Ma Koreh?
What’s Happening?
January Newsletter
January 13, 2023 / 20 Tevet 5783

This month's issue features:

  • D'var Kesher from Rabbi Morris Allen
  • We are Turning 25
  • Highlights this Month
  • Photo Highlights
  • Community Milestones
  • CJDS Events Open to the Community
  • Community Events
A Message from Rabbi Allen
Greetings!

In January of 1968, I celebrated my Bar Mitzvah. Fifty-five Torah reading cycles later, I am sitting at my desk at the Columbus Jewish Day School in anticipation of our Kabbalat Shabbat today lifting up the shared work of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (z"l) and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.(z"l). There is an invisible but totally understandable thread connecting these two moments in my life. And for our children today, their commemoration and presentation of the work undertaken by these two impactful religious leaders is not disconnected to the unfolding of our larger Jewish narrative that needs to continually be shared and attended to by each new generation inside Jewish communities.
 
When I stood on the Bimah at Tifereth Israel (in Lincoln, Nebraska), I spoke about Martin Luther King and Moshe as two leaders who attended to their people. It was not a hard connection to make in the heady 1960's of the Civil Rights movement and protests against the Vietnam War. A few months later, Dr. King would be assassinated months shy of his 40th birthday--ironically the number of years that Moshe would lead the people of Israel through their liberation story. In the intervening years, Dr. Heschel would become a thinker that drew me closer and closer to the rabbinate and filled my life with depth and meaning. Over the decades that followed, the Jewish community would seek to highlight both his scholarship and his social activism, particularly with Dr. King, and their shared work on behalf of human dignity and equality. Elevating the notion that every person was created in the image of God meant to both of them that denying any piece of their humanity was tantamount to denying the promise of the sacred text and the sacred mission of the religious search.

Over the ensuing 55 years, the Torah text obviously remains the same--but our experience and the lessons it can offer only deepens over time and through our regular engagement with it. The constant engagement with our sacred text allows us to speculate as to where we find the spark of justice. It obviously enabled Heschel to label racism a disease that affects the "spiritual substance and condition of every one of us." At a 1963 conference entitled "Race and Religion" (it was there that Heschel and King met for the first time). Heschel said the following: 
"At the first conference on religion and race, the main participants were Pharaoh and Moses. Moses’ words were: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to me.” While Pharaoh retorted: “Who is the Lord, that I should heed this voice and let Israel go?” The outcome of that summit meeting has not come to an end … The exodus began, but is far from having been completed." 

At CJDS, we expect our students to engage with their lives in such a way that they are regularly asking essential questions. One such question is simply this. What does it mean to be a member of our people and to inherit that voice for good that needs to be continually heard--from generation to generation. In truth, Moshe too had to find that voice and the Torah gives us a hint as to where it was found. The names of those two Hebrew midwives who stood in opposition to an immoral request from Pharaoh and defied his order to kill Jewish children should roll off our tongues as easily as Moshe, Martin or Abraham. Shifra and Pu'ah are the ones that Torah wants us to see as the models of human responsibility rising up against injustice, immorality and unspeakable evil. Moshe must have always understood that the fight for good was a result of those who were willing to defy conventional acceptance and seek something better and more just. It was not easy then to stand in opposition to social trends--just as it is not always easy to do so today. 

Over the past 55 years, I have had the opportunity to hear these words chanted in Jewish communities in a variety of places and settings. There is no place that has brought me more joy, though, than in seeing these words shared this year in Columbus. For where else but at CJDS is a new generation of students being exposed to what it really takes to become moral agents of change in a world where leadership is sorely lacking? I am grateful for every parent who understands this opportunity, for every teacher who takes on this responsibility and to a community willing to support this mission. May it continue to be so in the years that follow. 

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Morris Allen 
Transitional Head of School
SAVE THE DATE! We're Turning 25!
Save the date for our 25th Anniversary Celebration on April 23, 2023!
Highlights this Month
How CJDS celebrated Hanukkah!
CJDS families celebrated the second night of Hanukkah together at Franklin Park Conservatory during Hanukkah Aglow! CJDS partnered with the JCC, JewishColumbus, and Columbus Torah Academy for this community event!
Fourth grade students invited their first grade buddies for candle lighting and Tefillah.
First graders playing Dreidel Bump in Math!
Second graders enjoyed decorating Hanukkah cookies with a kit donated by the Amar family.
In Hebrew/Judaics and art class, 5th graders have been working on planning and creating a hanukkiyah which delivers a special message.
They presented their handmade hanukkiyot with a Hanukkiyah Exhibition for all classes to visit.
Fourth graders celebrating Hanukkah with their friends in Kfar Saba via Zoom!
Second graders learning about light and color connection with Hanukkah by making lanterns with a stained glass design.
CJDS candle lighting & Hanukkah sing-along with Mr. Angelo!
First grade students invited second graders to a school Hanukkah party. There were Hanukkah game stations, fun Hanukkah activities, and fun Hanukkah music videos!
Each student got a festive Hanukkah fortune teller and Hanukkah gelt at the end of the party.
First graders with the recyclable Hanukkiot they made for the residents of WHV!
K, 1st and 2nd enjoying science as they explored magnetism and electricity concepts as well as shadowing. Did you know that electrons spin like dreidels around the atom's nucleus to generate energy- magnetism and electricity?
Zeke Moses Bar Mitzvah

Zeke Moses (CJDS alum class of 2021) visited the school to celebrate becoming a Bar Mitzvah. Mazel Tov to Zeke and the Moses family!

"We celebrated with Zeke Moses becoming a Bar Mitzvah. Returning to the school which partnered with his parents in providing his foundational connection and understanding of self, Zeke demonstrated to all current students just how impactful each and every day at this school can be. Mazel Tov!" - Rabbi Morris Allen, Transitional Head of School shared with current parents
How long does it take to water a camel?
In a lesson integrating Humash, Math, and Physical Education, fourth graders learned what a hard task Rivkah had when she offered to water Avraham’s camels. The class read the parashah detailing how Avraham’s servant showed up at the well and asked for some water for himself. Rivkah offered to water the ten thirsty camels that accompanied the servant, which he took as a sign that she would be Yitzhak’s wife.
The students wanted to figure out how long it would take Rivkah to complete her task. Each camel drinks about 50 gallons of water, so students calculated how much water Rivkah needed to draw from the well, and performed a simulation to figure out how long it would take her.

Fourth grade students carried a total of 250 gallons of water in 10 minutes, then extrapolated how long it would take one girl to carry 500 gallons. The simulation took on the appearance of a relay race, but students came away with a new respect for Rivkah, and some new math skills!
Kindergarteners finished their Alphabet Books! Kindergarteners have been busy learning the upper and lowercase formation of letters A-Z, and each letter included a read aloud and an art project. Kindergarteners then assembled all this into their own book. Way to go kindergarten, kol hakavod!
Visit from State Senator Elect

CJDS Visit from Michele Reynolds.
(L to R): Howie Beigelman, Executive Director of Ohio Jewish Communities, Melanie Butter, JCC Chief Development Officer, Rabbi Allen, CJDS Transitional Head of School, Michele Reynolds, State Senator Elect, Karen Meyer, JCC Board President, and Mike Klapper, JCC Chief Executive Officer.
CJDS Voted Best Private School

Did you know that CJDS students attend the Best Private School in Columbus?

That's right. We closed out 2022 with Columbus Jewish Day School getting voted #1 Best Private School in Columbus by Dispatch readers!
Photo Highlights
Second graders decorating Hanukkah cookies with a kit donated by the Amar family!
When 5th graders started their Hanukkah unit, they refreshed their memory with main themes, vocab words & events they learned in previous years. They used cards from the iTalam program along with new cards they created themselves!
An exciting day in the CJDS Music Room —opening new guitars!
Second graders read a story in Hebrew about Judah Maccabee and needed to put pictures and Hebrew sentences from the story in chronological order.
In Humash, fifth grade learned about the story of Dinah in the city of Shechem. Many questions came up while studying the intricate narrative so we invited the main characters to our classroom for a mock trial and asked them our direct and thought-provoking questions.
As part of the unit on Jewish heroes, 5th graders looked at remarkable Jewish individuals throughout history from Mark Spitz and Hannah Arendt to Leah Goldberg and Franz Kafka. They then decided which heroic traits they embodied.
Community Milestones
Mazel Tov

  • Mazel Tov to Rabbi Alex Braver & Alex Weisler on the birth of their new bundle of joy!
  • Mazel Tov to CJDS alum Rabbi Adam Berman (class of 2004) on recently being ordained as a Rabbi in Israel! Adam Berman was one of the first 44 students who opened CJDS in1998!
Mi Sh'Berach

  • We wish a full and speedy recovery to Caleb Moses, class of 2020

We extend our prayers to any family in our community who may be impacted by coronavirus.
Zecher Tzadik L'vracha (May His Memory Be a Blessing)

  • We extend our condolences to the Brisk Family on the passing of Jim Brisk (Z"L), CJDS Alumni Parent.
  • We extend our condolences to the Schottenstein Family on the passing of Phyllis Schottenstein (Z"L), sister of Miriam (Bernie) Yenkin; longtime supporters of the school.
  • We extend our condolences to the Segaloff Family on the Roberta Segaloff (Z"L), Grandparent of CJDS alum, Samantha Segaloff.
  • We extend our condolences to the Madison Family on the passing of Jack Madison, Z"L).
CJDS Events Open to the Community
TOURS & EVENTS FOR PROSPECTIVE PARENTS: Personal tours of the CJDS campus are offered daily. Families interested in learning more about CJDS may reach out to the CJDS admissions office at hello@cjds.org. Additional information is available under the APPLY tab of the CJDS website (link to https://www.cjds.org/experience3)

  • FOR CURRENT STUDENTS: Contracts for the 2023-2024 school year will be shared with current families in early March. 

  • FOR PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS: We are now accepting applications for the 2023-2024 school year. are welcomed in early October for enrollment in the following academic year. Applications completed by February 1, 2023, are eligible for first-round decisions - which are announced by March 1, 2023. Enrollment contracts and deposits are due back approximately 14 days later. 

  • TUITION ASSISTANCE: Families applying for Tuition Assistance must complete their application by early February, 2023. Tuition assistance information may be found here: https://www.cjds.org/tuition-assistance
January
  • Sunday, January 22 - 3:00-4:30pm - Clay & Play and Parent Information Session (ages 3-6)
  • Tuesday, January 24 - 8:30-11:00am - CJDS Shadow Day Experience Visit
  • Wednesday, January 25 - Kindergarten Reading Webinar (Virtual) 7:30-8:30pm
  • Friday, January 27 - 1:35 - 2:20pm - All School Kabbalat Shabbat
  • Tuesday, January 31 - 8:30-11:00am - CJDS Shadow Day Experience Visit
We hope you will join us for one of our upcoming Kabbalat Shabbats!
Community Events
CJDS is a proud partner of: