Message by Rabbi Yamin Levy, LIHA Rabbi

Parashat Shemini

For the Kohanim among us this is week’s Perasha is filled with history, images of the service the

Kohanim performed in the Mikdash, as well as tragedy and laws specifically designed for the Kohen.

One such Halakha is directly revealed to Aharon the Kohen Gadol. The Torah writes that it is forbidden

for any Kohen to enter the sanctuary after drinking any sort of wine or liquor. This is why we do not do

Birkat Kohanim at Minha. There is a concern that one of the Kohanim might have had a bit to drink in

the afternoon and he would perform his service while intoxicated.

This Halakha has important ramifications for all of us in the way we serve Hashem. We are

commanded to serve Hashem with joy as the verse states: “Serve G-d with gladness.” The Kohanim

were also commanded to do their service with joy and happiness. So why not have a couple of drinks

before hand: that would certainly make us happy?

The answer lies in the kind of joy that is sought after here from the Kohen and from us when serving

Hashem. Hashem does not care for the happiness of the body Hashem only cares for the happiness of

the soul. Spiritual happiness is a state of being not an artificially induced reality. Wine or liquor could

easily induce a state of being “high” but this is not the kind of “high” Hashem wants from us. Hashem

wants a “high” that truly reflects our inner state of being. Religious expression needs to emanate from

the human expression of being and this is a function of a sober excitement with life.

The Talmud asserts that “one who says his prayers while drunk is as one who serves idols” (Berakhot

31b). Indeed when one loses touch with his or her inner state of being and needs to artificially induce

happiness – this person is worshipping external G-ds. In this form of worship the means has become

the ends in itself.

Like the Kohanim we too are asked to serve Hashem with joy and with happiness. It is a joy that take a

conscious effort to achieve.

Sharyn Blaustein Volume 21

Principal Issue 24

April 17, 2015

Nisan 28, 5775

Rabbi Yamin Levy

LIHA Rabbi

THE VOICE OF OUR CHILDREN A WEEKLY PUBLICATION

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Parashat Shemini

Shabbat Candle Lighting time is at 7:17 p.m.

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3rd, 4th & 5th Grade

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April 22nd, 23rd & 24th

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Stay Tuned for

Exciting Details

About Our Annual

LIHA’S Got Talent

&

Awards Ceremony

Take A Look At LIHA

Toddler

We welcome everyone back Sent from my iPhone Shabbat Ima was Eliana and Shabbat Aba was Ariel.

Shabbat Shalom :)

Nursery I Welcome back! It was so nice to see everyone after our long Pesach vacation. It’s springtime in our class and the children’s artwork reflects the new season. The

children painted blooming flowers, colorful butterflies, green grass, yellow sun and blue skies.

Some of our books of the week were; “There Was An Old Woman Who Swallowed a Frog”, “Fancy Nancy”, “Mrs. Wishy-Washy’s Farm” and “In the Tall, Tall Grass”

Our Shabbat Ima & Abba were Tamar & Ayden Shabbat Shalom

Nursery II Spring is in full bloom in our class. We have been learning about how flowers and plants grow. We are also learning all the different parts of flowers and plants. We’ve painted some flowers, cut some grass and painted and glued ladybugs. Some of the new books we read for spring were “Planting a Rainbow”, by Lois Ehlert and “The Grouchy Ladybug”, by Eric Carle. We had so much fun playing outside in the playground. FINALLY! This week we welcomed a new child to our class. Welcome Daniella!

This weeks Ima & Abba were Daniella & Yosef. Shabbat Sahlom!

Pre K

This week we did the English letter “W” and the Hebrew let

“ ” (tzadik). We read cliffords “Leap Frog” and they made

flags for Yom Haatzmaut.

Our Shabbat was Brandon & our Ima was Rina

The following

parents have

donated a book

to the LIHA

Library in honor

of their

children’s

birthday…

Mr. & Mrs.

Marc Dorwitt

for Noach’s

birthday

Mr. & Mrs.

Ashir Pirouzian

for Yael’s

birthday

Mr. David

Soleimani & Ms.

Shula Ograd for

Jordana’s birthday

Kindergarten English

"Trucks Roll" was our main book this week. Our amazing words were cabs, trailers, headlights, steering wheel, haul and

truckers. We also sang two songs regarding the book and the letter/letters of the week. This is done weekly. This week

it was Trucks are Rolling and What Luck! Here Comes the Bus! (short sound of letter u). The "K" class for social studies

discussed people and the jobs they do and the equipment they need to do their job. We are working on the number 20

this week. Observation, comparing, measuring and sorting are all skills we use for science.

Kindergarten Hebrew

I hope you had a great Pesach even after all the hard work! We have been busy learning about “The Omer”.

Every day we say the bracha and count the Omer. Parashat Shemini” this week taught us about “kosher Animals” and being careful when we eat vegetables and fruit so that they are free of insects. We learned

the vowel of “ which makes the “OO” sound as in

“cook”. So throughout the week we have been practicing reading words with all the letters and vowels

that we have learned so far. We spoke about “Yom Hashoaa” (Remembrance Day), and we are getting

ready for Yom Ha-Atz-ma-oot! Shabbat Ima & Abba were Adiella & Ariel H

Shabbat Shalom

1st Grade Hebrew – ‘

It was nice to see all the children after vacation. This week we

learned and practiced singular

(one boy) one girl) and plural

in Hebrew (many for male) (many for female). We learned

about the new season (spring) and many words related to this

season. We end the week learning

.

1st Grade English

This week the first grade took the chapter 8 math test. They are very excited to begin chapter nine. We also began our unit on poetry. April 30 is national poem in your pocket day. We will celebrate by writing our own poems as well as reading poems written by many different authors.

2nd

Grade English

This week 2nd graders learned how to count coins. We continue to work on using more details in their

writing and exploring story elements. Please make sure your children are reading every night.

Shabbat Shalom!

2nd

Grade Hebrew

Welcome back everyone. I hope that you enjoyed this little break with your loved ones. We continued to work on our reading comprehension. And we have finished studying the first Perek of Parashat Bereshit. Finally, we prepared the kids for the Parasha of the week, Parashat Shemini.

3rd

Grade English

This week the third grade took their first ELA. I am proud to see that they all really tried their best. Next week they will take the New York State

Math test. The test will be administered on

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

3rd

Grade Hebrew

Welcome back! I hope that you enjoyed this wonderful holiday with your loved ones. We went back to our limoudim. We continued to study houmash through Parashat Haye Sarah. We also talked about “Yom Hashoah”. The children were very interested and sad to learn about it. We finished with Parashat of the week: Parashat Shemini.

4th

Grade English

The 4th grade has been working very hard taking the ELA tests

this week. They were also working hard practicing for the

math section which will take place next week. They are well

prepared and will do great.

4th

Grade Hebrew

I’m so happy having my class back after Pesach vacation. We learned about the Holocaust and the day of the Omer and Yom Haatzmaut of Israel.

5th

Grade English

5th graders took the ELA exams this week. They were rewarded for all of their hard work with extra time outside in this beautiful weather. Next week the NYS Math tests will be given on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Have a great weekend!

5th

Grade Hebrew

This week we learned about the “Holocaust” and watched a movie about it. We also learned about

“Omer” and Lag Baomer.