KOL ECHAD | Weekly Newsletter 

October 12, 2023

Why Sports?

By Dallas Perez, Athletic Director

Exercising at a young age is crucial for maintaining good health and reaping various benefits. Not only does it strengthen our bones, but it also plays a significant role in reducing cholesterol levels and decreasing the risk of stroke, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Moreover, engaging in physical activity causes our brain to release chemicals such as endorphins, which are natural hormones responsible for controlling pain and pleasure responses in the central nervous system. These endorphins can instill feelings of euphoria, commonly known as "runner's high". Furthermore, consistent physical activity enhances focus, uplifts mood, and improves memory.

However, when it comes to exercising at a young age, does going to the gym five days a week have the same impact as joining a team sport? Extensive studies reveal that if children can find a sport they enjoy, the benefits go far beyond physical and emotional well-being. The psychological advantages of being part of a team are particularly significant and have long-term effects. By participating in team sports, children learn invaluable life lessons such as trust, interdependence, giving and receiving help, and collaborating towards a shared goal. The commitment to a team also establishes a regular exercise routine, contributing to overall fitness.

Furthermore, research indicates that school sport participation significantly reduces the risk of depression for up to four years. Additionally, engaging in team sports increases confidence and self-esteem. The process of building confidence results from factors such as disciplined training, supportive coaches, and cultivating a positive mindset centered around continuous hard work towards achieving goals.

Perhaps one of the most transformative benefits of sports is learning from failure. In both victory and defeat, children develop resilience and perseverance – qualities that prove invaluable in facing real-life academic, emotional, and physical challenges. Whether they win or lose, participating in sports offers tangible advantages to children.

Finding the right sport may require time and exploration. However, it is an investment that ultimately leads to discovering a supportive community, acquiring new skills, and simultaneously nurturing both the body and mind. Engaging in team sports provides an avenue for children to socialize, learn the significance of commitment, and develop teamwork skills – qualities that pave the way for a successful future.

In conclusion, exercising at a young age bestows numerous health benefits upon individuals. From physical advantages like strengthening bones and reducing the risk of various illnesses to the release of endorphins in the brain, exercising proves to be essential for overall well-being. However, participating in team sports offers extended psychological benefits and long-lasting effects, which surpass those obtained solely through individual gym workouts. By joining a team, children can develop trust, learn to rely on others, collaborate towards common goals, and develop a regular exercise routine. In addition, team sports lead to reduced depression rates, increased confidence and self-esteem, and the development of resilience and perseverance in the face of challenges. Thus, investing time and effort in finding the right team sport provides children with a supportive community, new skills, new friends and an overall approach to personal growth.

Dallas Perez,

Athletic Director

Important Dates

Thursday, October 19



• Great ShakeOut earthquake drill

Wednesday, October 23

• Picture make-up day

Thursday, October 26

• Challah Bake - 6:00 pm in the auditorium

Thursday, November 16

• Parent-teacher conferences - minimum day - 12:00 dismissal (ES/MS only)

Thursday, November 17

• Parent-teacher conferences - no classes

November 17-21

• Thanksgiving turkey food drive

November 22-24

• Thanksgiving weekend- school closed

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

Supporting Israel

This week, we mobilized as a community to support Israel during this tragic time. Kadima parents have been generously donating items for our brave soldiers and southern Israel communities. Our Middle School leadership group students sorted and organized all your wonderful donations, which were picked up earlier today by our PTO parents to be shipped via ElAl Airlines to Israel. Our students also wrote beautiful letters of support to the IDF. Am Israel Chai!

Our Students Write Letters

[Kadima's eighth grade students wrote letters of support to IDF soldiers.]

Dear Soldiers,

Thank you for fighting for our country. You are so unbelievably brave for going out and fighting.

Our country is in big, big danger, and it makes me feel so much better knowing we have strong, brave people fighting for Israel. We all really appreciate what you're doing.

I feel thankful but sad for you at the same time. I can't believe Israel sends 18-year-olds to go out and fight.

I hope you and your whole family is safe, and I hope that once and for all, Gaza is gone and we have our country back.

I also have family going out and fighting. I'm so thankful that we have so many soldiers protecting us and our country. I live in America, but it's still my country.

We are constantly and always thinking of you and keeping you in aour prayers. Am Yisrael Chai!!

I hope for full and final peace for Jews all around the world and Israel. We just need to keep praying because, in reality, God is the only one who can protect, save, and help us.

עם ישראל חי!!

Maayan G.

שלום, קוראים לי אליאב, אני בן 13 ואני לומד בקדימה בלוס אנג'לס.

אני יודע שזו תקופה קשה וכולנו מתפללים בשבילכם. אני אוהב אתכם ואני יודע שתנצחו במלחמה הזו. אם תבטחו באלוהים ותתפללו הכל ילך לטובתך.

אוהב ומתפלל כל יום,

אליאב א.

לחיילים היקרים בארץ,

אני יודעת שאתם הולכים לעשות נהדר בהגנה על המדינה שלנו.

שמי מאיה וכולנו מבית ספר קדימה מובילים אותך ומאחלים לך את הטוב ביותר. כולנו חושבים עליך.

גם בן דוד שלי רום נלחם עכשיו. אולי אתה מכיר אותו?

ממאיה ע.

חייל יקר,

תודה לך על שירותך ועל שירותך במדינה שלנו. אני ושאר הקהילה שלנו מאחלים לכם הרבה אהבה והישגים עם הספקות הקשות שאתה עלול להתמודד איתם. אנחנו יודעים שאתה עובר תקופה קשה וכולנו מחכים לך.

תהיה חזק. אנחנו כאן איתך ותומכים בך.

נחזיר את המדינה שלנו.

Love,

Lielle B.

שלום, שמי מיה א., ואני בכיתה ח' בחטיבת הביניים קדימה.

לחיילינו היקרים ביותר בישראל, תודה לכם על שהגנתם על המדינה שלנו ודאגתם שהמדינה שלנו תהיה בטוחה. אנחנו חושבים עליכם ורואים אתכם.

גם בת דודתי עדי נלחמת בצבא, אז אני יודעת איך אתם מרגישים.

אני מלוס אנג'לס ואנחנו עדיין תומכים בכם גם אם אתם רחוקים.

אם אתה צריך מישהו לדבר איתו, אתה מוזמן לשלוח לי הודעה.

מיה א.

Winter Enrichment

We are thrilled to announce that our enrichment programs for ECEC and elementary school will begin the week of October 23. Deadline to enroll is October 18, no refunds if cancelled after October 18. There will be no enrichment classes the week of Thanksgiving (November 20-24). 

ECEC

• Mondays - Theatre with Yafit Josephson
• Tuesday - Movement with teacher Revital
• Wednesday - Art with teacher Ruth
• Thursday - Basketball with Coach Daniel

To sign up for ECEC enrichment, click here.

Elementary School 

• Monday - Football with Coach Myke & basketball with Coach Daniel
• Tuesday - Soccer with Coach John
• Wednesday - Soccer with Coach John & fashion (for 1st and 2nd grade) with Ms. Wind
• Thursday - Drama with Yafit Josephson

To sign up for Elementary School enrichment, click here.

Please contact Arnold Rudnick, Director of Finance, at (818) 346-0849 ext.322 if you have any questions.

School Pictures

School portraits taken by Cornerstone Photography are now available for viewing and ordering. 

All orders must be placed online, will incur a $5 shipping charge, and will be mailed directly home. Portrait pickup on campus or in the Cornerstone studio is not available. To view your portrait, click the link below and enter your online code which is KDMA and your student ID. If you do not know your child’s student ID, please contact the main office and we will provide it for you.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW YOUR PORTRAIT

Online Code: KDMA+Student ID (For Example: KDMA123456)  

What if I missed picture day?

A makeup opportunity is scheduled for Monday, October 23 for those who missed picture day or for those who are not satisfied with their portrait and want to try again.

For additional questions, you may contact customercare@cornerstone.photo or (805) 529-1635. 

Challah Bake

Thursday, October 26, 6:00 pm, Kadima Auditorium

Kadima's PTO invites the Kadima community to a special evening of prayer, unity, and challah baking for Israel. The event will be lead by Sivan Kobi of Sivan's Kitchen and mother of a Kadima alum. Tickets are $36 per person. Limited tickets are available, please purchase tickets by October 20. Please click here or on the flyer for tickets.

Thank You, Kadima PTO!

Thank you to the Fridman, Gabay-Sror, Keisari, Sinai, and Tzvi families, as well as our wonderful PTO, for sponsoring a delicious brunch for the faculty and staff in honor of Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan. We really appreciate it!

Rosh Chodesh Lunch Sponsorship

Celebrating a milestone or a simcha?

Want to treat our amazing faculty and staff to lunch?

Here’s your chance!

Rosh Chodesh lunch is a service of the PTO to provide a beautiful lunch to the faculty and staff at the beginning of each Jewish new month. You can participate by sponsoring part or all of this meal, and we will recognize your milestone or simcha with a sign listing all the sponsors at that lunch. It is a highlight of the month for the teachers and a great way to support the Kadima community. We need a combined $500 each month to provide a beautiful meal. If you would like to participate, please contact: Adva Tzvi advatsvi@hotmail.com or Shani Gabay gabayshani@hotmail.com.

Please email or text or WhatsApp with the following information:

• The month you would like to sponsor (September-May)
• The dollar amount you would like to donate
• Family name as it should be listed
• In Honor of/Celebration of/Memory of
• Your contact info

The Finance Office will reach out for payment .

Thank you for your participation,

Adva and Shani

2024-25 Admission Application Now Open

Admission applications are now being accepted for the 2024-25 school year. Remember, you do not need to reapply annually for admission. For priority consideration for younger siblings, please submit Kadima admission applications by January 31, 2024. Please visit your FACTS portal to apply, or click here.

Top 10 Conversation Starters: Parashat B'reshit

By Dr. Steven Lorch

#10 - On five of the six days of Creation, God declares that what was created that day was "good." However, on the second day, when God made the sky to separate the waters below from the waters above, there is no mention that it was good (B'reshit 1, 6-8). What is different on Day 2 from all the other days?

#9 -  On the other hand, on the third day of Creation, God stated "It is good" twice: once after creating dry land by gathering the water into one place (1, 10), and the other time after creating plants, trees, and vegetation (1, 12). Why were both of these creations "good," unlike on other days with more than one creation?

#8 - What is meant by "good"? In what way were these acts of creation good? Why do we need to be told that they were good?

#7 - How long were the "days" of Creation? (If they were more than 24 hours, why are they called days?)

#6 - God makes man in God's image and likeness (1, 26). In what ways are God and man similar? In what ways are they different?

#5 - The materials God used to create humans were soil and God's breath (2, 7). What do these two substances teach us about human nature? About human potential? About challenges humans face?

#4 - In the first perek of B'reshit, man and woman are created at the same time 1, 27), but in the second perek, man is created first, and woman is created only after man meets all the animals but is still lonely (2, 18-20). What do these two different accounts teach us about human relationships? About the goals of human communities?

#3 - In the second perek, God commands Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (2, 17). In the third perek, Eve tells the serpent that they were commanded not to eat from it and not to touch it (3, 3). Why is this significant?

#2 - As the story of Cain and Abel reaches its climax, the text states that Cain said something to Abel, but it doesn't record what he said (4, 8). What did Cain say to Abel? What did they argue about before Cain killed Abel?

#1 - At the end of the parashah, the Torah records that, because people were behaving badly toward each other, God regretted creating human beings (6, 6). How is this possible? If God is all-knowing, wouldn't God have known from the very beginning how things would turn out?