בס ד. GRADES 1 & 2 1. How old was שרה when she died? 2. Where was she buried?

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1 בס ד Volume 37 Issue 6 November 6, Cheshvan 5776 PARASHA QUESTIONS GRADES 1 & 2 1. How old was שרה when she died? 2. Where was she buried??חברון 3. In what country was 4. What is כנען called now? 5. What cave did אברהם buy??יצחק to find a wife for אליעזר 6. Where was 7. What did אליעזר take along? 8. What did אליעזר daven for? 9. Who came to the well? 10. Who was s רבקה brother??תפילת מנחה 11. Who first davened 12. To whom did אברהם give his riches? 13. How long did אברהם live? 14. Where was he buried? GRADES 3 & 4?קרית ארבע also called חברון 1. Why is 2. Which four couples were buried there??חברון 3. Which people lived in 4. What did אברהם want from them? 5. Who owned that burial place? 6. How much did he pay for it??רבקה give to אליעזר 7. What did?אליעזר try to do to בתואל and לבן 8. What did?קטורה 9. Who was?אברהם 10. Who buried GRADES 5 & 6?קרית ארבע also called חברון 1. Why was 2. What did אברהם give אליעזר for his mission? 3. What kind of girl did אליעזר look for who would be worthy to become s יצחק wife? 4. How much water did אליעזר ask for??אליעזר offer רבקה 5. How much water did 6. Who was s רבקה father? 7. Who was s בתואל mother? 8. Who was s מלכה husband? 9. Who was s נחור famous brother? 10. Who was s רבקה brother? 11. How do we know that לבן was wicked??באר לחי רואי doing near יצחק 12. What was?יצחק do when she first saw רבקה 13. What did 14. What happened when יצחק brought רבקה into tent? s שרה 15. Before אברהם was,נפטר what did he give to?יצחק GRADES 7 & 8 1. Who said a lot and did a little? 2. How did he teach this rule? 3. When somebody asks you many questions, what question should be answered first? 4. Who taught us this rule? 5. From where do we learn that when a person?ה thank hears good news, he should RYNJ CALENDAR November 11 First Grade Math Night November 13 Picture Day for 7G, 8G, 8B November 17 Picture Day for N - 5, 6B, 6G, 7B November 18 Chanukah Toy Drive Begins Why wouldn t אברהם accept the מערת המכפלה as a gift from?עפרון Rav Yaakov Yisroel Kanievsky zt l, otherwise known as the Steipler Gaon, answers this question in the following way: The מדרש tells us that if a person provides you with beans when you are in need, you should pay him back meat in return. This is the obligation of הטוב.הכרת If you would merely return a favor of equal value it would be like paying back a loan. However, in order to recognize that he was there for you in your hour of need, you must go further than he went for you in order to display how deeply indebted you are to him. knew that to be in debt to any mortal אברהם אבינו could possibly cost him a heavy price in his relationship with.ה It is not always a convenient time when the one who provided the favor comes to collect מצוה and you might miss out on certain opportunities because of it. Worse than this would be to owe a debt of gratitude הטוב ()הכרת to a person who is not the most righteous or honest of people who might insist that you do things that.תורה aren t considered proper according to the הכרת Even with regard to inanimate objects we owe not being משה This is demonstrated by.הטוב allowed to actually bring on the first plagues in dust. because his life was spared by water and מצרים Recognizing the good that has been done for us is no laughing matter. We don t need to look too far to find those who have benefited us. Whether it s a member of the faculty of our children s school, our spouse, or the Rav of our Shul, everyone can find someone to thank. Most of all, we need to sincerely say thank you to!ה Have a Good Shabbos! Rabbi Yaakov Russ Congrats to our Middle School hockey team for defeating Hillel 11-0! Go Jaguars! MAZAL TOV! Dr. and Mrs. Jacob Fleischman on the occasion of their son Yosef becoming Bar Mitzvah! פרשת חיי שרה 4:28pm PARASHA ANSWERS GRADES 1 & 2 כנען 3. חברון years old מערת המכפלה.5 ארץ ישראל.4 אברהם אבינו 6. From the birthplace of אברהם camels loaded with the riches of רבקה 9. s יצחק wife 8. A proper girl to be יצחק.12 יצחק.11 לבן.10 מערת המכפלה years GRADES 3 & couples were buried there יעקב ולאה,יצחק ורבקה,אברהם ושרה,אדם וחוה.2 עפרון A burial place בני חת 3. שקלים silver 7. Two gold bracelets and a gold noseband הגר Poison him ישמעאל and יצחק.10 GRADES 5 & 6 1. The 4 giants who lived there 2. Ten camels and a gift certificate in which wrote that everything he owned would אברהם יצחק be given to 3. A girl who will show she is charitable בתואל Just a sip 5. As much as he wished לבן.10 אברהם.9 נחור.8 מלכה He answered אליעזר before his father מנחה 12. He was davening 13. She reclined while on the camel in order to modestly turn her face from him and asked אליעזר who was this man coming towards them 14. When שרה was alive, a lamp burned in her tent from one שבת evening to another, her dough was blessed, and a cloud hung over her tent. When she died, these miracles ceased. Yet, when רבקה entered the tent, they returned. 15. He gave יצחק the power to bless whom-ever he wished GRADES 7 & 8 עפרון.1 2. He said that אברהם could bury שרה without paying for the cave. At the end, he took 400 buried. was שרה before שקלים 3. The first question s אליעזר many when she answered,רבקה 4. questions when he realized his mission ה' thanked אליעזר 5. was a success

2 To sponsor a day of learning at RYNJ, please contact Shira Greenberg at shiragreenberg18@gmail.com or Lori K. Okoskin PARNAS HA YOM November 2 In memory of Touti Levian - Rivka bat Shmuel a"h. Dedicated by Ivan Hakimian In memory of Chaim Zev ben Mordechai z"l, great grandfather of Natan and Yael Horowitz. Dedicated by Andrew and Marcia Freedman November 5 In memory of Aron Lew z"l, grandfather of Erin Grossman. Dedicated by Felicia Grossman In memory of Elazar ben Meir Yom Tov z"l, great grandfather of Judith, Rachel, and Yitzchak Wechter. Dedicated by The Flaumenhaft Family November 6 In memory of Harav Eliyahu Jacob ben Harav Yehuda Aryeh z"l. Dedicated by Wrubel Family In memory of Jack Cohen z"l. Dedicated by the Goldberg Family Sunday Breakfast Dedication Sponsored by the Jacob family in honor of Shlomo's great grandfather Albert Jacob, Ovadia ben Yaakov Aharon z"l Student Council: Ready to Roll After great anticipation and preparation, our Middle School Student Council election process has been completed. The students registered to run for office, composed Divrei Torah to share their message with their classmates, created posters and signs to promote their candidacy and the students casted their votes digitally. This year, there will be several positions evenly spread through the three grades in Middle School all with the same goal in mind - to empower students to serve in leadership roles in encouraging and igniting school spirit as they develop and implement new programming and exciting initiatives. The 8th grade is honored to have the single President leading the elected group, with a Vice President from the 7th grade, two representatives form the 6th grade, and assisted by two 8th grade Treasurers, two 7th grade Chesed Coordinators and a Spirit Squad member from each grade. These Student Council members will be meeting regularly under our guidance, and be offered the ability to enact positive changes to the Middle School experience. We are thrilled to have this opportunity for our students, and we are excited to see the positive results of their efforts. The voting took place Thursday evening, and the results will be shared this afternoon. We want to thank all of the Middle School students who demonstrated a wonderful sense of excitement throughout this thrilling process, and we hope that each and every candidate enjoyed themselves. There will be many opportunities during the year to volunteer and support the school. We look forward to the ruach our Student Council will bring in the months to come! Rabbi Bernstein 6th Grade Boys Minyan One of the new initiatives this year in our Middle School was the creation of a unique davening opportunity for our 6th graders. With the leadership of the 6th grade rebbeim and a rotating group of 8th grade mentors, the 6th graders have been enjoying a warm and lively davening each morning. Each day, the minyan begins with brief Divrei Chizuk to inspire and motivate the students. Using either a story, mashal or connection to the Parsha, a portion of the siddur is explained and highlighted so that the davening becomes more relevant and meaningful for our students. At each table, an 8th grade boy serves as a mentor to encourage his group of 6th graders, and gives out raffle tickets at the conclusion of davening. These raffle tickets are then used for a weekly drawing every Friday. Thus far, our themes have been focused on enhancing our Bein Adam l Chaveiro and sensitivity towards others, promoting the importance and value of making a Kiddush Hashem with our every action, and creating a positive atmosphere by harnessing the skills and abilities we have each been granted. The experience has been phenomenal, and we look forward to an exceptional year of passionate davening.

3 Parsha and Parenting by Dr. Jonathan Frohlich Do you have Mirror-Touch Synesthesia? Do You Want To? At the literal dawn of the shidduch crisis, Avraham avinu realizes that there is no appropriate shidduch for his son in the whole country, and sends Eliezer on a critical mission to find the right girl. Alas, without Skype and face time, Eliezer will have to use his own mind to determine the right shidduch. As we all know, Eliezer davens and asks Hashem to let it be that the woman to whom I ask please tip your jug so I may drink and replies drink and I will also give for your camels she should be the one for Yitzchok to marry. The simple question on this narrative is that if Eliezer was asking Hashem to literally point out the correct woman, why resort so such a convoluted system? If he s looking for divine intervention, he could have asked for something much more direct, such as please let it snow on the head of the chosen woman. After all, even in Eliezer s plan, what if the wrong woman would have just happened to answer Eliezer the right way? And, why did he choose this specific question to determine a shidduch? The Beis Halevi explained that Eliezer was not looking for a nominal label. He had, instead, created the world s first personality test (OK, the Beis Halevi didn t use that exact term ) in that Eliezer s question was designed to test her middot to see if they were good and if they were wise. In order to see if her middot were good, he asked her for a drink while noticing at the same time that she did not have a cup from which to pour into from her jug. Being a stranger to her, Rivka would have no idea if Eliezer was a healthy person, and she should have been concerned that by allowing him to drink directly from her jug, his saliva would contaminate the rest of the water in the jug. He wanted to see what she would do with the remaining non-potable water. Would she not concern herself with this and continue to bring the remaining water home (rendering her middot unwise )? On the other hand, if she then immediately discarded the rest of the water (in order to clean and refill the jug) she would be embarrassing him (rendering her middot not good ). According to this approach, Eliezer wanted to see if Rivka would figure out the third option of using the remaining liquid to water the camels, thus not endangering her family or embarrassing the guest. In fact, Rivka went beyond his requirement, and offered to water the animals as much as they would like to drink (thus offering to refill the jug again specifically for the animals) so Eliezer should not think that she was merely discarding the water because of his having drank from it. Rivka s prioritizing Eliezer s kavod in such a thoughtful and reflexive manner proved that she was fit to join Avraham s family. This notion of reflexively being in tune with the feelings of a stranger finds its expression in the extreme in the case of Dr. Joel Salinas, a resident in the Harvard Neurology program. When he taps the knee of a child to test his reflexes, Dr. Salinas experiences a tingle in his own knee. That is because he has a rare medical condition called mirrortouch synesthesia. In this condition, the normal empathic processing which occurs in ones mirror neurons in the premotor cortex of the brain becomes so exacerbated, that awareness of the physical sensation of another (by seeing it) creates an actual, almost identical, sensation in Dr. Salinas himself. Empathy in his case, is not a choice. It is a reflex. This is reminiscent of a point made by Rav Shlomo Wolbe in Shiurei Chumash. Elaborating on a Rashi in this week s parsha, Rav Woble explains that while Avraham Avinu was alive, he was able to ensure that Yishmael was able to maintain a certain level of spirituality. That is why in Parshat Lech Lecha, the Torah uses the word yishkon to describe how Yishmal dwelt with his family, but after Avraham s death in this week s parsha, the Torah refers to Yishmal s dwelling with his family as nafal which literally means he fell. After Avraham s death, Yishmael did not behave with empathy and good middot. These traits were only expressed by him within the context of the crutch and scaffolding of Avraham s presence and guiding hand. However, these middot were not internalized. They did not become reflexes. No mirror-touch synesthesia here. Chinuch often relies on the principle that from a behavioral perspective, that encouraging a child to do a good behavior shelo lishma (i.e., for a reward) will eventuate in that behavior being done lishma for its own sake. On the other hand, there are many instances where this falls short, and children do not wind up internalizing those behaviors to the level of Rivka s moral reflexes. While behavior is generally multi-determined, and specific plans must be custom made, there may be one technique to consider for now. It s true that some behaviors should be incentivized and rewarded in order to ensure their actualization with regularity. This, of course, can facilitate habit strength. However, it is also a good idea to challenge our children to perform certain behaviors specifically for no reward. This helps send the message that our parenting goal is not limited to the specific behavior of the now (i.e., taking out the garbage), but rather for the internalization of healthy middot reflexes for the future. May the reflexive middot of our Avot and Imahot continue to serve as imagery and inspiration to ourselves and our children. And may we aspire to a touch of healthy mirror-middot synesthesia as well. Shabbat Shalom. Dr. Frohlich Attention Monsey Students The Night Kollel at Kehillas Reyim Ahuvim (Rabbi Schnall s shul) has designated time slots to learn with boys (11 years old and up) to help them with their Limudei Kodesh. Over the last few years some RYNJ families have taken advantage of this opportunity and the boys have gained from the extra learning, help with homework and preparing for tests. If you are interested in setting up a time slot with a member of the Kollel, call Rabbi Schnall at or There is no charge for this service. Birthday Corner Celebrate your child s birthday with a donation to the RYNJ Library! Cost: $18. Your child will: Select & donate a book from our new books collection. Receive a personalized and laminated bookmark. Be the first to borrow the book, bearing her/ his name. Please contact Esther Schnaidman Happy Birthday to the following members of our club: Tzipporah Chouake, Ahuva Fink, Sara Gans, Dalia Grinfeld, Dani Grinfeld, Lily Levine, Sarah Levine, Netty Levine, Jake Levy, Aliza Rochwarger, Yaffa Rochwarger, Ayelet Schreiber, Yitzchak Wertentheil.

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