Friday, May 6, 2016 Vol. 12 #33 SHABBAT SHALOM

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1 Hasten Hebrew Academy of Indianapolis 6602 Hoover Road Indianapolis, IN Friday, May 6, 2016 Vol. 12 #33 SHABBAT SHALOM Nissan 5776 Friday, May 6, 2016 Saturday, May 7, 2016 Candle Lighting 7:20-8:24 p.m. Havdalah 9:45 p.m. A Message from the Principal Mrs. Miriam Gettinger During our first day in Israel, our tour guide, Tamar, told us that in order to fully experience Israel, you had to see it through all five senses. In just two days we had done so much and really had a chance to see Israel through all our senses! We began our tiyul on the gorgeous Mediterranean Sea where we got to see Caesarea and the remnants of one of Herod s great aqueducts. We then went to Gan Hanadiv in Zichron Yaakov, a series of beautiful gardens in commemoration of the Rothschild family and their contributions to the pioneering land of Israel. Before entering the Gan Haraychut, Tamar told us to shut off all our senses, except for sight and smell, so that we could really focus on smelling the special, unique scents that these flowers give off. Right when we stepped in, we were bombarded by all of these wonderful fragrances of the wide variety of roses and we couldn't help but go to every flower bush and take in all the exotic smells from rosemary to basil and lavender. There are such breathtaking scenery sights from the mountains around Haifa where we played on an extended metal bridge to the bluest Yam Kinneret, Sea of Galilee to the lush green valleys of the Lower Galilee which we saw while biking 10 kilometers. Our sense of hearing and focusing our attention was honed with the 10:00 am siren on Yom Hashoa going off for two minutes nationally where everyone stops what they are doing and stands in commemoration of all who suffered through the terrors of the Holocaust. At school, we would always see videos of this but this Yom Hashoa, standing in Atlit, in front of the Israeli flag, when the siren went off, it was really a moving moment and it truly felt like we were paying respects, not only as an individuals, but as a people. In fact, the sense of feeling and the emotions we experienced by attending a tekes ceremony for Yom Hashoa with the Israelis who live on the moshav of Nachliot was potent and deeply stirring. And as for literal touch, we felt the exhilaration of the wind on our backs at Casearia and are looking forward to kayaking in the Jordan river tomorrow and splashing around! Taste is the easiest of senses to please here in Israel beginning with the shoko from a bag and Israeli snacks the Frankels brought to greet us at the airport to the delicious salads and CALENDAR OF EVENTS Homework Club will meet Monday & Tuesday next week. 45th Annual HAI-Life Awards Dinner May 22, :00 pm See page 2 for more information buffets our palates have enjoyed! Next week we hope to take in authentic falafel and shawarma. We are looking forward to the first time our tiyul has spent Shabbat at Kibbutz Lavi, excited to take in a guided tour of the kibbutz as well as the sights and sounds, smells and tastes of the serenity of Shabbat in Israel! Shabbat Shalom! The next scrip order will be placed on May 3 Orders will be here on May 6. Please call Toni at ext. 158 to place an order. Yom Ha Zikaron May 10 6:30 pm at JCC 5th & 6th grade girls will perform See page 6 for more info Yom Haatzmaut May 12 Memorial Day May 30 No School Graduation May 31 7:00 pm Last day of School June 3 11:30 am dismissal No Extended Day

2 Parshat Archei Mos By Rabbi Berel Wein The Torah has already described the tragedy of the family of Aaron, when his sons Nadav and Avihu died while performing incense burning on the day of the final dedication of the Mishkan/Tabernacle. So, why does the Torah return to the subject and mention it again in this week s Torah reading? The commentators over the ages, from the time of the Talmud onwards, have derived many explanations, laws and moral ideas from the repetition of this incident here in this parsha. Since the Torah is limitless, eternal and speaks to all generations, I take the liberty of suggesting another idea to help us understand the depths of the Torah s sensitivity to the human psyche and condition. In a subtle but important way the Torah emphasizes that from now on everything that Aaron and his sons will do in the service of God and Israel, inside the holy Mishkan/Tabernacle or outside of it, will always be influenced by the tragedy they witnessed and experienced on the day their sons and brothers died. Moshe s comment that Nadav and Avihu were holy and sanctified people, close to God, so to speak, only amplifies the tragedy and makes it more difficult to comprehend and rationalize. For the rest of their lives, Aaron, his surviving family and the entire Jewish nation will be haunted by this tragic event. It will hover over every occurrence that will befall them, personally or nationally, for all time. Everything will now be encapsulated in the time frame of after the death of the two sons of Aaron. And this idea is implicit in the message of the Torah to us this week. In a very few days from now, Holocaust Remembrance Day will be upon us. The inexplicable iniquity of this tragedy haunts the Jewish people today, even seven decades after the fact. It seems that every accomplishment and shortcoming in Jewish life generally, and regarding the State of Israel particularly, is Holocaust driven. Everything is seen as being holy vengeance or justified retribution, as remember and do not forget, or never again! There is no event that takes place in Jewish life today that does not have Holocaust overtones. We are always achrei mot - after the tragedy that brooks no explanation and constantly challenges our faith on one hand and our rationality on the other. It is as though the formal commemorations of Holocaust Remembrance Day are not that special and unique, hard as we try to make them so, because every day and every occurrence now is still just another form of that memorial. Naturally, the formal commemorations of Holocaust Remembrance Day invoke again the emotional connection to this enormous national tragedy. That is why such a national day of mourning is justified and necessary. And this only enhances our realization that we are all living in the time of achrei mot. And this explains a great deal of the mood and behavior of the Jewish people on our time. THE 45TH ANNUAL HAI-LIFE AWARDS DINNER HONORING DR. DONALD AND MRS. SANDRA ROTHBAUM ALSO DISTINGUISHED TEACHER AWARD RECIPIENT JENNIFER BLAINE SUNDAY MAY 22, :00PM HASTEN HEBREW ACADEMY CULTURAL ARTS CENTER CALL TO MAKE A RESERVATION Sha-Mayim Team Imagine On the evening of Tuesday, April 19, sixth grade students (Yael Cohen, Tal Friedman, Herschel Nathan, Shayna Orentlicher, and Jano Vasquez-Jaffe) presented to a professional panel for the Imagine - Call to Action program. The central topic was Water: the Lifeblood of Humanity. Students spent many months researching water related issues, even working with the community shlicha, Inbar Nadir to learn about cloud seeding as Israel pioneers ways to provide water to desert climates and Skyping with her cousin who is an expert in this area. They found that simple solutions can contribute to helping those suffering from lack of water and/ or clean water. They created an educational and humorous video (using imovie and green screen) to teach the public about ways that people of all ages are contributing to this cause. Stop by HHAI to learn more, and view our movie, display board, and 3-D model of a solar water purifier. Shabbat shalom Rabbi Berel Wein 2

3 Yom HaShoah Commemoration - Candle Lighting Ceremony By Matt Tucker Students get out and about in the Middle School! We have been on the road in the middle school. Before Passover break I took a group up to the Purdue Engineering Expo in Lafayette. Students took part in a day of learning about engineering and Purdue University. This year the focus was on automotive engineering and how engineers solve problems in production and manufacturing. During the morning session, teams of students constructed origami cars, participated in a quiz bowl, and talked with college students about the different engineering departments. Our students enjoyed walking, talking, and eating amongst university students. The afternoon session was a design challenge. This year students had to make decisions on how to open up a manufacturing plant to build automobiles. Teams were taken through role-playing scenarios, and had to make choices in order to solve problems in their plant. Each team then presented to a panel of Purdue Engineering Students who gave them feedback and discussed their design decisions. On the drive home I asked the the students what they liked best about the trip. One student mentioned being curious about engineering, and was interested in going to Purdue. Another student liked seeing the college students studying and sleeping in the lounge. Where are Middle Schoolers now, and where are they going? The eighth grade is now on the third day of their Israel Trip! Be sure to read their articles here in this newsletter, and check for photos on the HHAI facebook page. This Monday I will be going to St Louis with the 7th grade and Ms. Sarah Snider. This is a fantastic trip, highlighted by visits to The City Museum, the Arch, Cardinal Baseball, Kahn s (an excellent Deli), and of course the Mississippi River. St Louis is littered with fun activities for middle schoolers that they will enjoy, but also from which they will learn! The sixth grade will head up to Chicago on their annual end of the year trip. They will get on a boat that will take them down the Chicago River, providing a tour of significant architecture, and then head out the river and onto Lake Michigan. They will take in a view of the Skyline that only boaters see! Students will spend the day downtown seeing the sights then head up to Skokie to the Illinois Holocaust Museum towards the end of the day. The bus pulls into HHAI quite late. 3

4 Artist of the Week By Mrs. MaryEllen Fellegy Congratulations to the entire third grade! Weaving with yarn and string on simple cardboard looms is always a student favorite. Using a trapezoid-loom however proved to be a new and exciting challenge! Weavings with Character became a multi-week project in which the body of a chosen character would be woven and then the head, arms and legs would be constructed from colored paper. Imagination was key as third graders experimented with different colors and types of yarn and string. A straw (the shoulders) was inserted into the top of the weaving and a pipe cleaner was passed through it. Paper hands were attached and then the face and legs were glued into place. Please come see the whimsical characters created by Orly Alkaslassy, Iris Epstein, Rikki Fogelson, Chava Rivka Gluck, Eliezer Gluck, Alexis Konev, Evelina Rubchinsky, Mia Schaffer, Sophia Schaffer, Chaya Mushka Schusterman, Dorothea Weil- Coveny and Koby Yaari next to the Boutique! Menu Fare May 9-13 This institution is an equal opportunity provider. 4

5 Early Childhood By Ashley Flaumenhaft Professional Development As we bring another wonderful school year to a close, we d like to take a moment to reflect on the past year. This school year has been full of amazing opportunities for both students and staff members. As a staff we have had opportunities to learn about developmentally appropriate practice, Responsive Classroom, nurturing boys in the classroom, behavior management techniques and the implementation of the ISTAR-KR assessment tool. Additionally, Early Childhood and specialty teachers attended conferences, workshops and online learning seminars to round out the school year with a total of hours of professional development!!! With teacher appreciation coming next week, we would like to extend a huge JOB WELL DONE to our early childhood and specialty teachers for continuing to stay on the forefront of education and developmentally appropriate practice. Your hard work has not gone unnoticed! Book Fair is Coming! The EC HHAI Spring Book Fair will be here beginning Thursday, May 12th and continuing through Friday, May 20th. Come show your support for the new EC Library by purchasing books or by making a donation to the All for Books program. The book fair will be open each school day during drop off and dismissal. Please see below for times: 8:00-9:30 12:30-1:30 2:30-4:00 The bookfair will be located at the front of the school. There is NO PARKING in front of the building when visiting the book fair. Please use the parking lot or visitor spaces when shopping. You can also shop online at hastenhebrewacad We are looking for parent volunteers to help run the cash register. If you are available to help any day or time, please send an to Aflaumenhaft@hhai.org EC End of the Year Program Sing-a-long Shalom June 2nd at 8:30 am 5

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