Friday Letter

Wednesday, May 21

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."

Friday, May 23

8^th grade Field Day to celebrate Lag B'Omer at elementary school.

ISRAEL AT 60

What a wonderful celebration our students put on for us on Monday!!  Everyone had a great time, and nothing but positive feelings permeated the room.  Yasher Koach to Sara Poniachek, Joan Cohen and the entire Jewish Studies staff of the middle and high school for putting on such a moving celebration!!

YASHER KOACH 6^TH GRADE!!

I had the privilege of accompanying the 6^th grade on their trip to Philadelphia.  We had a great time, and the students did us proud wherever we went!!  The 6^th grade rocks!!!

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.

THANK YOU

Belated thanks to all our middle school parents who contributed toward the purchase of Chanukah and Pesach gifts for our faculty and staff.

BAR AND BAT MITZVAH TZEDAKAH PROJECTS

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.

Joshua Weinstein is involved in an organization called Spectacular Birthdays.  Once a month they visit a homeless shelter right here in Long Island for young women and their children and celebrate the birthdays of all of those living there at the time for that particular month.  They bring cake and pizza along with laundry baskets full of items that are necessary for daily living, which are theme-based.  Joshua will not only be collecting items to make his own themed baskets from family, friends and neighbors, but would also like to include his classmates as part of this Mitzvah.  Once a month Joshua will participate in celebrating their birthdays and donate his own baskets along with the other members of this organization. 

Themed baskets are to include:

• Baby and toddler items (i.e. diapers, wipes, powders, shampoos, etc...)
• Summer fun (i.e. protective lotions, sunglasses, swim diapers, bubbles, outdoor toys/activities, etc...)
• Back to School (i.e. lunch boxes, backpacks, composition books, pens, pencils, binders, paper, etc...)
• Relax and Unwind (i.e. reading books, magazines, coloring books/crayons, crosswords, word search, etc..)
• Personal Hygiene/Toiletries (i.e. deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, tissues, lotions, perfumes, etc...)
• Gifts for the Holidays (i.e. toys and gifts of all types accepted for babies through young female adults...)

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

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).

Monday, June 16 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm: 1^st Annual Middle School Athletics Awards, New Gym, Glen Cove Campus

Tuesday, June 17: 7^th grade trip to Great Adventure (details to follow)

Wednesday, June 18 @ 7:00 pm: 8^th grade Siyyum at Temple Beth Sholom

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

Parashat Behar

by Rabbi Moshe Schwartz, Director of Jewish Life

On Monday night, we joined together as a community in celebration of Israel's 60^th birthday. I'm sure those who were in attendance would agree that it was truly a beautiful and moving evening. One grade's song was "Eretz Yisrael Sheli Yafah V'gam Porachat" which captures the many things that were built after the founding of our State including bridges, roads and houses. Another song "Kan Noladeti" describes the place where the composer was born. These nostalgic songs are uniquely Israeli.

And yet, as much as we should credit the pioneers with building the State of Israel from the ground up, we are reminded of the message given by God in Parashat Behar which states "The land must not be sold beyond reclaim, "Ki Li Ha'Aretz" --for the land is Mine; you are but strangers resident with Me."

Whoa! What a vastly different approach from the American way of thinking where we are taught about manifest destiny [hey, the AP US History exam was one week ago today and this is one phrase I still remember from my exam!].  Isn't that what Woody Guthrie taught when he wrote the famous song "this land is your land, this land is my land."

In the Torah, God is reminding us that Israel is not our land. It is God's land. In essence, God is saying to the Israelites that Your destiny is what I manifest it to be. 

What vastly different approaches to the land.

Last week, we recited Hallel three times (2 for Rosh Chodesh and Yom Ha'atzmaut) and said the well known verse from our Psalmist "ha'shamayim shamayim l'Adonai, v'ha'aretz natan livnei adam," -the heavens are God's but the earth, God has given to mankind.

The Hebrew word "natan" is often translated as "given." However, in this case, it is clearly understood to mean "given temporarily," in other words, entrusted.

Therefore, we may use the land, but we must return it to God in good shape for God is telling us that the land is Mine. We are but strangers resident with God.

And our Sages have created a very unique and specific set of laws and rules based on their understanding of this verse-and based on their understanding of God's will with regard to how we treat our earth. One such law is called "bal tashcheet" loosely translated as "not wasting." We are permitted to use natural resources, but not to waste them.

Perhaps, we now understand why environmental movements of the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's failed with most of their main goals. People turned these movements into a religion of their own. Nature became a god of sorts.

For us Jews, environmentalism is not an end in and of itself. It is a way of serving God. Our tradition teaches; the only one who deserves our total allegiance, our full attention, our absolute commitment is God and the earth that God has loaned us.

This is summed up best by a beautiful story from the Midrash on Shir Ha-Shirim [based on Song of Songs, 7:28] which we just recited on Pesach.

"When the Holy One created the first person, God took the first person before all the trees of the Garden of Eden and said "see how lovely and excellent My works are! All that I have created, I have created for you. Consider this carefully. Do not corrupt or desolate My world. For if you corrupt or desolate it, there is no one to set it right after you."

So, this week, instead of singing Woody Guthrie's famous song, I'm singing Parashat Behar's version. I think it goes something like this:***

This Land is your land, this land is my land

God gave it to us, in great condition

If we pollute it, we'd better fix it

God gave it for use by you and me.

As I was walking, outside my office

I saw around me, stuff left by students

I picked it up and, walked it to the trash

The Old Gym was made for you and me.

As I went walking, I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said, "No Trespassing."
But on the other side, it didn't say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.

[This 3^rd stanza is actually an original verse from the song. It is still true today, given the construction taking place in our Gym, so I'm leaving it in the song with a stern warning to students not to take this as permission to go past the sign!!!]

As I paid $3.99 for regular unleaded gasoline this week, the message of Parashat Behar could not have been any clearer. God says "ki li ha'aretz" -for the land is Mine.

May each of us be extra careful our earth and its precious natural resources now and forever.

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi Moshe

***I'm no musician but when I sang it, it seemed to fit.

Have a Shabbat shalom!!