This weekly publication is emailed to all of our subscribers. The newsletter recaps the week's events at Caskey Torah Academy and informs readers of upcoming programs and events. A printed copy is sent home on Fridays to each CTA family. Happy reading and have a Good Shabbos! Candle Lighting 4:15 PM 20 Kislev 5778/December 8, 2017 This week's Kol Torah is generously sponsored by Yedi da Goldman and Nadav Schwartz In memory of Risa Goldman, A'H, Raizel bat Sima v'rav Yitzchak HaCohen, whose seventh Yahrtzeit is on 21 Kislev. If you would like to sponsor an issue of Kol Torah in honor or in memory of a loved one, please contact Rachel Mazurek at rmazurek@taphila.org. PICTURE OF THE WEEK
MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL It is fascinating to note that the Chanukat Hamishkan, the dedication of the Mishkan, took place at the exact same time of year as the miracle of Chanukah, although thousands of years earlier. Jewish History is a spiral. The events of thousands of years ago reflect themselves at their individual times each year, and corresponding days have corresponding meanings. The Mishkan did not have any preliminary groundbreaking ceremonies prior to its building --- its dedication was complete when it was in full use, and that was its greatest tribute. Superficial ceremonies would only have taken away from the grandeur of the moment when all of the dreams and aspirations of the Jewish People came to fruition. Rabbi Chaim Friedlander, OB"M, pointed out that the entire miracle of Chanukah, where the small band of Maccabees were able to defeat their overwhelmingly powerful Greek oppressors, was based on their collective zerizut --- their energetic response ---to the threat at hand. Rabbi Friedlander connects that strength of the Maccabees to the strength of the Jewish People who built the Tabernacle. Both showed the same zerizut when faced with a challenge, and they forged an eternal connection through time, bonding those distant generations in the annals of our history and collective Jewish conscious. Our success in planning and developing the highest quality Jewish Education is continually based on parents, friends, students and teachers going the extra mile to make the simple idea of a school into an example
of educational excellence. We can only continue to provide our level of education and we can only grow even better if we all commit to maintain the same zerizut, but in new forms. Our volunteerism has been strong as you have seen at our Shabbat programming and school celebrations. Imagine how much greater we can be if we expand those efforts to new frontiers. I would ask that all of you who read this newsletter stop for a moment and consider if you would be able to share your zerizut with us. Join school and PTO functions and activities. Everyone can exhibit zerizut. An elderly man, such as Matityahu, could have easily stood by in Modi'in and let events take their course. Instead he chose to rise to the occasion. Look what he did, and then look at what we can do --- together. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Isaac Entin RABBI ENTIN'S RECOMMENDED READING To read Rabbi Entin's recommended reading, CLICK HERE! MAZAL TOV To Rabbi Moshe and DeeDee Rudenstein and Family on Meir's Bar Mitzvah! To Sid and Susan Laytin on their upcoming honor at the Tamudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia! UPCOMING EVENTS Sunday-Sunday, December 3-10 : PTO Auction - Bidding Ends Sunday! (https://goo.gl/3 NLFTa) Motzei Shabbos, December 9: 4-8th Grade Girls BINA Program Sunday, December 10 : Mommy/Daddy and Me Program Wednesday, day, December 13 : 4Y Chanukah Presentation, 9:15AM Thursday, December 14: Kindergarten Chanukah Presentation (A: 9:15, B: 10:00) Friday, December 15: No School Sunday, December 17: No Sunday School Monday, December 18 : 3Y Chanukah Presentation, 9:15AM
Monday, December 25: 12 PM Dismissal, No Bussing Monday, December 25: Middle School Yom Iyun INSIDE THE CLASSROOM - 3RD GRADE GENERAL STUDIES Third Grade General Studies students are already off to a great start this year by exploring many different new topics and skills. In Language Arts, we have written and published personal narratives about journeys we have taken. We also are brushing up on our grammar skills by working on types of sentences: identifying complete vs. incomplete sentences, simple subjects, and simple predicates. We have read many great anthology stories and applied our weekly skills to the way we read through our stories. We have made predictions, found problems and their solutions, and worked on sequencing. We are thinking deeper about what we read and gaining a greater understanding. In math, we have worked on place value, rounding, and estimation as well as addition and subtraction of 4-digit numbers. We have also developed
strategies for mental math such as breaking apart numbers and creating "friendly" addition problems with the help of number bonds. From there we will be moving on to learning our multiplication tables. Finally, in our Science Unit, we tested out what it would be like to be scientists. We collected data, made observations, applied the scientific method to our daily lives, and performed experiments. In Social Studies, we have been learning all about our great state of Pennsylvania. We will discover where the name came from, who founded us, and all the amazing facts, symbols, and figures of our state. We are creating interactive notebooks and filling them with engaging activities that correspond to our Pennsylvania reading packet. We still have a jam-packed school year of learning and new experiences to have together and I can't wait to watch their knowledge grow. Ms. Thomas INSIDE THE CLASSROOM - 5G LIMUDEI KODESH If you're just walking by, you might mistake room 224 for the music room. Although we are not in music class, 5th grade girls Chumash is alive with sound. This year in Chumash class, there is a heavy emphasis on learning Chumash with Rashi. For the first time, the students are immersed in high level independent Rashi learning, strengthening their skills and practicing thinking critically. While until now, learning Chumash has been wonderful, we realize that the Mefarshim on Chumash enhance what the pshat teaches us. In order to acquire an appreciation of the Mefarshim, we in 5G decided to experience it firsthand. Together, we learned the melody of a song until we were able to sing it beautifully and flawlessly. Next, we mastered the harmony to our song. Finally, in what was a beautiful in-class performance, we brought it all together with each half of the class singing either melody or harmony. It was beautiful and we were proud of ourselves but then something strange happened. We were challenged to sing each part separately and this is
what we realized: The melody on its own was still beautiful but not as beautiful as it had sounded with the harmony. The harmony on the other hand, while beautiful on its own, sounded misplaced and incomplete when sung apart from the melody. The melody was beautiful music enhanced by its harmony. It goes without saying the Chumash stands on its own and its beauty is inherent. But when paired with mefarshim, like Rashi, it is quite a symphony. Have a great Shabbos! Mrs. Schechter ECP SPOTLIGHT It's been a very busy week in the ECP, preparing for Chanukah. Between getting ready for workshops and presentations and making menorahs, there is an exciting buzz in the hallways! This year, we have been putting a lot of thought into what experiences we are engaging our students in. Our programming looks different this year for each grade level, in order to make sure that we are providing developmentally appropriate programming for each grade. As an example of this, 3Y and 4Y will be partaking in an oil pastel workshop over the next two weeks and our Kindergarten and 1st grade enjoyed an olive press workshop this past week, Our upcoming events include a 3Y Make It, Take It Chanukah workshop, a 4Y Concert and Kindergarten plays. Wishing everyone a great Shabbos! Mrs. Rivka Dear
STUDENT DVAR TORAH - YAFFA TROODLER In this week's parsha, Parshat Veyeishev, we see all of the brothers want to kill Yosef because his father favored him and they all felt jealous. Yet, there was one brother in particular named Reuven who stood up for him by telling the brothers not to kill him and to throw him in the pit instead. He told them to do that because later he was hoping to go back there and save Yosef. However, by the time he came back to the pit, some Midianite merchants already took him as a slave. Reuven lost his chance to save his brother, Yosef. The Midrash tells us that if Reuven knew about the Torah, and how Hashem writes down everything that you do, then he would surely have gone back and saved Yosef. Reuven should have saved his brother even if there were no story being written about him. This shows that Reuven had a flaw in his
personality. He needed popularity and the promise of becoming famous to save his brother. His motivation should have been to just save his brother because he loved him. He took that for granted, and because of that, he lost the chance to save his brother. This teaches us the lesson that you shouldn't do an action for the reward, the fame, or the popularity. Instead, do the action because you want to or you have to. Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks explains that "a single life, says the Mishnah, is like a universe. Change a life, and you begin to change the universe. That is how we make a difference: one life at a time, one day at a time, one act at a time...our next act might tilt the balance of someone else's life as well as our own." This quotation teaches us to always do good deeds, no matter the reward because every act of kindness affects someone else's life. We had the opportunity to hear from Rebbetzin Heller, and she explained that every act of kindness affects others, and it's like a domino effect, where it keeps causing more positive actions to spread. We must learn from the Midrash that we should always do acts of kindness no matter what. MOVE UP NIGHT Our Fifth Graders and their parents had an evening filled with hands-on, authentic learning at our "Move Up Night" as they experienced a taste of our Middle School education and ruach!
ENRICHMENT PROGRAM Computer Science Education Week was a hit! Students in grades 1-3 enjoyed "Hour of Code" workshops where they completed coding challenges through the Scratch Jr. platform. Students in 4th-8th grade had the opportunity to attend coding workshops with Mr. Zohar throughout the week. Students and faculty were treated to two engaging and exciting Discovery Lunches in the computer science field. Thank you to everyone who helped make this week a success!
Thank you to Nissan Dachs for facilitating a Discovery Lunch about Adobe Creative Software! Upcoming Discovery Lunch- Tuesday, December 12: Grades 1-8 Meet Dr. Joshua Katz Joshua Katz is a scientist who works at the Dow Chemical Company, a company that makes ingredients that go into all sorts of things that you use every day. Come explore Chanukah Science! See some demonstrations and find out about the differences between various types of oil. Enri chment Clus ters Spotlight on "Robotics Institute" with Mrs. Schneider and Mr. Chaviv Friedman- Grades 4-5 What are all of those flashing balls zooming around the gym floor? They're robots! Our Robotics Institute programmers are having a blast experimenting with Spheros- spherical robots. Students are discovering the basics of block and javascript coding, along with the value of teamwork and perseverance, as they program their Spheros to perform various tasks. We can't wait to see what exciting projects our students create using Spheros! CHANUKAH PROGRAMMING Noa and Noa are happy to introduce CTA's Chanukiah Expo! Students in grades 1-8 are invited to create their own most original chanukiot to be displayed in school. Awards in various categories to be presented at the school-wide Chanukah assembly. Students should not spend more than $10 (if anything) on this project. Chanukiot are due in school, ready to be displayed on Wednesday, December 13th, the first day of Chanukah. Happy Designing!
EXCITING PTO EVENTS
CTA also participates in the Amazon Smile program and in the www.goodsearch.com and www.goodshop.com programs, so keep CTA in mind as you shop online. CLICK HERE TO BID! PTO NEWS Ongoing PTO free FUNdraisers make a big difference!!! Please save the following items on behalf of CTA PTO...and urge friends and family to participate in these easy, no cost programs. Currently, we are collecting Box Tops for Education logos (go to www.boxtops4education.com for a complete product listing and for offers and sweepstakes) and Brown's Shoprite and Fresh Grocer receipts (must be current...within the last 5 months). A collection box for these items is at the front security desk. Please register your Giant Bonus Cards (www.giantfoodstores.com/aplus) to benefit CTA PTO (use CTA id # 23875)...anyone with a Giant card can participate in this program and you can support up to 2 schools. Once you have registered, there is no need to reregister for the new school year.
For any questions about these programs, please contact jeisenberg345@gmail.com. Host our B'not Sherut for a meal Click here to view and sign up for the meal schedule. TA Text Messaging
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