Kibitzer January 12, 2018

Preschoolers had fun in the snow this week.

#IlluminateAkiba

From the Desk of

6th grader JoJo records for the Akiba Podcast

Welcome back, families! I hope you all had a wonderful break and time to spend together. As we look ahead to the next few months, there is much to get excited about. Fantastic learning, Tu B'Shvat programs, our school musical, 8th grade trip to Israel and so much more! However, as we look ahead, we must always look behind.

Throughout the break, I could not stop thinking about the loss of our dear Millie Miller, Z'L. She meant so much to our students, as illustrated by their reaction and the days that followed her passing. Ms. Kass describes it beautifully below, and we are looking forward to celebrating Millie's legacy next week at a unique program for the Shloshim (the 30th day of the mourning process that is of significance). One of the reactions that struck me was that of 6th grader JoJo Vadnai, who was moved to write a poem (we've shared his work in a previous Kibitzer). I asked JoJo if he would come on the Akiba Podcast and speak about the poem. This is ten minutes you will not want to miss. Enjoy!

Click Here to Listen

Shabbat Shalom!

Dr. Eliezer Jones

Head of School

From the Day School

We all miss Millie very much! The preschool window by her old desk is decorated in her honor.

We Will Be There

by Miriam Kass

Interim Principal

After learning of Millie's death, I took a deep breath, just long enough for hundreds of Millie-moments to race across my mind and have my eyes fill with tears, I told Glenn Miller, Millie's youngest son, "We will be there."

This was not a conscious decision; it was an instinct. I knew that Akiba-Schechter, Millie's fourth child, would sit with the rest of her family at her funeral. We would bring most of our staff and our middle school students on two buses to be present and counted among the mourners.

While making the arrangements, that instinctive decision was affirmed at every turn. Several of our current teachers and staff offered to stay behind and make a shiva visit instead of attending the funeral so that their colleagues could go with their minds at ease. Members of the extended Akiba family (some former teachers, parents and nannies) reached out to us and offered to serve as substitute teachers in our preschool and lower school. Without a request, our bus company, M&G Transportation, waived the transportation fee. Parents called and emailed to thank us for making it possible for their children to go.

After learning that they would go to the funeral, the students asked beautiful questions: What do I wear to a funeral to be most respectful? Will people be crying? Is it ok that I feel a little happy that you think I'm old enough to go? Will children be allowed to speak? Can you tell us what to expect because I want to go, but I'm a little scared? Are we going because we all loved Millie, and she was like our second or third grandmother?

Sitting among the middle schoolers at the funeral, I felt sadness for our collective loss and gratitude for the many years we had with Millie (over 41 for me!) and for all the ways she left her mark on our lives (too many to count!). But I was also filled with N achas -- poorly translated as pride and joy, Nachas has an almost spiritual aspect to it. The Yiddish word N achas ultimately comes from the Biblical Hebrew word lanuach, meaning "to rest" or "be at ease." Our students, your children, listened intently and some were moved to tears; they smiled and even laughed at some of the amusing memories shared; they rose to the occasion and offered comfort and support to the Miller family; and they learned, some for the very first time, how we say goodbye.

Next Wednesday, on Rosh Chodesh Sh'vat, the whole grade school will gather with Glenn Miller and other family members in Loeb Hall to mark the end of Shloshim , the first 30 days of mourning. Each of us will write down a Mitzvah (a commandment from the Torah or, colloquially, a good deed) he/she commits to doing to keep Millie's light shining brightly in our world. I invite you to do the same. Perhaps you will light the Shabbat candles or visit someone who is sick; perhaps you will befriend someone new or forgive a friend who hurt you. Whatever we commit to do in Millie's memory, I know we will continue to keep her within each of us. May her memory be a blessing.

#IlluminateAkiba

Our Spread the Light Chanukah event was a huge success. Getting wax hands (in the most creative formations) was particularly popular!

Dvar Torah

Parashat Vaera

by Rabbi Holman

This week's Parsha begins the ten plagues. Yehudah HaLevi (12th century Spanish philosopher) asked why G-d introduces Himself at Mt. Sinai as "the G-d who took you out of Egypt, the house of bondage." Wouldn't it be more impressive to present Himself as the Creator of the Universe? Yehuda HaLevi answers that the exodus was a first-hand experience which we could relate to and feel grateful for, as opposed to the esoteric concept of creation. With the ten plagues we learn of G-d's mastery of nature and life itself. G-d intended that Judaism should be a rational religion. To that end, we needed to experience

G-d and not just believe in a philosophy conjured up by an individual. Having that relationship with "the G-d who took you out of slavery," we have a religion founded on substance and not mere speculation. Shabbat Shalom!

Preschool

What do you want to do on a snowy day? That's what the kids in the Blue Room asked themselves and their friends. They ended up making pictures with mixed media and shared their ideas.

"Once there was a man named King, Hallelujah! His name was Martin Luther King, Hallelujah!" On Monday, Dara's daughter Ella and her nephew Ezra visited the Purple Room, and the class talked about Martin Luther King and discussed the story of Rosa Parks, who said she would NOT go to the back of the bus. Ezra wrote and illustrated a book about MLK and Rosa. He also taught the class about another man, Bayard Rustin, who helped organize the March on Washington, DC. Everybody helped to paint a BIG picture of these three heroes.

The kids in Ready!Set!Go! love drawing in the purple sand.

Grades 1-8

Students pose with their Huck Finn-inspired maps in 7th/8th grade Humanities.

Kitah Alef has been learning the vocabulary for clothes and got their own clothes line going.

Ms. Rogan's Hebrew class split played the memory game with a twist. Each game has a "bandit" card and if gets turned, the player has to put all their matches back and reshuffle the cards on the table. Each memory game features different verbs related to the class's current unit on technology. When groups were done with one table, they moved on to another table to play with a different set of verbs.

In Mr. Salk's 1st/2nd grade, Miriam, Chana, Tamar, and Golda worked on their very own 2018 calendars. They helped each other a lot!

The Craft Club run by Ms. Rogan made colorful bookmarks this week.

Collecting Plastic Caps

Room 209 (Ms. Levine's 3rd/4th grade) Green Team is saving plastic caps, lids and bottle tops . Their goal is to collect 1,000 by Passover. Please bring your caps, lids and bottle tops to Room 209 or the grade school office. Thanks!

Students in Mrs. Gold's and Mrs. Brackman's Jewish Thought class discussed what is means to be a hero in connection to Pashiot Shemot and Vaera and the upcoming Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.