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Ma Chadash?Bites 19 Shevat l Parshas Yisro l Jan 21

Save the date!! Dr. David Lieberman will be coming to Shalom Torah Academy on Motzai Shabbos (Saturday night) January 29th and Motzai Shabbos February 5thfor a two part parenting workshop!! The program will begin at 8:30. Light refreshments will be served.  Looking forward to seeing you!

Yisro- The Chosen people For this year of Parsha Lesson, I will be focusing on one area of character growth, to think about in the week ahead and the benefits that a person would have from becoming better in that area.  Background In this week’s Parsha we have the seminal event in the history of the world: Hashem gives us, the Jewish people, His Torah. In the lead-up to the giving of the Torah, Hashem tells Moshe that if the Jewish people ‘listen to Me and safeguard my covenant, they will be for me as the Chosen from all of the nations.’ In addition, by the Jewish people accepting the Torah, they would also be ‘a kingdom of priests’. (19:5,6) The Seforno explains that this refers to the Jewish people being the ‘spiritual leaders of humanity.’   The Jewish people then accepted, wholeheartedly, this covenant with the intention to uphold unquestioningly everything that Hashem commanded them in it. In so doing, they became the Chosen nation from all of the other nations in the world and the spiritual leaders of all of humanity.   Question Shouldn’t Hashem have first seen if we would accept the Torah before sharing with us the tremendous stature that would be bestowed upon us by our accepting the Torah? By Hashem informing us of the tremendous stature and position that the acceptance of the Torah would grant us, accepting the Torah would have then been influenced by an interest in being the Chosen nation and spiritual leaders of humanity.    This is especially difficult to understand being that Hashem himself treasures the character trait of humility. In fact, we find that Hashem chose Mount Sinai to give the Torah on because it was the smallest of all of the mountains!    Why would Hashem want his Chosen people to feel pompous and arrogant? Wouldn’t it be better for them to be regular folk, humble people, who are righteous and pious and who, by the power of their actions and not the stature of their office, rise to the top of humanity and lead and instruct others as to how to behave?   Answer Rabbeinu Yonah, in the introduction to one of his many ethical works, Shaarei Ha’avodah, states that ‘the first opening (beginning of the service of Hashem) is that a person must know their worth and recognize their stature and the stature of their ancestors… It will come from this that when one has a desire, when it arises in one’s heart to do that which is improper, this person will be embarrassed from themselves and embarrassed from their ancestors.’   And in truth, as many great Baalei Mussar (Ethical masters) have observed- there is a good type of arrogance and a bad type of arrogance. A person should not arrogantly feel that they are deserving of praise and accolades. At the same time, a person must feel that they are great and noble. Rabbeinu Yonah is teaching us that having this sense of pride and an appreciation of one’s stature is what will enable us to choose that which is right and good and not be tempted by that which is desired in the moment.   Furthermore, being that this is the beginning of all service of Hashem, it stands to reason- and looking at the world around us would affirm- that the evil inclination (yetzer hara) works hardest to trip people up on this most basic level. The result is that most people do NOT want to be noble. Most people want to be devoid of any greatness in order to be able to indulge their wants and desires without conscience. Most people would NOT choose to be G-d’s Chosen people and have the ‘burden’ of being the spiritual leaders of the world.    Lesson How important it is to have the proper picture of one’s greatness! When a person appreciates their nobility and significance, the work and effort to choose good over evil will be worth it. The importance of behaving in a way which is befitting of one’s stature will encourage one to do that which is right and not just that which is convenient.   A couple of years ago I was driving on the highway and I saw a sign for a New Jersey county fair in the Meadowlands. The sign said the following- ‘Pigs: See one, eat one, BE one’. This was an advertisement for people to come to the country fair! People want to behave like ‘pigs’, rolling around in the mud. This makes life easier and removes any conscience and pressure to be good.    We Jews are the standard-bearers for humanity, the ‘light unto the nations’, the spiritual guides that are tasked with showing the world what it means to live the good life. As one of the all-time great anti-semites observed: the Jews are the conscience of humanity.   Benefits of this… Appreciating one’s greatness and having the proper self-worth is the beginning of any sort of growth and development. If someone does not have this appreciation it will be extremely difficult to make progress and to develop into a better person: If a person is lowly and ‘a pig’ there is no point to developing in any way.   However, if one does realize their innate greatness as being first of all- a Human being, and further a member of the Jewish nation, and further- a descendant of hundreds of generations of pious, heroic Jews who have stood up against all sorts of challenges and hardships for the sake of Hashem and the values of the Torah… When one realizes this and takes this to heart- then how could one not put effort into further shining and perfecting the diamond that they appreciate themselves to be?    And when a person does act in a way whereby their outer behavior is consistent with that which they know to be true, that person will then be proud of themselves and get nachas in winning the approval of their toughest and most difficult critic: themselves. Wishing everyone a wonderful Shabbos! Rabbi Eli Meir Kramer

What's happening... 

Boys Melave Malka!! Last Motzai Shabbos (Saturday night) we had our annual Father-Son Melava Malka! The boys were honored to hear words of inspiration and Torah from R' Chazanow of the Chabad of Western Monmouth County. R' Chazanow shared with the boys that the Torah they are learning is already engraved in them. When we learn Torah we are reconnecting with that which we were already taught while in the womb. The crowd was then treated to a series of performances and plays put on by our boys. Special thanks to R' Shalom Jacoby, R' Yehuda Friedman, Morah Shulamis Shereshevsky and Morah Esther Berliner for the tremendous effort they put into making sure that the performances were entertaining and well done! d Coach Avi Devor for the exciting activities! All of the boys and fathers had a wonderful and enjoyable evening!

Judaic Studies R' David Rosenthal- 6th Grade Boys Gemara It’s been an exciting few months in Gemara class. We are learning the second chapter of Bava Metziah, which discusses the laws of lost objects. When I find something, am I allowed to keep it? Do I have to return it?  The boys are learning the logic of the Gemara which teaches them vital critical thinking skills. In addition, they are being taught how to read the Gemara themselves. Through class discussions, educational games, and one-on-one chavrusa learning we have an exciting time discovering the beauty of the Talmud! This is the boys’ first step in a life-long journey of Torah scholarship.

General Studies Mrs. Myra Bookfor- 2nd Grade It’s hard to believe that this school year is almost half over! The second graders have been achieving success in all areas and are actively involved in their learning. In Social Studies we are learning about how people use their income to pay for different kinds of goods and services. Our families have to make choices about spending and saving money.  People spend and save their money in different ways. In our classroom, we have set up a class store. Students can “earn” money for good behavior and being a model citizen. At the end of the week, the children can visit the class store and decide if they would like to purchase an item. Our “cashier” takes their money, counts it, and puts it in the cash register. The children have learned to identify the coins and their values. We will soon learn how to make change. Some children have chosen to save their money to spend at a future time.  We have also learned that people can deposit money in a savings or checking account in a bank. They can use the money in their checking account to pay for goods and services. It’s so much fun deciding what to do with the money we earn in our class. What would you do with your earnings?

Pre-School Mrs. Nechama Greenwald- Kindergarten Kindergarten has a whole new look. Now that we have begun the second half of the year, we reinstated our classroom rules. We reinforced the rules with posters and a book where the students drew their own pictures depicting each rule. Now that we are closer to first grade, we have changed our afternoon circle from a circle to a group time. We now sit in rows each of us facing the front. This lends to better learning as the students don’t face each other. They all face Morah. One last change that we implemented was seat changes at the table. It gives students a chance to interact with different classmates during table time work. For math the students each have their own folders with everything they need for math work on the carpet. There is a clipboard and a pencil case with a pencil, an eraser, and counters. Before going to their carpet seats, each student gets their folder and sets themselves up on the carpet for math time. All of these structures lend to independence and accountability. The children are doing a great job and Morah is very proud of them!

Come join us every Motzai Shabbos for Father- Son learning!

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