November 2, 2018 /24th of Cheshvan 5779 /  Parash a  t Chayei Sarah /Candle lighting: 5:33pm
Early Childhood and Lower School
Mazal tov Kitah Bet on receiving their Chumashim! We are so proud of all the students in second grade for putting on an incredible performance at their Chumash Play. The production is only the beginning to a wonderful journey ahead. Led by Morah Devorah Levinson and the second grade team, the students look forward to using their new chumashim in class along with the skills they have learned as they continue to become independent Chumash learners.
Pre-k utilized many forms of hands-on learning in their unit on the letter T this week. They headed outside in the mild weather to make tree rubbings and had the opportunity to tie-dye t-shirts that they will use for special events throughout the year.   
First grade recently introduced, ”A Recognition of Kind Acts” program. When a student or teacher catches a classmate doing an act of kindness he/she presents them with a ticket saying: את תפסתי הטוב ,I Caught You Doing Good! Tickets will be read and acknowledged on Fridays during their Shabbat party.
Middle School
Middle School kicked off their teams’ seasons with a school spirit day - complete with orange and blue candy! We can't wait to see how the JKHA basketball, debate, hockey, Torah bowl, and soccer teams do this year!  
The JKHA eighth grade had the opportunity this week to learn more about RKYHS. In small groups, current RKYHS students spoke to the eighth graders about the wide range of academic and extra-curricular opportunities available at RKYHS, while enjoying hot cocoa and treats.

Amazing showing at the Torah Bowl matches this week - The Middle School Girls Torah Bowl team is now tied for first place in the division with a record of 3-1 and the Middle School Boys Torah Bowl Team is now 2-1-1! We are very proud of their work learning three parshiyot with Rashi independently.
Our eighth grade students enjoyed a meaningful visit to and tour of the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City. They were introduced to a brief timeline of events leading up to the Holocaust and the reactions that the Jews had to Nazi oppression. Students participated in a workshop in which they identified and discussed various artifacts that were rescued from the Holocaust. They noticed that there were different types of resistance including physical, spiritual and humanitarian resistance. Fantastic docents led our students through the gallery of exhibits that outlined the history of the Holocaust. The trip was meaningful in its own right and acted as a springboard for the Names, Not Numbers program in which many of the eighth grade students are participating .
High School
Fourteen RKYHS Juniors attended the AIPAC Schusterman Advocacy Institute High School Summit earlier this week where they took part in training for high-level Israel advocacy. These young activists will be uniquely positioned towards building relationships with members of Congress and leveraging support for a strong U.S. - Israel relationship. On the final day of the conference, the RKYHS students had the opportunity to implement the training they received by lobbying Congress. The RKYHS AIPAC chapter is consistently one of the the largest and most active student groups in the country.
This past Tuesday, a group of boys from RKYHS took a trip to the Rabbinical College of America in Morristown, New Jersey for a unique learning and davening experience. After leaving first thing in the morning, each boy was immediately paired up with a chavruta, and joined the students in the yeshiva for their pre-davening chassidut learning. They then participated in the regular yeshiva minyan, and were able to experience the seriousness and focus of tefillah in this setting. After being treated to a quick tour and a delicious breakfast, the students headed back to school inspired by this special tefillah experience. 
Congrats to the The Kushner Cobras boys cross country who took home a first place finish in their meet on Sunday, edging out both TABC and Heschel for the win! Yashar koach to the girls team for their strong performance. The Cobras will aim for their first Yeshiva League championship in history on November 11 at Van Cortlandt Park.
Recently, Mrs. Orens’ 12th grade honors English class read Chekhov’s “The Bet,” a short story about capital punishment and imprisonment. After reading and analyzing the story, students divided into three groups to explore one of three interdisciplinary perspectives on the story: legal, psychological and theological. Rabbi Sinensky, our Director of Interdisciplinary Learning, led the theological group, which considered the topic of “Playing God.”
The residents of the Lester Senior Housing enjoyed their visit this week from RKYHS students. The students were part of the Dovid ben Yitzchak z”l Jewish Elderly program, visiting the residents on a monthly basis. We thank the Burack family for their generous support of this program in memory of their father and grandfather Dovid ben Yitzchak z"l.
RKYHS students had the opportunity to hear from Jay Webber, the Republican candidate for Congress representing New Jersey's 11th district. Mr. Webber spoke to the students about appreciating the core values of our country, the American-Israel relationship, and responded to the tragic events in Pittsburgh, among other topics. Mr. Webber fielded a variety of questions from students, who once again impressed a speaker with their wide-ranging knowledge of current events and awareness of timely issues. One-on-one questions with Mr. Webber after his speech displayed students' eagerness to be informed about and engaged in politics.


To review the different parts of the brain, the AP psychology class made brain caps, complete with lobes, major brain areas, and pictures to symbolize the major function of each brain area.
Students from the Sharsheret Club and the Kids Against Cancer Club at RKYHS joined together to raise money for Sharsheret in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Students sold Pink Donuts and Sharsheret chap sticks and phone wallets raising money for the organization
Kushner Torah Videos (KTV)
Rabbi Yosef Sharbat offers inspiring words about Parshat Chayai Sarah and practical ways of dealing with the people around us, and treating others with respect.
Divrei Torah
The Lessons from Chayei Sarah
The only person in the Torah who is eulogized is Avrohom. What is the eulogy? It is not the passing of the ten tests or that he was the first to recognize Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Rather, he was "zaken visaveah" He was elderly and content. What is so special about that?
Avrohom lived his life with the approach that everything that was given to him is a gift and he is undeserving. One example wher e we see this attitude is when Avrohom was told that he was going to have another child,Yitzchok. He says "If only Yishmael would live" Rashi explains that Avraham felt unworthy of being granted another child.
In the society that we live in, where everything is a "right" that is protected by the constitution, it can at times be challenging to have this type of approach. How many people are unhappy because they feel that he or she does not get what they feel they are "owed". 
When the Chofetz Chaim finished writing his "mishna berura", he was overheard saying, "Hashem,You have been so good to me to allow me to write the mishna berura". Perhaps WE would have said,"Hashem look what I did for Your honor? I put out the mishna berura! Everyone will keep the daily halacha better because of me!"
The Chofetz Chaim lived his life like Avrohom with the attitude that Hashem does not owe us anything. We are the ones who owe Him our loyalty for all the kindness He gives us.
When a person goes through life with this attitude he lives a life that will end up "elderly and content". A truly happy life.

Shabbat Shalom!
-Rabbi Dovid Selengut
KUSHNER
COMMENTS
A Look at Hebrew at JKHA and RKYHS
Events and Programs
Save the Date for the JKHA/RKYHS ATID SOCIETY concert on
Sunday, December 2nd
Lifecycles
Mazal Tov to Sara and Shael Sokolowski on the birth of a baby boy. Mazal tov to siblings Lucy (Kindergarten) and Emma (Nursery-3).

Mazal Tov to Rabbi David and Jenny Schlusselberg on the birth of a baby boy!
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
It was amazing to see so many alumni parents at this week's second grade chumash play! Pictured left to right Seth Warshaw (JKHA '94), Tzippy (Lichtman) Warshaw (JKHA '95), Dr. Stephanie Hartman (JKHA '95), Daniella (Lichtman) Esses (JKHA '97), Binyamina (Baitner) Zahavi (RKYHS '02), Sheara (Wilensky) Goldenthal (JKHA '94), Yael (Goodman) Wasserman (RKYHS '02), Dara (Kushner) Orbach (JKHA '93), [not pictured, Dr. Miryam (Lichtman) Smilow (JKHA '97, RKYHS '01)] celebrating their second graders!