June 6, 2019 /3 Sivan/Parshat Bamidbar/Candle Lighting: 8:07 PM
Early Childhood/Lower School
Yashar koach to Pre-K on their end of year performance! They took parents and grandparents on a delightful tour of Israel, and showed them how much they have learned and grown this year!
Kindergarten took to the stage today for an end of year celebration. With singing, dancing, and slide show videos, they showcased their year that was filled with exploration, knowledge, and growth. First grade here they come!!
Fourth Graders have been immersed in a Native American unit. Students researched their assigned tribes and created a brochure using online research and books. Students also created a project to demonstrate their understanding of their tribe creating artifacts, posters, power points, and 3-D dioramas. The unit culminated this week with a trip to Waterloo Village to see the Native American exhibit. The trip gave students the opportunity to experience life in a Lenape Village, and display all of the knowledge they've acquired.
  
Lower School gathered for Yom Yerushalyim. Rabbi Srolovitz told the story of the history of Yerushalyim and spoke about the idea of what it means to be a unified city and a unified people. Older students learned about what unification looks like and sounds like by learning the song v’ahavta l'reicha kamocha.  

Middle School
As a culmination of the their year-long tefillah class, 8th grade girls participated in a meaningful tefillah program. After shacharit and leading Hallel for the Middle School girls in honor of Rosh Chodesh, there was a breakfast where each 8th grade girl was given a gift of an artistic Kriat Shema of their own. The program continued in the Klatt Beit Midrash with a classmate sharing words of inspiration about the importance of tefillah. The 8th grade girls then performed a song with musical accompaniment from their classmates. The program concluded with a "Shmoneh Esrei Fair" where their displays conveyed the meaning and message of each bracha in shmoneh esrei.
The JKHA eighth graders were excited to share their final projects at this year's science fair. The theme was Hydraulics and students researched the science of hydraulics, studying its impact and use in the world. Their work culminated in designing and building a hydraulics machine reinforcing their learning by making strong real life connections. The experience provided opportunities to deepen learning, to accept failures, and to embrace mistakes as an inevitable step toward learning. The projects also enriched their skills as makers, as team players and as planners. 
Summer is almost here! The 6th grade students are capitalizing on the solar energy available to them by building solar ovens. This is a wonderful moment for students to apply their learning of science concepts like reflection, insulation, absorption to the building of a solar oven. They are making s'mores and relishing the joy of cooking under the Sun. 
High School
Last May current Junior, Abigail Klein, was selected as a Waksman Student Scholar to participate in an intensive summer training program (WSSP) to learn molecular biological and bioinformatic techniques at the Waksman Institute for Microbiology on the Rutgers University Piscataway campus. Abigail spent more than 100 hours working on an authentic research project in molecular biology and bioinformatics and was able to identify and analyze the DNA sequence of 4 genes isolated from, Landoltia punctata, a duckweed important as a biofuel and in bioremediation. Abigail was able to publish sequence data from 4 of her clones.

As the school year began, Abigail "brought it back" to RKYHS She was instrumental throughout the year as a teaching assistant in the DNA chug run by Ms. Suarez. The chug students became participants in the 2018-2019 WSSP research project and have been focusing on DNA sequence analysis of isolated Landoltia genes and how these genes compare to those found in other species. The students isolated sequences and analyzed genes from a cDNA library (a collection of mRNA's copied into DNA's). These sequences have never been determined before. Along with Abigail, Jessica Klein, Maya Minsky and Josh Lando will have their findings published in GenBank, the international repository of known DNA sequences, for other scientists to study. Jonah Eisenberg and Sophie Schanzer were also successful Waksman scholars completing the program with honorable mention.
Students in all spring art classes were able to choose what pieces they wanted to exhibit in the atruim for others to enjoy for a student artwork display. Work included in the show was from the 9th grade elective classes, the 11th and 12th grade art elective class and AP art class.  Projects included tessellations, calligraphy, perspective drawings, micography work, self portraits, and pencil illustrations. 
The Yeshiva High School track championships were held at the New York Armory and the RKYHS placed on top with our girls track team finishing in second place and our boys track team finishing in third place in the competition against yeshivot all over New Jersey and New York.  
On Monday night, students and coaches from all 24 RKYHS sports teams gathered at school for a sports awards dinner to celebrate everyone's accomplishments this year. Awards were given out for MVP, Most Improved Player, and Coaches Award for each team. Students enjoyed the video above that highlights the RKYHS sports teams. At the end of the evening, every attendee was given Kushner Athletics apparel to wear with pride. It has been a great year for Kushner sports and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to recognize our teams. Enjoy this video highlighting our sports program this year.
The 9th grade Computer Science students officially opened their Escape Rooms to the faculty and other students. The culminating project for the class enabled the students to develop their own Escape Room themes and develop websites and Virtual Reality environments as well as physical room models using electricity, digital clocks and other tools for clues. It was an exciting end to the course and everyone was incredibly impressed with the work done by the students - some teachers even managed to "Escape the Rooms!” 
As the school year at RKYHS winds to a close, the school gathered for an end of the year assembly where they reflected on all that they did and accomplished over the year. Rabbi Mintz highlighted their torah learning both in and out of the classroom and various accolades students received and inducted many students into the Torah Society, for which students participated in an extra 40 hours of outside the classroom Torah learning. Dr Levy shared a video highlighting the impact that monthly visits to the Lester Senior Housing through the Dovid Ben Yitzchak Jewish Elderly Program has had on students and the residents they visited. The students also enjoyed the premiere of the RKYHS choir song. Mr. Gary Berger and Mrs. Levine handed out awards that were earned for high school juniors through various prestigious universities Including Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Brandeis, and the University of Rochester. The program concluded with an end of the year video that highlighted the past year for RKYHS. 
At the closing assembly, Dr. Levy debuted a song performed by the RKYHS choir. Choir director Craig Resmovits, a member of the professional acapella group Six13, wrote the arrangement and taught it to the students. It was mixed by a professional who has also worked with Pentatonix and Glee. The choir has been practicing and singing together all year long. We are excited and looking forward to future performances and song releases.
A Look at Language Arts and Writing at JKHA/RKYHS
Divrei Torah
One of the most famous passages in Megilat Rut is Rut’s firm response to her mother in law Naomi when Naomi tried to dissuade her daughter-in-law from returning with her to Eretz Yisrael
“Do not implore me to leave you, to turn away from you, for where you go I will go; where you sleep I will sleep; your nation is my nation and your God is my God. Where you die I will die, and there shall I be interred…” (1:16-17). In these verses, Rut expresses her unconditional commitment to her mother-in-law. No matter the situation, she will continue to stay faithful to the Jewish faith and the Israelites. She stays with Naomi and shows what it means to follow through on a commitment, and to remain loyal.
This theme is perhaps one point of connection between Megilat Rut and the celebration of Matan Torah . Our commitment to learning Torah and mitzvot cannot go only half a way. We cannot follow only the parts that are convenient and easy. Even when the demand his high and difficult to observe, we should have the same commitment shown by Rut. Eliyahu Hanavi had a similar request when reprimanding Bnei Yisrael on Har Carmel. At the time, Bnei Yisrael were not fully committed to Hashem, and had one foot out the door. Eliyahu says to them “Until when are you hopping between two ideas? If the Lord is God, go after Him, and if the Baal, go after him.”. He was telling the people that they can’t only serve Hashem when it is convenient. Service to God and learning Torah and doing mitzvot is a lifetime commitment. The Yalkut Shimon (600:2) explains that Rut would tremble from transgression, as her name is similar to the word meratetet (tremble). Her relationship with God was unwavering and consistent, and we too should be as strong and sincere as she was.


Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Y. Sharbat
The Shavuot edition of Kol Hanearim, a joint Torah publication of 19 yeshivot around the country was released this week. It includes an article by sophomore Eli Novick who also coordinated the publication  
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
We are so proud of Isaiah Rothstein (RKYHS ‘06) who was selected for the "36 Under 36" List for the Jewish Week of young people making a difference. Isaiah is the rabbi-in-residence at Hazon, the environmental-awareness “sustainable Jewish community” organization, and was also a founder of The Beis Community, a millennial-oriented start-up shul in Washington Heights, and its “unofficial” satellite, the Union Street Sanctuary in Crown Heights.