questions about Mutual Funds, stocks, taxation of profit and other financial matters. It was exhilarating for the class to speak to a professional mutual fund expert, and the RTA students look forward to welcoming Mr. Shoenfeld's daughter when she enters RTA in September! V?ahavta Page 3 Chanukah Carnival On the Thursday before the winter break, RTA had its amazing Chanukah Carnival. There were games in almost every classroom including our huge gym. All students and teachers received a beautiful tzedakah box with RTA's logo on it. Everyone had a fantastic time because of the help these people provided: The student council, the seventh and eighth graders, the Shaarei Torah girls, the teachers and Adrienne Winkelmann. We could not have done this without you. Our sincere thanks, Mrs. Klosenberg Morah Jane (more photos on next page . . .) V?ahavta Page 4 Chanukah Carnival (. . . continued from page 3 .) V?ahavta Page 5 Just when you thought your days in the classroom were over?. WHAT IS IT? The PEP (Parallel Education for Parents) Program is a nationally acclaimed program piloted by RTA in 1993. PEP is designed for parents of all ages to come together with their children and their Jewish studies teachers for an exciting evening of learning and fun! The evening will be followed by tasty refreshments (including our traditional PEP M&M?s). WHY IS IT? There is little that we as parents value more than our children?s education, growth, and happiness. You know how excited children are when they come and share with you something they learned at school. Now you have a unique opportunity to have your children actually share their school, their classroom, and their learning experiences with you as they happen. WHEN IS IT? Tuesdays: 6:30 p.m. - 7:45 p.m. January 13: Kindergarten ? Morah Perel January 20: First Grade ? Morah Joan January 27: Third Grade ? Morah David February 3: Second Grade ? Morah Aronowitz February 10: Fourth Grade ? Rabbi Skaist February 17: Fifth/Sixth Grades ? Rabbi Sherman February 24: Seventh/Eighth Grades ? Rabbi Sherman Come with your child and experience an unforgettable evening of learning and fun!! Page 6 V?ahavta Page 7 V?ahavta Page 8 V?ahavta Page 9 V?ahavta V?ahavta Page 10 RTA AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES 2014-15 WINTER SESSION RTA Chess Club (Grades 1-8) The Chess Club is open to all levels and will include both instruction and supervised play. Beginning players will learn the basic moves and rules of chess, and begin to learn simple strategy. Intermediate and advanced players will develop more advanced strategy, learn ideas for the opening, middlegame, and endgame and also improve their skills by playing against peers with helpful tips and guidance always available. Thursdays 3:40-5:00; begins January 15 Cost will be $75 for 10 weeks We are also exploring the possibility of beginning a Drama Club on Mondays ? if you are interested, please e-mail [email protected]. Signup Deadline: Tuesday, January 13th V?ahavta Page 11 The Art of Chuck Close by the 5th and 6th Grade Chuck Close, born 1940, is one of the most famous working artists today. He is well known for his faces which are done in torn paper, paint and finger paints. The 5th and 6th grade art class used the torn paper method of piecing together an image in an exciting way. William MInor Emory Bender Yisroel Skaist Ahava Shull Self portrait, Chuck Close Shahar Cahana Emily Dolganski (continued on next page . . .) Page 12 V?ahavta The Art of Chuck Close by the 5th and 6th Grade Esther Miller Tzvi Plotnick Noam Cahana Asher Weglein Jaymie Cohen Raz Toker Stuart Altman Carlos Baez II Pete Chumbris Page 13 V?ahavta PhotoOps by Adrienne PhotoOps by Adrienne captures so many wonderful RTA memories. Now you can purchase and share all of the wonderful pictures! Click the link below to view all of the pictures from 2013 ? 2014 and from the current school year! http://photoopsbyadrienne.smugmug.com/share/RTAPhotos Page 14 V?ahavta Parsha Points Each week we feature an article on the weekly Torah portion. Shmot (Exodus 1:1-6:1) The Process of Assimilation Three Jews are at the Country Club discussing their ethnic origins. The first says, "My father was from the old country. His name was Goldsmith. He worked in gold and made a good living. When I took over the business, I changed my name to Gold." The second one says, "My father also came from the old country. His name was Silverstein. He worked in silver and made a good living. When I took over his company, I shortened my name to Silver." The third man says, "My father came from the old country, too. His name was Schneider. He was a tailor and always struggled to make a living. He taught me the trade and I struggled, too. One day I turned toward Heaven and prayed: 'Lord, help me succeed in business and we'll be partners.' Since then my business has become a great success!" The other two look at him and say, "Do you really expect us to believe that story?" "Sure," he says, "haven't you ever heard of Lord and Taylor?" SAFEGUARD TO CONTINUITY When we last left Jacob and his 12 sons, they were thriving. Despite being set in the midst of a corrupt Egyptian society, the Jewish community was flourishing with schools, synagogues and social networks. With such a strong "Jewish" infrastructure, assimilation was virtually non-existent; in fact, the Talmud reports there was only one incident of intermarriage! Today, with "Jewish continuity" such a priority (as it is in every generation), we want to know: What was the secret of success for the Jewish community in Egypt? The Torah provides us with two insights: First, in Genesis 46:28, when the Jews move down to Egypt, Jacob sends Judah ahead to make advance arrangements. The word the Torah uses to describe Judah's preparations - "li-horot" - means "to teach." The Midrash says that before any synagogue, senior center or JCC, Judah established a Jewish school. To ensure Jewish continuity, Jewish education must be the number one priority. Second, the Midrash says that when Jacob's family arrived in Egypt, they made a pact amongst themselves to prevent assimilation. They agreed not to change their names, style of dress, or language. With these safeguards, they were able to maintain a healthy degree of unique identity. DUAL LOYALTY At the beginning of this week's Parsha, the Torah says: "Joseph died, along with all his brothers and that entire generation. The Jews increased and became very strong and the land was filled with them." (Exodus 1:6-7) The tide had turned. Immediately after the old generation died, the Jewish People spread throughout Egypt and the assimilation began. They dropped their Jewish customs and blended into secular society. What happens next may shock you. Immediately, verse 8 reports the rise of antiSemitism in Egypt. What makes this so unusual is that hatred of one group for another is Page 15 V?ahavta typically due to what sociologists call "dislike of the unlike." Foreigners are frequently discriminated against because they have strange customs. But in this case, the Egyptians didn't bother the Jews as long as they kept to themselves. Only once they began to resemble "regular Egyptians" did the anti-Semitism begin. As the Torah records: "[Pharaoh] told his people: 'Behold, the Jews are more numerous and stronger than we. Let us take precautions so that if a war should occur, they won't side with our enemy." (Exodus 1:9-10) The dual loyalty issue had reared its ugly head. Anti-Semitism is often generated with the perception that Jews have power and influence. Case in point: "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion." A forgery purporting to be the conspiratorial discussions of the Jewish elders plotting to take over the world, it was next to the Bible - the best-selling book in the world during the 1920's. In the United States, Henry Ford sponsored its publication. It has since been printed in numerous languages internationally, and presently has widespread distribution in Japan. And today on the streets of America, whispers can be heard: "Jews control Hollywood, Jews control the media, Israel gets too much foreign aid, etc." Every American Jew has heard the question posed: "If the United States and Israel went to war, on whose side would you fight?" It's a good question to ponder... CAUGHT IN THE TRAP As it turns out, the Egyptians did not enslave the Jews outright. Pharaoh played off the Jews' desire for acceptance, and announced the beginning of a massive public works campaign. All "good" Egyptian citizens were invited to participate in building the storage cities of Pitom and Raamses. To set an example, Pharaoh himself came out the first day wearing a brick-mold around his neck. As expected, the Jews came out in full force. Even more, they bent over backwards to prove themselves as loyal Egyptian citizens: the Jews worked extra hard, put in overtime, surpassed production quotas, etc. Then Pharaoh made his move. He announced that for the Jews, the work was no longer voluntary. Each Jew was now enslaved, and expected to produce abundantly. In fact, the Egyptians kept accurate records and knew exactly how much each Jew could produce - while working overtime! This became the new quota. In their effort to be accepted by the Egyptians, the Jews had sealed their own fate. The Torah says: "The Egyptians enslaved the Jews bi-perach" (Exodus 1:14). "Perach" is usually translated as with "crushing hardness." But "perach" can also mean with "a soft mouth." The Jews were sweet-talked into it. WHERE ARE WE TODAY? A little over a hundred years ago, an "enlightened" Jewish philosopher-poet by the name of Yehudah Leib Gordon admonished his listeners with a phrase that became the watch-word for much of Jewish behavior in that era: Yehudi bi-vay-techa, Adam bi-tzaytecha - "Be a Jew in your house, and a regular person outside." In other words, keep your Jewishness and its practice as your own private affair, and when interacting with the rest of the world, relegate your Jewish identity to the back burner. Or hide it altogether. Many followed Gordon's advice, and the outward signs and symbols of Judaism Kipah (head-covering), Tzitzit (fringes on the garment), Tefillin (phylacteries), Brachot Page 16 V?ahavta (blessings) and Kashrut (dietary laws) - to name just a few - were abandoned in public, as the Jews strove to imitate and emulate their gentile neighbors. Eventually this public neglect of Jewish life spilled over into the private arena as well, and soon the motto was altered: "Be a Jew neither in your house nor outside." It's happening again today and the consequences are devastating. Young Jews are apathetic and disinterested. But if you're reading this, you are amongst those who care. We can break the cycle and turn our ship around. How? Express your Jewish identity on a regular basis. Make the commitment to Jewish education and Jewish observance. Light Shabbos candles, or say the Shema. Listen to Torah mp3s while commuting, or start a lunchtime study group at the office. Teach your children (or your neighbor's children). Speak Hebrew and play Jewish music. Or even pay that long-overdue visit to Israel. Don't hesitate. Judaism is not all-or-nothing. The options are endless. The experience is transforming. The reward is eternal. Adapted with permission from the award winning website, www.aish.com. Page 17 V?ahavta
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