October 11, 2018 /2nd of Cheshvan 5779 / Parshat Noach /Candle lighting: 6:01pm
Members of the Board of Trustees, honorary members of the Board of Trustees, Livingston Mayor Ed Meinhardt, and JKHA/RKYHS Administration joined together 
on Monday with "shovels and hard hats" to commemorate the building of the
expansive new outdoor recreational space, and kick off this exciting new chapter
for the school's campus. 
Early Childhood and Lower School
Early Childhood and Lower School have been bursting with the colors of the rainbow this week as students marked Parshat Noach and dressed for a “week of many colors,” with a different theme of colors each day of the week from school-spirit orange and blue and Rosh Chodesh Blue and white to tie dye, green, and orange. 
JKHA brought Torah to life for its students as they studied Parshat Noach. Early Childhood and first grade greeted a petting zoo as the school’s youngest students learned about the animals that Noach had on the teiva.  
Pre-k classes held “mabul parties” at which they dressed for the weather, sang songs and played learning games. Some of the hands-on educational activities included seeing a rainbow by looking through colored water bottles and experimenting with items to see whether or not they would float or sink.  
Several JKHA Lower School teachers joined colleagues from across the Greater Metrowest Day Schools to study practices for Social and Emotional learning in the classroom with Kerri Seow, the principal of an elementary school in New York City, that uses the protocols for social and emotional learning throughout the grades and curriculum. Later in October, the teachers will have an opportunity to visit Ms. Seow's school in NYC.
Middle School
Middle School launched a new initiative this week entitled The Bat Mitzvah D'var Torah Program.  Working closely with Morah Sharbat, all sixth grade girls will have the opportunity to deliver a d'var torah to all sixth grade students after davening on Tuesdays or Wednesdays in honor of their bat mitzvahs.  Morah Sharbat will help the sixth graders write and flesh out a concept for their speech, and Ms. Levenson and Mrs. Zeif will work on public speaking techniques and strategies in Sixth Grade Advisory to help set students up for success as they prepare for this exciting moment.  
High School
Thirteen students from the Sophomore class participated in the two-day Saban-AIPAC Regional Training Seminar (SabanARTS) program on Sunday and Monday this week.  This training opportunity is designed to reinforce AIPAC's unique approach to pro-Israel activism and to help students find their own voice as pro-Israel political activists. The program included discussions with policymakers and opinion leaders, as well as those AIPAC officials working most closely with the participants' regional community. 
In mock beit din format, students in the boys 9th-10th Chumash class vigorously debated whether Yitro joined the Jewish people before or after the giving of the Torah, offering opening arguments,
expert witness testimony, rebuttals and concluding arguments in front of a panel
of their teacher Rabbi Sinensky and four additional student judges. Both sides were so well-argued with cogent debates on the basis of the Chumash, midrashim and commentaries.
Prior to this week's Student Council elections, candidates for grade representatives and Student Council president created videos that described themselves for the student body. 
Rabbi Feit's 9th and 10th grade Gemara class, studying masechet Shabbat went on a "field" trip to the Kushner Holocaust Memorial Garden to analyze and discuss the  melacha  of planting on Shabbat. The outdoor experience allowed the  machloket  between the M inchat Chinuch  and the  Rashash  come to life as our learning is beginning to "take root." We are looking forward to a year of tremendous "growth".   

Five paths to a more meaningful life, rethinking our relationships, and the psychology of spiritual growth were just some of the topics discussed with faculty in the Rosh Chodesh chizuk program for cheshvan. Designed to give students an ongoing opportunity to strengthen their growth, small groups of students focused on learning about areas of interest, inspiration, and struggle for them. We look forward to more learning and growing every Rosh Chodesh throughout the school year. 
Kushner Torah Videos (KTV)
We are excited to launch the first video in our new series entitled Kushner Torah Videos (KTV). Each week, school faculty will share an inspiring moment of Torah based on that week's parsha. Enjoy this inaugural video with words on Parshat Noach from Rabbi Sinensky.  
Divrei Torah
The Lessons from Parshat Noach

In this week’s Parsha, Parshat Noach we learn about the command from Hashem for Noach to build an ark to save himself, his family and the animals from the flood. In describing which animals Noach must bring in the ark the Torah states that he should take the clean animals, the animals that are not clean, the birds and the insects with him. The Gemarah in Messechet Pesachim asks why the Torah chose to say that Noach must take the animals that are non clean (איננה טהרה (with him instead of referring to them as simply the unclean animals(הטמאה),which is more precise and to the point? The Gemarah answers by saying that the Torah is trying to teach a moral lesson. Although it would have been simpler to refer to these animals as the unclean animals it doesn’t because that is an unbecoming expression and the Torah wants to avoid that. We can learn from here how careful we must be in the way that we speak to try to avoid any negativity in our speech.

Shabbat Shalom!
Danielle Goldstein
KUSHNER
COMMENTS
RKYHS
JLC SCHMOOZE
A Look at Literacy and Literature at JKHA and RKYHS
This week we continue our new Kushner Connections feature that
takes a holistic look at how different subject areas are covered throughout each of our divisions, from our youngest learners to our oldest high school students.  This week we take a look at literacy and literature...
Events and Programs
Save the Date for the JKHA/RKYHS ATID SOCIETY concert on
Sunday, December 2nd
Lifecycles
Mazal Tov to Sophie Baum and to Bella and Daniel Baum on the occasion of Sophie's bat mitzvah.

Mazal Tov to Inga and Oriel Cohen on the birth of a baby boy. Mazal tov to siblings Daniel (Pre-k) and Hadas (N-3).

Mazal Tov to Peggy and Natan Levy on the birth of a granddaughter to their children Racheli and Yoshi. Mazal Tov to aunt Lielle Levy (3rd grade).

Mazal Tov to Dana Sannik on her marriage to Michael Glaser!   
Development
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 
If you are interested in dedicating a mezuzah, please contact Lauren Shapiro, Director of Development at  lshapiro@jkha.org  or 
(862) 437-8192
Alumni
Mazal Tov to Michael (JKHA '07/RKYHS '11) and Avigayil Goldman on the birth of a baby girl. Mazal tov to grandparents Craig and Andra Goldman.

Mazal Tov to Yisroel (Zachary) (JKHA '07) Silverman on his engagement to Elisheva Henigson. Mazal tov to parents Debra and Chaim Silverman.