Friday Letter
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Friday Letter Alerts
February 3, 2012
3 Shvat 5772
Parashat Beshalach
Candlelighting 4:56
Havdalah 5:57
Dear Schechter Community,
This Shabbat is a favorite of mine. It is called Shabbat Shirah because of the poem Shirat Ha-Yam, the Song of the Sea that was sung by Moses and the Israelites as a celebratory anthem after they successfully crossed the Red Sea fleeing from the Egyptians. It is a distinct and unique text, written in a calligraphic format that visually looks likes the waves of the sea that are parting for the Israelites. It is also chanted with the usual Torah trope for some sections, and a beautiful haunting melody, unique to this text called the shirah melody, for selected verses. This shirah melody is one of the oldest melodies we have in the Jewish tradition. It was studied in great depth by Dr. Judith Kaplan Eisentadt, z”l, a renowned Jewish musicologist (who also happens to be the daughter of Mordecai Kaplan and the very first girl to become a bat mitzvah). The shirah melody is only used for verses that extol God’s greatness and God’s role in the victory over the Egyptians. Any verses that mention the defeat of the Egyptians and their consequential pain and death- are sung using the “regular” Torah melody.
In this way, the melody acts as musical midrash- a musical way to interpret the meaning of the text. We do NOT use the celebratory melody when singing of another’s death, even if the victim is our enemy. It is a similar logic to dripping the drops of wine from our full cups at the seder when we read each plague. We should not drink a full cup of wine at the expense of the suffering of others, even our enemies.
I love the way the music and song are the spontaneous reaction of Moses and the Israelites to witnessing
a miracle. Isn’t that a wonderful way to go through life! What if we woke up in the morning, saw the miracle of a sunrise and broke into song. Actually, our tradition does tell us to do that, using the morning tephillot, the birkot ha-hachar, the blessings of the dawn. Our children here at Schechter are being taught to do that very thing; respond to wonder, joy, and even sorrow through music.
Another wonderful distinction of Shabbat Shirah is the prominent role that women play in both the Torah and Haftarah portions. Right after the Shirat ha-Yam n the Torah, is a verse that says, “and Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took her timbrel in her hand and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.” The great songwriter Debbie Friedman z”l captured this moment with her inspiring Miriam’s Song.
It was a testament of faith in God and in them, that the women grabbed their timbrels on their way out of Egypt.
They knew that there would be many miracles on their journey, and they wanted to be ready to celebrate in song.
Our children have learned this song and sing it with the same gusto that Miriam and the original Israelite women used thousands of years ago.
In our school, ‘miracles’ happen daily; when children discover the joy of learning; when a child reads in
English and in Hebrew for the first time; when an older child bends down to offer a hand and a smile to a younger schoolmate; when children feel a sense of real accomplishment over a completed report- these are truly daily miracles. I was told that one of the new songs the students learned for Shacharit Chol (weekday morning prayers) was sung by the entire bus on the way home from school; miraculous indeed!
The Haftarah this Shabbat is the song of Deborah. But, while Miriam's\ song in the Torah straight forwardly praises God for defeating Egypt, the Song of Deborah is a testament to both God and Israel, extolling both
divine miracles and human effort. Thisp artnership is our “homework” here on earth. If we want to experience these moments of educational and spiritual victories at our school, we have to put in the work and at least meet God
halfway. I believe, as the children sang, “You can see miracles, if you believe”.
Have a musical, miraculous and restful Shabbat,
Shabbat shalom,
Cantor Marcey Wagner
Important Information:
Jewish Day School Video Academy Awards
We are pleased to announce that the Schechter School of Long Island is
participating in the Jewish Day School Video Academy Awards. This video contest
awards up to $10,000 in prize money for videos schools submit. Six winning
videos will be selected by both public voting and expert judging. Please follow
this link to watch and rate our video. It is very important that we get
as many votes as possible. A prize will be awarded to the school whose video
receives the most votes. Share it on Facebook and Tweet about us.
http://www.dayschoolvideoacademy.org/VideoView.aspx?MovieId=170#.TxA1uk-fcWQ.email
We are especially grateful to David Lobel for co-directing and producing our
video and to Elana Stern for writing the script and co-directing. Yeshar Koach
to both of them!
Healthy snacks:
Please send me your great ideas for school snacks. We could use a few new good ones.
This Week’s Healthy Snack : Grapes, grapes, grapes! Round, roly, sweet and fun, grapes are just the perfect, healthy kid-friendly snack.
M and M’s: Mussar and Middot: This week we concluded our middah of Justice is
the Foundation of the World’; Tzededk Y’sod HaOlam. Several students contributed written logs
about their acts of pursuing justice and fairness both here at school and at home. They are all posted on our M and M bulletin board. We randomly picked one student to receive a special M and M token prize, but all of the students who spent this past month learning about and performing acts standing up for justice, we are all winners. Kol Ha-kavod!!
Our next middah is Caring for God’s Earth. If you want to get a jump on that middah, see the attached log, fill it out and email it or bring it into the main office.
Highlights from the last Week:
Schechter Sports: Our basketball teams had several games
this week. They are making great progress, congratulations to you. Go Schechter
lions!!
The 4th grade PA sponsored Family Education Event, “Do You know as Much about Jerusalem as
a 4th Grader? was a huge success. After studying about the history of the city of Jerusalem and the various stones that lie throughout the city, the students and their families participated in a wonderful event that included the making of a mizrach (a piece of Jewish art work that marks the eastern wall, which faces Jerusalem), a delicious dinner, a virtual tour of Jerusalem led by Upper School Assistant Principle Mrs. Ofra Hiltzik, and ended with a fun and fabulous game show, hosted by yours truly. The game was close all the way through and actually ended with a tie! Thanks to Sheri Balsam, Tammy Feman Serfaty, Debbie Gubin and the rest of the PA team for an amazing evening.
4th grade “Charving”:
As a fun, creative and educational activity to follow up a wonderful book read by a few of the 4th graders, the entire class got to experience ‘charving’ with cheese. The main character of the book Oggie Cooder has an unusual talent. He can carve out all of the states of the US in cheese with his teeth. The children discussed the book, and the Mrs. Seidman handed out pieces of cheese and let the kids go! It was a great way to combine literature, social studies, and geography AND have a great time. Very creative, Mrs. Seidman!!
Computer Class:
During computer class, our second graders learned about Martin Luther King
Jr. and his quest for fairness and equality. Each student was given one fact
about Martin Luther King's life and in Kid Pix Deluxe 4, illustrated that
portion of his life from his birth in 1929 to his assassination in 1968. Interestingly,
the program only allowed for “white” characters. Mrs. Sokoler had to teach the children to
change the color of their skin; a powerful subtle lesson for our children to
experience. To view the completed timeline with each child's creative description and artwork,
please click HERE.
Sunday, January 29th
4:00 at the Williston Park Campus - Screening of the award-winning film,
"Race to Nowhere," An overflow crowd attended the viewing of this thought-provoking film.
It was followed by a short discussion facilitated by Dr. Cindy Dolgin, Dr. Sol Tiegerman and Ms. Bonnie Cahn, which was rich and left all of us with issues to contemplate and wrestle with.
Week of February 6
Basketball: Girls: practice on Feb 6,
one home game February 8
Boys: away game Feb 7
ASK, our after school program, Fall semester ends January 31.
The new Session begins right away, on February 2nd
Please look at the attached brochure. Click HERE for brochure and registration form. On Tuesday, the whole school got a taste of the delicious cookies prepared by our cooking club. There are some wonderful offerings for your children, and some changes. ASK (After School Kids programs) begins right after school and ends at 4:30 (Theatre Club ends at 5:00). The children enjoy being in mixed ages and love the interesting activities offered. Sign up your child today!!
5th Grade Intergenerational Tu B’Shevat Seder: Feb 8, at 9:AM The fifth graders have invited members of their families from previous generations to join them in a beautiful Tu B’Shavat Seder. They will enjoy the fruits of Israel and the fruits of their grandchildren’s education!
2nd grade Tu B’Shevat Seder: Friday February 10- Our 2nd graders have been busy learning about Israel, the trees of Israel, the customs of the Tu B’shevat Seder and many songs. They cannot wait to show off for their relatives. It will be a joyous morning.
Upcoming Events:
Please help the Upper School in their Tzedakkah Project: Teens for Jeans: see flyer below for
more infromation
Fabulous concert featuring renowned singer Sam Glaser!! See flyer below for details
New semester of After-school JCC-sponsored Programs, The Spring Enrichment Program starts
soon! These programs take place here at our school on Fridays afternoons and on
various days at both the Roslyn and Brookville campuses of the Sid Jacobson
JCC. Please click HERE for the brochure and more information.
Change in Gala Date:
The date of our annual Gala has been changed to March 6th. honoring Jason Cury, President of the Gruss Life Monument Funds, and Schechter parents Judy and Rob Hirsch, and Julie Levi & Richard Blau
Please click HERE for more information.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW!!!!! The Celebrate Israel Parade is JUNE 3rd
We are reinvigorating our school’s commitment to this important event through new committees, student
involvement, and great incentives (prizes for participation). PLEASE make every effort to have your entire family attend this crucially important event. It is critical that we avoid any conflicts - parties, etc., whenever possible. Join
the school as we march up 5th Avenue, in the world's largest show of support for the State of Israel.
More information on the parade will follow in the upcoming weeks.
Community events:
Parenting Series
Connect-to-Care February Events
Connect-to-Care March Events
Israeli Club at Mid-Island JCC
Suffolk Y JCC Toddler and Pre-School Programs
PDF files
Huntington Community Concert featuring Sam Glaser
UJA presents An Evening with Deborah E. Lipstadt
Teens for Jeans
Mussar and Middot Log Sheet - Caring for God's Earth
