1 Adar II 5776
Shabbat Parshat Pekudei
Candle Lighting 5:40 PM
Havdalah 6:42 PM
Mazal tov to Leah and Andrew Harary on being honored with the Young Leadership Award at the Congregation Ahavath Torah dinner.
CONDOLENCES:
Condolences to Nir Mossaiov on the passing of his mother, Nitza Mossaiov, grandmother
of Leon (6).
Tenuhamu Min Hashamayim
Mitzvah Cards:
If you would like to send a mitzvah card please contact Shani at
x10 or
[email protected]
(*clocks move forward one hour*)
Sunday (3/13)
9AM-4PM: Parent Teacher Conferences
Scholastic Book Fair Final Day
Monday (3/14)
Staff-in-Service Day
NO SESSIONS
Tuesday (3/15)
8PM: Evening of Achdut at Congregation Keter Torah in Teaneck
Eighth Grade Yearbook Ad Deadline (
click here to place an ad)
Wednesday (3/16)
11:30AM: BPY Online Auction Closes (
click here to bid!)
Thursday (3/17)
Last Day of Afternoon Adventures Trimester II
Deadline to Order Mishloach Manot Through the BPYPTO
Friday (3/18)
2PM Friday Dismissal Resumes
Junior High Rainbow Day
Upcoming Events:
Monday (3/21)
Thursday (3/24)
Purim: No Sessions
9:30AM BPY Family Megillah Reading (Tefillah at 8:30AM)
Friday (3/25)
Shushan Purim
Costume and Carnival Day
Junior High Beit Sefer L'Musica
Tuesday (3/29)
Hazamir Israel Concert
Shabbat (4/2-3)
BPY Englewood Shabbaton
Sunday (4/3)
11AM and 3PM: BPY Drama Club Willy Wonka Performances
Monday (4/4)
Tuition Agreements Due
Afternoon Adventures Trimester III Begins
Sunday (4/10)
5-7PM: Circus Grand Night Out
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Parshat Hashavua Winner
Congratulations to our winning class for sending in the most signed
parsha sheets!
CORRECTION: Last week's winner was 2B and the grand prize winner for the month was 3C!
We can't wait to see who next week's winner will be....
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Dedicated Days of Learning
Wednesday's learning was
dedicated by
Noemi and Michael Sobol
l'ilui nishmat Shmuel ben Yakov, z"l,
uncle of Ana'el (5).
If you would like to dedicate a day or week of learning, please contact Rachel Weiss at x35 or [email protected]
Sponsorships begin at $180
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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,
[email protected]) or Josh Drazen, Achdut Annual Campaign Chair (
[email protected]).
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2015-16 Junior High
Sports Seasons
BPY students, parents, and staff members are always invited to attend any of our BPY basketball and soccer games and cheer on our teams.
The BASKETBALL game schedules can be found on the BPY Google calendar, on the BPY website, on the BPY app, or by
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!!!
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Scan to download the NEW BPY APP!
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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!
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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
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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 [email protected] to order your BPY gear today!
$10 each
felt, corduroy, t-shirt, mesh
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.
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CAMP KEF/
CAMP MA'ALOT
to register for CAMP KEF
to register for
CAMP MA'ALOT
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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!
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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!
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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.
The Life Support Training Center
at HackensackUMC
is offering the
American Heart Association's
Heartsaver CPR AED course
for students in 8th through 12th grades. Please
for more information.
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Shabbat Shalom
From Rav Tomer Ronen
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| The past two days have been days of celebration at BPY. We celebrated Rosh Chodesh Adar II and the upcoming holiday of Purim with communal Hallel, Topsy Turvy Day, and Beit Sefer L'Musica. Our entryway, hallways, and classrooms are decorated to evoke the city of Shushan and the castles of kings and queens. Throughout the school, our students have been |
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working on Purim masks,
ra'ashanim, and
megillot in preparation for the holiday. Ask any of the parents and grandparents who joined us for Beit Sefer L'Musica this morning, and they will tell you that the energy in the building is infectious and inspiring! The celebration will continue next week, for our parents and staff members, at the Evening of Achdut on Tuesday night.
At Ben Porat Yosef, having fun and celebrating are essential parts of our educational program. But celebration is not just about having fun - it is critical to the psyche of the individual and to the strength of the community.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks expands on the importance of celebration and points to its essential presence, both in this week's
parsha (Pekudei) and in the creation narrative in
Breishit. He draws on numerous parallels between these two episodes, showing how the divine act of creating the world is mirrored in the human act of creating the
mishkan. In both cases, creative work takes place, is completed, and is then celebrated. Rabbi Sacks explains that when
Bnei Yisrael complete the construction of the
mishkan, Moshe blesses them and "celebrat[es] their achievement...show[ing] them what they could be. That is potentially a life-changing experience."
Similarly, when we celebrate at Ben Porat Yosef, it isn't just fun and games - it is an essential part of the education we provide to our students and it is key to the realization of their potential. As Rabbi Sacks says, "All it takes is for us to meet someone who believes in us, challenges us, and then, when we have responded to the challenge, blesses and celebrates our achievements....Celebration is an essential part of motivating." I could not have said it better myself.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rav Tomer Ronen
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Online Auction Closing in 5 Days...
Get In It To Win It!
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Sending your kids to CMEK, Camp Nesher, Regesh, Shalom, Moshava Ba'ir, Mesorah, Ramah, or Kef/Maalot? Thinking of planning a fantastic date night at the NY Philharmonic, a Broadway show, or comedy club followed by great local dining at Nobo, Mediterranea, or Mocha Bleu?
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We've got what you need in the BPY Online Auction - but only for 5 more days!
Get bidding HERE today and win something special for you, your children, or as a gift - all while supporting our school! #BPYBids4Achdut
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| Scholastic Book Fair Final Day on Sunday! |
The final day of the BPY Scholastic Book Fair is this SUNDAY, March 13.
The fair will be open throughout parent-teacher conferences so make sure to stop by!
If your child reserved books, they must be paid for and picked up by 4PM on Sunday.
If there is an item from the flyer that is not available at our fair, or that sold out, you can purchase it online at
All book fair purchases add up to "Scholastic Dollars," which purchase non-fiction and curriculum-related materials for our school.
Thank you very much for your support!
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The students and staff of Ben Porat Yosef sure know how to welcome Adar II in style! Our fantastic creativity was on full display for Topsy Turvy day!
View more pictures on our "Topsy Turvy Day!" album at www.facebook.com/benporatyosef!
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They sang...they danced...they gave a truly fantastic performance! Once again, Beit Sefer L'Musica, BPY's annual celebration of Israeli music, modeled after the hit Israeli television show of the same name, was amazing! Kol hakavod to all of our performing students and to their talented teachers and coaches and thank you to all the parents and grandparents who joined us for the show!
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Packing Project Ezrah Purim Packets
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We are thrilled to continue to host Project Ezrah's "Purim Packet" operation at BPY, a partnership that began when BPY first moved into this building. All of our students are helping Project Ezrah with the massive undertaking of packing over 7000 mishloach manot! We are so happy that our students can be part of this wonderful mitzvah and support the important work that Project Ezrah does in our community.
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Happy Rosh Chodesh Adar II! Our entryway was transformed into Shushan to welcome the new month and we celebrated with a communal Hallel, Topsy Turvy Day, and Beit Sefer L'Musica. Some of our youngest students got a special guided tour of the city of Shushan where they recognized some familiar characters from the Megillah!
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| Around BPY Early Childhood |
BPY early childhood has been busy getting ready for Chag Purim! The children made masks, raashanim, megillot, puppets, and more!
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| Around BPY Elementary School |
First graders got so inspired during their science nature walk that they decided, completely on their own, to compose some poems about it!
"Mr. Fischman has a model train set. In the model, there are nine street lamps placed at equal intervals along a 64 inch long footpath. How far is the 4th street lamp from the 7th?" To help her third grade students calculate the solution to this problem, Morah Stephanie gave them a choice of different measurement tools to model the problem and reinforce the concept that length is additive. Try it at home!
Fourth graders found a lot of plastic bags in the woods next to our school this week. They are trying to determine how they got there and are researching the impact of plastic bags on the environment. Stay tuned...
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Eighth graders took advantage of the beautiful weather this week to move some of their classes outside. They worked on their persuasive essays with Morah Debbie alongside the Van Saun Mill Brook and had the gemara class in the front yard with Rav Ronen. What wonderful places to learn!
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BPY eighth graders are selling yearbook ads to support eighth grade activities, including yearbook publication and the eighth grade class trip. The deadline for all ads is March 15. |
For ad pricing and to purchase an ad, please
click here
. You can include the text for your ad in the "notes" space and the
yearbook
staff will design it for you or you can submit a print-ready ad in a JPEG or PDF format via email to
[email protected] (preferred).
Any ads that include Hebrew text
or photos must be s
ubmitted via email to
[email protected]
, print-ready, and formatted exactly as they should appear.
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Purim Is Coming!
Order Your BPYPTO Mishloach Manot! |
Purim is coming!
Earlier this week, BPY parents and staff members should have received an email with a personalized code and instructions for sending mishloach manot through the BPYPTO. The subject line of the email is "Mishloach Manot 5776- Ben Porat Yosef."
If you did not receive it, please email [email protected].
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For just $2 per recipient, with a maximum cost of $118 to send to the entire BPY family, board, and staff list of over 300, you can send a beautiful gift in time for Purim. Every BPY family, board member, and staff member will receive one basket along with a card listing all the individuals/families from whom it was sent. The deadline to place your order is March 17.
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Narcissism, Part II
by Stanley Fischman |
Recently, I wrote about some of the causes for the increase in narcissism among young people. I included excerpts from an article by Slovie Jungreis-Wolff entitled How We Can Stop Raising A Generation of Narcissists. She offers some helpful parenting strategies to avoid the narcissism trap. She also introduces a spiritual dimension to these efforts:
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- Combine parental warmth along with realism about children's abilities and accomplishments.
- We are taught by our sages that everyone needs to look at the world and say, "The world was created for me." This doesn't give us bragging rights. It means that, "every individual is vital and has a unique mission that only he can fulfill." This perspective helps children develop self-esteem and a positive self-image. "Knowing that I count, that I make a difference, that I have a significant spiritual imprint that can impact this world makes me feel pride and secure in who I am."
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| Camp Kef / Camp Ma'alot Welcome New Camp Director! |
We are thrilled to welcome Lori Chasan as our new camp director for Camp Kef and Camp Ma'alot! Click here to read the full announcement that was sent to Camp Kef / Camp Ma'alot families this morning and click here to read an introduction from Lori herself.
Lori is a veteran BPY kindergarten teacher who brings with her decades of camp experience, including many years at Camp Regesh and Shalom Day Camp, as well as tremendous energy, creativity, warmth, and excitement.
Lori is tremendously excited to be joining Camp Kef and Camp Ma'alot. She looks forward to meeting all of the Camp Kef / Camp Ma'alot families and to ensuring that all of our campers have a fabulous summer! Lori can be reached about camp business at
[email protected].
There are limited spots still available in both programs.
Click here to register for Camp Kef and
click here to register for Camp Ma'alot.
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Evening of Achdut
Parent and Staff Appreciation Event |
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We can't wait for a fantastic evening this Tuesday!!!
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| BPY Family Megillah Reading |
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Save the date for BPY's annual Purim
Megillah
Reading on
Thursday, March 24!
Join us at
8:30AM for tefillah,
Megillah at
9:30AM, in the BPY auditorium.
Costumes encouraged and welcome!
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| Willy Wonka Tickets and Playbill Ads On Sale Now! |
To reserve your tickets, email [email protected].
To purchase an ad in our playbill, email [email protected]. Click here for more information about playbill ads and pricing.
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*RSVP BY
APRIL 4TH*
Click
HERE to RESERVE TICKETS
Click
HERE to PURCHASE TICKETS
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| BPY Bar/Bat Mitzvah Projects |
A message from BPY sixth grader, Sarah Rabitz:
Help me put the real "mitzvah" in my Bat Mitzvah by contributing towards the buying and equipping of an "Art Cart" to bring art into the lives of children battling chronic and terminal illnesses at a local hospital!
What exactly is an "art cart"? It is an accessible cart that goes from hospital room to hospital room giving the children the chance to participate in art and to be creative. It is full of fun projects and many other fun things to
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do. If the patient cannot get to the theater, the museum, the concert hall, or the practice room, the art cart comes to the patient. The art cart thus not only brings art to hospitalized children; it also brings the children to (and into) art.
Why is this so personal to me? Because I know how important the arts-whether drama, singing, drawing or painting-- are in my own life and how it simply would not be the same without them. I love and am passionate about art and I would like to bring what makes me happy to children who are struggling with illnesses. By empowering them to be active participants to the artistic process -- at whatever level--validating and honoring their experiences, and giving them the opportunity to share their talents and creative energies with all those beyond their hospital walls, my Bat Mitzvah will have been a success.
To reach this goal, I have partnered with ArtWorks, about which more information may be found a http://artworksfoundation.org/. Art always puts a smile on my face and makes me happy. I know by making it accessible to these hospitalized children through an ArtWorks "Art Cart", we can truly enhance these children's lives. Please join me in making sure that the mitzvah in my Bat Mitzvah is placed where it truly belongs and where it will make a difference: with these children and their families.
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BPY is proud to be a drop off location for JFNNJ's March Mega Food Drive! Drop off your food donations outside the front office through the end of the month.
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Advertise and Support Our School!
Contact Shoshi at [email protected]
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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CMEK
will be running a special one-day
camp
for BPY students on
Monday, March 14
during the staff-in-service day:
9AM-3PM $50 per child (or $75 for 2 siblings, $100 for 3 siblings) Optional Lunch: $10 includes Poppy's pizza, drinks, snacks, dessert (or bring your own!)
Register by Tuesday, March 1st and save an additional $5 on your total purchase. Sign up by emailing
[email protected].
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