Inspired by the story of the Runaway Latkes, the Purple Room kids created their own by gluing lots of paper strips onto a cardboard form. After that, adults and kids had fun with it (see more pictures our Facebook page). |
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December 18, 2020
Volume 17, Issue 8
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Candle Lighting: 4:01 p.m.
Parasha: Miketz
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15 Weeks of In-Person School and Counting... |
by Miriam Kass, Principal
Together, we have completed 15 weeks of in-person school. Not a small accomplishment, and one we can all take pride in. Thank you to each student, parent, staff and household member for making the daily commitment it has taken to keep us all safe and healthy this year. What we are doing is working. Let’s keep it up!
We strongly encourage you to continue to avoid travel and refrain from attending even small social gatherings. Our collective actions while we are on winter break will impact our ability to be in school come January.
If your family plans to travel for any length of time, please let us know via email. Together we can decide if your child will need to quarantine upon your return, and we can discuss, not guarantee, the possibility of remote learning. A gentle reminder that your children are good reporters and will not hesitate to share how they spent their break. Please don’t put any of us in an unnecessary and awkward situation; communicate with us in advance. Thank you!
We are excited to see the vaccines starting to be administered, and we look forward to learning and sharing more about the guidelines as they develop. For the time being though, our protocols and Social Covenant will not change.
Thank you again for doing your part to help our school stay open. And a special thank you to our entire staff for their tireless efforts in these difficult months. We are deeply grateful to their tremendous commitment to Akiba-Schechter and your children.
We wish you a healthy start to 2021. And we look forward to seeing our students back at school on January 4.
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School under COVID-19 - For Your Reference |
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Mrs. Schinasi lights Chanukah candles with the Kindergarten and shares a Chanukah story. |
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Chanukah and the Torah Portion of Miketz
by Rabbi David Bauman, Head of Judaic Studies and Community Engagement
The weekly portion of Miketz and the Festival of Chanukah regularly coincide. Commentators of the past have discovered parallels between the two.
Joseph was summoned by Pharaoh after serving two years in prison. The Hebrew letters for two (years), "Shin, Nun, Tav, Yud, Mem," serve as an abbreviation for the Talmudic phrase, "Smol Nerot Tadlik Yamin Mezuzah - Kindle the lights on the left; the Mezuzah is on the right." In antiquity and in some places today, people light the Chanukiah outside the front entrance. Following the dictum, one is surrounded by Mitzvot on all sides.
Joseph interprets two dreams for Pharaoh. In one, fat cows are followed and devoured by small cows. In the other, thick ears of grain are followed and devoured by thin ears of grain. The parallel to Chanukah is obvious: The many falling into the hands of the few, as the small band of Maccabees defeated the mighty Hellenistic empire.
From the two sets of observations, we celebrate Chanukah as a season for surrounding ourselves with Mitzvot. Even when outnumbered, we must be diligent to stand up and fight for the freedom to practice our Jewish heritage.
Chag Urim Sameach! Happy Festival of Light!
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17 Simple DIY Activities to Spark your Children's Creativity and Keep Them Busy over Winter Break
by Carla Goldberg, Early Childhood Director
While you are safe at home this holiday season, I wanted to share some ideas from the Akiba-Schechter Early Childhood classrooms to try at home. Many of these ideas can be done on a Zoom playdate with a friend or family member.
1. Make your own playdough. It’s a great cooking activity (click here for recipe) to do together, and it is the best playdough. Store it in a Ziplock bag so you can reuse it many times. Try some of your holiday cookie cutters with the playdough… it’s lots of fun! Definitely do that on a Zoom playdate, too.
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Former Akiba Kindergarten teacher Mara Franken made a special appearance as Hanukkah Harriet, and the Kindergarteners played a dreidel game with her, did some dancing, and read a Hanukkah story. |
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The Upstairs Preschool kids have been having a dialogue about light and shadow and have been exploring them with different activities. |
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Catching Up with an Alumna Who Returned to Teach
It's been a privilege to have had Akiba-Schechter alumna Abby Klionsky (class of 2005) substitute teach in our preschool this week, and so we thought we'd catch up with her:
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In Mr. Amiel's class, 7th/8th grade Algebra students have been working on making Chanukiot by graphing equations on Desmos. Here is Sam's animated version.
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In Morah Dorit's 3rd/4th Hebrew class, students played hangman in Hebrew. |
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With the guidance of Mr. Esse, the Globe staff has been hard at work putting together their first edition of our student newspaper, the 2020-21 Globe. This edition contains news, stories, recipes, a writing contest, fun facts, and more! You can read it all here. |
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8 Questions for an 8th Grader |
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In each issue of the Kibitzer, we feature one of our 8th graders. In this edition, it is Yaakov Friedman:
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Since when have you been at Akiba? I've been at Akiba since 6th grade, so this is my third and final year at the school.
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What neighborhood do you live in? I live in Timber Ridge, Skokie.
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What do you hope to accomplish in 8th grade? How is being an 8th grader different from your previous grades at Akiba? I want to work hard to get good grades, so when I graduate, I'll know that I tried my best. Being in 8th grade is like finally reaching the top. There's nobody above you, and everybody else looks up to you. I enjoy it, but it's hard to always set a good example for the younger students.
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What is your favorite subject at Akiba? I couldn't say I have a favorite class. I really enjoy most of my classes equally.
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What do you think is special about Akiba? What do you particularly like and why? What I like about Akiba is that it's so welcoming. It's a very close-knit community, so I know, and am friends with, almost everyone in the school (including teachers) personally.
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If you have had your bar mitzvah or are preparing for it, what did you learn from it? My Bar Mitzvah was in August, and the only thing that I really learned from it, is that I never want to go through anything like that ever again. The presents were amazing, but the thank you notes that follow, not so much.
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When you’re not at school or doing homework, what do you like to do (hobbies, special interests)? When I'm not in school, I'm usually either reading a book, or making something out of paper.
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What do you want to be when you grow up? I'm not entirely sure what I want to be when I grow up, but I want it to have something to do with building stuff.
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Lots of Community Spirit at Chanukah Family Bingo
Many thanks to the PTO for organizing such a fun virtual event this past Sunday and thanks to Dan Goodman for serving as bingo caller. Winners with their prizes can be found on our Facebook page. |
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Teachers and staff really appreciated the cute little Chanukah gifts the PTO handed out this week. |
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Our Rosh Chodesh Programming on Wednesday, December 16 was generously sponsored by Ronnie, Dana, Louis & Talia Schinasi in loving memory of Emilio Schinasi, Z"L.
Our Thursday, December 17 Day of Learning was sponsored by Glenn Miller and family in loving memory of our beloved School Matriarch Millie Miller, Z"L on the occasion of her third yahrzeit.
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Mazal tov
...to Molly Constantine, Purple Room teacher last year, on the birth of her baby girl on December 14th.
Condolences
...to Stuart (3rd) and Meira (1st) Goodman and their families on the passing of their great-grandfather Ralph Ponfil. May his memory be for a blessing.
Thanks for Commenting on our Facebook Posts!
Let's keep the virtual community spirit going over winter break!
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Monday, December 21 -
Friday, January 1
Winter Break
No School
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Affiliated with the Associated Talmud Torahs and supported by the Kehillah Jewish Education Fund |
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