Friday Letter

Tuesday, September 23

Board of Directors Meeting at 7:30 pm.

Wednesday, September 24

Meet-the-Teacher Night at 7:00

Monday, September 29

Erev Rosh Hashana, School Closed

Tuesday, September 30 - Wednesday, October 1

Rosh Hashana, School Closed

Wednesday, October 2

School Resumes, Gray Day

Friday, October 3, 2008

Chess Nuts is coming to the Upper School (please see link to registration form below).

Grandparent and Special Friend's Visiting Day will take place November 18, 2008 (please see link to form below; complete the form and return to tlubin@ssdsnassau.org or to Lisa Eisner in the main office).

SPORTS ACTIVITIES

Monday, September 22

• Varsity Soccer Practice at Pascucci Field at 4:00 - 5:30 pm
• Varsity Tennis Away Game at Martin Luther High School at 4:00 pm
• Middle School Volleyball Practice in the Den at 4:00 - 6:00 pm

Tuesday, September 23

• Varsity Soccer Away Game at Our Saints at 4:30 pm
• Varsity Volleyball Home Game vs. Knox at 4:15 pm
• Varsity Tennis Practice at Stanco Park at 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
• Middle School Soccer Practice at Pascucci Field at 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm

Wednesday, September 24

• Varsity Soccer Practice at Pascucci Field at 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
• Varsity Volleyball Practice at 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
• Varsity Tennis Practice at Stanco Part at 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
• Middle School Soccer Practice at the school's field at 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm

Thursday, September 25

• Varsity Soccer Practice at Pascucci Field at 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
• Varsity Volleyball Away Game at Our Saints at 4:30 pm
• Varsity Tennis Practice at Stanco Park at 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
• Middle School Soccer Home Game vs. Greenvale at 4:15 pm

INFORMATION

The Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth Academic Talent Search is underway.  Applications and information can be found on the website - http://www.cty.jhu.edu/.  I have a limited number of application and enrollment information materials in my office.

FRIDAY LETTER

Parashat Ki Tavo

Rabbi Barry Chesler is the Judaic Studies Coordinator for the Solomon Schechter High School of Long Island. He and his wife Cantor Carol Chesler are the parents of four children, three of whom are students in our Schechter school.

In the Mishnah, the 1^st compilation of the Oral Torah in the beginning of the third century of the Common Era, a distinction is drawn between texts which must be recited in Hebrew and texts which may be recited in any language.  Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, both the Sh'ma and Amidah are in the second group.  In fact, none of the prayers which we recite daily must be said in Hebrew.

Among the texts mentioned, three appear in our parashah this week, parashat Ki Tavo.  One, the passage one recites upon donating the tithe to the poor in the third year [Deut. 26:12-15], may be recited in any language.  Two, the blessings and curses recited upon Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal upon entering the land [Deut. 27:11-26] and parashat bikkurim [Deut. 26:1-11], are among those which must be recited in Hebrew.  Of particular interest is parashat bikkurim, the declaration the farmer makes upon bringing his first fruits to the Temple.  At this propitious moment, the farmer declaims a sacred history, beginning with an acknowledgement that he has entered the land the Lord had promised his ancestors.  He states "My father was a fugitive Aramean. He went down to Egypt with meager numbers and sojourned there . . .  He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Wherefore I now bring the first fruits of the soils which You, O Lord, have given me."  In the Bible, the first fruits are associated with Shavuot.  The first fruits are visible testimony to the fulfillment of God's promise.

We know this text best, not from Shavuot, where the giving of the Torah has replaced the first fruits as the primary rationale of the holiday, but from the Seder at Passover.  The heart of the maggid, the fourth section of the Haggadah, is a midrash, a phrase by phrase interpretation of this passage.  Jeffrey Tigay, in his commentary on Deuteronomy, suggests "this may be due to the fact that these verses were the best known epitome of Israel's origins since they were recited by every farmer at least once a year."   What I would suggest is that in a time when the Temple no longer stood and Jewish sovereignty in the land had been seriously compromised, the fulfillment of God's promise no longer lay in the land, but in the telling of a story.  The passage about first fruits which once had to do with agricultural produce, now points to the future Redemption which is the hope of Passover.

As we begin to get into the routine of the new school year, it is worth considering that each year begins as a year of promise.  Each of us, students, faculty, administration, has high hopes for the unfolding year.  Slowly we settle down into the established rhythm, and often we lose sight of the promise of the beginnings.  With our ancestors, it was the reverse.  At the time of promise fulfilled, it was important to consider from where we have come, noting that at the beginning we were few in number, we left our land, grew in number, and were mistreated by our hosts.  We turned to God, He answered our prayers, and brought us back to our land, the land God promised our ancestors.

Consider how our sacred history begins: Arami oved avi, my father was a wandering Aramean.  According to Rashi [11^th cent. Franco-Germany], Laban wanted to destroy everything when he pursued Jacob, and because he thought to do something God considered it as if he had actually done so, for God holds the nations of the world accountable for what they intend to do.  This is the reading we find in the Haggadah.  And in the Haggadah, Laban becomes worse than the Egyptians because his intent was to destroy the entire people while Pharaoh only wanted to destroy the males.  But only in the imagination could Laban be considered worse than Pharaoh.

Rashbam [12^th century, Northern France], Rashi's grandson, believes that the wandering Aramean refers to Abraham, who wandered and was exiled from Aram.  What is striking about Rashbam's explanation is that Abraham, as Rashbam's proof-texts make clear, is not lost, his wandering is directed by God.  In an image befitting the period before the Days of Awe, our ancestors, from the very beginning, are like the clay in the hands of God, the potter.  In this reading, our lives are enveloped by God from beginning to end.  The farmer bringing his first fruits in a sense recognizes that the "planting" began with Abraham.  The literal first fruits are the culmination of a process of cultivation which began long before he was born.

What about us?  We follow the reading of the Haggadah, which we recite at the Seder every year.  For it is in the telling of our story wherein our redemption is found.   Come next June, we will each have our story of the year.  Let us hope it is one in which the promise is fulfilled!

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Barry Chesler

Have a Shabbat Shalom,

Allan Dalfen