Friday Letter

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MIDDLE SCHOOL NEWS

Candle Lighting - 7:37 pm

Havdalah 8:50 pm

Parashat Emor

COMING EVENTS

Monday, May 12

Israel at 60 Celebration - Cradle of Aviation Museum, Garden City. Bring a picnic dinner for tailgate party in the parking lot from 6:00 - 7:15 pm. The Israel at 60 celebration begins at 7:30 pm and runs until 9:00 pm.
If you would like to practice singing the songs that will be featured during our Yom Haatzmaut event, all lyrics are available in pdf format on our school's website.

Tuesday, May 13 - Thursday, May 15

6^th grade trip to Philadelphia, PA

Friday, May 16

6^th grade day off

Sunday, May 18

Lag B'Omer Bonfire at Plainview's Mid-Island JCC - Rain or Shine @ 6:00 pm

THANK YOU

Thank you to the PA, who graciously supported the wonderful program that took place at our school on Tuesday, May 6^th.

Scott Fried, a motivational speaker, presented to our middle school and some high school classes. He spoke about self-respect and good decision-making. Scott made a deep impression on our students and we look forward to his return.

ADDITIONAL THANKS

Thank you to all the families who participated in Daniel Meyerson's Bar Mitzvah Tzedakah Project to raise funds for Meir Panim. With your help, Daniel's initiative yielded $900 for this worthy cause.

HIGH SCHOOL YASHER KOACH

Yasher koach to Leanne Gale, Israel Geselowitz, Ariella Kristal and Sammie Ruthenberg for being Gold Medal Winners in the National Spanish Exam. Yasher Koach to your teacher, Linda Dubensky, for working with you and proctoring the exam, administered online.

BAT MITZVAH TZEDAKAH PROJECT

Please join Jamie Zimmerman in raising funds for HorseAbility. HorseAbility's mission is to offer a wide range of horse-related programs to children, adults, and families with special needs to promote the physical, psychological, emotional, social, and spiritual well being of its participants. Please send in $1 for the purchase of a chocolate bar. All proceeds will benefit HorseAbility. Please see informational flier below.

CHESED OPPORTUNITY

Josh Tallis, a junior in our high school, has a wonderful Eagle Project that he is inviting others to partake in. On May 18, from 9:30-4:30, he is planning to clean up a portion of Bayside Cemetery, a cemetery that has fallen into disrepair due to neglect. Volunteers will receive community service hours and do not need to work the whole day. Any amount of time will be welcome. For further information contact Josh.

SSDS CALENDAR

The school calendar is currently being drafted. To have your child/ren's photos featured in our calendar, and to help raise funds for the PA's programs and services, please submit materials to Ruth Deane by Friday, May 30th (please see forms below).

SAVE-THE-DATES

Wednesday, May 21 @ 7:30 pm: 1^st Annual Volunteer Appreciation Celebration and Schechter's 40^th Anniversary Celebration, Midway Jewish Center. Guest Speaker: Rabbi Joshua Elkin, Ed.D, "Why the Conservative Movement Needs an Educated Future Generation."

Sunday, June 1: Salute to Israel Parade - T-shirts have been ordered from the Israel Tribute Committee. Limited quantities are available and will be distributed on a first-ordered / first-supplied-basis (please see link to registration form below).

Tuesday, June 3 @ 7:15 pm - 9:00 pm: Battle of the Classes, Glen Cove campus.

Wednesday, June 4: 8^th grade field trip to see Broadway's Mary Poppins.

Friday, June 6 @ 6:30 pm: Shabbat 1000 - Share Shabbat under the stars with 1000 of your friends and neighbors. Temple Beth Sholom, Roslyn Heights (please see link to flier below).

THE ISRAEL PROJECT LAUNCHES CONTEST AND MULTI-LINGUAL WEBSITE TO LEVEL INTERNET PLAYING FIELD AGAINST TERRORISTS

Contest Celebrates Israel@60 with $20K in Prizes in Six Languages

As popular Internet social networks and other Web sites provide dangerous new outlets to glorify murder, ‘martyrdom' and Iran-backed terrorist agendas, The Israel Project (TIP) is fighting back with an online contest that showcases Israel's constant commitments to freedom, democratic values and peace.

As part of its new "Israel@60" contest TIP invites all filmmakers, writers and other artists worldwide with a passion for showing the real Israel, to submit entries commemorating Israel's founding in May 1948.

TIP will award a total of $20,000 to the winning submissions in each of the following formats:

Television Advertisement (30 Seconds)
Video (30 seconds - 7 minutes
Printable Flyer (8 ½ x 11 inches)

Winning entries in the TV and video categories will be posted on youtube.com, allowing viewers worldwide to see and hear Israel's 60-year struggle to serve as a model for democratic values and a safe haven for minorities persecuted by its neighbors in the Middle East. Entry deadline is Monday, June 30, 2008.

DATES OF REGENTS EXAMS

Earth Science - Friday afternoon - June 20

Hebrew - Tuesday afternoon - June 24

FRIDAY LETTER

Dvar Torah

Parashat Emor

Rabbi Moshe Schwartz, Director of Jewish Life

Verse 6:

"Kedoshim Yehiyu Leloheichem, V'lo Yehalelu Et Shaym Eloheichem"

They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God [JPS]

I was reading this verse and wondered why does it specifically mention the prohibition not to profane the "shaym," NAME of God? As Shakespeare asked "what's in a name?"

In reflecting on this question, I looked at several examples in the Torah, Tanakh and rabbinic teachings where the actual root of "shaym" is used or where the power and significance of names is explained:

The 10 Commandments where we are told "Do not swear falsely by the NAME of the Lord your God."
The creation narrative where we read "and whatever the man called each living creature that would be its name. And man gave names to all the cattle and to the birds of the sky and to all the wild beasts." [Genesis 2:19-20].
Psalm 147 which we recite each morning teaches us "and [God] numbers the stars, giving each a name."
The Yizkor memorial prayers which we recited just two weeks ago provide us an opportunity to state that we remember the soul of "___________" and the Misheberakh prayer provides us an opportunity to invoke a specific name in asking God for a complete and speedy recovery.
In the Aleinu where we say "u'shmo echad," that God's name is one.
The Book of Proverbs teaches us "a good name is rather to be chosen than good oil and great riches."
Our Mishnah in Pirkei Avot affirms this by saying that the "crown of a good name exceeds all other crowns."

It is quite clear that when Shakespeare penned the now famous line "what's in a name?" and concluded "a rose by another name would smell as sweet," that he definitely didn't have a Schechter education!

In Judaism, we remember names in different ways. We honor the memory of loved ones by naming our children by their names. I am certain that in our school, when we ask "what's behind your name?" that students can tell us what their name means, for whom they are named and wonderful characteristics of that person. Thus, the Torah's warning not to profane the divine name and its subtle underlying message about the importance of all Jewish names were particularly meaningful to me as we just celebrated the 2^nd birthday of our son Eliezer, named for my beloved brother Eliezer Yair z"l.

Perhaps it is fitting then that this verse from Parashat Emor falls is read publicly in the same week in which we commemorate Yom HaZikaron, a day in which we recall ALL the names of those who were lost in creating and safeguarding our beloved State of Israel.

This connection caused me to re-read the famous poem by Zelda [Zelda Mishovsky 1914-1984] titled L'chol Ish Yesh Shaym, Each of Us Has a Name. This poem contains a long list of characteristics that individualize each human being. The poem enumerates the parts of a person's life and experience that create the name that he or she bears; and although I doubt Zelda had this in mind when she wrote it, this poem has taken on new meaning in recent years as it is read at many military funerals in Israel. Each of Us Has a Name, recognizes that the root of a person's identity is-and remains-the name we are given at birth and the name one makes throughout his or her lifetime.

The last line of the poem reads "each of us has a name, given by the sea, and given by our death."

Each of us has a name. Even in joyous celebration of Israel's 60^th anniversary, I hope that each of us can also take time to reflect on the name given to so many of our brothers and sisters who died in defense of our homeland. Each of their names ends with Zirchrono Livracha or Zichronah Livracha, may his or her memory be for a blessing.

As we recall their memory, let us keep their names alive by sharing stories. May we take time to hear a story about someone who in death gave us the name Medinat Yisrael [State of Israel]. When we do, may we not only listen, but also remember that person's name.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Moshe

P.S. You can find a full translation of Each of Us Has a Name in Anita Diamant's book, Saying Kaddish or on multiple internet websites.

Yom Ha'Em Sameach and Shabbat Shalom!!

Allan Dalfen

Upper School Principal

PDF files

Salute to Israel Parade Registration
Calendar Photo Form
Calendar Ad Form
Jamie Zimmerman's Tzedakah Project
Shabbat 1000 at TBS