Early Childhood enjoyed a festive Chagigah on one of the last days of Chanukah complete with spirited singing and dancing! Thank you to the 4th grade leaders for joining us.
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Pre - k got together with their Second Grade reading Buddies and had a blast enjoying Chanukah themed centers. They began reading a story “ the Chanukah guest” by Eric A. Kimmel. Students were divided into four different centers and rotated to each center.
The centers consisted of building either a Chanukiah or a dreidel using wooden blocks, cuisenaire Rods, unifex cubes and plastic piping. Other centers included Chanukah matching and playing dreidel.
Getting together with buddies is always a highlight!
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Every week, since they started reading E.B. White’s novel,
Charlotte's Web
, the third graders have been looking forward to finding out what will happen next. The lessons and morals that E.B. White has imparted to us have provided value to each of our third grade students. We have learned about friendship and how it intertwines with community. The students are learning how E.B. White’s lessons apply to their own lives and within their school and shul communities. As a culmination to our class's reading of this classic, the students traveled to Montclair State University to watch the stage production of
Charlotte’s Web
. The excitement was palpable as the students realized the differences between the novel and the show. Although the students enjoyed the show, they took great pleasure in reading the novel.
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After reading
The Hundred Dresses
the 2nd graders decided that even though we couldn't help Wanda (who was teased for being poor and always wearing the same faded dress), we wanted to try and help people who might be in a similar situation as Wanda. After meeting with Rabbi Kirsch and the high school Homeless Awareness Chug, we decided to hold a clothing drive. Rabbi Kirsch and the members of the Chug will be bringing our winter clothing donations to the homeless of Newark
Wednesday, December 19th.
Please bring any winter clothing , used or new, you wish to donate to Rabbi Kirsch's office or the 2nd grade general studies classrooms.
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Yashar koach to our JKHA choir who performed for the residents of the Care One facility, spreading the Chanukah light and bringing them holiday joy!
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What an amazing Chanukah 2018! Watch this re-cap of all of the fun and meaningful programming that took place in middle school over Chanukah!
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After much independent study, review, and weekly practice, the JKHA Boys and Girls Torah Bowl teams each won 3 of their 4 games at their meet this Tuesday. JKHA hosted RPRY, Hillel, and RTMA/Bruriah for an intense day of competition. The students mastered 2 complex parshiyot with Rashi, and are now beginning to prepare for the last meet before the playoffs. The girls team is currently in first place and the boys team is in second place in their divisions! Congratulations, JKHA!
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For the last day of Chanukah, JKHA students came together to participate in some exciting math related games. Each 5th grader teamed up with a 2nd grader for Dreidel Races and Latke Roll. Students needed to roll dice, use their addition and counting skills, and work together in teams in order to be successful. The older students guided the younger students and showed patience and kindness when explaining the rules and playing the games. What a wonderful and fun way to end the holiday!
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In September, Middle School students put together Chanukah packages in commemoration of the yahrtzeit of Joseph Kushner z"l to be sent overseas to Jewish American soldiers that contained Chanukah treats, much needed supplies, and a personal note from each student. How amazing to see our packages in the hands of US troops at the American Army Base in Kuwait this Chanukah!!!
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What a beautiful sight to see so many parents and children learning together on the last day of Chanukah for our annual Middle School Chanukah Parent-Child Learning and breakfast. Thank you to all the parents who were able to come participate this morning.
Click here to view pictures from the morning.
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JKHA Girls Hockey Team tryouts will take place on December 27th from 4:30 to 6 pm. Please bring a helmet, gloves, and a hockey stick.
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RKYHS students were fortunate to hear from Jacy Good and husband Steve Johnson today. On the day of her college graduation, Jacy and her family celebrated her achievement—until their joyous day was cut short by a car accident caused by a young man on his cell phone. Her parents were killed and Jacy was only given a 10 percent chance of survival. The accident left her partially paralyzed, and with permanent brain damage. In response to this life changing event, Ms. Good and her husband Steve now spend their time speaking around the world, advocating about the dangers of distracted driving due to talking on your phone, texting, and other hazardous activities behind the wheel. In addition to sharing her personal story, Jacy shared some of the national research and statistics on accidents caused by driving and cellphone usage. Her inspirational strength and ability to retain perspective reinforced her message to the students to hold each other accountable and to make safer choices when they, their friends and their family members get behind the wheel of a car.
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This week, the RKYHS AIPAC group welcomed Carly Sternberg, Early Engagement Director at AIPAC. She spoke to the packed room about the role that high school students play in advocating for Israel, how they can strengthen the US-Israel relationship, and how important their voices are as high school students to educate and inform members of Congress on issues relating to Israel. Ms. Sternberg only meets with a select group of high schools in the country every year and selected RKYHS for its stellar commitment to and involvement in AIPAC
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The RKYHS Boys Torah Bowl team celebrated together after another undefeated match! They competed yesterday against SAR, Frisch, and Ramaz. Yashar koach to the RKYHS Girls Torah Bowl team on their match, displaying great sportsmanship and love of Torah. We look forward to everyone’s next match!
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What a way to close out Chanukah at RKYHS - with a rousing performance from our talented RKYHS student musicians (and faculty!). Enjoy highlights here from the concert (and check out our RKYHS faculty band “the Shteigers” at the end of the video, comprised of Mr. Levy, Rabbi Schlusselberg, and Rabbi Erps).
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This coming Monday night, December 17 at 7pm, the RKYHS Drama Club will light up the Epstein Stein Auditorium stage with their production of Legally Blonde. You don't want to miss it!
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RKYHS students enjoyed a pre-Shabbat Chanukah tisch complete with singing, dancing, eating, and raffle prizes!
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Ninth graders participated in an interdisciplinary program on the last day of Chanukah that explored the emblem of the State of Israel, which incorporates the imagery of a Menorah flanked by olive branches, and how we can bring our ancient traditions into our modern lives. Over the course of four interactive sessions, students explored the prophet Zecharia’s vision of a Menorah flanked by olive branches, considered the imagery of light and dark in modern Hebrew poetry, “toured” the Maccabees’ grave sites via cutting-edge virtual reality technology, and debated whether or not the depiction of the Menorah on the Romans' Arch of Titus is a legitimate model for the modern-day Menorah.
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Kushner Torah Videos (KTV)
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Rabbi Pecaric, along with special guest, ninth grader Dani Bank, explore the meaning of Vayigash.
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In this week's parsha we read about the emotional reunion of Yosef and Binyamin, brothers who had been separated for 22 years! The Torah tells us that Yosef and Binyamin hugged and cried on one another's shoulders.
Rashi explains to us that the tears of both Yosef and Binyamin were tears of sadness as they each had Ruach HaKodesh and saw tragedies that would happen to one another in the future. Yosef shed tears over the destruction of both Batei Mikdash that would stand and then fall in Binyamin's land. Binyamin cried over the Mishkan that would stand and then be destroyed in Shiloh- Yosef's land.
Rabbi Yitzchak Sorotzkin points out that it is logical that Yosef would mourn the destruction of 2 Batei Mikdash, especially if one considers that the reason they were destroyed was because of the many sins of the Jewish people. Rabbi Sorotzkin poses the following question regarding Binyamin's tears: The Mishkan was always supposed to be a temporary structure, it had to be destroyed in order for the Beit Hamikdash to be built in Yerushalayim. If this is the case, why was Binyamin crying over the Mishkan in Shiloh? By definition it would have to be destroyed! Rabbi Dr. Richard Weiss of The Young Israel of Hillcrest offered the following explanation: He suggests that the Mishkan was a Mikdash Katan- a smaller version of the Beit HaMikdash. It was incredibly holy and had tremendous value to the Jewish people because it helped them connect to Hshem and the Torah. When a place that is holy and valuable to the Jewish people is destroyed, even out of necessity, we lose a place of kedusha where we connected to Hashem. Rabbi Weiss emphasized that any place that holds kedusha- a school, a shul, a community should be treasured and we should value them and remind ourselves that it is in fact a Mikdash Katan. Binyamin's tears remind us that a school such as Kushner, where Torah is learned around the clock every single day, is a place of kedusha and belongs in our hearts.
-Ms. Shirley Gantz
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A Look at Technology in JKHA and RKYHS
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Mazal Tov to Abby Koppel and to Nicole and Brian Koppel on the occasion of her Bat Mitzvah!
Mazel Tov to Leora Ginsberg and to Sanford and Gila Ginsberg on the occasion of Leora's Bat Mitzvah!
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We Invite You to Dedicate Our
Children's Torah Learning
at JKHA/RKYHS
If you are interested in sponsoring a Day of Learning, contact Sarah Levinson: slevinson@jkha.org or (862) 437-8001
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If you are interested in dedicating a mezuzah, please contact Lauren Shapiro, Director of Development at
lshapiro@jkha.org
or
(862) 437-8192
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