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December 7, 2017, 19 Kislev 5778
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Reminders for the Week: Wear your Yavneh shirts on Monday. Early dismissal on Tuesday, 2:00pm. Club J Available. Maccabiah Games on Friday. Happy Hanukkah!
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Chai Challenge
14 Days Left -
Help us reach 100% in 100 days!
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Message from the Head of School
Next week we will begin celebrating Hanukkah. While Hanukkah has been reinterpreted since talmudic times as a celebration of the miracle of the oil, at its core, it is the celebration of a military victory over Jerusalem that enabled, once again, for the Holy Temple to serve as the center of spiritual life for its Jewish inhabitants.
Yesterday, I had the privilege of spending a few minutes sitting in on a middle school Israel Studies class as they were discussing the status of modern day Jerusalem, specifically, the United States' official recognition of Jerusalem's status as the capital of Israel. One student raised her hand and said, "This makes no sense. Everyone knows that Jerusalem is Israel's capital. Just google it." Students revisited various historical maps including that of the 1947 U. N. partition plan that they had just learned about in the context of the plan's 70th anniversary, and the plan's intention for the status of Jerusalem, as well as biblical claims and the references to Jerusalem in Hatikvah. As I left, the students discussed why anyone would care about or need approval for a country's choice of capital. It was a great discussion to set up an eventual study of strategic considerations that could guide both support for and opposition to such a declaration. What a loaded subject. What a relevant topic.
As an almost seventh generation Jerusalemite (had my mother not relocated to L.A. before my birth), I was taken by the depth of knowledge that our students already had about Jerusalem, their level of connection, the diversity of their thinking and questioning, the teacher's skillful navigation of the instruction and discussion surrounding the topic, and mostly, the respectful tone of dialogue between students of differing opinions. It is my hope that educating a generation that will have the capacity to engage in such dialogue will bring us to the possibility of a peaceful future. This atmosphere of tolerance is one that could have served the Jewish people historically, including both the assimilationist Hellenists and the fundamentalist Hasmoneans who lived during the time of the Hanukkah story. I only regret that those ancestors of ours never had the opportunity to study Israel at Yavneh with Jamie
Zimmer as their teacher! Shabbat Shalom -Zvi
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Calendar and Upcoming Events
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| Dec. 7 |
Torah Service, 8:30am |
| Dec. 8 |
Kabbalat Shabbat, 2:30pm |
| Dec. 11 |
All School T'fillah, 8:30am
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| Dec. 12 |
Early Dismissal at 2:00pm for Professional Development (Club J Available)
1st Night of Hanukkah |
| Dec. 14 |
Torah Service, 8:30am
2nd Nigh of Hanukkah |
| Dec. 15 |
2nd Annual Maccabiah Games for Hanukkah
Hanukkah Kabbalat Shabbat, 2:15pm MPR
3rd Night of Hanukkah |
| Dec. 18-Jan. 1 |
Winter break (return to school Jan. 2) |
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Kitah Zayin is working on building a Hanukkah menorah. Stay tuned! Kitah Chet students discovered the center of gravity through their learning of geometry.
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Yesterday, Kitah Hay toured the CA Thayer (a schooner preserved at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park) and a ferry on the Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco. After eating lunch next to the bay, they explored the Visitors Center. This field trip augmented their learning in STEAM surrounding sailing conditions and helped students reflect on what explorers arriving to our country experienced in their travels.
The students love the newly painted basketball court painted by members of the basketball team and Coach Aylon.
Kitah Bet and families created Havdallah sets at their family learning experience.
Kitah Dalet completed an investigation of angles using compasses.
For the fourth year in a row, Yavneh participated in The Hour of Code during Computer Science
Education Week with robotics simulations, challenges, and coding.
Kitah Gan studied this week's Torah portion about Jacob and created a felt art piece of the story.
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Afterschool Enrichment Classes and Yavneh Merchandise:
Click here (School Password yavneh1)
Shop with eScrip: Order gift cards from Lands End, restaurants, supermarkets, and more. eScrip will donate a percentage to Yavneh.
More info,
Shop Now
AmazonSmile:
When you shop Amazon Smile, Amazon will donate a portion (0.5%) of the purchase price to
Yavneh.
Shop Now
Hot Lunch: Menu |
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Another way to support Yavneh while you shop is through Amazon Smile. By using
this link
, each time you shop at Amazon, Yavneh
earns money.
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Scrip Gift Cards
Available in Office
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Support Yavneh while you shop. Purchase gift cards this holiday season through Yavneh. A
portion of your purchase will be given back to Yavneh.
Contact
Jennifer
for more info. You can also purchase gift cards
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What is the Chai Challenge?
Thank you to everyone who has given to the Annual Campaign! If you haven't had the opportunity yet, please help your class reach 100% participation. For each grade, an anonymous donor who established the
Chai Challenge will gift $1,800 for reaching 100%. Any and all donations counts towards this goal. Please help us earn an additional $21,600 in the Annual
Campaign and
DONATE HERE
.
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Embrace-A-Family with Jewish Family Services of Silicon Valley
Now - December 19th
Each year JFS makes Hanukkah brighter for those in need. Look for dreidel boards at the Yavneh lobby from November 15th through December 19th. The
Embrace-A-Family Target Registry will be available
on the JFS website.
In addition to specific gifts, JFS is also asking for, l
arge new/unused gift bags, g
as cards, and g
ift cards to Target, Walmart, Trader Joe's and Safeway to serve our
clients throughout the year.
For more info: contact
Lori Cinnamon
(408) 357-7467
Super Sunday
Sunday, December 10th
Super Sunday is the Jewish Federation's biggest fundraising day. Help raise money for the APJCC,
JFS, Yavneh, Hillel Silicon Valley, Santa Cruz Hillel, BBYO, SPHDS, Kehillah, Chia House, and the Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival. Volunteers needed. Register here.
Kehillah Jewish High School Admissions Open House
Sunday, December 10th,
2:00pm-4:30pm
Jewish Heritage Night at the Golden State Warriors
URJ Camp Newman Benefit Concert at Shir Hadash, Light the Way to a New Camp Day
Saturday, December 16th, 7:00-8:30pm
Fun and free benefit concert filled with Camp Newman melodies, Hanukkah lights and spirit! Funds raised will go directly to Newman to provide relief in the aftermath of the Northern California fires. All are welcome!
APJCC Winter Camp
Dates available from Monday, December 18th - January 5th,
More info
"The MeshugaNutcracker!" in Movie
Theaters
Tuesday, December 19th, 7:00pm
San Jose, Cupertino, and Redwood City
Created by Yavneh's very own performing arts teachers Scott and Shannon Guggenheim. "The MeshugaNutcracker!" is a full-length musical comedy that features the wonderfully silly sensibilities of the folklore of Chelm (a fictional town of fools) underscored by an invigorating Klezmer-ized orchestration of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite," including original lyrics that celebrate Chanukah.
More info, tickets, Free Chanukah Activity Booklet, and Coloring Contest
Sign Up For J.'s Free Newsletter
Did you know that you can get highlights of the week's Bay Area Jewish news and culture stories, as well as columns, op-eds, obituaries, and lifecycle announcements on your mobile device and computer via email? Just
click here to sign up for the free
Friday morning e-newsletter from our community partner, J. The Jewish News of Northern California. You will also receive breaking news as it occurs.
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