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Shaloh House Update #15 Shabbos Parshas Vayigash Candle Lighting Time: 4:09 PM Page #1

Shaloh House UPDATE

January 6, 2006 Teves 6, 5766 #15

The Shaloh House Jewish Dאy School Newsletter

בסײד

A Taste of First Grade Perhaps the hardest transition a child experiences in the first 12 school-years is the move from kindergarten to first grade. To smooth this transition, last year Shaloh House introduced an imaginative, new program: “A Taste of First Grade.” For three brief sessions each week, kindergarteners went to first-grade class-rooms where they received first-grade style instruction from first-grade teachers. They sat at desks, raised their hands, spoke only when called on, and learned first grade academic skills in English, math and Judaic studies.

The program proved successful last year, as evident in the current first grade class. The students were more prepared both academi-cally and socially for the first grade experience. This week, our current kindergarten class had their first class with math teacher Cagdas Tatli. In the coming weeks they will also begin their Eng-lish and Judaic classes with the first grade teachers.

The students were very enthusiastic about their new experience. “I had a lot of fun in the math class,” David said. “He showed us how 5 and 5 are 10 on the board with magnets!”

Sitting in a desk and being quiet can be hard work when it’s demanded day after day, as it is in first-grade. But if it’s introduced to kindergarteners, who can then return to their play-style classroom, it’s a treat and a privilege, School Di-rector Rabbi Dan Rodkin said.

“It’s yet another game for them for now,” Rabbi Rodkin said. “Let them learn these incredibly important skills now, when it’s not compulsory and it’s fun. Our first-grade is also fun and full of games, but it’s much more serious business. With our ‘Taste of First Grade,’ we expect these kindergarteners make the transition with ease.” The philosophy of Shaloh House is to challenge the students in every grade level. Typically, children at Shaloh House learn skills and perform at far higher levels than their grade-level. Each year, for example, the students compete in the International Math Olympiads and come away with gold medals. Last year Shaloh House placed first in the region in the prestigious New England Math League tournament. The students have also won a national awards in English, arts and sports. Even when they return to their own classroom, the kindergarteners at Shaloh House are training for first grade with games designed to increase their concentration and attention skills and to boost their problem-solving ability. They also play games that teach proper behavior towards adults and their peers. Some kindergarteners already know simple mul-tiplication. “We don’t demand these skills of everyone, because not everyone is ready for it,” Rabbi Rodkin said. “But for those stu-dents who want and need extra challenge, we provide it.”


The story of Joseph revealing himself to his broth-

ers after decades of bitter separa-

tion is one of the most dramatic in

the Torah. Twenty-two

years earlier, when Joseph

was seventeen years old, his

brothers kid-napped him,

threw him into a pit, then sold

him as a slave to Egyptian merchants. In Egypt Joseph spent twelve years in prison, from where

he rose to become viceroy of the country. Now, the moment was finally ripe for reconciliation.

"Joseph could not hold in his emotions," the To-

rah relates in this week's parshah. He dismissed from his chamber all of his Egyptian assistants,

"and he began to weep with such loud sobs that the Egyptians outside could hear him. And Jo-

seph said to his brothers: 'I am Joseph! Is my fa-ther still alive?' His brothers were so astounded,

they could not respond."

A Sage Weeps The Talmud relates that whenever the great sage

Rabbi Elazar came to this verse -- "his brothers were so astounded they could not respond" -- he

would weep. Rabbi Elazar would say, "If the re-buke of a man of flesh and blood (Joseph) is so

powerful that it causes so much consternation, the rebuke of G-d (when it comes) will all the

more so cause much shame."

Yet, two points in Rabbi Elazar's statement seem to be amiss. Firstly, the verse does not say that

the brothers were astounded because Joseph rebuked them. Perhaps the brothers were as-

tounded by the realization that the man standing

before them was none other than their long lost

brother Joseph?

Secondly, the comparison be-

tween Joseph's rebuke of his

brothers and G-d's rebuke of

mankind seems to be exagger-

ated. The broth-ers personally

sold Joseph into slavery, subject-

ing him to the worst type of abuse. It stands to reason, therefore, that they would be utterly in

shock when they finally faced him. Could anyone of us have ever have done a similar affront to G-

d, as to experience such dread in the face of G-d's rebuke?

Our Inner Dreamer

To understand this, we must recall the idea stated a number of times that all of the figures depicted

in the Torah are not just physical people who lived at a certain period of time. They also em-

body particular psychological and spiritual forces, existing continuously within the human heart.

Joseph is described in the Torah as a beautiful

and graceful lad, "handsome of form and hand-some of appearance," and as a "master of

dreams." According to the Kabbalah, Joseph sym-bolizes the pure and sacred soul of man.

Thus, to understand the story of Joseph, we must

understand the nature of our own soul.

A Portrait of the Soul What does a soul look like? What elements of our

personality can we attribute to our soul? In the Tanya, Rabbi Schnuer Zalman of Liadi6 de-

fines the soul as a flame that seeks to depart from

Do You Know Your Soul?


its wick and kiss the heavens. "The soul," he

writes, "constitutes the quest in man to transcend the parameters of his (or her) ego and become

absorbed in the source of all existence."

The sixteenth-century Kabbalist, Rabbi Elazar Az-kari wrote a prayer which describes the soul in

these words: "My soul is sick with love for you; Oh G-d, I beg you, please heal it by showing it the

sweetness of your splendor; then it will be invigo-rated and healed, experiencing everlasting joy."

The soul, in other words, is that dimension of our

psyche that needs not self-aggrandizement, dominance and excessive materialism. It despises

politics, manipulation and dishonesty; it is re-pulsed by unethical behavior and by false fa-

cades.

What are its aspirations? The soul harbors a sin-gle yearning: to melt away in the all-pervading

truth of G-d.

The Abused Soul Yet, how many of us are even aware of the exis-

tence of such a dimension in our personality? How many

of us pay heed to the needs of our soul? In response to

the soul's never ending dreams and yearnings that

confuse our ego-based schedules and disturb our

cravings for instant gratifica-tion, we so often take the

"Joseph" within us and plunge it into a pit. We at-

tempt to relegate its dreams and passions to the subcon-

scious cellars of our psyche.

When that does not work, because we can still hear its

silent pleas, we sell our "Joseph" as a slave to a foreigners, allowing our

souls to become subjugated to forces and drives

that are alien to its very identity.

Can you imagine how horrified you would be if you were to observe somebody taking the little

adorable hand of an infant and placing it on a burning stove? The Chassidic masters describe

each time we utter a lie, each time we humiliate another human being, each time we sin, as pre-

cisely that: Taking the precious innocent spiritual-ity of our soul and putting it through abuse and

torture.

Moment of Truth Yet, in each of our lives the moment arrives when

our inner "Joseph," which was forced to conceal its truth for so many years, breaks down and re-

veals to us its identity. At that moment, we come to discover the sheer beauty and depth of our

soul and our hearts are filled with shame.

The humiliation the brothers experienced when Joseph revealed himself to them did not stem

from the fact that he rebuked them for their sell-ing him into slavery. Joseph's mere appearance

to them constituted the most powerful rebuke: For the first

time they realized who it was that they subjected to such

horrific abuse and their hearts melted away in

shame.

Similarly, Rabbi Elazar was saying, when the day will

come and we will realize the G-dly and spiritual sacredness

of our own personalities, we will be utterly astounded. We

will ask ourselves again and again, how did we allow our-

selves to cast such a beautiful and innocent soul into a dark

and gloomy pit?

By Rabbi Yossi Jacobson from shaloh.org/magazine


The wisest of men said there is a time to weep, which implies that there will be occasions when weeping is inappropriate. Though King Solomon's exact words were there is a time to weep and a time to laugh, obviously there are times when other responses are called for. Clearly, life is not simply about crying or laughing. This week's Parshah relates the story of Joseph's dramatic reunion with his brothers. Though he embraces them all, he reserves his deepest emotions for his only full brother, Benjamin. Joseph was separated from his brothers when Benjamin was a mere child, and Benja-min was the only one who was not involved in the plot against Joseph. Theirs was, therefore, an exceptional embrace: And he (Joseph) fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and cried, and Benjamin cried on his neck (Genesis 45:14). Rashi, quoting the Talmud, explains that for both broth-ers, their cries were, beyond the powerful feelings of the moment, nothing short of prophetic. Joseph wept over the two Temples of Jerusalem, destined for destruction, which were in the land apportioned to the tribe of Ben-jamin. And Benjamin cried over the Sanctuary at Shilo, located in the land apportioned to the tribe of Joseph, which would also be destroyed. The question is why: are they each crying over the other's churban (destruction)? Why do they not cry over their own destructions? The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that when it comes to someone else's problem, we may be able to help but we cannot solve other people's problems. Even good friends can only do so much. We can offer generous assistance, support and the best advice in the world, but the rest is up to him. No matter how strenuous our efforts, there can be no guarantee that they will be successful. As hard as we may try to help, the individual alone holds the key to sort out his or her own situation. So, if we are convinced that we have done our absolute best for the other person and have still failed to bring about a satisfactory resolution, the only

thing we can do is shed a tear. We can pray for them, we can be sympathetic. Beyond that, there is really nothing else we can do. When he have tried and failed, all we can do is cry. But when it comes to our own prob-lems and challenges, our own churban, there we dare not settle for a good cry. We cannot afford the luxury of giving up and weeping. If it is our problem, then it is our duty to confront it again and again until we make it right. For

others we can cry; but for ourselves we must act. Sixty years ago, the great spiritual leaders of Europe were counting their losses -- in the millions! The great Chassidic courts of Poland, the prestigious Yeshivas of Lithuania, were all destroyed by the Nazi hordes. What did these righteous people do? Did they sit down and cry? Of course there were tears and mourning and inde-scribable grief, but the emphasis quickly shifted to re-building. And today, thank G-d, those same institutions are alive and well, thriving and pulsating with spirit and energy in Israel and the United States. The leadership focused on the future. And painstakingly, over time, they were able to resuscitate and rejuvenate their deci-mated communities. Those leaders cried bitter tears for their fallen comrades, but for themselves they did not sit and weep. They set about the task of rebuilding -- and succeeded in the most inspiring, miraculous way. When we have problems (and who doesn't?), so many of us simply moan and sigh and heave a good old-fashioned yiddishe krechtz (Jewish groan) How many

times have we sighed, What can I do? And what does that leave us with? -- with the moaning and groaning and nothing else. In the words of the fifth Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Sholom DovBer of Lubavitch, One good deed is worth more than a thousand sighs. Leave the krechtzing for others. If it's your problem, confront it, deal with it, work at it. You'll be surprised by the results.

By Rabbi Yossy Goldman from shaloh.org/magazine

No Time To Weep


It was a great pleasure to see all the happy and healthy children after the vacation.

With the renewed energy, we went back to our program. This week's color is blue, and the shape of the week is trian-gle. Our projects reflected that - we colored and decorated triangles, made a Star of David, and a triangular hat.

This week's Parshat HaShavua is Vayigash. Yoseph sent his brothers with wagons (Agalot) and grain back to Canaan to fetch the rest of the family. We decided to make wagons for our project.

We wish you and your family Good Shabbos.

Morah Anna, Morah Pola ,Morah Valia


Welcome back! It was so nice to see the children again after vacation. This week we learned about Parashat Vayigash. We sang two songs which illustrate how Yosef told the Shivatim who he was:

1. T.T.T.O. Mary had a little lamb Yosef sent for his brothers, his brothers Yosef sent for his brothers To tell them who he was I am your brother Yosef, Yosef, Yosef I am your brother Yosef. Does my father live? Yosef kissed his brothers, His brothers, his brothers Yosef kissed his brothers They went to bring Yaakov 2. I am Yosef Haod Avi Chai? Ani Yosef Is my father still alive? We were fascinated to learn about wagons that Yosef sent to Yaakov, that he used to bring his family to Mitzrayim. We even made our own wagons, with donkeys and all, that can really go! Please ask me about Parashat Vayigash: The Parasha of the week is (Vayigash.) Yaakov did not know where (Yosef) was. Yaakov and the brothers were very hungry because (there was no food in Eretz Yisroel.) So the brothers went to get food from (Mitzrayim.) The brothers asked the king for food and the king said (sure, but do you know who I am?) And then he said (I am Yosef, is my father still alive?) King Yosef sent Yaakov (donkeys and an agalah, a wagon.) When Yaakov met (Yosef) they (hugged) each other, and Yaakov said (Shima Yisrael.)

Our Alef-Bet letter for the week was Zayin. Zayin is for Zahav, gold.

Our ABC letter was E. We learned that E is for Eggs.

Shabbat Shalom,

Morah Ruti, Morah Esther and Morah Natasha


Grades 3-4 Judaic Studies - Esti Soll

We all had a wonderful week back and we started off on a great track. We started learning Shemonah Esrei, which is an important part of our tefilos (prayers) that we say each day. We began by learning about the great importance of this prayer and how we have to conduct ourselves while saying it. All the children are very enthusiastic and can’t wait to actually start praying it.

We also began learning how to read Rashi letters. Rashi is a commentary on the Torah, and is printed in a different Hebrew script. Once we have mastered all the letters we will be able to actu-ally read the commentary from the text, and will make our Chumash learning even more enjoyable.

All the students are doing extremely well on both their daily and weekly Ivrit word quizzes. Please keep on encouraging them to review the words each night. This will help them not only remember the words for the quiz but remember them long afterwards as well.

Keep up the great work! Have a good Shabbos!

Grades 3-7 English and History - Frank Hadley

Sarah Itkis did a fine oral talk on actor Humphrey Bogart in 6/7 English Language, and she and the other students are reading and discussing Mark Twain short stories, in addition to working on book reports and studying grammar and vocabulary in their classes. Leaving Europe for a while, their study of the Middle Ages is centering on early American civilizations.

The 3/4 boys and girls are continuing with Tom Sawyer, and they have been done well on recent spelling, vocabulary, and verb-tense tests. They are learning about the importance of plays and thea-tre in Ancient Greece.

Science - Dr. Naomi Lev

All of the classes are working in the new books and workbooks from Singapore. In grades 1-4, each child has his or her own workbook. There will sometimes be homework assignments in the work-books. Grades 1 and 2 are studying the characteristics of living things. Grades 3 and 4 are studying the states of matter. Grades 6 and 7 are studying mass, volume, density, and pressure.

Grades 6-7 Judaic Studies - Rochel Posner

The sixth and seventh grades finished their second perek of Chumash this week, concluding a study of the cloud that directed the Jews’ travels in the desert. We started learning Perek Yud, beginning by looking at Moshe’s two silver trumpets. The trumpets served various purposes, including calling the Jewish people to general assemblies, announcing war and celebrating holidays.

The students are all doing well in their Hebrew language studies. This week we worked on some grammatical details, such as the difference in conjugation between an adjective and an adverb.

We began a study of the laws of Birchos Hanehenin (blessing made on foods) and looked at how different foods grow to determine what blessing should be made on them. Our investigations led into a fascinating discussion on the different types of trees and what differentiates a tree from a bush according to halacha (Jewish Law.)


Mazal Tov!

Shaloh House administration, parents, teachers and students would like to wish a hearty Mazal Tov to Yael Rahmani, kindergarten teacher, on her en-gagement to Ilan Meyers. We would also like to wish Yael a very happy birth-day! May she have a year full of happiness and good things, and may she and Ilan build an ever-lasting Jewish home together.

Shaloh House’s 1st Annual Table Tennis Tournament

On Dec. 25th, Shaloh House held its first Annual Table Tennis tournament. It was a great success with more people showing up to play than expected. There were 46 participants, both children and adults competing in their own Round Robin events. The matches were fast paced and exciting for all levels of ability. The event took place right before Chanukah, and Rabbi Rodkin brought the Shaloh House makeshift kitchen with hot latkes and soufganyot. Players and their families ate up during and in between matches, and everyone enjoyed the Chanukah spirit.

Since the tournament, we’ve had an overwhelming response from participants to hold the event again (some want it to be sooner than next year!). We look forward to the 2nd Annual next Dec. 25th. Thank you to Eric Bavly for organizing and manag-ing the event! Thank you to Rabbi Rodkin for bringing all the food and the Chanukah ruach with him!


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