ADMINISTRATOR S CORNER Morah Dina Harlig Director

Transcription

1 DESERT TORAH ACADEMY NEWS BS D Volume 18 Issue 1 September 23, 2016 Elul 20, 5776 ADMINISTRATOR S CORNER Morah Dina Harlig Director NEW YOU-THROUGHOUT THE NEW YEAR!! Welcome to our new school year! So many new faces, happy ones, too! When I think back to my first days of some of my elementary school years, I have such exciting memories. My new backpack, my new folder, my new lunchbox, my new headband and everything new in between. The same is true of our preparations before Rosh Hashanah and for the Yom Tov itself. We make new resolutions, buy new things, cook new foods, and enjoy meals with new family and friends. This doesn't have to happen only at this time of the year. We could and should do things with a fresh attitude and make it exciting and new every day! Looking forward to a great new year with all of us reaching even greater heights! Wishing you all a happy and healthy sweet new year-from our family to yours! There is always something special about something being new! If we could only keep the "new" aspect with us all year long! From Our Summer Barbeque At our back to school barbeque that was held in August, we asked students about their summer and what they were looking forward to in the coming school year. Here is what they had to say: What was the highlight of your summer? Danel Levi, 2nd Grade: Going to Camp Gan Israel Ita Brownstein, 5th Grade: Going to California Liat Aberman, 5th Grade: Going to CGI! Paz Simchon, 6th Grade: Moving to Las Vegas Students were challenged to guess how many erasers were in a jar. The winners were: What are you most excited about for this school year? Ariella Edison, 1st grade: Making new friends Sarah Raveh, 1st Grade: Learning is fun! Elad Mare:, 3rd Grade: To see my friends Rivkie Harlig Devora Leah Hayes Goldie Kinn Chana Schanowitz Goldie Kinn, 5th Grade: To be in middle school.

2 Second Grade Secular: Ms. Eastman Second grade is off to a great start! Students are learning to get along and work as teammates as well as classmates in their education process. In every subject, our activities are hands on and encourage creative thinking. In science, we first used shaving cream on our desks, and then cotton balls on paper to make different cloud shapes. We performed skits that showed how clouds differ in various weather patterns like hurricanes, blizzards and hailstorms. In Social Studies, we have been learning about community helpers and other jobs. We spoke about our job as students, jobs around the house and the students vision of what job they may have in the future. In writing, second graders are using maps to navigate through their thought process and to put their thoughts down on paper in either pictures or text. We have used bubble maps, circle maps, tree maps and comparison bubble maps. We are reading from the Treasures book, and many of our spelling words come from the stories we read. Students have been creating their own sentences from their spelling words. So far our math has been mainly review. In the next couple of weeks, our math studies will intensify as we begin second grade math computation. We are having a lot of fun while we learn so much in second grade! Meet Ms. Eastman Ms. Eastman is from San Diego, CA. She attended Miramar Community College and then the University of San Diego. She moved to Las Vegas three years ago, and was working as an elementary teacher for the Clark County School District. Ms. Eastman loves to swim and has been a swim instructor for 20 years. She was even trained by the same teacher who taught Michael Phelps when he was in the early stages of learning to swim. Ms. Eastman has a daughter named Ashely and two grandsons, who live in California. She is so happy to be teaching at Desert Torah Academy!

3 7th/8th Boys Judaic Rabbi Rivkin One of our main subjects is Gemara. We are learning the fourth Perek of Maseches Brachos - Perek Tefilas Hashachar. This chapter discusses the laws of davening. So far, we have been focusing on the proper time to daven, as well as what to do in the event that one misses the set time. Our year long goals are to improve our general Gemara skills, in addition to finding and understanding the practical application from what we are learning. The boys spend time each day learning in chavrusas, where they study a section of the gemara together with a partner. One of the activities that we use to review is to play Quiz Bowl. We have a nice buzzer system. Each player has a buzzer, When review questions are asked, whoever buzzes first locks out the other players, and gets to answer the question. It has made for a competitive and fun way to review! Parshas Ki Savo Dov Ber Kinn 8th grade QUESTION: How did Lavan s evil intentions cause Yaakov to go down to Egypt? ANSWER: When Yaakov came to the house of Lavan, he stated clearly that he was ready to work for him for seven years so that he could marry Rochel, his younger daughter. Lavan fooled him and gave him Leah instead. After seven days of celebrating his marriage with Leah, he was given Rochel as a wife and had to work an additional seven years. Leah was the first to have children and afterwards Rochel gave birth to Yosef. Yaakov showed Yosef special love, and so the brothers were taking advantage of him, and finally sold him as a slave, which also made Yaakov go down to Egypt. Meet Rabbi Rivkin Rabbi Rivkin was born in New Orleans,. His parents are the directors of Chabad of Louisiana. In New Orleans, Rabbi Rivkin attended a school called Torah Academy (like DTA, but without the D). Rabbi Rivkin moved to Las Vegas in 2015 to open Chabad of Red Rock, together with his wife, Morah Binie. He is the proud father of two sons, Mendel and Sholom. Rabbi Rivkin is excited to be teaching Torah to these young men. He hopes to help them gain the skills they will need to continue to study Gemara and other Judaic subjects as they head into their high school years! If Lavan didn t fool Yaakov and give him Rochel immediately, he would not have married Leah at all. Rochel would have been the mother of all his children and Yosef would have been the firstborn. Therefore,his younger siblings would have had great expect for him and no jealousy would have happened.

4 Students Speak What is your favorite holiday in Tishrei and why? Talia Zargari, Kindergarten Sukkos -it s my birthday. Lilly Dahan, First Grade A Rosh Hashana - I like dipping apples. in honey Yehonatan Eitan, Fourth Grade Sukkos Nissi Hauck is coming with his family. Golda Metal, Fifth Grade Sukkos - my family comes. Devora Leah Hayes, First Grade B: Sukkos - it s my mom s birthday. Aidan Weiss, Second Grade: Rosh Hashana I get to eat fish eyes Elanna Sudranski, Sixth Grade Simchas Torah - I get to dance and eat candy Ari Kligman, Seventh Grade Simchas Torah it s happy Ari Mendel Polonsky, Third Grade Rosh Hashana I get to hear the shofar. More Divrei Torah from the 7/8 Boys Parshas Ki Savo Mendel Yarmak 7th Grade The parsha tells us, You shall inscribe on the stones all the words of this Torah. Question: Why did the Torah need to be inscribed on stone and not on any other material? ANSWER: The great sage, Rabbi Akiva, was a shepherd up to the age of forty. One day he came across a stone which water had dripped on for a very long time. Eventually, the water made a hole. Seeing this he said that if water can make a hole in a hard stone, surely Torah could break into his heart. By instructing Moshe to write the Torah on hard stone, Hashem thought that even if a person doesn t know the aleph-bais, if he learns Torah it will definitely have an effect on him and remove impurities from him physically and spiritually. Michaela Gazala, Eighth Grade Sukkos -my family gets together Chai Elul Daniel Israel 7th Grade This week we had an assembly. But why are we? It s not Rosh Hashanah yet. It s not Yom Kippur yet. It s not Succos yet. It doesn t seem like it s a holiday. Your teachers probably taught you about Chai Elul. Some of you might have gotten an in depth learning of it. Some of you might of have gotten a lighter lesson of it. Some of you might have not known. What s special about this day? Chai Elul is the day that is considered a big part of Elul, if you are looking at a Chassidic calendar. This is because Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov was born today, exactly three hundred and eighteen years ago. Also, on Yud Ches Elul, 1734, the Baal Shem Tov started to teach Torah publicly, previously being a disguised innkeeper. Chai Elul was also the birthday of the Alter Rebbe. What is special about a birthday? On someone s birthday, their mazal is dominant. Therefore, on Chai Elul the Alter Rebbe and Baal Shem Tov s teachings are learnt with new strength. It is also significant that the date of the birthday is the 18th of Elul - Chai. Chai also means life. This means that as we are doing the Teshuva of Elul, we get a new life injected into it through the teachings of these great leaders.

5 COCONUT OIL VS. MARGARINE IN PARVE BAKING Coconut oil is PARVE and is sold in most grocery stores Coconut oil can be substituted in a 1:1 ratio for Margarine in baking; just make sure it s in liquid form before measuring and baking with it (it solidifies in cooler weather) Coconut oil has numerous health benefits. Let s take a look COCONUT OIL VERSUS MARGARINE (trans fats) Boosts metabolism Slows metabolism Helps controls appetite Causes weight gain Improves cholesterol profile Raises bad cholesterol Lowers insulin levels (protecting against heart disease) Causes diabetes, obesity, stroke, Provides antibacterial and antiviral benefits dementia, inflammation Source: Mark Hyman, MD (Functional Medicine Practitioner) And now a couple yummy parve dessert recipes that use coconut oil instead of margarine CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES (Yield: 18) Ingredients: 2 cups almond flour/meal (storebought or use your food processor to finely-grind raw almonds) Scant ½ tsp sea salt ¼ tsp baking soda ½ tsp cinnamon Directions: ¼ cup + 2 Tbsp coconut oil (melted) 1) Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl, hand-mix ¼ cup pure maple syrup or raw honey almond flour, salt, baking soda, & cinnamon 1 Tbsp pure vanilla 2) Stir in oil, syrup/honey, & vanilla. Add in water 1-2 tsp water, only if needed for consistency if needed (to bring it all together). ¼ cup + 2 Tbsp dark chocolate chips/chunks 3) Stir in chocolate. Place on lined baking sheet & bake about 10 min (edges should be golden) 4) Let cool on pan for 5-10 min, to firm them. OATMEAL COOKIES (Yield: about 20) Ingredients: ½ cup coconut oil, melted Directions: ¼ cup coconut sugar 1) Preheat oven to 350. Stir oil & sugar very well 1 large egg a bowl by hand. 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract 2) Add egg & vanilla and stir until very smooth. 1 ¼ cup almond flour 3) Add rest of ingredients & stir. 1 ¼ cup old fashioned oats 4) Place dough in fridge/freezer for 10 minutes. ½ tsp baking soda 5) Scoop onto lined baking pans & lightly press. ½ tsp sea salt 6) Bake til golden brown, ~15 min. Cool 7-9 min. 2 tsp ground cinnamon Optional: ¼-½ cup each of: chopped walnuts, raisins, currants, goji berries, chocolate chips, etc. Looking for family-friendly, healthy snack and meal recipes? Search for PHAT on Facebook and join our group Or contact PHAT at: PHATdta613@gmail.com

6 HAPPENINGS AROUND DTA..

7 AND AROUND TORAH TOTS PRESCHOOL

8 כ ת א כ ת א ק תפילה תפוח שופר דבש שברים תשליך מחזור צדקה תרועה מלכיות זכרנות תקיעה ז א ג ה נ א ש ה ש ר נ מ י ם ע כ ה ם ט ל י ש ת פ ו ח ת ק ת ך י ק צ ש א ו מ פ ר ו נ ה ו מ ל ד ל ט א ו ל ו ה ם ע י ת ק ש ל ח א ו ה ע ב ך ב ש ה ת ד ר ד י ב ה ח ע ו ב פ ה מ י ר ד כ מ ו פ ל ר ע ק ח כ ת ו נ ו ר כ ז י ל ה ר ת ו י כ ל ח מ פ ש ת ם ו א ו ו י ח ד ר ו ז ח מ ח ה ך ל ת ם ו מ ד כ ת א ק S ROWING ARENTS We are pleased to announce the return of our educational GAP series for parents. Plan to join us for bi-weekly sessions as we take lessons in parenting from the Torah portion. All sessions begin at 9:15 am in the DTA teacher s lounge and are presented by Morah Dina and Morah Yocheved. Session One begins on November 2! Tuesday, November 2 Parshas Noach Sinking or Swimming Tuesday, November 16 Parshas Vayeira Influences in our homes Tuesday, November 30 Parshas Toldos Sibling Rivalry Tuesday, December 14 Chanukah Presents or Presence