Thank you to all who supported the celebration of Robert M. Beren Academy's 54th Anniversary Scholarship Dinner on March 26. We were honored to pay tribute to Roberta Schwartz, PhD, recipient of the Dena and Baruch Brody Dedicated Service Award, Elliott Greenspan (Class of 2004), recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award, and our Covid-19 Medical Committee members, Dr. Robert A. Behar, Dr. Nicole Berman, Dr. Barry Diner, Dr. Larry S. Jefferson, Dr. Nava Miller, and our beloved school nurse Cindy Reiner RN. Together, you collectively helped us raise over $1.4 million to benefit RMBA. If you would like to watch the evening's speeches, please click here. To make a tribute donation in honor of our well-deserving honorees please click here.

In Morah Esther's 3rd grade Judaic Studies class students are learning about and going through different parts of the Haggadah, and noticed that the number 4 has a significant role in crucial parts of the Haggadah. They learned that the 4 cups of grape juice or wine represents 4 different expressions of liberation. They also learned about the 4 questions of Ma Nishtana and the 4 sons and their different approaches. They also learned that the holiday of Pesach has 4 different names and that our 4 foremothers roles are represented in the 4 cups of wine. In addition, the Hebrew word " הגדה" itself, has 4 letters. After all of this realization and comparison, they connected it to the all encompassing 4 letters of Hashem's name which is through that, the exile from Egypt was possible and accomplished, because in the Torah it says:

While very busy getting ready for Pesach, Morah Sandy's ECE3A class made time to learn about parsha Tzav — they learned that the Kohanim took turns scooping the ashes from the mizbaiach. The students used their fine motor skills to tear “ashes” and then took turns scooping them up. They also learned that pleasant smelling incense was burned. The children enjoyed a sensory experience where they smelled different spices and made their own spice mix for havdalah!

After completing all their Pesach projects, students in Morah Aviva's ECE4 class are eagerly sharpening their patterning skills by learning how to play real dominoes. They’ve also been brushing up on their alphabet writing skills with the use of some new mini chalkboards, chalk, and erasers! Additionally, Morah Aviva introduced an awesome new game: Food Recognition Bingo. Morah reviewed the different food groups and everyone participated in deciding which food belonged in each group. Some students also enjoyed a new holiday cards matching activity. So many fun ways to end off their busy week before Pesach break!

RMBA alumnus Dovid Troppe (Class of 2022) visited Rabbi Ouzzan’s Men’s Seminar class this week to share his experience and advice for learning at Yeshiva in Israel. Dovid is a current student at Lev HaTorah in Bet Shemesh.

This week in Ms. Adriana's STEAM class in preparation for Pesach students made cardboard matzah into shapes, numbers and letters for their matzah bakery! They also made spider webs with yarn and string using simple shapes after reading the book Sammy Spider's First Passover!

In Moreh Ido's high school Judaic Studies elective Jewish Life - the students learned and made presentations about the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492 and the Spanish Inquisition. 10th grader Mikie Blumenthal shared with the class during his presentation (pictured above) that through his mother's side of the family he is a descendant originally from Spain from that time period. That was a surprise!

Congratulations to Reem Ohayon (1st place), Yael Shitrit (second place), and Ido Raber (third place) on winning the grand finale of the lower school Hebrew Competition. Students in 1st through 5th grade each received a booklet that contained 3 parts, spelling, translation, and synonyms. Each class was tested separately, with 3 winners from each grade advancing to the next round. The students all demonstrated great knowledge of the Hebrew language. Kol Hakavod to all the students who participated, studying and investing their time!