November 8, 2018 /30th of Cheshvan 5779 /  Parash a  t Toldot /Candle lighting: 4:24pm
Click above to watch a video of our JKHA/RKYHS students celebrating the exciting opening of the Naomi Rosenfeld Kehilah Center, with a concert from acclaimed Jewish musician Eitan Katz.  
Thank you to our entire school and extended community for joining together to build the Naomi Rosenfeld Kehilah Center and to make this day possible!
Early Childhood and Lower School
Election fever was felt all over Lower School as our young students learned about elections and exercised their right to vote on age appropriate levels. Several classes casted their votes for which book to read next in class. Their elections included filling out voter registration cards, and entering a private voting “booth" to submit their ballots. Second grade used the results to generate a math lesson to tally them onto a bar graph. The students then “became” their vote as they placed themselves onto a human graph. After reading stories about elections, Kindergartners had the chance to vote for a special theme day. The older fourth grade students incorporated Election Day into their writing program. Utilizing their skills to write persuasive paragraphs, students wrote passionately on why it is critical for every American citizen to vote.
The children in kindergarten have been scrapbooking their own “mat men and mat women" based on their Handwriting Without Tears curriculum. Students sing a song during circle time to help them remember how to draw or build a person. They use wooden pieces called big line, little line, big curve, little curve. Once the students learn about the wooden pieces they use them to build uppercase letters. When they are practicing handwriting in their books we use this foundation. For example, “ to make a D use a big line and a big curve”. The children have been enjoying using multiple modalities to learn how to draw and how to write!  
Kindergarten and Pre-K joined together for an experiential parsha project. The classes enjoyed making lentil soup in honor of Parshat Toldot.
Middle School
In Ms. Bienstock's math classes, they've incorporated humor to encourage positivity towards the subject area.  Ms. Bienstock and students have created a “math joke wall” in their classroom containing over 100 math related jokes!
The 7th grade girls participated in a special learning program. In chevrutot the girls learned about the middah of “say a little, but do a lot” by learning through the text of recent parshiyot about the actions of Avraham and how he would tell his guests to come into his tent for a little bread but then would give them a large feast. They also learned how Ephron acted in exact contrast to Avraham when first saying he would give him land to bury Sarah for free but then making him pay a high price for the plot. After the learning, the girls were divided into groups to create story books for the Early Childhood division explaining this important lesson. This program connected to our theme of the year by teaching them the values we learn from Avraham and then passing on this meaningful message to our future.   
High School
What an exciting night for RKYHS! The second annual RKYHS Sports Night kicked off with a spirited tailgate barbecue that got students energized to cheer on their classmates in the seven home games and matches taking place throughout the school tonight! Stay tuned for next week's Connections with a re-cap of this amazing night of school spirit and camaraderie. Go Cobras!

SEED speaker, 27 year old Kelsey Tainsh, has overcome recurring brain tumors and a debilitating stroke that left her paralyzed on one side of her body. Today, Tainsch offered RKYHS students her inspirational message to embrace and appreciate people's differences as well as the uniqueness of others. Her message of perseverance and the power of a positive attitude resonated with all in attendance. The JKHA eighth grade was privileged to attend this SEED session. Today's SEED was sponsored by the Eric Eliezer Levenson Foundation.   
RKYHS had the honor and privilege of having the Bostoner Rebbe, Rabbi Meyer Alter Horowitz, visit our Yeshiva and address the students and faculty. The Rebbe is the Grand Rabbi of one of the largest and most prestigious Chasidic Dynasties.  He is widely known for his chesed and connection to people, as well as his commitment to outreach and to the acceptance of every person regardless of their background or affiliation. He addressed the students in groups and greeted them afterwards to give brachot. We are grateful to the Rebbe for his time and attention in meeting with our students. 
The RKYHS Sports Management Club hosted Brian Geltzeiler this week. Brian is a passionate NBA fan, and currently a regular host on Sirius XM's NBA Radio. He shared with our students the various steps he took to get to his current position in the sports industry. He also offered career advice for getting started and planning
out a career in the world of sports management, and hosted a q&A session on whole range of topics. 
The RKYHS SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) committee has been selected as a Champion School in the U Got Brains program and are tasked with developing a program to raise awareness about distracted driving among teenagers. The group met today with Wendy Berk from the organization and discussed the ideas that they've been planning for the program. All of the Champion Schools will present their projects together this Spring. The U Got Brains program is presented by The Brain Injury Alliance of New Jersey with support from the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety and NJM Insurance Company.
Both our boys and girls varsity basketball teams just returned from competitive tournaments in different parts of the country. The boys Varsity basketball team participated in the Cooper Invitational tournament hosted by the Memphis Jewish community, where they competed against different day schools around the country. Besides the high level of competition and multiple games, the team also had the opportunity to visit the National Civil Rights museum. They culminated their weekend with a wonderful Shabbaton with the Memphis Jewish community and inspiring speakers. The girls Varsity basketball team participated in the Glouberman Memorial Tournament in Los Angeles, hosted by Shalhevet High school where they also competed against schools from around the country. Throughout their time in LA competing in multiple games, the team was fortunate to attend an LA Lakers basketball game. They then enjoyed a spiritually uplifting shabbaton with tournament participants as the students experienced Jewish life in LA.  

Kushner Torah Videos (KTV)
In this week's KTV, Rabbi Mayer Erps explains how parshat Toldot teaches us how food is an opportunity to bring us closer to Hashem.


Divrei Torah
The Lessons from Toldot
When Eisav was born the Torah says, וַיִּקְרְא֥וּ שְׁמ֖וֹ עֵשָֽׂו, “THEY called him Eisav”. However, when Yaakov was born it says וַיִּקְרָ֥א שְׁמ֖וֹ יַֽעֲקֹ֑ב "HE called his name Yaakov". Why for Eisav does it say in plural, "They" named him while for Yaakov it says in singular, "He"?
The word Eisav comes from the root of the word עשוי which means made. Eisav was born "fully made." He physically looked like a man, איש צדה, with full facial and body hair. Not only was he physically "made" but also he was spiritually "made”, stuck in his ways without any change. We don’t read about any character development or evolution of self throughout Eisav’s life. Rashi explains that the reason it says "THEY called him Eisav", in plural, is because EVERYONE saw Eisav as this pre-grown, "already made" ,"stuck" man who did not spiritually or physically progress at all in his life. He was told that he can’t change and convinced himself that he can no longer achieve spiritual greatness in this world, never allowing himself to break free out of his confined character.       
"Yaakov," comes from the root of the word עקב, which means heel. Yaakov was always taking steps forward in his life. Amazingly, he changed so much that Hashem decided to give him a new name, Yisrael. Nothing stopped him from continuously finding ways to connect to Hashem, despite suffering most of life.
In our lives, we should strive to be like Yaakov and move forward and change. We should not let other people put us into a "box" or give us a certain stigma of character like "they" did with Eisav. All it takes is to move our heels and strive for more.

Shabbat Shalom!
-Rabbi Yosef Sharbat
KUSHNER
COMMENTS
A Look at Social Studies and History 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 Michal and Jon Einalhori on the birth of a baby boy! Mazal tov to big brother Issac (Pre-K) and to grandparents Rabbi Eliezer and Carolyn Rubin.

Mazal Tov to Emma Klugmann and to Sheri and Charlie Klugmann on the occasion of Emma's Bat Mitzvah.

Mazal Tov to Eliana Lundner and to Channie and Steve Lundner on the occasion of Eliana's Bat Mitzvah.
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
Our Alumni Celebrate their Classmates' IDF Accomplishments Together
Kol HaKavod to Nina Kahn (JKHA '13/RKYHS '17) who finished her basic training for the Madrichat Shiriyon (tank instructor). She was joined and celebrated at her tekes by fellow RKYHS alumni - 2nd from left Jodi FIshebin (JKHA '13), from right - Michal Shechter (RKYHS '18), Racheli Klibanoff (JKHA '14/RKYHS '18), Olivia Lefkovits (JKHA '14/RKYHS '18), and Rose Ginsberg (JKHA '13/RKYHS '17)
Eliezer Ben Zakein (RKYHS '17) was joined at his IDF gradation ceremony by fellow alum Jonathan Zughaft (JKHA '12/RKYHS '16), who is also a lone soldier in the paratrooper unit. 

Community