HEAD OF SCHOOL MESSAGE

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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. Happy reading and Good Shabbos!! Parshat Vayeishev Novem ber 30, 2018/22 Kislev 5779 Candle Lighting 4:16 PM HEAD OF SCHOOL MESSAGE The Mishnah in Meseches Shevi'it says that poor people, who are entitled to take the ownerless crops in the seventh (shmita) year, would nevertheless go to the owner of the field and say "thank you," even though the owner had no choice but to allow the poor to take the crops from his field. The Rashash (Rabbi Shmuel Shtrashun of Vilna, ) comments that this mishnah is the source of the widespread practice that when the Kohen descends from the duchan (platform) after Birchat Kohanim (the Priestly Blessing), the members of the congregation thank him for the blessing. The Rashash points out that the Kohen also does not really have any choice. If he would not offer the blessing, he would be neglecting the fulfillment of a positive biblical command. "Why should I have to thank him for just doing 'his thing'?" The Rashash answers that we learn how to say thank you in this case from the mishnah. The circumstances which caused the giver to provide me with something do not diminish my obligation to thank him by one iota. Saying "Thank you" has nothing to do with what one gave. It has to do with what one received. I would like to add an expression of appreciation to our teachers, who give so much of themselves for our students. True, they are on our faculty, and some might say, "They are doing what they are supposed to do!", but that would be the very mistake that the Rashash warns us about. How much more so this school year, where our teachers have stretched themselves to help make our dream of a building campaign into a tangible reality. What each of us receives on a daily basis, what we receive each Friday night as we learn the parsha with our children, and what we receive every night as we witness their daily growth, is simply priceless. For this, we owe a great measure of thanks to our teachers, and we are obligated by simple Derech Eretz to express that to them.

2 More than a story about military victory, the story of Chanukah, which we begin to celebrate next week, is about m'sirut nefesh, complete self-sacrifice, for Torah. Our teachers, both Torah and General Studies, epitomize that as they go above and beyond every day for our children. Please make a point this Chanukah of thanking your child's teacher ---in person, by , or in a handwritten note. It is our obligation. Shabbat Shalom, and my best wishes for a Chanukah filled with Nachas, Rabbi Isaac Entin RABBI ENTIN'S RECOMMENDED READING To read Rabbi Entin's recommended reading, CLICK HERE! Hat Tip to Mrs. Rebecca Sasson! UPCOMING EVENTS Monday, December 3-3Y Chanukah Program, 9AM Tuesday, December 4-4Y Chanukah Program, 9AM Wednesday, December 5 - Kindergarten Chanukah Program, 9AM Friday, December 7 - No School, Extended Chanukah Weekend Tuesday, December 18 - Asara B'Teves, Early Dismissal, No PM LM Busing Click here to see our updated School Calendar BARUCH DAYAN HAEMET CTA joins the entire community of Day Schools in mourning the loss of Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Levin, ZTL, Rosh HaYeshiva of the Telshe Yeshiva in Chicago and Head of the Vaad Roshei Yeshivos of Torah Umesorah. Yehi Zichro Boruch. INSIDE THE ECP Chanukah has been in the air in 3YB! We built and painted our own menorahs, learned the whole Chanukah story which we can retell with our felt board, used dreidels for various activities, learned the brachos for lighting the menorah as well as the technique for lighting, and sang songs with Morah Elana and Morah Tchia. We are looking forward to next week when we have our "make it and take it program", will watch other ECP Chanukah performances, and make our own sufganiyot. Have a great Chanukah!

3 LOWER SCHOOL HAPPENINGS Over the past few weeks in second grade, we have been learning inside our.חומשים We continue to learn new skills every day in order to be able to learn חומש no matter where we are. A main focus in our class is building up our shoresh vocabulary in order to learn the Torah we love. Welcome to Kitah Gimmel. There is much excitement and learning going on in our class. We are going to be finishing our first parsha in about a week. The students enjoy when we figure out the translation to all the pesukim together. We are strengthening our Chumash skills through learning our shorashim, our techiliyot and our sofiyot. In the near future, this will be done by each student independently. We will be having a cumulative millim test on 72 words. I am confident that we will do great. We are looking forward to celebrating Chanukah together in third grade. We learned all the Hhalachos and now will get to enjoy some delicious homemade donuts along with other specialties L'chvod Chanukah. Have a wonderful Shabbos and a Freilichen Chanukah!

4 ר מ כ מ ה שׁ ENRICHMENT PROGRAM Spotlight on Trash To Treasure With Ms. Dorfman: 2nd-3rd Grades After reading about the impact of trash on our environment, students were motivated to reduce our school s trash output by turning bottle caps into a beautiful mural. Thank you to all members of the CTA community who contributed to our bottle cap collection. The mural is now underway and we can t wait to show off the finished product at the Enrichment Cluster Celebration on January 15! STUDENT DVAR TORAH - LILY HULLMAN Our Plans and G-d s Plans - Does Free Will Exist in G-d s Plans? The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry, is a quote from the book Of Mice and Men that my grandfather uses often to talk about how things are out of our control. As I was learning about Parshas Vayeishev, this exact concept came up. Rashi asks questions ו יּ א לוֹ נ ך ל א ה א ר on the following pasuk לוֹם א ת שׁ אַח י ך ו א ת שׁ לוֹם אן צּ ה ו ה י נ ב שׁ ר ב דּ ו יּ הוּ ח ל שׁ,: where Yaakov asks ק מ ע מ רוֹן ב ח ו יּ א ב Yosef to leave the Valley of Hebron and go to Shechem to check on the welfare of his brothers. Rashi focuses on a specific and seemingly minor problem in the text Was not Hebron on a mountain? Rashi cites from the Gemara in Sotah 11a that when the Torah says the Valley of Hebron, it is really trying to tell us that there is a deeper meaning to the term Valley, that it is referring to the Exile that was prophesied to Avraham many decades earlier, and

5 Avraham, Yosef s great grandfather, is buried in Hebron. According to the Ramban, the Sages interpret this to mean Yosef was sent to fulfill the deep counsel of G-d, which he had related to the pleasant friend who is buried in Hebron (Avraham). This event of Yosef being sent to Shechem is the end of the Patriarchal period and the beginning of the national era of Jewish History. It is the start of the fulfillment of Avraham s prophecy from G-d in Parshas Lech Lecha, Know full well your children will be strangers in a land not their own, where they will be enslaved and persecuted for four hundred years. If this was predetermined as part of G-d s Plan, how much choice did Yosef and his brothers have in the story that is about to unfold? G-d s hidden plan involvement brings up questions about whether or not Yosef and his brothers truly had personal free will. It also creates questions about our own free will and the Jewish belief in predestination. Are we really responsible for our own actions if we are living out G-d s plan? If we know what is to come, can we just sit back and wait until our destiny is fulfilled without any action of our own? In the Rambam s Thirteen Principles of Faith, he states, I believe with complete faith in the coming of Moshiach, and even though he may delay, nevertheless I anticipate every day that he will come. If we believe in Moshiach than we know there is a predetermined end to history. Rabbi Yosef Soloveitchik said that the introduction of the concept of Moshiach changed the way man thought about his historical journey. By saying this, we believe the world was first introduced to the idea of a destiny-driven history. The rest of the world was ruling based on the ideas of the previous generation, such as war, conquering a land, financial strength, and more, while the Jewish people were focused on a destined time in history, the time of Moshiach. However, our belief in a predetermined fate does not lessen our individual and community responsibilities. Even though we know of the final destination with the coming of Moshiach, we do not know how we get to that point. Therefore, although all of the Rabbis agree that Moshiach will come, we are not clear on when he will come, how he will get here, and which generation will be here to greet him. All of these are unwritten and for our free will to help decide. It is with these concepts that we begin to understand the balance between free will and predestination from this weeks Parsha and the story of Yosef and his brothers. Avraham prophesied that in a future generation, his descendants would be strangers in a land, and they would be put into slavery. However, the prophecy never mentioned when this would happen, who it would happen to, and how bad slavery would be. All of those things would be determined by the actions of Yaakov s sons. Did the brothers have to treat Yosef so badly? If they had treated him better, would the slavery have been less harsh? Maybe the galus would have been less painful. From this, we learn that indeed while Yosef and his brothers were playing out a predestined plan from G-d, they also had their own plans which determined the specifics that were not included in the original plan as it was given to Avraham. We see that while we know our lives have a predetermined end, everything in the middle is up to us. By following the Torah, doing mitzvos, and having Derech Eretz, our actions not only affect the quality of our lives, but also of the lives of many generations to come. DERECH ERETZ CORNER Answers to the Derech Eretz in Action can be submitted in writing to the box in the office, or ed in to DerechEretz@taphila.org. Feel free to use it as a conversation starter at home as well. Derech Eretz - It s What We Do Here!

6 Question of the Week: It s so nice that my teachers and administrators are in the gym, ready to greet me as I enter. Why is saying good morning a respectful thing to do? What does that add to morning environment at CTA? MOVE UP NIGHT This week, CTA held two Move Up Nights, one for our current 4Y parents and one for our current fifth grade students and their parents. Our current 4Y parents, along with many new, potential parents had a chance to peek into our Kindergarten classes and experience what happens on a daily basis. Our Fifth Graders and their parents had an evening filled with handson, authentic learning at our "Move Up Night" as they experienced a taste of our Middle School education and ruach!

7 ECP FIRE SAFETY In honor of the upcoming chag of Chanukah, the ECP and Kindergarten enjoyed a presentation from the fire department. We learned all about staying safe, especially with Shabbos and Chanukah lights. We love bringing learning to life!! BNOT SHERUT CHANUKIA COMPETITION

8 CTA SWAG NEW TO CTA THIS YEAR!! We are now selling Caskey Torah Academy headbands and kippot!! Check out who was spotted around school wearing the new headbands and kippot!

9 To purchase, please stop by the front office or Rachel Mazurek at PTO NEWS Caskey Torah Academy PTO participates in multiple "free money" programs which generate funds for the PTO and school activities. These programs are available to you (as well as to grandparents, friends and associates) at no cost to you. We have earned thousands through the Box Tops for Education program. Please clip and submit these logos/ coupons found on many cereals, snack foods and household products. A green collection box is in the front

10 lobby. Brown's Shoprite/ Fresh Grocer contribute funds based on receipts redeemed (must be current...up to 5 months old). These may also be left in the lobby collection box. Lastly, Giant A- Plus (school id # 23875) contributes to CTA each time you use a registered Bonus Card. Please register your bonus card through your Giant account, using the school id number. Each family can support up to 2 schools, and you need not be a school family to participate. For questions please contact jeisenberg345@gmail.com. Thank you for supporting PTO- every little bit counts!! CTA SNAPSHOTS Host our B'not Sherut for a meal Click here to view and sign up for the meal train. CTA Text Messaging Stay informed with important CTA information such as emergency announcements, school closings and event reminders. To opt in - click here Kol Torah is for Grandparents too! W ould y our children's grandparents like to hav e a window into their grandc hildren's C askey To rah Ac ademy wo rld? To receiv e Kol Torah, please send addresses here.

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