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  Volume 14 / Issue 30

4/8/16
29 Adar II 5776
Shabbat Parshat Tazria
Candle Lighting 7:10 PM
Havdalah 8:12 PM



Mazal tov to Dara Levy (6), parents Susie and Elliot Levy, and the entire family on Dara's bat mitzvah!

Condolences to Marilyn Laves on the loss of her brother-in-law, Bruce Wenger.

Condolences to David Kahan on the loss of his grandmother.
Mitzvah Cards:
If you would like to send  a mitzvah card please contact Shani at  x10 or   shaniw@benporatyosef.org  
 
 
 
The Week Ahead:

**Please CLICK HERE to complete the "Hebrew in Jewish Day Schools" survey if one parent from your household has not already done so.**

Motzei Shabbat (4/9)
9:15PM: BPY Women's Book Club

Sunday (4/10)
10AM: Final Matan Bat Mitzvah Session

3PM: Boys AWAY Soccer Game at Hillel

5-7PM: BPY Grandparents' Association's Circus "Grand" Night Out

Monday (4/11)
10:30AM: Schools in Session with Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle (if you can join, please email shoshanag@benporatyosef.org)

Early Childhood Living Legacy Matzah Factory Program

7:15PM: Boys AWAY Soccer Game at Noam

Tuesday (4/12)
8:45AM: Third Grade Rashi Breakfast

Wednesday (4/13)
First Grade: Grammy's Torah Garden

Thursday (4/14)
Eighth Grade Tzeydah LaDerech

6:30PM: Girls HOME Soccer Game vs. Hillel

Friday (4/15)
2016-17 / 5777 Grade 1-7 Class Placement Request Forms Due

Sunday (4/17)
10AM-2PM: Eighth Grade Carwash ( register here)

Upcoming Events:  

Thursday (4/21) - Sunday (5/1)
Pesach Break

Monday (5/2) - Friday (5/6)
Unity Week

Thursday (5/5)
Yom Hashoah Observance (Grades 6-8)

Friday (5/6)
8th Grade Tolerance Presentations

Tuesday (5/10)
8PM: Erev Yom Hazikaron Community Ceremony

Wednesday (5/11)
Yom Hazikaron

Thursday (5/12)
Yom Haatzmaut

3:30PM Dismissal
 
6PM: Yom Haatzmaut Celebration and Daglanut

Monday (5/16) - Friday (5/20)
Terra Nova Standardized Assessments

Shabbat (5/21)
BPYPTO Teaneck Shabbat

Parshat Hashavua Winner



Congratulations to our winning class for sending in the most signed
parsha sheets!

This week's winner is....2B!!!!

We can't wait to see who next week's winner will be....
Dedicated Days of Learning

Wednesday's learning was  dedicated by 
Noemi and Michael Sobol to commemorate the shloshim of  Daniel Meir ben Benzion, 
beloved friend of Ana'el's (5) family. 


If you would like to dedicate a day or week of learning, please contact Rachel Weiss at x35 or RachelW@benporatyosef.org
Sponsorships begin at $180

Thank you to everyone who 
has already joined our
ACHDUT ANNUAL CAMPAIGN
Your generosity is essential to BPY's continued ability to provide innovative and enriching educational experiences for our nearly 500 students each day.

MAKE YOUR ONE TIME OR RECURRING GIFT TODAY AT: 
    
**All recurring, automatic monthly donations are now being matched, dollar for dollar!  Any new $10,000 gift will be matched at 50 cents to the dollar.**  

To discuss a pledge or gift, inquire about sponsorship opportunities, or volunteer to help with the campaign, please contact Rachel Weiss, BPY's Director of Development  (201-845-5007 x35, rachelw@benporatyosef.org) or Josh Drazen, Achdut Annual Campaign Chair ( Drazen.joshua@gmail.com).

2015-16 Junior High 
Sports Seasons

BPY students, parents, and staff members are always invited to attend any of our BPY games and cheer on our teams.


The SOCCER game schedules can be found on the BPY Google calendar, on the BPY website, on the BPY app, or by CLICKING HERE.

Let's go BPY!!!

BPY'S NEW APP!

Scan to download the NEW BPY APP!

The NEW BPY App is now available for free download on Google Play and the App Store. Download it today for instant access to pictures/videos, the school calendar, lunch calendar, classroom blogs, daily homework, and more!


Available for iPhone and Android!  
        
-----------------------------

If you love us, why not "like" us (on Facebook)?

Don't miss out!  
Facebook friends...
  • get all of our videos first
  • see daily photos and updates about exciting school activities
  • connect with other BPY families
 
 
The BPY Store
 
Stay Warm This Winter With BPY Winter Gear!
  • BPY pullover hoodie sweatshirt (navy with BPY on the sleeve in green): $25
  • BPY Bling logo zip-up sweatshirt: $35
  • BPY Logo zip-up hoodie sweatshirt: $30
  • BPY Sweatpants: $20
  • BPY Legwarmers: $15
  • BPY Pajama Pants: $25
  • BPY Winter Hat: $15
Show Your BPY Pride Any Time:
  • BPY Polo Shirts: $15
  • BPY Glitter Headbands: $8
  • BPY Bling Headbands: $10
  • BPY Phone Case: $5

Email jodirobincohen@gmail.com to order your BPY gear today!




New BPY  Kippot
$10 each
felt, corduroy, t-shirt, mesh

email pto@benporatyosef.org 
to order


The 2015-16 / 5776 BPY Discount Card is here! 

Only $60 for 2 cards gets you great discounts at many area stores - this card will pay for itself!

Buy yours in the BPY office.

CAMP KEF/
CAMP MA'ALOT

to register for CAMP KEF
to register for 
CAMP MA'ALOT
BPY Women's Book Club

The next book selection for the BPY Women's Book Club is 
 And the Mountains Echoed 
by Khaled Hosseini



Meeting and discus sion at the home of
Elisabeth Kooijmans
574 Ogden Avenue in Teaneck 

Saturday Night,  April 9 at 9:15PM

New (and old!) members are warmly invited to attend! 

Please contact Shelley Fisher at  shelleyfisher1@gmail.com or Amy Zwas at  amyzwas@gmail.com with any questions.
 
BPY Birthday Book Club!

With your donation of $18, $36, or $54, the BPY library will add a new  book to its collection in honor of your child's (or grandchild's)  birthday. Each  book will include a customized dedication bookplate in honor of the child's  birthday with a special message of your choice.


Each  book helps to build our library - what a wonderful way to celebrate a  birthday!

For more information, please contact Yael Rabitz at  yaelrabitz@gmail.com.
Community Events and Announcements
Community event listings are included in this newsletter as a service to the community and to our BPY families. Inclusion of community events in this newsletter does not constitute an endorsement by Ben Porat Yosef.

Shabbat Shalom 
From Rav Tomer Ronen
In this week's parsha, Tazria, the Torah explains what happens to people who speak lashon harah. I explained to the children during Kabbalat Shabbat this morning, that in the time of the Torah, there was a very direct relationship between how people acted and how their bodies felt. Therefore, when someone spoke lashon harah, it was possible 
that a white spot, tzaraat, would appear on their skin and spread. In order to cure it, they would need to leave the community for seven days to think about what they had done and do teshuvah.

Why was the sin of lashon harah so serious that a person who was guilty of it would actually be expelled from the community for a period of time? Hashem wanted to make sure that Bnei Yisrael would become a unified society where people would treat one another nicely.  When someone talks badly about someone else when he or she is not present, it creates the opposite of unity. 

Achdut means recognizing that even though we are all different, we are still united and still treat each other nicely. Regardless of our differences, we still need to make sure that we all feel part of the same people, Am Yisrael. When we speak badly about others, we are creating separations and divisions which is the exact opposite of what Hashem wants us to do. Therefore, the people responsible for creating those rifts need to be removed from the community until they realize their wrongdoing and determine to change their ways. 

The lesson for our own lives today is readily apparent and the children and I had an extensive discussion about what lashon harah is and why we should refrain from engaging in it. I hope that everyone will continue these conversations at home over Shabbat and that Am Yisrael will be blessed with the true achdut, unity, that Hashem wants us to have.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rav Tomer Ronen
Fifth Graders Receive Response From President Obama!
Through Reader's Workshop, fifth graders worked on researching and writing persuasive letters about topics that are important to them. Students wrote about the value of classroom pets, arguments for or against drinking bottled water, and the importance of recycling. They thought about recipients who might be able to take action on these issues, and many students decided to address their letters to President Obama. They mailed their letters in February and were thrilled to receive a response from the President this week! The students were so excited to hear from him, and it helped them realize that each one of us has an opportunity to be heard and to make a difference. Our fifth graders can't wait to keep creating positive change in the world!

Third Grade Poetry Slam
Kol hakavod to our talented third grade poets who held their own poetry slam this week! The students composed their own original poems after learning how to analyze poetic language in Reader's Workshop. Then they transformed their classroom into a poetry cafe (complete with covered tables, healthy snacks, and candlelight) and invited guests from other classes to listen as they performed their poems, which they read from beautifully illustrated pages. The production was even live-streamed so parents could enjoy it as well. What an incredible way to understand the creative process poets go through and the choices they make when composing their poetry. Well done third grade!
BPY Drama Club Production of
"Willy Wonka Kids" 
"Who can take a sunrise
Sprinkle it in dew
Cover it in chocolate 
and a miracle or two?...
The candyman can cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good...."

Kol hakavod to the BPY Drama Club under the direction of Rebecca Lopkin o Envision Theater  for their incredible performance of "Willy Wonka Kids" last Sunday! 


Video recording of the production coming soon...
Grammy's Torah Garden Construction Begins
Construction on BPY's organic garden began this week with fantastic displays of teamwork by our second graders who started filling in our garden design with topsoil, followed by some heavy lifting by members of our junior high garden elective. Can you tell what shape our garden will be? Hint: it's a musical instrument...Stay tuned.....

Check out the great time-lapse video of the garden construction on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/benporatyosef!
Gan Prachim's Party Pizza Shop
How can pizza be a teaching tool? Just ask the children of Gan Prachim and watch the video below! This yummy food gave our nursery friends an opportunity to learn more about math, measurements, comparisons, and new Hebrew words, while conducting scientific experiments with yeast and sugar and engaging in some of the elements involved in starting a business. The unit ended with the grand opening of their very own pizza restaurant ("Gan Prachim's Party Pizza Shop"), which they advertised to other BPY early childhood classes. They were excited to welcome their friends from Gan Kochavim and Gan Keshet as their first customers!

Tzeydah LaDerech
Eighth graders were honored to welcome Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, author, president of CLAL - The  National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, and husband of BPY General Studies Principal Rebecca Hirschfield, for this week's Tzeydah LaDerech program. Rabbi Hirschfield led an engaging and insightful discussion on  emunah and the relationship between believing in Hashem and believing in ourselves. He used examples offered by the lives of Avraham, Moshe, and Esther to share lessons that apply to our own lives. Todah rabbah Rabbi Hirschfield for a wonderful session!

This Week In BPY's Science Discovery Room...
First grade entomologists are continuing to their beetle studies. They carefully observed the beetles to determine whether they are insects or not, and worked on labeling their beetle diagrams.


Second graders are designing their own animal exhibit! They are figuring out how large it should be by measuring themselves, different rooms, and furniture in school to get a sense of scale. The exhibit will be based on their 
animal habitat research notes.


Fifth graders are excited to get back into the Van Saun Mill Brook for their spring river study. They prepared for next week's visit by the Hackensack Riverkeeper Watershed ambassador by practicing their water analysis techniques. 

Around BPY Early Childhood...
Gan Chaverim (KA) students started playing a special version of the card game "War" using cards that represent numbers in a variety of different ways, including as images of dots on dominoes, fingers on a hand, or written out as words. The game is designed to help the children quickly identify number quantities by sight without counting, known as subitizing. Research shows a strong relationship between subitizing skill and math achievement.

Around BPY Elementary School...
Kol hakavod to first grade on finishing their third Ariot book!


Fourth graders celebrated weeks of hard work in Chumash and Navi with a Friday pajama party!

Fifth graders wrote letters of condolence to the Force family who lost their son in a terrorist attack in Israel. Taylor Force was an American veteran visiting Israel to learn about the innovative technology being produced there. They received the beautiful email below from Taylor's father:

Dear Ms. Sanders and her Fifth Grade Class -

My family thanks you very much for the thoughtful letters of condolence that we received in today's mail.  The outpouring of love and sympathy from friends and strangers alike has been overwhelming and comforting.

As the Force family continues the mending process, and it will be an eternal process, we are focusing on the person Taylor was and is in our hearts.

Your letters remind me of a part of Taylor's life that made him so special.  He was very conscientious about staying in touch with friends and family, frequently sending cards with personal notes on both happy and sad occasions, or calling if he was not in a position to write.  You appear to be on the same caring path, giving of yourself to make life a bit better for others.  It is a good thing - I urge you never to stop.

Sincerely and with thanks,  Stuart Force
Around BPY Junior High...
Thank you to the Bergen County Watershed ambassador for visiting BPY to teach our sixth graders about the health of local rivers. Our students learned that different insects and other macroinvertebrates will be present in our stream, depending on its level of pollution. Next week, they are headed out into the Van Saun Mill Brook itself to search for and identify macroinvertebrates in order to assess its pollution level.

From Our Inbox

From a BPY parent after completing the "Hebrew in Jewish Day Schools" survey:

"Doing this survey was a great reminder of how much we love the school. Thank you for everything!

Click here to read a letter from Project Ezrah, thanking the students of BPY for all their help packing over 7000 "Purim Packet" mishloach manot packages!

Click here to read a letter from JFNNJ thanking us for participating in the March Mega Food Drive!
BPY's Bridges Discovery Learning Day Featured in Port Authority Newsletter
From Port Authority News, Volume 15, Number 6 (courtesy of the Port Authority):

Thank you again to our Port Authority guest engineers for joining us for Discovery Learning Day!
Pesach Guides and Mechirat Chametz Forms
Thank you to Rabbi David Bassous for preparing these helpful Pesach guides, including the Sephardic and Ashkenazic halachot and minhagim of Pesach:

Click here for English
Click here for Hebrew

If you have questions, please contact Rabbi Bassous at davidb@benporatyosef.org.

 

Thank you also to Rabbi Bassous for handling the sale of 
chametz for BPY families again this year.

To sell your chametz through Rabbi Bassous, please complete  this form and return it to the school office no later than Tuesday, April 19.

More Parent Guilt - Part II
by Stanley Fischman
In the first part of this column last week, I introduced Laura Callisen's list of 6 Parenting Sins to Avoid. At the risk of continuing the discomfort, the following are the rest of the "sins":

 
3) Discounting their emotions.  How would you feel if you told your spouse of a great fear or anxiety and the response was: "Oh don't be silly, that's nothing!"? Why should a young adult feel any differently? No one wants to be told that there is no validity to their feelings. Such a response is likely to add more stress to a child's emotions.
 
4) Public shaming as punishment. Many outrageous parents have...

Library Corner
Under the guidance of librarian Susan Levin, our students are participating in a special program run by the Bank Street School of Education in NYC. They are joining other elementary school students across America to vote for their favorite fiction books.


Our students hear and discuss the stories and vote electronically for their top choices. There is one school-wide winner for each contest, and we will know in May if our choices become the national winners. 

Feel free to borrow the finalists from the public library:

Irma Black Award for Fiction (grades 1-2)
*Ragweed's Farm Dog Handbook by Anne V. Kennedy (second grade winner!)
Red: a Crayon's Story by Michael Hall
You Can Do It, Bert! by Ole Konnecke
* It's Only Stanley by Jon Agee ( first grade winner!)

Cook Prize for Non-Fiction (grades 3-4)
High Tide for Horseshoe Crabs by Lisa K. Schnell
Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine by Laurie Wallmark
* Mesmerized by Mara Rockliff ( third and fourth grade winner!)

Happy Reading!
THIS SUNDAY: Circus "Grand" Night Out
Limited spots still available!
Click  HERE to RESERVE TICKETS
Click  HERE to PURCHASE TICKETS
THIS MONDAY: Schools In Session with
Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle
We will be hosting Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle at BPY on Monday, April 11. She will be touring the school at 10AM and meeting with parents about security and tuition affordability at 10:30AM. We need all parents who are able to join us for this event for about  30 minutes (10:30-11AM). Teach NJS will provide talking points for the discussion. If you can attend, please email shoshanag@benporatyosef.org. Thank you!
Eighth Grade Carwash
Reserve your carwash at  http://goo.gl/forms/ZtwEpBZkIA

Shoe Drive Thank You!
Thank you to everyone who donated their used shoes to our shoe drive! We collected many, many pairs of shoes to be refurbished and provided to those in need, or recycled and made into new products. 


If you still have shoes to donate, you can drop them off at the home of Ora and Ronen Assayag - 456 Wyndham Road in Teaneck.
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Advertise and Support Our School! 
Contact Shoshi at ShoshiR@benporatyosef.org
for more details.


Inclusion of any ads in this newsletter does not constitute an endorsement by Ben Porat Yosef. Ben Porat Yosef accepts no liability in connection with the use of any product, service, or technique advertised.
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