This week's Kol Torah is generously sponsored by KOSHER FOODS AND MORE LLC. Wishing everyone a Good Shabbos!

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1 This weekly publication is ed to all of our subscribers. The newsletter recaps the week's events at Caskey Torah Academy and informs readers of upcoming programs and events. A printed copy is sent home on Fridays to each CTA family. Happy reading and have a Good Shabbos! Candle Lighting 7:17 PM 28 Nisan 5778/April 13, 2018 This week's Kol Torah is generously sponsored by KOSHER FOODS AND MORE LLC Wishing everyone a Good Shabbos! If you would like to sponsor an issue of Kol Torah in honor or in memory of a loved one, please contact Rachel Mazurek at rmazurek@taphila.org. PICTURES OF THE WEEK

2 צ ר מ Rashi asks why we use of the expression "Who raised you up" in reference to MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL At the end of this week's parsha, there is a fascinating, if not out of place, sentence: ו ל א אוּ מּ ט ת ת נ פ שׁ ת א יכ ם ר ץ...כּ י כ בּ ל ה שּׁ נ י א ה' ה ל ע מּ ה ם כ ת א ץ ר א מ י ם "...And you shall not defile your souls with anything that may creep... For I am Hashem your Lord, who raised you up from the land of Egypt to be your Lord."

3 Hashem. Only in reference to this mitzvah of refraining from eating insects does Hashem receive the appellation of "Who raised you up." In all other instances, Hashem is referred to as the one "Who took you out." Rashi answers that if this were the one mitzvah that the Jews would perform, it would have been a sufficiently elevating experience that the entire Exodus would have been worthwhile --- even if only for this one mitzvah. This statement begs the obvious question: Why is refraining from that which is naturally contemptuous considered to be such a monumental mitzvah? Who wants to eat bugs? Perhaps the answer lies not in the lofty level of the spiritual performance of the mitzvah, but in the enormous shift of momentum that this mitzvah entails. The Jews had sunk to the lowest levels of impurity in Egypt. Had they stayed longer, the existing rate (see Rashi Shmos 14:18) of assimilation would have finished its downward spiral, resulting in the annihilation of the Jewish People as a distinct nation. The enormous energy required to take a stand and declare "I am a Jew, and I will not do that" in ancient Egypt cannot be fathomed by our modern minds. To stand and announce that a Jew has standards and answers to a higher authority was an incomprehensible statement at that time. What Jewish God? What Jewish law? What standard of decency? There was no such idea! It was a tremendous effort just to create that momentum of spiritual growth in the abyss of Egyptian immorality. Here at Caskey Torah Academy, we recognize that our year has ebbs and flows and that during the weeks between Pesach vacation and the end of the school year there is sometimes waning enthusiasm. As such, we have been hard at work ourselves at creating positive, forward momentum through our upcoming Yom Hashoah, Yom Hazikaron and Yom Haatzmaut programming, field trips and handson units such as Mrs. Appel's egg-drop physics unit and Mrs. Wright's Garden Unit. Students are busily finishing parshiot and making siyumim (Mazal tov Third Grade on Parshat Toldot!) and the site of construction workers busily building our future has given an additional boost of enthusiasm. As we like to say, Everyone grows, every day, at CTA. Now even CTA itself is growing every day! My deepest thanks to all those who have volunteered their resources, time and effort in creating this forward push. By combining all of our past successes with these new efforts to secure our future, we will be worthy of the title of the nation who Hashem "has raised up," for indeed, we are a rapidly-rising star. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Isaac Entin MAZAL TOV Mazal Tov to Ike and Rebecca Sasson and Family on Elias' Bar Mitzvah! Mazal Tov to Stephen and Monique Wallace and Family on Elijah's Bar Mitzvah! Mazal Tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Yaakov Selengut and Family on the birth of a grandson!

4 RABBI ENTIN' S RECO MMENDED VIEWING To view Rabbi Entin's recommended viewing, CLICK HERE! UPCO MING EVENTS Wednesday, April 18: Yom HaZikaron Thursday, April 19: Yom Ha'Atzmaut Sunday, April 29: PTO Designer Bingo Wednesday, May 2: 8th Grade Mission to Harrisburg Thursday, May 3: Lag BaOmer Field Day 6th Grade INSIDE THE CLASSROOM -MIDDLE SCHOOL SOCIAL STUDIES The sixth grade has been immersed in the world of the ancient Greeks and Romans. We learned about the glory of Athens, and the warlike Spartans, as well as the victory of the Greeks over the great Persian empire. Students also learned about the origins of democracy by studying Athenian institutions like jury courts, legislative assemblies, and ostracism, and Athenian concepts of citizenship and civic virtue. They read about famous figures like Solon, Lycurgus, Pericles, and Xerxes. Now they are studying the conquerors of the Greeks (and many other nations!)--the Romans. They have learned about the Roman Republican form of government, and how it resembles our current democratic government. The Romans were, and still are, famous for their martial spirit and organization, and students have been eager to learn about Roman military tactics (and I am happy to oblige them!). Now they are learning about the gradual process by which Rome conquered much of the ancient Mediterranean world. Students were clearly taken with the exploits of Rome's great nemesis, the brilliant Carthaginian general Hannibal. This week we are covering Rome's expansion into the east and in particular, Rome's conquest of Greece. I look forward to teaching students about Julius Caesar and the fall of the Roman Republic, and then introducing them to the period in which Rome was ruled by emperors. And of course, we will spend time on the Roman war with the Jews, and cover the sieges of Gamla and Masada. 7/8th Grade

5 In the second term, the seventh and eighth grade learned about the complicated history of Reconstruction. In particular, we focused on the actions of the Freedmen's Bureau, and the passing of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. We learned about the accomplishments and failures of Reconstruction in regard to integrating freed slaves into southern society. We also connected these failures to the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s (i.e. the Voting Rights Act of 1965). Students also learned about the Jim Crow laws and the infamous Supreme Court Case, Plessy vs. Ferguson of After this, we moved on to the settlement of the west. We studied the Homestead Act of 1863 and read letters from a young woman named Mary Abell, who captured the hardships endured by homesteaders who settled the Great Plains. Now, we are learning about industrialization and the rise of big business by reading about such figures as Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and John D. Rockefeller. Last but not least, students have been busy working on research papers on such topics as the causes of the Civil War, technology in the Civil War, prisoners in the Civil War, and Civil War monuments and memorials! Dr. Feeley INSIDE THE CLASSROOM - 3Y We have played and learned so much in 3YB this year! We have a Responsive Classroom Morning Meeting adapted to our class: we start by greeting each other in different ways each morning, then we daven as our activity, and finally we share by reading mitzvah notes and telling our friends about the mitzvahs that we did. We also learn about the Team for Fun: we are all on the same team and we have to make sure we are all having fun by being kind to each other and resolving any conflicts respectfully. This week, we are focusing on Sefirat Haomer. We learned that we count between Pesach and Shavuos and every day we think of another mitzvah we can do better that day! During center time, we painted a big Har Sinai for our bulletin board and every day, the helper of the day makes a flower and writes that day's number on it to add to Har Sinai. We also use dot paint to stamp the numbers every day as we count. We transformed our abacus into an Omer Har Sinai Abacus, complete with a face (the kids said it was missing!) to better understand how we count seven weeks, and that every week has seven days. For Parsha learning, we use our big Parsha felt board so the kids can learn the stories gradually and pick up where we leave off. We are so lucky to have Morah Rosie who made a beautiful kosher animal book for the kids to review, and to practice their fine motor skills by adding to each page. Our Mitzvah tree is now in Spring mode, with budding flowers (mitzvah notes) starting to grow! Some of the children have started to write their names or initials, while some prefer to trace their name on their name labels. They also enjoy stamping the first Hebrew letter of their names on their work.

6 I asked the kids what they like best about 3YB and here is their feedback: Gym (X3 Thanks, Coach Kenny!), painting, centers, Morah Rosie, playing Lego, drawing, the colorful floor, using real glasses, decorating the mountains, and playing house! Morah Tamar STUDENT DVAR TORAH - SHMUEL STIEGLITZ In this week's parsha we find the commandments regarding kosher and non-kosher food. As we may already know, something which is kosher or not is a matter of what it is made of, or what ingredients are in it. It is not an issue of its level of holiness. We may also notice that no reason is given in the Torah for observing these laws. It pays to understand why the Torah gives us commandments without giving us reasons to observe them. The world at large is very sensitive about doing anything without full understanding, especially in regard to religion. Experience teaches us that there is good reason for that sentiment. However, we can also appreciate that if a person believes in G-d, and attributes a higher intelligence to Him, then he takes it as a matter of course that G-d knows better than he does. A student of Torah well understands that putting one's trust in Someone Who clearly knows better is not considered following blindly. There is an element of choice in it. There is clearly a time and a place where all questions aside, recognizing authority means acting first and understanding later. The military is a good example of this. It is

7 crucial that authority is recognized unquestioningly. Battles and wars are won on the merit of that alone. A student of Torah, who accepts the veracity of the Torah, is happy to show G-d his loyalty by observing the commandments which are not explained. He relies on the knowledge that G-d knows better, and has his good in mind. Enrichment Clusters ENRICHMENT PRO GRAM The Art of the Card- Mrs. Daman, Grades 2-3 Greeting cards provide a simple way to show someone that you care. Our caring 2nd and 3rd graders focused on creating meaningful messages inside birthday cards for Jewish Relief Agency's birthday card project. Students then used their creativity and artistic skills to design original artwork for the outside of special occasion greeting cards in conjunction with the Lower Merion Synagogue youth department. LMS will be selling these cards featuring our talented students' artwork. Details about how to purchase cards will be available soon! Whose Shpiel is it Anyway?- Mr. Kurtz, Grades 6-8 Think fast! Our middle school actors played improvisation games, practiced strategies for performing with others, and dug into the stories of Purim and Pesach for improv material. Students honed their skills by playing games and acting out scenes related to Purim. The group put on a hilarious interactive Pesach improvisation performance for the 2nd graders the week before Pesach. ECP SPO TLIGHT

8 Our learning on Thursday, throughout all of our classes, was dedicated to the aliyah YOM HASHOAH At CTA, we believe in teaching children about Yom Hashoah and the Holocaust in developmentally appropriate manners. For students in Grades 1-3, the day was acknowledged in an age-appropriate manner at morning assembly. In the 4th & 5th Grades, our Rebbeim and Morot shared the importance of Yom HaShoah and briefly spoke about the message of the day. The students then lit yartzeit candles and said Yizkor. Our middle school students participated in an educational, interactive workshop presentation prepared by our outstanding Bnot Sherut, Noa and Noa. With the theme "L'Kol Ish Yesh Shem," "Every Person has a Name," the students gained an understanding of the enormous number of individuals lost in the Shoah. The students then learned about the personal stories of 5 individual children affected - 4 who perished, and one who miraculously survived. Additionally, Noa Aizer shared the incredible story of her grandfather, who was born during wartime and hidden as a baby with a Christian family until the war ended, later to be reunited with his parents. All 6th-8th Grade students received yartzeit candles, each one with the name and information of someone who lost his/her life during the Shoah.

9 of the neshamos of the Kedoshim who perished in the Shoah. DERECH ERETZ INITIATIVE Mazal Tov to this week's Derech Eretz raffle winners: Eden Berko, 1st Nave Ben David, 2B Rina Rosner, 3B Racheli Hiller, 5G Ezra Steinerman, 5B REGISTRATIO N Registration Packets have been mailed out. The deadline for Early Bird Registration is April 23rd. Please make every effort to send in your registration in a timely manner. Please note- the deadline for Scholarship Applications is also April 23rd. SWEATSHIRTS

10 The only sweatshirts that may be worn in school are either the CTA sweatshirt or a plain, navy zip-up sweatshirt. CTA sweatshirts are available for purchase in the Admissions Office. REPORT CARDS The Second Trimester Report Cards for grades 1-8 are now available online. You can access the report cards by clicking here to sign in to your 360 account. On the homepage, you will see a link to view your child's report cards. For technical difficulties, please contact Avi Zohar at azohar@taphila.org. SAVE THE DATE

11 PTO NEWS Ongoing PTO free FUNdraisers make a big difference!!! Please save the following items on behalf of the CTA PTO...and urge friends and family to participate in these easy, no cost programs. Currently, we are collecting Box Tops for Education logos (go to for a complete product listing and for offers and sweepstakes) and Brown's Shoprite and Fresh Grocer receipts (must be current...within the last 5 months). A collection box for these items is at the front security desk. Please register your Giant Bonus Cards ( to benefit CTA PTO (use CTA id # 23875)...anyone with a Giant card can participate in this program and you can support up to 2 schools. Once you have registered, there is no need to re- register for the new school year. CTA also participates in the Amazon Smile program and in the and programs, so keep CTA in mind as you shop online.

12 For any questions about these programs, please contact Host our B'not Sherut for a meal Click here to view and sign up for the meal schedule. TA Text Messaging Stay informed with important TA information such as emergency announcements, school closings and event reminders. To opt in - click here CTA SNAPSHOTS

13 Click Here for the School Calendar Kol Torah is for Grandparents too! Would your parents like to have a window into their grandchildren's Torah Academy's world? To receive Kol Torah, please send addresses here.