ECC Weekly Newsletter 
June 9, 2017 - Sivan 15 5777
Parashat Behaalotecha
ECC Highlights
Robin's Message
Dvar Torah
Thoughts of the Rav
2-Year-Old Class Newsletter
3-Year-Old Class Newsletter
4-Year-Old Class Newsletter
Living Room Learning
Alumni Newsletter
Yom Chesed
ES, MS, and US Newsletters
Reminders
FRIDAY, JUNE 16, IS AN ALL-SCHOOL 12:00PM DISMISSAL BECAUSE IT IS THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL.

HAPPY SUMMER!

Please check the Lost and Found table and coat rack outside the Elementary School office if you are looking for a missing item.
 
For the boys: Every day during davening we say the bracha for tzitzit, please make sure your son wears or keeps in his backpack a pair of tzitzit and a kippah.

If you have any recyclable materials, please send them in for our classes to use. Examples are:
 
-Paper towel/toilet paper rolls
 
-Paint color samples
 
-Scraps of contact paper, wallpaper, or cloth
 
-Small pieces of tile
 
-Any other crafty loose parts!
 
Please send in dress-up clothes, especially authentic doctor clothes and supplies. Thank you!
 
Whether you are a parent, alumni or faculty member, your Maimo Moments are welcomed and appreciated.
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From Robin Meyerowitz
Dear Parents,

I can't believe that the school year is almost over. We have really enjoyed your children, and watching them grow has been a privilege and a joy.

We would love to say goodbye to all of you and share some slideshows about how much your children have grown. Each class's newsletter includes the time and details of their respective end-of-the-year programs. If you can make it, we look forward to seeing you there! If you cannot, we will be giving you a DVD of the slideshow, and emailing you a link to the slideshow online.


The weather is expected to be very hot on Monday, so we have decided to have a water play day! Please send your child to school with a full extra change of clothes, including socks, underwear, and a change of shoes. We recommend closed-toe water shoes for water play, if possible. Please do not send your child to school in flip-flops, as we are concerned about tripping and falling, particularly during water play. It should be so much fun! We can't wait to finally be hot.

Next Wednesday is the End-of-Year Bash in the Saval Courtyard. We are so lucky to get to jump on moon bounces, slide down inflatable slides, and more! We will be walking over to the Saval Courtyard as a group at 8:40 a.m. We will only have until 9:30 a.m. to be at the Bash, so be sure to come on time. If you are running late, please bring your child to meet their class on the Saval courtyard.

All the best and Shabbat Shalom,

Robin

Dvar Torah
by Rabbi David Saltzman   
 
The concept of inclusion can be traced all the way back to Bnei Yisrael in the desert. Inclusion is when an environment is altered and opportunities are created in order to allow everyone to participate. We have such an example in this week's parasha.
 
The Torah recounts that a select group of people approached Moshe and Aharon because they had a particular problem:
וַיְהִי אֲנָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר הָיוּ טְמֵאִים לְנֶפֶשׁ אָדָם וְלֹא יָכְלוּ לַעֲשׂת הַפֶּסַח בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא וַיִּקְרְבוּ לִפְנֵי משֶׁה וְלִפְנֵי אַהֲרֹן בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא:
There were men who were ritually unclean [because of contact with] a dead person, and therefore could not make the Passover sacrifice on that day. So they approached Moses and Aaron on that day.
 
They were upset because they were excluded from being able to perform the mitzvah of Korban Pesach.
לָמָּה נִגָּרַע לְבִלְתִּי הַקְרִיב אֶת קָרְבַּן ה' בְּמֹעֲדוֹ בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל:
Why should we be excluded so as not to bring the offering of the Lord in its appointed time, with all the children of Israel?
 
Moshe could have simply dismissed their claim and answered "wait 'til next year." Instead, he takes this question seriously and brings it to the next level, where he asks G-d Himself (surely He must know the answer).
 
The petitioners forced Moshe to consider the following questions: Why should people who want to perform mitzvot, but for some reason cannot, be excluded? Is there a halachic way to include those who are unable to do the mitzvah in its present form?
 
It's interesting to note that nobody thought of this issue until the group that was tamei advocated for themselves by bringing the question to the leadership.
 
G-d responds:
דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר אִישׁ אִישׁ כִּי יִהְיֶה טָמֵא | לָנֶפֶשׁ אוֹ בְדֶרֶךְ רְחֹקָה לָכֶם אוֹ לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם וְעָשָׂה פֶסַח לַה': בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִי בְּאַרְבָּעָה עָשָׂר יוֹם בֵּין הָעַרְבַּיִם יַעֲשׂוּ אֹתוֹ עַל מַצּוֹת וּמְרֹרִים יֹאכְלֻהוּ:
In the second month, on the fourteenth day, in the afternoon, they shall make it; they shall eat it with unleavened cakes and bitter herbs. They shall not leave over anything from it until the next morning, and they shall not break any of its bones. They shall make it in accordance with all the statutes connected with the Passover sacrifice.
 
Remarkable. G-d answers in the affirmative and, with a slight modification, offers the opportunity for this once-excluded group to join in the mitzvah at a later date and feel connected to the community.
 
We have similar chances each day. By slightly changing our routine or outlook, we can also become more sensitive to those desiring to be part of the Jewish community and demonstrate arvut though our inclusive practices.
 
  
Thoughts of the Rav    
by Rabbi David Saltzman

וַיֹּאמֶר משֶׁה לְחֹבָב בֶּן רְעוּאֵל הַמִּדְיָנִי חֹתֵן משֶׁה נֹסְעִים | אֲנַחְנוּ אֶל הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר אָמַר ה' אֹתוֹ אֶתֵּן לָכֶם לְכָה אִתָּנוּ וְהֵטַבְנוּ לָךְ כִּי ה' דִּבֶּר טוֹב עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל:
Then Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses's father-in-law, We are traveling to the place about which the Lord said, I will give it to you. Come with us and we will be good to you, for the Lord has spoken of good fortune for Israel.
 
The Rav writes that whenever he read this pasuk it brought a tear to his eye and he wanted to cry. This is due to the simplicity with which the great Moshe, the master of all wise men and the father of all prophets, spoke. He used the grammatical first person נֹסְעִים אֲנַחְנוּ, אִתָּנוּ , because Moshe was certain - there was not even a shadow of doubt in his mind - that he was going to enter the Promised Land. He was convinced that he would see the hills of Judea, climb the mount of Lebanon, and be one of the ba'ey ha'aretz.
 
By this point in the narrative, there was no doubt about Moshe's destiny, and for this reason the Rav would have to control his tears whenever he read this pasuk.
 
 
2-Year-Old Class Newsletter
Dear Parents,
 
This was a particularly rainy week, so to break up our day, we spent some time playing in the Kindergarten classroom, and some time in the four- and three-year-old classrooms. We really enjoyed the wooden circles and stones from the other classrooms, and made some beautiful and creative structures.
 
We have exciting news! We have had so much fun taking care of the garden we planted that we even made a book about it! We are so excited to share it with you, and you will be able to take home your copy next Friday on the last day of school.
 
We pretended some real coconuts came out of the elevator ceiling, because all year long we have called the round, white lights in the elevator "coconuts." Morah Tzipi took the real coconuts into the three-year-old classroom, where both classes watched her open them! They were so interesting and so yummy to eat.
 
We have fun with math activities every day, and this week we estimated and then counted how many segments were inside each clementine that we ate for snack. The first time there were ten, and then the next one had nine.
 
In Music & Movement, Morah Dayse let us play drums; in Music class, Morah Linda took us shopping; and in Art class, Ms. DiOrio let us use clay and draw with crayons. For Cooking this week, we made burekas. The students mashed the potatoes and made the dough. The burekas were delicious!
 
On Thursday, we went to the upper playground and joined the Elementary School for their Color War barbecue. The hot dogs and hamburgers were so delicious. We were so happy to be included and we enjoyed our picnic in the lovely weather.
 
On our last day of school, Friday, June 16th, at 11:15 a.m. in our classroom, we will have a short end-of-the-year program, including a slideshow showing how much the students have grown this year. We would love for you to join us! 
 
Shabbat Shalom,
 
Morot Tzipi and Laura
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Using smooth river stones, along with beautiful circles of wood, to give us an opportunity to be creative with nature.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
While some of us worked horizontally, others liked going up, and up, and up! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We take turns watering our garden so the flowers keep growing tall. 
  
 
 
    
 
 
We pretended that, magically, coconuts came out of the elevator ceiling, so we had to check them out with our flashlights. 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
One morning, we counted how many segments were inside our clementines. We got ten one day, and nine the other.
 
 
 
      
Everyone got a turn to drum with Morah Dayse. 
 
 
 
   
 
Row, row, row your boat... 
 
 
Painting with water on special magical paper. 
 
On the rainy day on Tuesday, we spent some time in the Kindergarten room. 
 
 
Here we are mixing the dough to cook burekas with Morah Tzipi. They were delicious. 
 
 
 
 
Morah Tzipi took our coconuts into the three-year-old room, and showed everyone how to open them. Then we drank the coconut milk and ate the meat. 
3-Year-Old Class Newsletter 
 
Dear Parents,
 
Even though the week started off rainy and wet, we were very busy and active. On Monday and Tuesday, we went upstairs to play in the gym, where we were joined by the two-year-old and four-year-old classes. We set up an obstacle course for the students to strengthen their gross motor skills. They balanced as they walked across stepping blocks, jumped in and out of hula hoops, crawled through tunnels, hopped up and down, balanced on butterfly balance boards, and ran zig-zags around cones. Everyone had such a great time!
 
On Monday, the students wrote and/or drew pictures about the fun things they did over Shavuot in their journals. It sounds like they had a wonderful chag !

Later that morning, Morah Tzipi and Morah Laura brought their class in and showed us a coconut. Morah Tzipi held it up and asked the students what they thought it was. Some of their guesses were an acorn, a pinecone, a lemon, a potato, and a hairy rock. The Morahs showed the students how to open the coconut, and they even got to taste some during snack. The students were also very interested to see that there was coconut milk inside the coconut.
 
Over the course of the school year, every other Tuesday afternoon, some of the 4th and 5th graders have come down with Morah Bessler to do fun activities with our class. The students have loved getting to spend time with their big buddies and looked forward to their visits. Because this was the last week they'd be joining us, we baked cupcakes, then frosted and decorated them with the older students.
 
On Thursday, we had a special treat. It was Color War for the Elementary School, and we joined them outside for a barbecue lunch. The weather was so beautiful, a perfect day for a picnic lunch!
 
In Parsha this week, the students learned about the Korban Pesach. They learned that Aaron, the Kohen Gadol, was so sad that he wasn't told to bring a Korban . Hashem told him he would have a very special job in the Mishkan. Aaron's job was to light the candles on the menorah in the Mishkan every day. A great miracle happened. The middle candle, the Nir Tamid, would stay lit all the time, and never go out as long as Aaron was alive. Aaron used the Nir Tamid to light the other candles.
 
Parsha Questions :
  1. Who was the Kohen Gadol? (Aaron)
  2. Why was Aaron sad? (Because Aaron was not told to bring a Korban)
  3. What job did Hashem give Aaron? (To light the menorah in the Mishkan)
  4. What miracle happened with the menorah? (The Nir Tamid [middle candle] always stayed lit)
 
On our last day of school, Friday, June 16th, at 11:30 a.m. in our classroom, we will have a short end-of-the-year program, including a slideshow showing how much the students have grown this year. We would love for you to join us!
 
Shabbat Shalom,
 
Morot Leisa, Shayna, Tanya, and Marggie
 
 
 
                                                                                                         Ella, Leo, and Gavriella had a sweet time playing with the dollhouse.
 
 
 
Yuval and Jonah had fun trying to figure out what this foreign object was.
 
 
 
 
 
Liam and Yosef wrote in their journals about what they did on Shavuot.
 

 
 
Morah Laura and Morah Tzipi showed us what the inside of the coconut looked -- and tasted -- like!  
 
 

Leah and Yuval made their own game to play ball by putting their feet together!



 
Amelie, Avital, Charlie, and Bella from the 2s class took turns giving each other rides on the parachute.


Getting ready to run the obstacle course the Morahs made in the gym!




The students worked together to make cupcakes for their activity period buddies from the Elementary School.
 
 

 
Leah, Charlie, Dov, and Jonah got messy making their own sculptures out of clay!


 
Hillel, Amelie, Gavriella, Batsheva, and Ella got creative with finger paints in Art class.
 
 
 
 
Leo was so proud of himself for writing his name so nicely on his artwork.
 
 
 
 
Simcha, Leah, and Batsheva loved the new disappearing paper we got in class. They had a blast making pictures and then watching them disappear.
 
 
 
 
During Music class, the students worked together to make a spiral snail shell with their bodies.
 
 
 
 
Avital and Amelie got busy baking together in the gorgeous weather.
 
 
 


Jonah and his friend Baruch from the 2s class dug for snakes and worms together.
 
 
 
 
 
Simcha was excited about the giant leaf he found.
 
 
 
 
 
Ayelet, Ella, and Gavriella built their own balance beam!
 
 
 
 
 
Sam and Charlie had fun racing around and putting out "fires."
 
 
 
 
Amelie and her friends from the 2s class, Baruch and Julia, hanging out in the tunnel!
 
 
 
We visited Morah Bessler's third grade class to see their Lego models of different places in Israel.

4-Year-Old Class Newsletter

Dear Parents,
 
Just one more week left until the last day of school! We have spent much of this week preparing for our special end-of-the-year program, which is happening in the Brener gym next Friday morning, June 16 at 10:45 a.m. We used a lot of input from the students as we decided what to include so we can best show what we have learned this year. We even started practicing on Thursday and Friday.
 
We would love for you to join us for the program! If you can make it, please come to the gym on time, as we would like to start promptly at 10:45 a.m. We will be finished before the Saval parking lot closes at 11:30 a.m. You may take your child home when the program is over, or you are welcome to join us outside on the playground.
 
In the mornings, we have been having fun playing with numbers and letters. We also have been doing a really good job at cooperating while playing matching games, and it is amazing to see how elaborate our students' buildings can get.
 
We really enjoyed the change in weather on Wednesday. It was so nice to get outside and enjoy the fresh air. On Thursday, the Elementary School had their Color War, so we got to eat an outdoor barbecue for lunch! We had fun sitting outside with the big kids.
 
We ended this week by celebrating Adir's birthday! Thank you to Shabbat Abba Adir for the yummy birthday/Shabbat treat.
 
Shabbat Shalom!
 
Morot Mimi, Irit, and Sara
 
 

We put shells on the table, and Noémie and Dalia organized them on their mats.  
 
 
Naftali and Adir built a hotel from blocks.
 
 
 
  

 The students enjoyed playing with letter and word puzzles.  

 
 
Ezra A., Harel, Yehuda S., and Ezra L. were so proud that they had completed all the word puzzles!
 
 
 

Ezra A. and Esther played a matching game together.



Adir enjoyed playing a math game one morning.
 


On Thursday, our morning provocation was inventions. We put out loose parts, and the students built some wonderful creations!


 
Nessim created a boat.
 
 
 
 
 Naomi and Lior chose to make pictures of their creations using watercolors.
 
 
 
 
Avigayil, Shalhevet, and Shira chose Legos to create a special house.



 
Nessim, Yehuda R., Jacob, Eli, and Jonathan became spies and spied on the teachers. 
 
 
 
 
 
On Thursday, the Elementary School had Color War, and we got to share their barbecue picnic in the lovely weather!
 
 
 
 
The hamburgers, hot dogs, and veggie burgers were delicious to eat in the lovely weather!

Living Room Learning 

Maimonides School is pleased to bring you
a taste of our Limudei Kodesh program
in our Living Room Learning series!

Join
Limudei Kodesh teacher Karyn Spero
for an hour of informal learning
as we engage each other and the Jewish sources
in a conversation of Torah.
 
Newton
Monday, June 12
7:30 - 8:30 p.m.
at the home of 
Claudine and Adam Grossman
1016 Centre Street, Newton
 
Brookline
Wednesday, June 14
8:00 - 9:00 p.m.
at the home of
Tova Katz and Ithamar Jotkowitz
25 Columbia Street, Brookline
 
"For the Love of Torah":
The Rise in the Centrality of Torah Study for Living Room Learning Its Own Sake

In this shiur we will explore the 
development of the role of Torah study from the period of the Tanach to the present day. Through an in-depth analysis of texts from the Tanach and rabbinic sources, we will discuss the historical and cultural changes that pushed Torah study to the fore as a precious gem that is meant to be learned for its own sake. 
 
All are welcome. 
For more information or to RSVP, please contact Karyn Spero at

Alumni Newsletter 
The monthly alumni newsletter for May is now online, and can be found here This issue's articles include:
  • A Decade After Launch, Alumna's HydroChic Continues to Grow, Prosper
  • After Israeli Navy Service, Graduate a Source of Vibrant Judaism in Perth
  • Recent Graduate on the Front Lines to Educate Her Campus about Israel
  • 1967 Graduate Recalls Tension, Euphoria in School as Six-Day War Progressed
If you would like to receive the alumni newsletter each month, contact Mike Rosenberg at (617) 232-4452 x 405 or mrosenberg@maimonides.org. 

Get Involved in Yom Chesed
Would you like to be involved with Yom Chesed, our day of community service?

Our fourth Yom Chesed is scheduled for Sunday morning, November 5, 2017. Yom Chesed is an all-ages community service initiative for our entire Maimonides community.  Our past Yom Chesed events have each involved over 500 participants helping a broad range of community organizations in hands-on projects.

While November seems a long way off, planning for this event begins now! If you are interested in helping to coordinate one of our Yom Chesed projects, or would like to find out more information about volunteer opportunities, please contact one of our Yom Chesed coordinators, Stef Mishkin, stefmish@msn.com, or Alissa Muzin, alissamuzin@gmail.com.
 
See what's happening in other divisions
Lots of wonderful things are happening at Maimonides School!

If you'd like to take a peek at the other divisions' newsletters, please click here.

If you would like to contact a specific school office, please use these emails: