Upcoming Events. Friday, Shevat 28 th, 5773 February 8 th Principal s News. Dear MJDS Parents,

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1 בס"ד Maimonides Jewish Day School 6612 SW Capitol Highway Portland, OR Phone: Principal s News Dear MJDS Parents, School Portraits: Pictures were taken! Picture purchase day Monday, February, 11 th between 8:00 and 10:00 AM at The Gan. Monday February 18 th No School Mark your calendars: Sunday, February 24 th at 3:30 pm Purim Circus! Please see attached flyer below. Friday, Shevat 28 th, 5773 February 8 th 2013 Upcoming Events Monday, February 18 th No School Sunday, February 24 th Purim Circus. Please see attached flyer for details. Sunday, March 10 th Annual Campus Dinner see attached flyer for details. Our annual Campus Dinner will be held on Sunday, March 10 th. Please see attached flyer on the last page or click here to register. We would like to ask you think how you could help us with this event. A very simple and helpful way is to invite friends and family! We hope to see you all at our annual and only Fundraiser. Candle lighting 5:09pm Shabbat Shalom Mrs. Devora Wilhelm & MJDS

2 Kindergarten and 1st Grade News Dear Parents, In Jewish Studies Our classroom has such a great learning atmosphere and the students are truly blossoming. Respect to teachers and classmates have been a general focus in all of our learning. Kindergarten learned the new vowel segol. The students made the 3 eggs in a basket that always makes the sound e. We have been reading stories and playing games with all of the vowels that we know. Kita Aleph has been discovering what the world was like before creation. Each student came up with what they thought the world was like before creation. Why did Hashem want to create the world? What do we need in the world in order to live? Students were also introduced to the prefixes vov and hey. Shabbat Shalom, Morah Simi Hebrew News Dear Parents, As the month of Adar approaches we are getting ready to learn our new unit on the matter. Kindergarten and First Grade During this past week we have been focusing on clothing: everyday clothing ( של יום חול (בגדים with a בגדים ( clothing We are also learning about special days.בחוץ outdoors and בכיתה indoor focus on.(של יום שבת או חג At this time we are working on the following skills: Acquisition of new vocabulary, clothing:, סוודר, חצאית, מכנסים, מעיל,חולצהת etc. Letter formation: each grade at their level is writing. Kindergarten is creating flash cards written in block letters. 1 st Grade students are writing in script on a journal. לובש / לובשת, לובשים,לובשות present: in the ל.ב.ש Conjugating the shoresh Create simple sentences using the verbs we are working on both orally and in writing. The following part of this unit will be: לובשים בפורים.מה We will learn the new verb: מתחפשים and we will learn the vocabulary that children will bring up. We will also be focusing on opposites. Second and Third Grade We have been focusing on the 2 words recently: שמח, שמחה and, עצובה.עצוב This is in preparation to our next Purim unit. We wrote sentences and spoke about feelings, while concentrating on what makes us feel that way.

3 Ms. Zwiebel and I will be working jointly during this Chag. She will be focusing on the Jewish content of the Holiday and the story and I will support her with the grammar pieces. We will work on opposites and the vocabulary and grammar around the Mitzvot. Shabbat Shalom, Morah Ariana Second through Fifth Grade General Studies News Dear Parents, It is with great pleasure that we invite you to join the 2-5 th graders as they celebrate the end of the Arctic animal unit with a presentation. The presentation will take place at the end of the day on Thursday, February 14 th. We will have the displays set up from 3:00 to 3:45. After school the children may take home their displays. They have worked very hard on these scientific research papers and are looking forward to sharing their expert knowledge on Arctic animals with you. Students in grades 2-5 are working on improving their writing skills. For me, as an educator, one of the most important tasks is to introduce my students to written language and how to use it creatively and effectively to communicate. We are working on learning a variety of writing styles such as creative writing, research, essays and other critical forms that contribute to their overall education. Writing teaches students skills such as narration, composition, grammar and research. It allows the student to understand oral language better, while communicating in another way. This has been a great week for your children. They have been well behaved and following established rules. They have been focused and working hard on their school assignments. This kind of week makes being a teacher a real pleasure. Thank you, Karen Murray Second through Fifth Grade Jewish Studies News Dear 2 nd and 3 rd grade Parents, Although we did not have a full week of school, we still B H accomplished quite a lot in 2 nd and 3 rd grade. In Parsha, we discussed the meaning of the Parsha s name- Mishpatim. We divided the class into three, representing the three kinds of mitzvos Hashem gave us; Chukim, Eidus, and Mishpatim. The Chukim team had to come up with mitzvos that we do but we don t understand the reason for them. We came up with the example of kashrus. We then took apart the word Eidus and found the root of the word to be Eid which means witness. The mitzvos in the category of Eidus are mitzvos we do as a witness that something

4 occurred. For example, we celebrate Shabbos as a witness that Hashem created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. Lastly, is the Mishpatim category; mitzvos we do which make us better, moral people. We wrote down on the board what we think makes us good people. We had examples such as being kind to animals, respecting our parents, using clean language, and being nice to converts. In Chumash, 2 nd and 3 rd grade focused on our prefixes skills, working along with our Lashon Hatorah books. 2 nd Grade: We learned Passuk Hey through Zayin inside. We continued to discuss how Hashem changed Avram s name to AVRAHAM. Before Avram was just the father - Av - of his city, Ram. Now Avraham is the father of many. We will be starting our next topic next week, looking forward! 3rd Grade: Next week we will, G-d willing, start a new perek, Perek Chof Vav. In Yehadus, we started our new unit, the month of Adar! The children decorated the Adar Bulletion board and made their own simcha smiles to keep in their pockets to remind them what Adar is all about. We also personalized Smile Cards which the children received to pass along to someone they catch smiling who will then pass along to someone else. This year we will be merging the Tal-Am program with Yehadus when we learn all about the story and mitzvot of Purim. Starting next week, we will be working along with the choveret (workbook) as well as reading the story inside with the words of the megillah. Reminder: please send Teddakah with your child to school daily. Have a good Shabbos Moshiach Now! Ms. Zwiebel Dear 4 th and 5 th grade Parents, In Yehadus, we began our unit on the month of Adar. I gave them each a frown and smilie face and we discussed the difference between them in the way they affect us and our surroundings. Since Purim is in the month of Adar, during the entire month we increase in our joy and make it a joyous occasion for those around us. We went on to discuss the uniqueness of Purim that it is the only holiday in the Jewish calendar that affects the way we conduct ourselves the entire month! The reason for this is understood through the state in which the Jews were during the time of the miracle. As opposed to other holidays where the Jews were physically strong and on a high, during Purim, the Jews were physically low and in Galus. However, spiritually, the Jews stayed high and since spirituality lasts forever, the spirit Purim affects its entire month. We then discussed the Mazal of the month of Adar, a fish. When Haman made his evil decree, he reasoned that the Mazal of a fish would work to his advantage and he would be able to swallow the Jews up. However, he was mistaken, for he ended up getting swallowed like a big fish swallows a small one. The big fish was Moshe, whose birthday is in Adar. Since Moshe is the leader of the Jewish People and every Jew is innately a part of him, this makes his Mazal so much stronger than Haman s, and he was able to vanquish Haman and swallow his evil plot. After understanding what this coming month is all about, the students got to work and had fun decorating

5 our large Adar Bulletin Board. In Parsha this week we read about so many different mitzvot we have. The Hebrew word Mitzvah comes from the root word Tzav - to connect. A mitzvah is not just a commandment given to us by G-d, a mitzvah is actually an opportunity to connect to Hashem! Mitzvot are something we do, however, just because Hashem said. We can learn about them and try to understand them, but we don t do them for the reasons or because they make sense to us. People are fickle. If it was up to us to decide morality or ethics, we would make them based on our limited understanding and/or our feelings at that point. However, when Hashem put the ethical mitzvot in the Torah (Mishpatim), we learn and know that keeping Mitzvot is truly the way we are supposed to run our lives, for Hashem is infinite and knows best. The boys also learned all about damaged property and who is responsible. We discussed how we have to be careful not to blame others and therefore the Torah carefully lists who is responsible for what and when. Chumash: We continue to journey with the sons of Yaakov - or as the Torah refers to them as, the "Brothers of Yosef". The Shevatim arrive in Mitzrayim to buy grain, and are immediately brought to Yosef, and accused of being spies! Why? From where did they enter? What strategy did they use and why? Yosef sees his brothers, and realizes that part of his dreams are coming true. Which part? When? (These are some questions you may ask your son to help him review, and to see what he has learned). As I mentioned in the previous newsletter, we will be focusing a lot on Rashi and his explanation in this perek. This week we did 3 rashis. We talked about why Yosef recognized the brothers, but they didn't recognize him. We also learned why the Torah refers to them as "Yosef's Brother. Reading through the pessukim, and seeing how all is unfolding, also stresses how Hashem has a master plan, and eventually often we see how everything is for the good. Unfortunately, the boys do not take their homework too seriously and more often than not, they return to school with their homework not done. In order to enforce that homework is done; students will only be allowed to enter class with their homework properly completed, if given. Please ask your son daily if he has homework and encourage him to do it. Chodesh Sameach, Shabbat Shalom, May we celebrate the ultimate Simcha of the coming of Moshiach Now! Mrs Rivkin and Ms. Wilhelm

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