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Friday LetterFriday Letter Archive | Friday Letter AlertsMIDDLE SCHOOL NEWS Parashat Chukat Candle Lighting - 8:06 Havdalah - 9:22 REGENTS INFORMATION Following are the dates for the June Regents: Friday, June 18 - 12:30 - Integrated Algebra Tuesday, June 22 - 8:45 - Earth Science - NEW TIME Tuesday, June 22 - 12:30 - Hebrew SUMMER GET-TOGETHER Middle School Parents Social for rising, incoming 6th, 7th and 8th graders at the home of Genia and Stewart Taub on Wednesday, August 11, 2010 at 8:00pm. Evite to follow. 2010-2011 SCHECHTER CALENDAR EXTENDED DEADLINE TO JUNE 24th Children's Photos in the Calendar: Don't miss out on having your child's photo included in the school calendar during their birthday month. Please complete and return The Calendar Photo Form (please see link below). We have extended the date until June 24th. Advertising in the Calendar: The calendar is also a great vehicle for advertising local businesses. If you would like to advertise your business or solicit a business, please use The Ad and Sponsorship Opportunities Form (please see link below). We have extended the date for ads until June 24th. If you have any questions, please call Yvette Bergman at 516 656-5500, ext. 1220 or email ybergman@ssdsnassau.org. EXCITING NEWS FOR NEXT YEAR Thanks to a generous benefactor, we have wonderful news for next year. In May we had Dr. Karen Gazith come in and observe the middle and high school faculty for one day. Dr. Gazith is an expert on Differentiated Instruction, and assessed our faculty and their readiness to adopt D.I. She will be coming up with a three-year plan to train and work with our staff so they can better meet the needs of our diverse population. Differentiated Instruction aids the teacher in planning lessons for all learners. It teaches how to enrich students who need enrichment, as well as provide remediation to those students who need remediation, all in the same classroom. Other private day schools have adopted this method of instruction, with excellent results. We look forward to our teachers becoming more adept at meeting the many diverse needs of our students. FRIDAY LETTER The following is an adaptation of the Invocation and Dvar Torah I delivered at the Middle School graduation on Wednesday evening. This is the final Dvar Torah of the year. If you wish to receive my Divrei Torah in the future, feel free to e-mail me at moeschwartz@aol.com. Rabbi Moshe This past Shabbat, we welcomed in the new month of Tammuz, which means today is the 4th of Tammuz. Each Jewish month has an astrological symbol associated with it. Tishrei, the month of Rosh Hashanah has moznayim, scales, and it's known as mazal. This Hebrew month of Tammuz is Sartan, Cancer, symbolized by the crab. What can we learn from this? After all, this is pretty strange. I learned part of the answer this spring watching my favorite show on TV, Deadliest Catch, the story of the Alaskan Crab Fleet. The crab has the ability to do something few animals can do. It is capable of walking backwards and forwards. Now, you may think -wait, I can do that. You can, until you trip and fall and end up on the floor! The crab is adept at walking backwards. Due to its structure, it can go in either direction equally well. Even when it's trying to make advances, it has the possibility of retreating quickly in the face of adversity-and even when it backs away, it has the option of moving forward again in an instant. What a powerful and meaningful message for our graduates and a beautiful message for me to leave you with. One I hope you'll never forget b/c you'll remember Rabbi Schwartz talked about a crab at my graduation. The message is that in life, we don't grow up all at once. We mature in stages, taking steps along the way. Often, we advance, only to retreat a bit and then advance again. We act a little more maturely and then we revert back to a less mature way of acting. Sometimes, it's by choice; and sometimes, it's because life is harsh and we can't take all those steps forward all at once. Part of growing up is to learn from the crab. Even if we can't do it all at once, we keep our options open and move forward as much as possible, whenever possible. This should also be true of our connection with our religion and our people. Sometimes we feel closer. Other times we feel distant. But we always must leave open the possibility that we will have a positive experience. Even in the face of adversity, even while seeming to retreat, the crab leaves open the possibility of moving forward -and as Jews, we must allow ourselves meaningful experiences, positive moments and experiential opportunities that allow us to come closer to God and to our tradition and to ultimately be shaped by it. Today, your graduation from the MS here at SSDS is one of these unique moments. It is my sincere wish that you will cherish the memories of your MS experience (especially minyan with Rabbi Moe!) and use it as a paradigm for how to do things in life. Your preparation for tonight didn't happen all at once. But you stayed on the course. You persevered and tonight, we delight in your achievement. As I too get set to embark on my own new journey, let us all remember tonight together. Never forget that your graduation started on the 4th of Tammuz, and I'm sure by the time we are done, it will already be the 5th! Tammuz, whose astrological symbol is the crab, brings us forward and let's us go back. I pray that you will always feel rewarded for moving forward and that you will continue your learning so that the beauty and potential of this moment will stay with you throughout your entire life. V'chayn Yehi Ratzon. May this be God's will. Mazal tov. SHABBAT SHALOM AND HAVE A RESTFUL AND REJUVENATING SUMMER VACATION!!!
PDF filesSchool Calendar Photo FormSchool Calendar Ad Form |
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