KOL ECHAD | Weekly Newsletter 

January 11, 2024

With One Voice

By Kayla Sawoski, Music Teacher

In the heart of this vibrant Jewish school, the culture that surrounds us deeply enriches our musical perspective. This last term in the music department brought many moments of joy and unity in our classrooms. 

Music became a conduit for celebration and stimulated a profound appreciation for cultural heritage. On many occasions, we have lifted each other up through song. From our Koolulam project, Rosh Hashanah performances, Chanukah festivities, and so much more, our students experienced the transformative power of music. 

During our Shabbat services, music has become a source of spiritual connection and an expression of cherished tradition. When students sing and share in these spaces of song and creativity, they feel deeply that they belong.

As we start this new term, we are preparing for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Black History Month. We will bring awareness to other groups and the various ways that they express themselves through music in times of suffering, trial, happiness, and uncertainty. For example, this month we are learning about Sam Cooke and the music he created after experiencing discrimination. Students are learning about the meaning behind the songs that they sing and will be presenting highlights of the music of the Civil Rights movement at tomorrow's assembly.

My hope for the second half of this year is to deepen Kadima students' familiarity with music of their own culture that they may be unaware of (such as the Ladino musical tradition), while introducing them to new musical cultures that they may not be familiar with and to varied genres and perspectives within the musical realm. We are going to learn about jazz, R&B, pop, folk, and more. Students will learn to appreciate multiple dimensions of music: rhythm, style, genre, instrument families, etc. This holistic approach will broaden their musical imaginations and help them to dream beyond what they know. 

As we look forward to upcoming holidays, performances, and special times together, music will be what unites us. Music is a place of self-expression and solace, a language that bonds and blends the diverse voices of our school.

Shabbat shalom,

Kayla Sawoski,

Music Teacher

Important Dates

Friday, January 12

• Kindergarten Shabbat creation celebration - 12:45 pm, in the beit knesset

Monday, January 15

• Martin Luther King Day - school closed

Wednesday, January 17

• Snack Shack

Friday, January 19

• Yom HaSafah HaIvrit (Hebrew Language Day)

Sunday, January 21

• A Taste of Kindergarten - 10:00 am to 12:00 pm

Thursday, January 25

• Intergenerational Tu BiSh'vat Celebration for Kinder through fifth grade - 8:15 to 11:35 am

Wednesday, January 31

• Tuition assistance application (FAST) priority deadline
• 2024-25 admission application priority deadline

*For the full school year calendar, please click HERE.

Kindergarten Shabbat Creation Celebration

Friday, January 12, 12:45 pm

Attention all Kindergarten parents! Please join us on Friday, January 12, at 12:45 pm, in the beit knesset, for a special Shabbat service. Our kindergartners have been busy preparing for the celebration and cannot wait to perform and celebrate with you. We look forward to seeing all the Kindergarten parents.

A Taste of Kindergarten

Sunday, January 21, 10:00 am -12:00 pm

Attention all Gesher parents! Please join us on Sunday, January 21, from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon for an engaging introduction to Kadima's kindergarten. Our morning will be filled with fun interactive activities, including mini-lessons led by our kindergarten teachers. Come and get a taste of what's ahead next year in kindergarten. Please RSVP to admissions@kadimadayschool.org.

Intergenerational Tu BiSh'vat Celebration

Thursday, January 25, 8:15 - 11:35 am

Kadima elementary schools will be hosting an intergenerational Tu BiSh'vat celebration on Thursday, January 25. Tu BiSh'vat is a wonderful opportunity to remind ourselves of the importance of planting trees and taking care of nature. Our celebration will have two different events - one for family members living outside of California and the other for family members living close by. We would like each student to have a guest at both events and would appreciate your help inviting family members:

Online Zoom Attendance:

The earlier event in the day is a Zoom meeting with grandparents who do not live in California. It will take place at 8:15 am on Zoom. We invite grandparents to join their grandchildren's classroom to see what they are learning. Here is the link to send to grandparents/family members who are invited to join their grandchildren’s class on Zoom:

Zoom registration form: https://form.jotform.com/240077271068152

In Person Attendance:

The later event is for grandparents/family members who live in California and would like to come celebrate Tu BiSh'vat with us. They are invited to come to school from 9:45-11:35 am for a performance and activity in the classrooms. Here is the link for grandparents/family members who are coming in to celebrate with us at school.

In-person registration form: https://form.jotform.com/233457179928067

It is important that all guests coming to campus fill out the registration forms for security purposes.

Mazal Tov!

Please join us in congratulating Matan Skolnick and Liad Cohen, and their families, on the occasion of their Bar Mitzvahs. Mazal tov!

Thank You, Kadima PTO!

Thank you to the Shakib-Beltran family for sponsoring a delicious brunch for the faculty and staff in honor of Rosh Chodesh Sh'vat. We really appreciate it!

2024-25 Admission and Tuition Assistance Priority Deadlines

The 2024-25 admission application priority deadline is fast approaching. To apply for admission to Kadima Day School for a younger sibling, please click here. The admission priority deadline is January 31.

Returning Kadima families will be receiving their re-enrollment contracts starting February 15. You will have two weeks to submit your signed re-enrollment contract to waive the enrollment fee.

The tuition assistance application priority deadline is January 31. All returning families who would like to be considered for tuition assistance, including those who have applied previously, must submit a 2024-25 FAST application. To access the tuition assistance FAST application, please click here.

Top 10 Conversation Starters: Parashat Va'era

By Dr. Steven Lorch

#10 - At the end of Parashat Sh'mot, Moshe has a crisis of confidence in God. He had done what God told him to do and gone to Pharaoh and asked to let his people go, and Pharaoh had refused and made their lives harder. When Moshe questions God at the beginning of this parashah, God replies that God revealed God's self to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya'akov by the name El Shadai, but Moshe knows God by a name, Adonai, by which the avot (forefathers) didn't know God (Sh'mot 6, 3). What's the difference between these names? How does this answer Moshe's question?

#9 - God continues and says that God remembers the b'rit (covenant) with the avot, and specifically that God will give them the land of Canaan (6, 4-5). How does this answer Moshe's question? (Hint: See B'reshit 15, 13-16.)

#8 - In Sh'mot 6, 8, God promises to do three things for B'nei Yisrael: take them out from the hard work of Egypt (והוצאתי אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים), save them from slavery (והצלתי אתכם מעבודתם), and free them with an outstretched hand and miracles (וגאלתי אתכם בזרוע נטויה ובשפטים גדולים). Are these three separate promises, or the same promise in different words? If they're different, what does each refer to? If they're the same, why are they repeated?

#7 - In Sh'mot 6, 9-10, God adds two more promises: to have a special relationship with B'nei Yisrael as God's people (ולקחתי אתכם לי לעם), and to bring them to Eretz Yisrael (והבאתי אתכם אל הארץ). Weren't the three promises in 6, 8 a complete answer to Moshe's complaint? Why did God need to add these two other promises?

#6 - God promises Moshe that God will harden Pharaoh's heart so that Pharaoh won't listen to them, and God will then punish Egypt (7, 3-4). Why is this unfair? Why is it fair?

#5 - "'וידעו מצרים כי אני ה - The Egyptians will know that I am God" (7, 5). "Knowing (לדעת)" can mean either to know intellectually, to understand emotionally, or to have a close, personal relationship with. What does it mean here? Does it mean only one thing, or more than one?

#4 - Before the first plague, God warns Pharaoh that the water will turn into blood, and the Egyptians won't have anything to drink (7, 17-18). Why does God give Pharaoh advance warning?

#3 - "היה דם בעצים ובאבנים - there will be blood in the wood and the stones" (7, 19). What does this mean? What will happen?

#2 - In response to the first plague, "ויחזק לב פרעה - Pharaoh stiffened his heart" (7, 22). God didn't harden his heart; Pharaoh hardened it himself. Why, then, did God promise Moshe (7, 3-4) that God would harden Pharaoh's heart?

#1 - The fourth plague (8, 16-20) is הערוב. The rabbis have two opinions as to what this means: a mixture of wild animals, or a swarm of insects. Of the two opinions, which one fits the shoresh (verb root) ע.ר.ב. better? Which one will be more frightening to the Egyptians? Which one will cause more damage? Which one will cause Pharaoh to want to let the people go? Why? Which meaning do you prefer? Why?