ד'' O R A S E M E S A C A D E M Y O F M I A M I NOVEMBER 11, 2011 בס EAM Spirit פרשת וירא CANDLE LIGHING 5:15 pm YC/EAM Boaz Abramson S.S. Daniel Akrish S.S. Yoseph Baroukh.S. Eliezer Gold S.S. Avraham Homnick.S. Meir Liberman S.S. Yehuda Pomper S.S. Zohar Reboh.S. Kalmi Rosenberg.S. Reuven Shaffren.S. Shelomo Sutton S.S. SAR SUDENS Leehee Akrish S.S. Naomi Bursztyn.S. Gabriella Chattah.S. Sarah Cohen S.S. Shira Goldenberg S.S. Zissel Goldsmith.S. Adina Kon.S. Kayla Lefkowitz.S. ziporah Pam S.S. Yasmin Reboh S.S. Rivky Sapirman S.S. Adina Schwartz.S. Rivky Stern.S. ANNUAL JOURNAL DINNER Our Million Dollar Campaign Is Up and Running! he excitement is mounting as we B"H close in on the first $100,000 of our 27th Annual Dinner and Journal Campaign! Ad blanks will be in the mail shortly. Your prompt and generous response will be greatly appreciated. Please see the attached flyer in appreciation of our Harbotzas Haorah Awardees - Rabbi and Mrs. Dovid and Shifra Sharfman, and be sure to stay tuned each week for new and exciting details! Miriam Balgley Penina Bergida ehila Cohen Batsheva Druin Shaina Druin Shira Feldman Simcha Leonoff Noga Libson Debbie Nash Esti Newman Chaviva Pam Sara Seltzer Elisheva Sharfman Aliza urner EAM PLAYERS Boaz Abramson Daniel Akrish Daniel Chattah Ephraim Dudovitz Zev Eisenberger Asher Goldenberg Avrumi Gruenstein Shea Rosenberg Yossi Rosenberg Shelomo Sutton
PAREN-EACHER CONFERENCES he first marking period of the school year ends this coming Friday. Progress reports will be mailed home the following week and Parent-eacher Conferences take place Sunday morning, November 27 and uesday evening, November 29. Conferences are 10 minutes in length. In order to meet with your child(ren) s teachers, please be sure to make an appointment by following our online instructions (sent to you via e-mail and hard copy on Friday) or by calling Mrs. amir in the boys office at 305-948-3338. YEDIOS HAORAH 5772 IS UNDERWAY! ASSEMBLIES ur November assemblies, which O took place on uesday, were a huge success as all the students enjoyed the delightful, entertaining performances for both the boys and the girls. Mrs. Palgon and Miss Mandel s fifth grade girls presented he Pretzel Lady based on a true story about a woman who sold pretzels on the Lower East Side in the 1960 s. he lessons learned were being happy with what you have and that Hashem shows compassion to those who show compassion to others. he performers enjoyed fresh, hot pretzels after the play! Mrs. Swartz s fourth grade boys entertained the audience with a presentation in honor of Veterans Day. Our thanks to Rabbi E. Palgon and Rabbi N. Grossman for their inspiring Divrei orah. We were excited to hear from our second grade boys who shared an educational song from the new L Havin U LHaskil Chumash Program and the second grade girls who sang a song in honor of Rachel Imeinu. We are proud of the many classes who recited their poems with clarity and enthusiasm. A hearty Yasher Koach to all the students who received their Sukkos Hasmoda Certificates and Summer Review Certificates! he newly redesigned Jewish knowledge contest began this week and will continue through the school year until Shavuos. All students received their grade appropriate learning booklet for MarCheshvan and are confidently eyeing the calendar for November 29, which will be the first testing date. B Hatzlacha!
Page 3 EAM Spirit MAZEL OV o Mr. and Mrs. Josh Jacobs and family on the birth of a daughter. o Mr. and Mrs. Michael Kantor and family on the birth of a daughter. o Rabbi and Mrs. Mechoel Sheinkopf and family on the engagement of their daughter, our alumna, Rachel to Levi Yitzchak Yudkin of Brooklyn. o Rabbi and Mrs. Yaakov Homnick and family on the engagement of their son, our alumnus, Chaim to Yael Ratner of Far Rockaway. REFUAH SHELAIMA Ruchama Aliza Sara Chana bas Esther Liba Bracha Elka bas Maryasha Rivka Zev Meir ben Yael Sara Rivka bas Sarah Raizel Yosef Simcha ben Zaka Basya Yehuda Pinchas ben Osna Leah Golda bas Esther Frimet Ephraim Yankel ben Gnesha KIDS FOR KOSHER FOOD BANK F or the month of November the specific requests are oil, toys (brand new, not wrapped for ages infant to 18), chocolate coins, Chanukah candles, and dreidels. Keep in mind that all the food must be either OU, Chaf-K, O-K, or Star-K certified, making it suitable for any family. hank you for your continued help. Yasher Koach! NICHUM AVEILIM o Dr. Sol Lerer and family on the loss of his sister. Yosef Shalom ben Chaya Musha (Rav Eliyashiv, Shlitta) Asher ben Gittel Chaim Zev ben Faiga oiba Hadassah Leah bas Shoshana Zev Zelig ben Chasa Rochel Yitzchak ben Blima Dovid ben Ita Riva PUSHKA REMINDER ew pushkas were distributed to N all our oras Emes families. You are urged to send in your old ones to the school office. izku Le Mitzvos! YAHRZEI OF MRS. JEANEE LEVINE A H he Levine families invite the community to commemorate the 2nd yahrtzeit of our beloved, Jeanette Levine A H, Monday November 21st - 8:00pm at Aish Hatorah in Hollywood. Rabbi Zvi Nightingale and members of the Levine family will speak. Refreshments will be served.
FAIRCHILD ROPICAL CHALLENGE F airchild ropical Botanic Gardens has a program that provides a menu of challenges for elementary age students which appeal to their senses of play and creativity. At the same time, the challenges are educational and address some local and global environmental issues. oras Emes has embarked on Fairchild Challenge #1. Many classes have been creating animal masks with an emphasis on recycling. he students have researched different animals, their habitats, and how the animals interact with plants. We will be setting up a Mask Museum for the viewing of masks. If you are able to volunteer and help with the set up on this Wednesday morning, November 16, at 8:30 am, please call the oras Emes office. We look forward to ending Challenge #1 with this special event and a nice, creative set up can make all the difference! See next week s EAM Spirit for pictures! PARSHA WIH HE PRINCIPAL R abbi Baumann s weekly Parashas HaShavua class takes place every hursday, 8:45-9:30 AM in the main office. All are welcome to attend. SWEAER WEAHER W ith the cooler weather now upon us, we would like to remind you to please cooperate with our uniform policy regarding sweatshirts and sweaters: CHILDREN MAY WEAR ONLY SOLID NAVY, WHIE OR HUNER GREEN SWEAERS OR SWEASHIRS (NO HOODS) WHILE IN SCHOOL. We appreciate your full cooperation in conforming with our policies. PLEASE BE SURE O LABEL YOUR CHILDREN S SWEAERS. W e are looking for mothers (or fathers) who can serve as a vital link in the chain of communication between school and home, teachers and parents. If you are available to act as a liason for your child(ren) s class, please call Mrs. Esta Rosenberg at 305.651.0115.
Erev Shabbos Parashas Vayera 5772 Dear Parents, he events of this week s Parsha unfold in the plains of Mamre. Who was Mamre? he Midrash Rabba (Bereishis 42:8) tells us he was an associate of Avrohom Avinu, who gave him good advice about the Bris Milah that Hashem commanded Avrohom to perform. he obvious question is why would Avrohom ask advice about whether or not to follow Hashem s command? He didn t consult about whether to follow Hashem s order to go to Eretz Canaan or to perform the Akeidah on his son! he az on the orah (quoted in Sefer Chiddushei HaLev p.64) explained that in truth, Hashem s instruction to Avrohom about the circumcision was not a Mitzva, an absolute command but a Reshus, an option, a good idea that would benefit mankind. As Jews and as parents we face many decisions. When it is a question of orah law or practice, there is undoubtedly only one address for our questions an halachic authority. But, most of our issues are in the realm of Reshus option. Here too, it would benefit us to go to the highest orah authority available. However, that is not always practical, and many times others might prove even more beneficial. We learn this as well from Avrohom. Rav Zev Leff has suggested that the reason Avrohom sought counsel from Mamre, and not Shem and Ever who were the highest authorities of the day was because Avrohom was seeking creative angles and inspiration with which to perform the directive in the best way possible. As to why he sought counsel from those not as great as he, that was possibly learned from Hashem himself, Who consulted with mere angels when creating man. Furthermore, in Pirkei Avos (1:6) we re told to acquire a friend - not necessarily one who is on a higher level, but one in whom you can place your trust, and will give objective advice, because as a good friend, he has your best interests in mind. he need for advice is to access an objective opinion - someone outside of oneself, who is not subject to personal bias. he critical point in seeking and getting advice is seeing your situation from an objective point of view. No person can achieve that by himself we are all biased to see things in accordance with our self-interests and desires, to a greater or lesser degree. his applies to any situation. It is especially relevant in relationships and in raising children. continued
page 2 At every stage and phase of a child s development there are questions and issues that arise, requiring a decision that will hopefully steer the child along the best path for his or her future success. All too often a parent, guardian or teacher will not act in the child s best interests, because their decision is clouded by their own needs and feelings. For example, a parent may allow a child to hang out with certain (not so desirable) friends because they re afraid of losing the child s love if they say no. Parents allow themselves to be pressured by their children into buying all manner of digital gadgetry, (without really investigating the potential damage they could be causing), without even realizing that they themselves want to `keep up with their friends and neighbors. A teacher may design academic work at too low a level thinking they re helping their students succeed while subconsciously they want to be known as a teacher whose students all get high grades. As mentioned above, not everyone has easy access to a Rabbi, mentor or even a wise older person to guide them through life s innumerable issues. here is no one, however, who cannot find a friend, who may not have all the answers, but is able to be objective about their friend s issues. heir qualifications are they need to be sincere, they want what s best for you and/or your children, and they won t flatter you by always agreeing with your point of view. Mamre gave good advice to Avrohom Avinu, because he imagined, if I were Avrohom, what would I do. He had Avrohom s interests in mind, without the subjective bias that Avrohom might have had. Avrohom could follow his advice with confidence. With the proper friend, we can confidently guide and direct our children to ensure the future we hope and pray they achieve. Have a friendly, well-guided Shabbos, Rabbi Kalman Baumann Principal
W e would like to thank the parent who forwarded the following New York imes article about children and sleep. It is an appropriate follow-up to Rabbi Baumann s letter about focusing on basics when helping our children.
A VISI FROM HE VEERANS! he 4th and 5th grade boys and girls were honored with a visit from two veterans who shared their stories in honor of Veterans Day. Our thanks to Dr. Sheldon Zane, (Major, U.S. Army, retired) & Mr. Sy Shweky, (Sergeant, U.S. Air Force, retired) for taking time to enlighten us. We salute you!!!